BOROUGH OF POOLE – COUNCIL – 27 SEPTEMBER 2011
AGENDA ITEM 3
BOROUGH OF POOLE
COUNCIL
27 SEPTEMBER 2011
The Meeting commenced at 7:05pm and finished at 10:00pm
Present:
Councillor Wilson (Mayor)
Councillor Burden (Deputy Mayor)
Councillor Mrs Evans (Sheriff)
Councillors Adams, Ms Atkinson, Brooke, Brown, Mrs Butt, Miss Carpenter, Chandler, Clements, Mrs Clements, Mrs Cox, Mrs Dion, Eades, Godfrey, Goodall, Mrs Haines, Mrs Hodges, Howell, Mrs Le Poidevin, Maiden, Matthews, Meachin, Mrs Moore, Parker, Mrs Parkinson, Pawlowski, Potter, Rampton, Mrs Rampton, Rollo-Smith, Mrs Slade, Sorton, Mrs Stribley, Trent, Walton, White, Ms C Wilson, Miss L Wilson and Woodcock.
Members of the public present: Approximately 15
Members of the Standards Committee present: 1
C62.11 PRAYERS
Prayers were said.
C63.11 FAREWELL TO THE REVEREND ROBERT (BOB) MASON: RETIRING MAYOR’S CHAPLAIN
The Mayor thanked Reverend Bob Mason for all the work had had undertaken and assistance he had given him as Mayor’s Chaplain since May of this year. He then invited Group Leaders and past Mayors to add their tributes.
The Deputy Mayor, Councillor Burden (as a past Mayor of the Borough of Poole), paid tribute to the Reverend Mason, thanking him on behalf of the Council for his work and the way he had guided both the Council and the Community and for his work within the Parish, adding that he felt Reverend Mason would be sadly missed and that he had been a great strength to the Borough.
Councillor Ms Atkinson, Leader of the Council, thanked Reverend Mason on behalf of the people of the Town and reflected on past Civic Services and Reverend Mason’s sermons, which she felt had always been thought provoking and appropriate.
Councillor Brooke, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group thanked Reverend Mason for his Ministry and stated that it had been a privilege to know him. He continued, explaining that during Reverend Mason’s Ministry in the Town he had brought a different perspective to both the Borough and the Old Town Community and he would be sadly missed.
Councillor Howell, Leader of the Poole People Party and a Poole Town Ward Member, thanked Reverend Mason on behalf of the people of the Old Town as the local community in and around St James’ Church would particularly miss the Reverend Mason.
The Mayor concluded by thanking Reverend Mason for his guidance during the five months of his Mayoralty as his Mayor’s Chaplain and stated that the Reverend Mason would be an extremely difficult act to follow. The Council wished Reverend Mason well for the future.
C64.11 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Wilkins.
C65.11 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
The Head of Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer advised all Members of the Council that, as being in receipt of a Green Bin affected a number of Members of the Council all were able to speak and vote on this item.
Councillor Brooke declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 17, Coach Concessionary Travel Scheme: Government Intention to Withdraw Subsidy from the Scheme, as his wife, Mrs Annette Brooke, was a Member of Parliament for Mid Dorset and North Poole.
C66.11 MAYOR’S COMMUNICATIONS
The Mayor referred the Council to the engagements he and the Civic Party had undertaken since the last Meeting of the Council, drawing particular attention to the very successful Upton Country Park Fair and Concerts held there which he thought had been very well received by the Community.
Members of the United Kingdom Youth Parliament
The Mayor welcomed Poole’s Member and Deputy Member of the UK Youth Parliament, Nathan Thompson and Vicky Olive to the Council Meeting and invited them to address the Council on their role and priorities.
Nathan thanked the Mayor and the Council for the opportunity to address the Meeting, explaining that he was sixteen years old and attended Corfe Hills School. Vicky explained stated she was sixteen years old and attended Parkstone Girls Grammar School and lived in Newtown. Both of them represented Poole on the UK Youth Parliament, which had been established for ten years.
They outlined their three priorities:
· School Councils – Efficiency and ‘Making a Difference’
· Communication
· Pride in Poole Youth
Nathan explained that they were engaged in an exercise to see if School Councils were effective in giving young people a voice in Schools. A questionnaire had been sent to each School and through consultation with School Councils, Youth Clubs, the Youth Forum, the Youth Conference and the Face Book page, a School Council’s Charter had been drafted, which made recommendations on what made an efficient and effective School Council. It was hoped the Charter would be adopted by each School.
Communication
Nathan and Vicky were seeking to improve two-way communication between the Youth Parliament and Young People, explaining that they were sharing with the UK Youth Parliament Members from Bournemouth, a monthly blog on the Echo Website. An article was to be published in the December/January edition of Poole News and a Face Book page had been established to encourage participation in decision making by young people. They had also participated in an intergenerational project focussing on crime and internet safety.
The Chairman of the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee had also invited the Members of the Youth Parliament to review the Children and Young People’s Agenda and give advance notice to attend the Meeting if they wished to address the Committee on any item so that the views of the Young People were taken into account when considering issues which affected them.
Pride in Poole Youth
The Members of the Youth Parliament had taken part in a recent intergenerational walk around Poole and fed back the findings to the Community Safety Partnership. Vicky had been successful in a bid to the O2 “Think Big” Community Fund for Young People and secured £300 to make a film about the positive things for Youth in Poole.
The Members of the Youth Parliament drew attention to the House of Commons debate, which was to be held on 4th November 2011 and broadcast on BBC Parliament Channel which would give publicity to the issues of concern to young people nationally and was aimed at 11 to 19 year olds to seek participation in the “Make Your Mark” campaign which sought to encourage young people to vote for the top 5 issues of concern to them.
