Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs Burr,Mrs Frank and Legard.
There were no questions from members of the public.
That the minutes of an ExtraordinaryMeeting of Council held on 17 January 2008, the minutes of anOrdinary Meeting of Council held on 17 January 2008 and the minutesof an Extraordinary Meeting of Council held on 25 February 2008 beconfirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.
The Chairman reported that there were no items to be dealtwith as a matter of urgency by virtue of Section 100B(4)(b) of theLocal Government Act 1972.
Councillor Cottam declared a personal and prejudicial interestin minute nos. 439 and 451 (Fire Detection System - Milton Rooms),as he is the Chairman of the Milton Rooms ManagementCommittee.
Councillor Wainwright declared a personal and prejudicialinterest in minute no. 444 (Response to the Interim Report of thePitt Review) and in item 9 - Notices of Motion - as Vice Chairmanof the Rye Internal Drainage Board and as he farms land liable toflood.
Councillor Mrs Arnold declared a personal interest in item10(a) Enhanced Two Tier Working - as she is a North YorkshireCounty Councillor. Councillor Arnold declared a personal interestas he is married to a North Yorkshire County Councillor.
Councillors Acomb, Cussons, Hawkins, Maud, Raper and Windressdeclared personal interests in minute no. 444 (Response to theInterim Report of the Pitt Review) and item 9 (Notices of Motion)as Internal Drainage Board members. Councillor Mrs Keal declared apersonal and prejudicial interest in the items, as she is anEnvironment Agency employee.
Councillor Andrews declared a personal and prejudicialinterest in minute nos. 439 and 451 (Fire Detection System - MiltonRooms), as he is a member of the Milton Rooms Management Committee.Councillor Andrews declared personal interest in issues relating toland drainage, as he is an Internal Drainage Board member and inissues relating to car park fees, as he is a member of the Car ParkAction Group.
490. Announcements
The Chairman reported that an invitation had been received forall Members of the Council to visit RAF Fylingdales. The visit wasto take place on Wednesday 30 April 2008 at 7 pm to 9 pm. AnyMembers interested in attending were requested to inform theChairman’s Assistant.
491. Questions Submitted by Members Pursuant toCouncil Procedure Rule 10.2 (Questions on Notice at FullCouncil)
There were no questions.
492. Standards Committee
It was moved by Councillor Aslett and seconded by CouncillorCottam that the minutes of a meeting of the Standards Committeeheld on
24 January 2008 be received.
Resolved
That the minutes of a meeting of theStandards Committee held on 24 January 2008 be received.
493. Community Services & LicensingCommittee
It was moved by Councillor Mrs Cowling and seconded byCouncillor Mrs Arnold that the minutes of a meeting of theCommunity Services & Licensing Committee held on
31 January 2008 be approved andadopted.
Councillor Andrews referred to Minute No. 419 (WentworthStreet Trial) and reported that he would be raising issues relatingto car parking under the Overview & Scrutiny minutes.
The Chief Executive referred to Minute No. 415 (CommunityLeisure Working Party), part (b) of the resolved portion, andreported that, as requested, the minutes of the meeting of theCommunity Leisure Working Party held on 22 January 2008 had beenreferred back to the next meeting of the Working Party.
Resolved
That the minutes of a meeting of theCommunity Services & Licensing Committee held on 31 January2008 be approved and adopted.
494. Licensing Committee
It was moved by Councillor Mrs Arnold and seconded byCouncillor Mrs De Wend Fenton that the minutes of a meeting of theLicensing Committee held on
31 January 2008 be received.
Resolved
That the minutes of a meeting of theLicensing Committee held on 31 January 2008 be received.
495. Policy & Resources Committee
It was moved by Councillor Wainwright and seconded byCouncillor Cottam that the minutes of a meeting of the Policy &Resources Committee held on
14 February 2008 be approved and adopted.
With reference to Minute No. 444 it was proposed by CouncillorKeal and seconded by Councillor Mrs De Wend Fenton that part (b) ofthe resolved portion be amended by the addition of the followingwording “subject to it being noted that this Council is of theopinion that:
- in principle it is unacceptable that maintenance of mainrivers is reduced or neglected
- full and detailed consultation by the Environment Agencywith landowners must take place before any changes such as theblocking up of drains, the removal or abandonment of flood defencesor the re-creation of river meanders are put in place andappropriate compensation must be agreed with landowners.
