Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs Burr, Hicks, Legard, Maud and Walker.

There were no public questions.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 31 October 2013.

The minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 31 October 2013 were presented.

Resolved

That the minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 31 October 2013 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record, with an amendment to minute 77 to remove Councillor Ward from the recorded vote list on the Review of Visitor Information Services.

To receive notice of any urgent business which the Chairman considers should be dealt with at the meeting as a matter of urgency by virtue of Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no items of urgent business which the Chairman considered should be dealt with as a matter of urgency by virtue of Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

Members to indicate whether they will be declaring any interests under the Code of Conduct.

Members making a declaration of interest at a meeting of a Committee or Council are required to disclose the existence and nature of that interest.  This requirement is not discharged by merely declaring a personal interest without further explanation.

The following interests were declared:

Councillor Paul Andrews declared a personal non-pecuniary but not prejudicial interest in agenda item 9 (Statement from the Leader of Council) as he had been supporting local businesses for some time in relation to planning applications on the Wentworth Street Car Park site.

Councillor Arnold declared a personal non-pecuniary but not prejudicial interest in agenda item in agenda item 10 (Minute 120 – Publication of the Helmsley Plan) as he had been involved in developing the plan as a member of the working group.

Councillor Bailey declared a personal non-pecuniary but not prejudicial interest in agenda item 10 (Minute 120 – Publication of the Helmsley Plan) as chairman of the North York Moors National Park Authority.

Councillor Mrs Frank declared a personal non-pecuniary but not prejudicial interest in agenda item 10 (Minute 120 – Publication of the Helmsley Plan) as a member of the North York Moors National Park Authority.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman and/or the Head of Paid Service.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

·        To congratulate Ryedale residents who had received an MBE in the New Year’s Honours List:  Elaine Dowell, Jean Kershaw and Jean Thorpe;

·        To congratulate Barry Dodd, chair of the LEP, who had received a CBE in the New Year’s Honours List.

From Cllr Wainwright to the Leader of Council

The fate of an indoor sports facility in Norton presently hangs in the balance. Malton on the other hand has a new Community sports facility that was built at the Secondary School with a substantial grant from Ryedale District Council.

How much of the use of the Malton Community sports facility is reserved for the general public on a “pay and play” basis, how much of the available time is for local sports clubs and organisations and how much of the time is for the sole use of school pupils?

1.         Councillor Wainwright submitted the following question:

To Councillor Mrs Cowling, the Leader of Council:

“The fate of an indoor sports facility in Norton presently hangs in the balance. Malton on the other hand has a new Community sports facility that was built at the Secondary School with a substantial grant from Ryedale District Council.

How much of the use of the Malton Community sports facility is reserved for the general public on a “pay and play” basis, how much of the available time is for local sports clubs and organisations and how much of the time is for the sole use of school pupils?”

The Leader of Council, Councillor Mrs Cowling replied

“Thank you for your question:

·        The use of Malton Community Sports Centre regarding general public pay and play was agreed by Full Council January 15 2009.

·        Cllr Wainwright – You moved the recommendation on this report regarding, approval of the dual use agreement, the level of revenue subsidy (up to a maximum of £50,000 per annum) and the release of £1.5m capital allocation to Malton School.

·        Clause 5 of the dual use agreement states that during the school term there was to be a minimum of 56 hours per week community use for the sports hall and 50 hrs a week for the Astroturf facility. Of this, 27 hrs per week was to be used for pay and play at the sports centre and 4 hours per week for the astro turf pitch.

·        Out of term time, community usage was increased to 98 hrs a week.

·         I hope this answers your question.”

Councillor Wainwright asked the following supplementary question:

“On the subject of the Norton Sports facility I assume that it is now for sale again on the open market and that Paul Creswell’s desk is piled this high with offers to buy the site.  I know that this goes out on the internet and for those listening on the internet I am indicating a pile of papers 2 feet high or for those in new money almost a meter.  Is there a closing date for the close of applications or can we expect the indoor bowling fraternity to be in a state of uncertainty at the start of next September’s indoor bowling season?”

Councillor Mrs Cowling replied

“I am not aware of a closing date for expressions of interest in the bowling facility and I’d like to give my own personal guarantee that we won’t keep the Bowling Club waiting that long, but I am sure that Officer’s will be evaluating any interest in the building and will make a decision as soon as is reasonably possible.”

Councillor Mrs Cowling, the Leader of the Council, presented the following statement:

“I always feel that the New Year is a good time to look back and see what we have achieved over the last 12 months.  I think we as a Council have a lot to celebrate.

The adoption of our Local Plan must count as a great relief and cause for celebration for the District.  Planning applicants (householders and employers) will have more certainty about their investment decisions and this is good news for everyone in Ryedale.

 The opening of the Brambling Fields junction has opened the way for future expansion of employment land in Norton and is expected to contribute to improved air quality and a reduction of traffic in the centre of Malton and Norton.

The roll out of super fast broadband will help existing businesses and hopefully help attract new businesses to our District. 

Our apprenticeship scheme was very popular and has supported local businesses over the next 2 years to employ 35 new apprenticeships for young people.

The Opportunity Knocks event was a massive success, connecting young people in our schools with potential future employers.

The opening of Derwent Lodge, our facility for supported accommodation is a great achievement - thanks to our dedicated staff who don't seem to know the meaning of the word ‘no’.

Last, but not least, this week we have seen the official start of work to implement the latest stage of the flood alleviation plans for Pickering - which has only been possible because of the money pledged by this Council. 

These are just a few of the things we have achieved.

