Agenda and minutes

The Mayor will open the meeting and welcome all present.

The Mayor opened the meeting and welcomed all present.

To receive any apologies for absence on behalf of Council members.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Michael Braley, Juliet Brunner and Luke Stephens.

To invite Councillors to declare any interests they may have in items on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 21st May 2012.

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 2 - 2012/13)

The Leader of the Council advised the Council that, following the Annual Meeting, it had been decided that Councillor Alan Mason would be the Majority Group representative on the Town Centre Partnership, with the nominations of Councillors Rebecca Blake and Debbie Taylor to that body being withdrawn.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Council held on 21st May 2012 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

To consider Announcements under Procedure Rule 10:

a)         Mayor’s Announcements

b)         Chief Executive’s Announcements

c)         Leader’s Announcements.

(Oral report)

a)         Mayor

The Mayor’s communications and announcements were as follows:

i)          Former Mayor of the Borough, Ron Passingham

It was with great sadness that the Mayor advised the Council of the death over the previous weekend of former Councillor and Mayor of the Borough Ron Passingham. The Mayor paid tribute to former Councillor Passingham, noting that he had been a gentleman.

Understandably, given the very recent death of former Councillor Passingham, his family did not feel able to attend. Members of the Council were invited to offer up words they might wish to offer in memory of former Councillor Passingham and of his services to the Borough.

The Leader of the Council commenced the tributes to former Councillor Passingham, commenting that he had led a very full life, had been an active party member to the end and would be sadly missed by many people.

The Leader of the Minority Group then led other Members in expressing their thoughts on the character and achievements of former Councillor Passingham. It was suggested that his death was the end of an era, marking the passing of the last of the larger than life local political figures.

Members observed a minute’s silence as a mark of respect and it was subsequently

RESOLVED that

the Council formally place on record its gratitude to former Councillor and Mayor of the Borough, Ron Passingham for his service to the Council and to the community.

ii)         Mayoral functions

The Mayor advised that since the previous meeting of the Council he had attended numerous engagements, including a Charity Variety Performance at Arrow Vale High School, the Olympic Torch Relay Evening at Worcestershire Cricket Club, a boat trip in Evesham with other Civic Heads, the recent Betty Passingham awards, a lunch engagement at Terryspring Court and the welcoming of the visitors from Auxerre.

iii)        Forthcoming engagements

The Mayor advised that forthcoming events included the opening of a new arts and crafts centre at the Old Needle Works, the Homecoming Parade for the Mercian Regiment, the Fly the Flag Day at the Town Hall, the Armed Forces Day Parade, the Bromsgrove Civic Service, Astwood Bank Carnival and the Britain in Bloom Judging Day.

iv)        Urgent business

The Mayor advised that he had not accepted any urgent items for this meeting. However, he had accepted late circulation of the minutes and accompanying report and decision from the meeting of the Executive Committee on 29th May 2012.

b)         Chief Executive

The Chief Executive had no announcements.

c)         Leader

The Leader’s announcements were as follows:

i)          Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations

The Leader advised the Council of a number of a Jubilee events that had taken place the previous weekend in the town and thanked organisations such as the local branch of The Lions Club for their efforts in organising these festivities.

ii)         EDL March

The Leader advised that he had written to the Chief Constable of the West Mercia Constabulary following the EDL March in late May to thank him  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

No questions have been submitted to date under Procedure Rule 9.2.

No questions had been received.

To consider the following Motion submitted by Councillor Debbie Taylor in accordance with Procedure Rule 11:

West Midland Ambulance Trust "Make Ready" Strategy.

(Motion attached)

A Notice of Motion had been submitted by Councillor Debbie Taylor in respect of the West Midlands Ambulance Trust “Make Ready” Strategy. This was seconded by Councillor Rebecca Blake.

In proposing this motion, Councillor Taylor highlighted what she saw as the potential risk of moving to one hub for Worcestershire, when the West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust seemed to be suggesting that two Ambulance Hubs were desirable for the county and most other counties had one than a single Hub. There was a fear that this might represent the start of a slippery slope of services disappearing from the Alexandra Hospital, threatening the viability of the Hospital itself in the long term. Councillor Blake seconded the Motion, noting that the level of service was the key issue at stake and requesting that further consultation take place with local residents over the proposals. An amendment was discussed which, whilst supporting a second hub for north Worcestershire, did not believe it would necessarily best serve the area as a whole if it were sited in Redditch, and questioning the value of further public consultation on the matter. There was also some discussion as to how aware Members had been of these proposals when they had first been put forward by the Ambulance Service NHS Trust the previous year.