Upon being put to the vote the amendment was carried.
Councillor Clark referred to the Minutes of the ReconvenedMeeting of the Senior Management Contracts Working Party held on 6December 2007, Minute No. SMC.84 (Redeployment and RedundancyPolicy), and requested that the first line of the final paragraphbe amended by the addition of the words “With the exception ofCouncillor Clark,” the Chairman accepted the amendment.
It was moved by Councillor Clark and seconded by CouncillorWoodward, that Minute No. 446 (Asset Management Plan) be amended bythe deletion of the resolved portion and the substitution of:
“(a) There could be occasions when the Council decides thatthe best course of action for a surplus piece of land or propertyis to wait and hold on to the land for a specific period, tomonitor and anticipate the market and potential propertyvalues
(b) All sales to be agreed by Full Council before any actionis taken
(c) Receipts to go into capital funds to fund the CapitalProgramme
(d) RDC to have an affordable housing programme.”
The Chairman of the Policy & Resources Committee expressedconcern that the amendment sought to change a Committee decision.Members of the Committee had fully discussed the issue and had thebenefit of a full Committee report. Members of the Council were nowbeing asked to change a decision without the backgroundpapers.
The Council Solicitor reported that the Constitution ReviewWorking Party had recently considered the issue of Committees withTerms of Reference. The Policy & Resources Committee had anextensive range of Terms of Reference. There was a generalprinciple that Council should not change Committee decisions,however, it had been a convention that this did happen.
It was moved by Councillor Cottam and seconded by CouncillorWainwright that the vote be put. Upon being put to the vote themotion ‘That the vote be put’ was carried.
Members requested that a recorded vote be taken on theamendment.
Recorded Vote
For the amendment
Councillors Andrews, Aslett, Clark, Mrs De Wend Fenton,Hemesley, Mrs Hodgson, Keal, Mrs Keal, Maud, Mrs Shields, MrsWilford and Woodward (12)
Against the amendment
Councillors Acomb, Arnold, Mrs Arnold, Bailey, Cottam, MrsCowling, Cussons, Hawkins, Hope, Jackson, Knaggs, Raper,Wainwright, Ms Warriner and Windress (15)
The amendment therefore lost.
Resolved
That the minutes of a meeting of thePolicy & Resources Committee held on 14 February 2008 beapproved and adopted subject to:
(a) Minute No. 444 (Response to theInterim Report of the Pitt Review) part (b) of the resolved portionbeing amended by the addition of the following wording “subject toit being noted that this Council is of the opinion that:
- in principle it is unacceptable that maintenance of mainrivers is reduced or neglected
- full and detailed consultation by the Environment Agencywith landowners must take place before any changes such as theblocking up of drains, the removal or abandonment of flood defencesor the re-creation of river meanders are put in place andappropriate compensation must be agreed with landowners.
(b) Minute No. SMC.84 (Redeployment andRedundancy Policy) being amended by the addition to the first lineof the final paragraph of the words “With the exception ofCouncillor Clark”
NB In accordance with the Members’ Code ofConduct Councillor Wainwright declared a personal and prejudicialinterest in Minute 444 (Response to the Interim Report of the PittReview) as Vice Chairman of the Rye Internal Drainage Board and ashe farms land liable to flood. Councillor Wainwright withdrew fromthe meeting during consideration of the item.
Councillor Mrs Keal declared a personal and prejudicialinterest in Minute No. 444 (Response to the Interim Report of thePitt Review) the item as an Environment Agency employee. CouncillorMrs Keal withdrew from the meeting during consideration of theitem.
Councillors Acomb, Andrews, Cussons, Hawkins, Maud, Raper andWindress declared personal interests in the item as InternalDrainage Board representatives.
496. Overview & Scrutiny Committee
It was moved by Councillor Mrs Shields and seconded byCouncillor Mrs Wilford that the minutes of a meeting of theOverview & Scrutiny Committee held on
21 February 2008 be approved and adopted.
Councillor Andrews referred to Minute No. 471 (WentworthStreet Car Park Trial and Car Parking Charges in Ryedale) andrequested that the matter be referred back to the Overview &Scrutiny Committee as a matter of urgency as in his opinion theoriginal decision had been based on incorrect information.