Looking forward to the coming year

We need to continue to work on the Local Plan and the site allocations document for housing and employment land including the Helmsley Plan.

This year should see our community infrastructure levy agreed, examined and in place. Through work with our partners we hope to put in place infrastructure which will make Ryedale an even more attractive place for employers to locate their businesses.  

Hopefully our bids for funding through the Local Enterprise Partnership will be successful, thereby allowing more economic growth in our district.

We have now received planning applications which if approved will aid the relocation of the Livestock Market.  In fact the planning department is going to be very busy as we have the resubmitted Gladman's application at Kirkbymoorside and the application for a supermarket on WSCP.  To that end resources are being put into the planning department to ensure that we have the capacity to deal with this unprecedented workload.

After we have evaluated the success of our apprenticeship scheme we shall be able to decide if we wish to repeat the scheme and help more young people into work.

Now that our New Homes Bonus is not to be top sliced, we shall have extra money in 2015/16 which we need to decide how to use.  That could be for economic development or housing, but we  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89.

Planning Committee – 22 October 2013

Minute 87(b) – Howardian Hills AONB Design Guidance for New Agricultural Buildings, and Infrastructure (page 29)

Policy and Resources Committee – 5 December 2013

Minute 42 – Localisation of Council Tax Support Scheme (page 51)

Minute 43 – IT Infrastructure Budget Planning (page 63)

Minute 44 – Exempt Information (page 71)

Minute 46 – Asset Purchase Opportunity (page 71)

Planning Committee – 17 December 2013

Minute 120 – Publication of the Helmsley Plan (page 77)

Planning Committee – 22 October 2013

Minute 87(b) – Howardian Hills AONB Design Guidance for New Agricultural Buildings, and Infrastructure

It was moved by Councillor Raper and seconded by Councillor Windress that the following recommendations of the Planning Committee be approved and adopted.

That the Council has regard to the AONB Design Guidance as a material planning consideration with discharging its statutory functions in the AONB.

Upon being put to the vote the motion was carried.

Resolved

That Council approve:

That the Council has regard to the AONB Design Guidance as a material planning consideration with discharging its statutory functions in the AONB.

Policy and Resources Committee – 5 December 2013

Minute 42 – Localisation of Council Tax Support Scheme

It was moved by Councillor Mrs Cowling and seconded by Councillor Acomb that the following recommendations of the Policy & Resources Committee be approved and adopted.

That Council be recommended to approve:

(i) A Local Council Tax Support Scheme for 2014/15 which is unchanged from 2013/14; and

(ii) To authorise the Corporate Director in consultation with the Chairman of Policy & Resources Committee to undertake the necessary consultation work to design a scheme for 2015/2016, in light of the experience in 2013/14 and 2014/15 to be presented to Policy & Resources Committee in December 2014.

Upon being put to the vote the motion was carried.

Resolved

That Council approve:

(i) A Local Council Tax Support Scheme for 2014/15 which is unchanged from 2013/14; and

(ii) To authorise the Corporate Director in consultation with the Chairman of Policy & Resources Committee to undertake the necessary consultation work to design a scheme for 2015/2016, in light of the experience in 2013/14 and 2014/15 to be presented to Policy & Resources Committee in December 2014.

Minute 43 – IT Infrastructure Budget Planning

It was moved by Councillor Mrs Cowling and seconded by Councillor Acomb that the following recommendations of the Policy & Resources Committee be approved and adopted.

That Council be recommended to approve:

A capital allocation of £320k for the period 2014/15 – 2017/18 for the investment in the IT infrastructure.

Upon being put to the vote the motion was carried.

Resolved

That Council approve:

A capital allocation of £320k for the period 2014/15 – 2017/18 for the investment in the IT infrastructure.

Minute 44 – Exempt Information

It was moved by Councillor Mrs Cowling and seconded by Councillor Mrs Goodrick that:

The press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of item 15 (Asset Purchase Opportunity) as provided by paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972.

Upon being put to the vote the motion was carried.

Resolved

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of item 15 (Asset Purchase Opportunity) as provided by paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972.

Minute 46 – Asset Purchase Opportunity

It was moved by Councillor Mrs Cowling and seconded by Councillor Bailey that the following recommendations of the Policy & Resources  ...  view the full minutes text for item 90.

The Council Solicitor submitted a report (previously circulated) which presented the draft timetable of meetings for 2014-2015 for approval.

Councillor Mrs Cowling moved and Councillor Mrs Goodrick seconded the recommendations in the report.

Councillor Ward moved and Councillor Clark seconded the following amendment:

To amend the dates for the Resources Working Party one day forwards so that they fall on the Thursday rather than the Wednesday.

Resolved

That Council approves the timetable of meetings for 2014-2015, attached as Annex A to the report, with an amendment to the dates of the Resources Working Party one day forwards so that they fall on the Thursday rather than the Wednesday.

The Corporate Director (s151) submitted a report (previously circulated) which presented the treasury management activities to date for the financial year 2013/14 in accordance with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA) Code of Practice on Treasury Management (the Code).

Councillor Wainwright moved and Councillor Mrs Shields seconded the recommendations in the report.

Resolved

That:

(i)  Members receive the report; and

(ii)The mid-year performance of the in-house managed funds to date is noted.

The Corporate Director (s151) submitted a report (previously circulated) which updated Members on the proposals for the Council to join a Business Rates Pooling arrangement with other Authorities.

Members noted the updated position and that the Corporate Director (s151) would decide on Business Rate Pool membership by the 14 January 2014.

There being no other business, the meeting closed at 8.30pm.