The Notice of Motion was the subject of the following named vote in accordance with Procedure Rule 17.5:

Members voting FOR the motion:

Councillors Joe Baker, Rebecca Blake, Greg Chance, John Fisher, Andrew Fry, Bill Hartnett, Pattie Hill, Wanda King, Alan Mason, Phil Mould, Mark Shurmer, Yvonne Smith, Debbie Taylor and Pat Witherspoon.

Members voting AGAINST the motion:

None.

Members abstaining from voting:

Councillors Roger Bennett, Andrew Brazier, David Bush, Michael Chalk, Simon Chalk, Brandon Clayton, Carole Gandy, Adam Griffin, Roger Hill, Gay Hopkins, Brenda Quinney and Derek Taylor.

It was consequently

RESOLVED that

the Motion be agreed in the following terms:

“Redditch Borough Council calls for:

1. West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust to have a second Ambulance Hub in Worcestershire based in Redditch to serve Redditch and the North of the County.  This council believes a second hub should be in Redditch given that we have a busy A&E at the Alex Hospital.  It is worth noting that in the West Midlands Ambulance Service Operational Strategy it states in order to "sustain and improve" performance two hubs were required in Worcestershire. 

2. West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust to consult the people of Redditch before changing the ambulance service for Redditch.

Whilst the council recognises the need to effectively organise resources, the council is of the opinion that it's too big a risk for the people of Redditch to have ambulances that serve Redditch based at one hub in Worcester, with only one car dedicated to the Borough.”

To receive the minutes and consider the recommendations and/or referrals from the following meetings of the Executive Committee:

24th April 2012

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration include:

• Worcestershire Extra Care Housing Strategy 2011 – 2026.

(Report and decisions attached)

29th May 2012

Matters requiring the Council’s consideration may include:

• Redditch Borough Council Response to Stratford-on-Avon Draft Core Strategy.

(Report and decision attached)

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 2 – 2012/13)

Members received the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 24th April and 29th May 2012.

RESOLVED that

1)         the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 24th April 2012 be received and all recommendations adopted; and

2)         the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 29th May 2012 be received and all recommendations adopted.

To formally receive the minutes of the following meetings of the Council’s Regulatory Committees:

Audit & Governance Committee -   23rd April 2012

Planning Committee -                       28th March 2012

                                                            25th April 2012

There is one outstanding recommendation from the meeting of the Planning Committee on 25th April 2012 for the Council to consider:

·        National Planning Policy Framework – Changes to Planning Policy

(Report and decision attached)

(Minutes circulated in Minute Book 2 – 2012/13)

The Council received the minutes of recent meetings of the Audit and Governance and Planning Committees. There was one outstanding recommendation from the meeting of the Planning Committee on 25th April  2012

RESOLVED that

1)         the minutes of the meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee held on 23rd April 2012 be received and adopted; and

2)         the minutes of the meetings of the Planning Committee held on 28th march and 25th April 2012 be received and all recommendations adopted.

To note the following decision taken in accordance with Paragraph 5 of Part 6 of the Constitution since the last ordinary meeting of the Council:

CONTAMINATED LAND -  Determination of a number of addresses as Contaminated Land under Part 2A Environmental Protection Act 1990 and approval of urgent remediation works (Ref. 497)

(Deputy Chief Executive)

The report contains exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of S.100 of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006, as it contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of particular persons or organisations (including the authority holding that information) and that the authority proposed to make a direction under an enactment.  In view of this it is anticipated that discussion of this matter will take place after the exclusion of the public.]

(In view of the fact that the report contains exempt information, the report has been circulated to Members and relevant Officers only)

The Council considered an Urgent Business decision which had been approved in accordance with the Council’s urgency procedures, namely:

Contaminated Land – Determination of a number of addresses as Contaminated Land under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and approval of urgent remediation works

(Urgent Business Reference 497)

All decisions related to contaminated land are reserved for Full Council.

RESOLVED that

the decision be noted.