The Mayor, on behalf of the Council, thanked Nathan and Vicky for their excellent presentation and offered them the opportunity to address the Council in the future on issues affecting young people which may be on the Agenda.
Discussions were to take place with the young people and Legal and Democratic Services to see how this could be facilitated.
Council joined with the Mayor in expressing its appreciation of the excellent work the Youth Members of Parliament were undertaking for the Youth of Poole.
C67.11 PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS
From Members of the Public
None received.
From Members
Councillor Mrs Butt presented a petition on behalf of residents, requesting the Council to impose a permanent ban on dogs on an area of Sandbanks beach, including the Blue Flag section up to Shore Road to enable the beach to be enjoyed by children.
Councillor Meachin presented a petition on behalf of the Poole Pensioners Association to support is campaign to retain the concessions on coach travel for older people and those with disabilities.
RESOLVED that
(i) the Petition from residents presented by Councillor Mrs Butt be referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Board for onward transmission;
(ii) the Petition from the Poole Pensioners be considered with Item 17 of the Agenda on “Coach Concessionary Travel Scheme: Government intention to withdraw subsidy from the Scheme from 31st October 2011”.
C68.11 FUTURE OF GARDEN WASTE COLLECTION SCHEME: REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN OF ENVIRONMENT OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
ADJOURNMENT
The Mayor adjourned the Council at 7:35pm.
MEETING RECONVENED
The Meeting reconvened at 8:10pm.
Councillor Trent, the Chairman of Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee, introduced his Report and the recommendations which were before Council, which were seconded.
He felt this decision would test the current political status of the Council of no overall control. He explained that all options identified within the Garden Waste 2012 Business Case had been the subject of public consultation, which he thought had not been as extensive as it could have been but acknowledged there was a short, six week timescale. He explained that, at the Meeting on 8th September 2011, when the outlined Business Case for the introduction of a Chargeable Garden Waste Collection Scheme was discussed, he had used his casting vote not to progress the introduction of a Chargeable Garden Waste Collection Scheme operating for nine months of the year and to approve revising the existing Black Bin Waste Policy to exclude garden waste from black bins across the whole Borough.
A number of Members spoke in support of the proposal not to make charges for the collection of green waste.
A Member explained that he had circulated an amendment to all Members of the Council prior to the Meeting, which he thought provided extra free bins at no extra cost, which he had discussed with the Head of Environment and Consumer Protection. He had been advised that there were a number of areas that needed further investigation within his proposed Amendment and the proposal had to be fully costed and checked. The Member moved and seconded
“that any decision on the Garden Waste Collection Scheme be deferred to allow full investigation of options, consideration by the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee for referral to Council for decision on 1st November 2011”.
The Amendment was seconded.
A number of Members spoke against the Amendment, explaining that:
· The options before the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee had all been thoroughly investigated.
· The Amendment suggested for deferral was politically expedient.
· A Member had received 100 to 150 calls per month from people who wanted to be able to participate in the Green Bin Collection Scheme.
· If the decision was not taken now, the budget deficit would not be met and the service not delivered.
· This proposal had been costed and was within the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan, approved by Council on 1st March 2011
· There was no justification in deferring this item, this proposal made the budget balance.
A number of Members spoke in support of the Amendment, stating the following:
· This option delivered a chargeable waste collection service that met residents’ demands and was available to all properties.
· All options need to be reviewed, which they clearly had not been.
· This was an equality issue. Some people would not be able to afford to pay the proposed £31 per annum charge for the use of the Green Bin.
· It was inequitable and gave a mixed message, encouraging people to use cars to take away waste.
· If the Council charge for the removal of green waste, the goodwill of the public would be lost. There was a strong risk of a reduction in recycling and of people putting garden waste in black bins.
· A proposed scheme was to be implemented (subject to “the views of the consultation”). 39% thought it should be charged for, 92% did not want charging for the scheme, so if charging were introduced, this would be against the results of Consultation.
· The Scheme before the Council was felt to be all about “making money”.
· Reference was made to paragraph 1.1 of the Report. 35% were in favour of a charge, 65% of the public wanted no charge and the Council would be failing them if it did not defer this item to review all options.
· The Council was not a business, it was here to serve the public. The proposal by some Members by neighbours to share bins was highly unlikely as a good deal of Councillors’ work involved sorting out neighbour disputes.
· The Amendment offered the opportunity to give a service to the whole of Poole and it should be properly investigated.
In summing up, the Chairman supported the Amendment and agreed that a special meeting of Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to which all Members of the Council were invited, should be convened and Members invited to put forward any other options which could be “worked up” by the Officers for consideration at this Meeting, prior to consideration by Council.
The Amendment, in the following terms, having been moved and seconded, was put to the vote:
“That any decision on the Garden Waste Collection Scheme be deferred to allow full investigation of options, consideration by the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee for referral to Council for decision on 1st November 2011”.
The requisite number of Members requested that voting on the Amendment be recorded. Voting was as follows:
For the Amendment
Councillors Brooke, Brown, Clements, Mrs Clements, Mrs Cox, Eades, Godfrey, Goodall, Hodges, Howell, Mrs Le Poidevin, Maiden, Matthews, Meachin, Mrs Moore, Mrs Parkinson, Mrs Slade, Trent, Ms C Wilson, Miss L Wilson, Wilson (The Mayor).
Against the Amendment
Councillors Adams, Ms Atkinson, Burden, Mrs Butt, Miss Carpenter, Chandler, Mrs Dion, Mrs Evans, Mrs Haines, Parker, Pawlowski, Potter, Rampton, Mrs Rampton, Rollo-Smith, Sorton, Mrs Stribley, Mrs Walton, White and Woodcock.