Agenda and decisions

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Tamsin Thomas.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 10 September 2024.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 10 September 2024 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Members should notify the Chair of other business which they wish to be discussed at the end of either Part I or Part II business set out in the agenda. They must state the circumstances which they consider justify the business being considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chair will decide whether any item(s) raised will be considered.

There was no other business notified.

Climate Emergency

The Council has declared a climate emergency and is committed to achieving a target of zero carbon emissions by 2030 and helping local people and businesses to reduce their own carbon emissions.

A Cabinet Panel on the Environment has been established to engage with local people on matters relating to the climate emergency and advise the council on how to achieve these climate change objectives. A Climate Change Implementation group of councillors and council officers meets regularly to produce plans and monitor progress. Actions taken or currently underway include switching to green energy, incentives for low emission taxis, expanding tree planting and working to cut food waste.

In addition the council is a member of the Hertfordshire Climate Change and Sustainability Partnership, working with other councils across Hertfordshire to reduce the county’s carbon emissions and climate impact.

The Council’s dedicated webpage on Climate Change includes details of the council’s climate change strategy, the work of the Cabinet Panel on the Environment and a monthly briefing on progress.

Ecological Emergency

The Council has declared an ecological emergency and is committed to addressing the ecological emergency and nature recovery by identifying appropriate areas for habitat restoration and biodiversity net gain whilst ensuring that development limits impact on existing habitats in its process.

The Council has set out to do that by a) setting measurable targets and standards for biodiversity increase, in both species and quantities, seeking to increase community engagement, b) to work with our partners to establish a Local Nature Partnership for Hertfordshire and to develop Nature Recovery Networks and Nature Recovery Strategy for Hertfordshire and c) to investigate new approaches to nature recovery such as habitat banking that deliver biodiversity objectives and provide new investment opportunities.

Declarations of Interest

Members are reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and are required to notify the Chair of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda. Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item. Members declaring a Declarable Interest, wishing to exercise a ‘Councillor Speaking Right’, must declare this at the same time as the interest, move to the public area before speaking to the item and then must leave the room before the debate and vote.

(1)   The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be recorded.

(2)   The Chair reminded Members that the Council had declared both a Climate Emergency and an Ecological Emergency. These are serious decisions, and mean that, as this was an emergency, all of us, Officers and Members had that in mind as we carried out our various roles and tasks for the benefit of our District.

(3)   The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

(4)   The Chair advised for the purposes of clarification that 4.8.23(a) of the Constitution did not apply to this meeting.

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

There was no public participation at the meeting.

Any Items referred from other committees will be circulated as soon as they are available.

The Chair advised that the item referred from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee would be taken with Item 7 on the agenda.

REPORT OF THE CULTURE AND FACILITIES SERVICE MANAGER & PRINCIPAL ESTATES SURVEYOR

This report presents an appraisal of the options available to the Cabinet to address the museum collection storage pressures.

RESOLVED:  That Cabinet:

(1)   Noted the current projected costs, advantages and disadvantages of each option.

(2)   Approved use of £30k of the allocated £4m budget in the current capital programme for this project to develop more detail on the costs of Option D and to acquire the necessary details for a planning application to be made.

(3)   Approved use of £20k of the allocated £4m budget in the current capital programme for this project to develop more detail on the costs of Option E, should a suitable property become available.

(4)   Considered and gave approval for officers to apply for grant funding towards the investigations mentioned in 2.2 and 2.3 and recognise the need to align investigations with grant funding timetables in this instance.

(5)   Resolved to discount options A, B and G and recommend that they are no longer developed or explored further.

(6)   Indicated that Options C, F and H outlined within the report should be pursued further.

REASONS FOR DECISIONS:

(1)   Officers do not have the capacity or financial budget to progress all 8 options to an advanced stage and some early decisions are required in order to focus time and budget on pursuing the most advantageous options based on the best information available to officers and members at the present time.

(2)   In addition, the pursuit of greater detail on a number of the options will require expenditure on external reports and consultants which officers are seeking Cabinets approval to progress. Estimated figures are included in the main body of the report which can be found in Appendix 1 and are summarised in the Executive Summary Grid in Appendix 2.

REPORT BY THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – REGULATORY

Codicote Parish Council have submitted the Codicote Neighbourhood Plan for public consultation.  The area covered by Codicote Parish Council and designated as the neighbourhood planning area includes two District wards; Codicote and Kimpton, and Knebworth and therefore this is a key decision. 

RESOLVED: That Cabinet approved that public consultation can be undertaken for the submission version of the Codicote Neighbourhood Plan.

REASON FOR DECISION:  To enable public consultation on the proposed submission Codicote Neighbourhood Plan 2022 – 2035 to take place before the Neighbourhood Plan is submitted for examination by an independent examiner.

REPORT OF THE STRATEGIC PLANNING MANAGER

This report asks Cabinet to recommend the approval of the Strategic Masterplan Framework for land to the north-east of Great Ashby to Full Council. This site is allocated for development in the Council’s adopted Local Plan (Site GA2, Policy SP18) as a strategic site for approximately 600 homes and supporting infrastructure.

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL:  That the Strategic Masterplan Framework for the land North-East of Great Ashby (Local Plan site GA2), attached at Appendix A, is approved and adopted as a material planning consideration for relevant planning decisions relating to the site.

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION:  

(1)   To set an agreed design framework for the delivery of a strategic site within the Council’s adopted Local Plan.

(2)    To accord with policy requirements of the Local Plan.

REPORT OF THE STRATEGIC PLANNING MANAGER

This report sets out how the issues raised in debate at Full Council have been considered or will be addressed through the planning processes for this site as a whole. The report asks Cabinet to recommend the approval of the updated Strategic Masterplan Framework to Full Council.

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL:

(1)   Following the Full Council decision not to adopt the masterplan in July 2024, the additional information and clarification in this report is noted.

(2)   The Strategic Masterplan Framework for North Stevenage, attached at Appendix B, is approved and adopted as a material planning consideration for relevant planning decisions relating to the site.

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS:

(1)   To facilitate the delivery of a strategic site within the Council’s adopted Local Plan.

(2)   To accord with policy requirements of the Local Plan.

To consider passing the following resolution: That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the Press and Public be excluded from the meeting on the grounds that the following report will involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the said Act (as amended).

RESOLVED: That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the said Act (as amended).

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – CUSTOMERS

To seek Cabinet approval to extend the partnership agreement between Herts Careline and Hertfordshire County Council for a period of five years from 01 April 2026 to 31 March 2031.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet noted the recommendations in Part 1 of this report.

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – CUSTOMERS

To seek Cabinet approval to extend the partnership agreement between Herts Careline and Hertfordshire County Council for a period of five years from 01 April 2026 to 31 March 2031.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet:

(1)   Approved the extension of the agreement between Herts Careline and HCC for a period of five years to run from 01 April 2026 to 31 March 2031. This contract will be delivered by way of delegation from HCC to NHC.

(2)   Delegated the operational contractual arrangements and final sign off of the agreement to the Service Director Customers, in consultation with the Executive Member for Community and Partnerships.

REASON FOR DECISIONS:  The existing partnership between Careline and HCC works very well. An extension of the contract will enable us to continue to build on the positive relationship to the benefit of service users across Hertfordshire.