AGENDA - COUNCIL
Thursday 3 November 2011 at 2.00 pm in the Council Chamber

1.         Minutes – to approve as a correct record and authorise the Chairman to sign the minutes of the annual meeting of the Council held on 22 September 2011;

2.         Urgent Business – the Chairman to announce if any item not on the agenda should be considered on the basis that he considers it as a matter of urgency (any such item to be dealt with under item 7 below);

3.         Confidential Business – the Chairman to inform the meeting of any confidential item of business;

4.         Exempt Information – to consider whether the consideration of any item of business would be likely to disclose exempt information and if so the category of such exempt information;

5.         Declarations of Interest – Members are invited to declare any personal or prejudicial interests, including the nature and extent of such interests, they may have in any items to be considered at this meeting;

6.         Chairman’s Announcements; 

7.         Business Brought Forward by the Chairman – to consider business (if any) brought forward by the Chairman as reported under item 2 above;

8.         Questions – to consider the following question(s) received in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 8 

From Cllr Baldry to Cllr Carter, lead Executive Member for Planning, Economy and Community 

(i)         Sherford - Will the Executive Members confirm that at an early stage of proposals for Sherford New Town, the developer indicated that they were willing to adopt an ‘open book’ approach? 

Are they now willing to disclose their costs? Normally developers seek a margin of 16 – 22% over costs.  Without knowing the developer’s costs, how are council members able to judge that the developer’s offers for S106 are reasonable? 

(ii)        Sherford - We are told that, because of the current downturn in the economic climate, the revised S106 offer for Sherford has been severely changed from the original proposals made public by the developer in 2008-2009.  Inter alia the new proposal shows a major cut in the number of affordable dwellings from 50% to 12.7% for the first 1200 dwellings. 

In the past 3 years i] house building costs have not significantly increased, ii] the selling price of new homes in South West Devon is little changed, iii] the demand for new homes has not decreased, iv] the cost of finance has gone down.   In the light of these facts what justification is there for the proposed large cut in developer contribution? 

(iii)       Sherford - A three week public consultation is taking place.  In view of the major changes from those upon which the original public consultation took place, is a 3 week consultation acceptable and in the public interest?

9.         Notice of Motion – to consider the following motions received (if any) in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10.1. 

            (a)  By Cllrs Bastone and Carter 

“This Council again calls upon The Secretary of State for Transport to abandon proposals to close Brixham’s Coastguard Station. This Council is of the belief that the cost savings that he seeks to generate cannot be justified when set against the increased risks to the safety of residents and visitors to the South Devon and South East Cornwall coastline. 

Therefore, a letter should be sent to the Secretary of State for Transport along the lines of:- 

“The Council is writing on behalf of the residents and the millions of visitors to South Devon and South East Cornwall as well as all those who put their lives at risk at sea. 

The Council along with the three local Members of Parliament, Dr Sarah Wollaston MP, Adrian Sanders MP and Sheryll Murray MP, continue to have grave concerns about the proposal to close the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre at Brixham.   

Over 70% of incidents coordinated by HM Coastguard last year were inshore, within twelve nautical miles of the U.K. coastline and including beaches, cliffs, coastal paths, rivers and estuaries. 

MRCC Brixham is actually the third busiest Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) for UK Search and Rescue (SAR) where people were rescued or assisted. 

Certain statistics for UK MRCCs in the past have included international liaison, GMDSS relayed incidents and rig musters / exercises etc but Brixham staff have only used statistics for actual incidents where casualties were rescued or assisted. 

Last year Brixham assisted 1918 people and without that intervention some of these individuals could have become fatalities. 

From 1 January to 27 September 2011, MRCC Brixham have coordinated 1,227 incidents of which 276 were at night between 19.00 to 07.00, this means a percentage of 22.5% were at night. 

Although the night time incidents are between a fifth or a quarter of total incidents for the station, do not disregard these figures because many of these were life threatening incidents including cliff rescues, searches for vessels and searches for High Risk Suicidal Missing People, the rescue of whom is made so much harder in the dark at sea and on coastal terrain. 

The Council understands that a site for a Marine Operations Centre (MOC) has yet to be chosen. 

What is evident is that a number of staff from HM Coastguard operations rooms have already started to seek employment elsewhere. 

The Council has received reports that three Officers have left MRCC Portland in the last month, five Officers from MRCC Thames, three Officers from MRCC Humber, three Officers from MRCC Aberdeen and reports of others from Swansea and other MRCCs around the country. 

Remember some of these MRCCs are not on the closure list but it appears that staff are not content with the future plans even at these locations in part because, no matter what concerns the operation room staff have voiced for public safety they feel that they are not listened to by the designers of the future streamlined service? 

