Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Chair will draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out in the Notes

The Senior Democratic Services Officer drew attention to the evacuation procedure as set out in the Agenda.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 7th September 2016 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Councillors and members of the public may register their intention to make a statement if they notify the subject matter of their statement before the deadline.  Statements are limited to 3 minutes each.  The speaker may then be asked by Cabinet members to answer factual questions arising out of their statement.

Christine Boyd in a statement [a copy of which is attached to the Minutes as Appendix 1 and on the Council's website] urged the Cabinet to approve the documents for consultation subject to officers making a minor amendment, as outlined in her statement.

Andrew Mercer in a statement [a copy of which is attached to the Minutes as Appendix 2 and on the Council's website] urged the Cabinet not to rush in making the decision on Park and Ride.

Vicky Drew in a statement [a copy of which is attached to the Minutes as Appendix 3 and on the Council's website] asked the Cabinet to consider all aspects, and the potential impacts before finalising contract with Virgin Healthcare.

Note:  Councillor Paul May left the room before Vicky Drew read out her statement and returned when the statement was finished.

Councillor Eleanor Jackson in a statement [a copy of which is attached to the Minutes as Appendix 4 and on the Council's website] said that Westfield Parish Council had supported strategic planning, though they had had concerns that important employment sites have been designated for housing.  Councillor Jackson also said that the improvement of strategic transport corridors for the benefit of employment in the area must be adhered to; no development should take place in Westfield until there were substantial improvements of A367; and the railway line Radstock-Westbury-Frome should be restored.

Councillor Dine Romero welcomed that the West of England Partnership would carry out consultation, and asked for an assurance that statements read at this meeting would be considered as early responses to the consultation.  Councillor Romero said that Liberal Democrats had expressed their concerns  about any plans for Green Belt within the heritage site; that plans for Bathampton Meadows Park and Ride would not make any difference to the amount of traffic and levels of pollution in the city; that the Council would need to work closely with neighbouring authorities, especially with Wiltshire, to address existing problems in Bath; focus on integrated transport scheme which would not depend solemnly on car usage; concerns over proposed bypass and support for train station in Saltford; and concerns that report had had little about  Somer Valley.

Councillor Tim Ball said that the failure to manage the Bristol housing situation had had an impact on Whitchurch.  Councillor Ball urged the Cabinet to hold on to our Core Strategy and added that too much additional housing was likely to make people leave the area.

Councillor Will Sandry in a statement [a copy of which is attached to the Minutes as Appendix 5 and on the Council's website] said that there was everything to welcome about a public consultation, and the residents of Bath and North East Somerset should be encouraged to respond.

Councillor Andrew Furse expressed his concerns that the Spatial Plan focuses on the existing economic areas and the A4 corridor.  Councillor Furse felt that there was a significant risk that leave Radstock/Westfield/MSN would be left behind. The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

This report seeks approval to undertake consultation on a West of England Joint Spatial Plan (JSP) and Joint Transport Study (JTS) document entitled “Towards the Emerging Spatial Strategy”.  The consultation is due to take place across the West of England from 7th November to 19th December 2016.

The report also seeks the approval of a Core Strategy Review Commencement Document for consultation within B&NES at the same time as the wider JSP /JTS consultation.

Councillor Liz Richardson said that this report would trigger three key policy elements:

• Consultation on an important high-level cross-authority spatial document “towards the emerging Spatial strategy”;
• Consultation on Council’s Core Strategy review commencement document; 
• Adjustments to the Council’s local development scheme, to ensure timetables were adjusted to reflect the timescales attached and modifications required as a result of work on these documents.

This report asks the Cabinet to endorse the proposal to agree that these documents are released into a consultation process.  This would enable people across the West of England (WoE) to have a further say on the West of England Joint Spatial Plan (JSP) and Joint Transport Study (JTS), when the next phase of the consultation opens on 7^th November 2016.  Those responses would be welcome information to help shape this into a draft document next year. The four West of England Councils - North Somerset, Bristol City, South Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset – had signed a commitment to work together in March 2014, as a result of a need to demonstrate A Duty to Co-operate – based on legislation introduced in the 2011 Localism Act.

Councillor Liz Richardson concluded her statement by saying that no decisions had been made at this stage, and she urged all the communities and stakeholders across the West of England to engage in the consultation which would start on 7^th November 2016.

Councillor Liz Richardson moved the recommendations.

Councillor Anthony Clarke seconded the motion by saying that the Council, and the whole region, would need to think on transport issues now, and no housing or economic development should go ahead before an adequate infrastructure is in place.  Councillor Clarke stressed the importance of planning and transport departments working together and also said that this Council would work with neighbouring authorities (Wiltshire and Somerset) and not only with the WoE region.  This was a high-level document which should give an overall approach on what the Council, and the region, aspire to achieve.  Councillor Clarke concluded his statement by saying that this was not the final document and urged everyone to respond to the consultation.

Councillor Patrick Anketell-Jones said that this document had represented 20 years of progress and this would be transformative period for WoE.  This document would be an important part in developing the economy across the region.  Councillor Anketell-Jones highlighted growing importance of Keynsham, links to Bath and importance of consultation responses on Green Belt issues.

Councillor Charles Gerrish said that this document had reflected all of the hard work that Council’s planning team had undertaken over years.  This document also recognises the importance of the definition of Green Belt.  Councillor Gerrish also said that the infrastructure should be put in place first before any development takes place.  Councillor Gerrish expressed his concerns about the vision for transport and urged the public to respond to the consultation.  Councillor Gerrish concluded by expressing his concern that the document did not address aging population considering  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.