The Chairman of the Committee reported that the Overview &Scrutiny Committee work programme for 2007/08 involved theundertaking of two reviews, one of which was almost complete.However, the Review of Waste Management, a very detailed review,had not yet been completed. The Chairman reported that in thecircumstances it would not be possible to include a further reviewwithin the Committee’s 2008/09 work programme.
Resolved
That the minutes of a meeting of theOverview & Scrutiny Committee held on 21 February 2008 beapproved and adopted.
497. Special Policy & ResourcesCommittee
It was moved by Councillor Wainwright and seconded byCouncillor Cottam that the minutes of a Meeting of the Policy &Resources Committee held on
5 March 2008 be approved andadopted.
Councillor Clark referred to Minute No. 484 (Malton TownCentre Strategy) part (b) of the resolved portion relating to theformation of a Steering Group and reported that the Group should bein a position to elect its own Chairman. It was therefore moved byCouncillor Clark and seconded by Councillor Mrs De Wend Fenton,that Standing Order 26C(ii) relating to the Chairing of WorkingParties, be suspended to enable the Malton Town Centre StrategySteering Group to elect its own Chairman. Upon being put to thevote the amendment was carried.
Resolved
That the minutes of a Special Meeting ofthe Policy & Resources Committee held on 5 March 2008 beapproved and adopted subject to Minute No. 484 (Malton Town CentreStrategy) being amended to enable the Malton Town Centre StrategySteering Group to elect its own Chairman.
498. Planning Committee
It was moved and seconded that the minutes of the meetings ofthe Planning Committee held on
15 January and
12 February 2008 be received.
Resolved
That the minutes of the Planning Committeeheld on 15 January and 12 February 2008 be received.
499. Notice of Motion Submitted Pursuant to CouncilProcedure Rule 11 (Part 4) of the CouncilConstitution
Members were reminded that at the Budget Council Meeting heldon 25 February 2008, a motion submitted by Councillor Andrews hadbeen referred to the March meeting of the Council. The motion wasset out for Members’ consideration:
“That this Council rejects as a matter of principle theblocking up of drains, the creation of river meanders and theabandonment of flood defences and that the Environment Agency be soadvised.”
An amendment was moved by Councillor Clark and seconded byCouncillor Woodward that the motion be amended by the deletion ofthe words “as a matter of principle the” and the substitution ofthe words “ the principle of” Councillor Andrews, as mover of themotion accepted the proposed amendment.
Upon being put to the vote the motion, as amended, waslost.
500. Enhanced Two-Tier Working
The Chief Executive submitted for information a report(previously circulated), which had been considered by Leaders ofthe County Council and District Councils on 14 January 2008. Thereport listed the conclusions reached for consideration by theconstituent Councils.
Resolved
That the report be received.
NB In accordance with the Members’ Code ofConduct Councillor Mrs Arnold declared a personal interest in theabove item, as she is a North Yorkshire County Councillor.Councillor S Arnold declared a personal interest in the item as heis married to a North Yorkshire County Councillor.
501. Timetable of Meetings 2008/2009
The Timetable of Meetings for 2008/2009 was submitted forendorsement.
Councillor Clark requested that consideration be given tobringing forward the budget meetings of the Policy & ResourcesCommittee and Council scheduled for February 2009. The ChiefExecutive reported that this would be pursued with the CorporateDirector (Section 151 Officer) and Members would be informedaccordingly.
Resolved
That the Timetable of Meetings 2008/09 beendorsed subject to clarification of the 2009 dates for the budgetmeetings of the Policy & Resources Committee and fullCouncil.
502. Representatives on OutsideOrganisations
Malton and Norton Area PartnershipBoard
It was reported that Councillor Mrs Burr had resigned as theCouncil’s representative on the Malton and Norton Area PartnershipBoard.
Members suggested that, subject to the agreement of thePartnership Board, two Members should be appointed, one from Maltonand one from Norton.
Resolved
That, subject to the agreement of theMalton and Norton Area Partnership Board, Councillors Mrs Keal andHemesley be nominated at this Council’s representatives.