It takes a minimum of nine months to train a Watch Officer to suit effective efficient operational standards.  At the present rate that trained experienced coordinating Officers are leaving, this public service could see a dangerous amount of vacancies within coordinating centres which at present operate 24 hours a day.  This decrease in experienced staffing will continue over the course of the next few years until the MOC is established. 

These changes will be taking place before we can be sure that a central MOC will be effective and of course there is an understandable concern following the fiasco of centralised Fire Service Coordination Centres. 

Once designated international point of contact has relocated from Falmouth to the MOC, then this centre will have its workload reduced by almost two thirds, making MRCC Brixham the logical centre to continue operations. 

We do not feel that the decision about which rescue centre closes and which station stays open should have been made on the basis of the real estate value of these two stations.  Perhaps more emphasis on the experience of staff should have been considered. 

It is worrying for concerned Officers that there will be an extended transition period where our coastline will have a relative and significant reduction in cover by trained Officers with local knowledge and expertise. 

The South West area is unique in so much as that it is the most popular coastal holiday destination in the UK.  

The RNLI have a concentrated presence in the South West Area, Beach Lifeguard units and also out of a total of 47 lookouts around the UK the NCI have as many as 18 in the south west alone, but remember these are resources not coordinators during SAR incidents.

The Council also feels that there are some things that go beyond value for money such as the nature of service and care that we provide to those at sea. Knowing that the professional on the other end of the phone or radio has personal and in depth knowledge of vessels and their crew in distress at sea is of great comfort and reassurance to our fishermen. 

The Council remains deeply disappointed that Brixham Coastguard has had no opportunity to challenge the outcome of the first phase of the consultation. 

Falmouth and Brixham UK SAR Incidents 2010: 

Falmouth Total incidents including International and GMDSS = 2266 

Falmouth Total incidents UK SAR = 801 which is a reduction in workload of over 64.5% 

Brixham Total incidents UK SAR = 1308 

It is intended that International and GMDSS incidents will be handled by the MOC.”
 

            (b)  By Cllrs Hannaford and Baldry                       

This council notes: 

“That British households currently spend more on heating their homes than their counterparts in Sweden where winter temperatures are far lower, that means a legacy of draughty, cold homes that are expensive to heat, leaving vulnerable residents facing serious health risks. An over-reliance on fossil fuels, leaving households and businesses exposed to soaring world energy prices. 

That the previous Government left office with Britain 25th place in Europe for renewable energy generation. 

This council recognises the role played by the coalition Government in securing:

The Warm Homes Discount to give an extra £120 each year to the least well-off pensioners to keep warm this winter, and a commitment from energy companies to help with free loft and cavity wall insulation for the poorest households. 

From October 2012 the Green Deal will aim to insulate all domestic and commercial properties to high standards at no upfront cost to consumers. 

This council resolves: 

To support the Green Deal locally by ensuring local residents in our area know about the opportunities and helping direct them towards providers, and to investigate how else the council can help with supporting home insulation work, perhaps acting as a Green Deal provider itself. 

To investigate ways that the council can assist local residents to save money and keep warm through the provision of information and advice, including through working with partner agencies.”

10.       Executive Member Presentations – in accordance with Council minute number 55/10, the following Executive Members are invited to provide a presentation for up to five minutes each, before allowing for Member questions for up to ten minutes each, on the current achievements, aims and challenges which are ongoing within their respective portfolio areas:  

(i)    Cllr Bastone (lead Executive Member for ICT and Customer Services); 

(ii)  Cllr Hawkins (lead Executive Member for Environment Services).

11.      Tor Homes Restructure – to consider a report which seeks to advise Members of the proposed restructure of Tor Homes within the Devon and Cornwall Housing (DCH) Group and which seeks approval for the amalgamation of Tor Homes with DCH (circulated separately);

            Report

12.       Review of the Constitution in Relation to Significant Planning Applications and Executive Member Presentations to Council – to consider a report which presents some potential amendments to the Constitution (circulated separately);

            Report

13.       Reports of Bodies – to receive and as may be necessary approve the minutes and recommendations of the under-mentioned Bodies:- 

* Indicates minutes containing recommendations to Council.

Members of the public may wish to note that the Council's meeting rooms

are accessible by wheelchairs and have a loop induction hearing system.

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An optional lunch will be available for all Members

in the Dining Room at 1.00 pm

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            MEMBERS ARE REQUESTED TO SIGN THE ATTENDANCE REGISTER

   THIS AGENDA HAS BEEN PRINTED ON ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY PAPER

If you or someone you know would like this publication in a different format, such as large print or a language other than English, please call Darryl White on 01803 861247 or by email at: darryl.white@southhams.gov.uk