To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Council, held on 22 July 2015.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Council, held on 22 July 2015, were approved as a correct record.

To receive additional items that the Mayor is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency, in accordance with Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

The Mayor informed the Council that she had not agreed to the consideration of any items of urgent business.

To receive any declaration of interests from Members.

Councillor Churchman declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of Agenda Item 6, Frost Estate Community Governance Review, as a family member resided on the Frost Estate in Corringham. He affirmed that this would not affect his decision and that he had an open mind throughout the public consultation process. 

The Mayor advised that she had not intended to make any comments before the extraordinary meeting of Council, but that something had come to mind which she felt deserved to be highlighted.

The Mayor reported that one hundred years ago on 30 August 1915 an awful tragedy took place on the Thames off from Purfleet. It was further reported that sixteen young cadets and an officer, all from the Training Ship Cornwall, were killed when the boat they were in was struck by a government steam tug which had failed to give way to sail. The cadets were buried in a mass grave alongside their officer who died with them, at St Clement’s Church in West Thurrock.

The Mayor advised that an open day would be held at St Clement’s Church on Sunday 30 August 2015 from 12 noon to 4.30 pm, where a remembrance ceremony would also take place, and encouraged those present to attend.

·         Introduction by David Bull, Interim Chief Executive and Director of Planning and Transportation.

·         Public Statements and Questions (45 minutes, subject to suspending standing orders).

Each resident will be allowed up to 3 minutes to speak and have been included on the agenda in the order in which the request was received.

·         Member Debate and Decision Making.

Mr Bull, Interim Chief Executive, introduced the report which presented the outcomes of the community governance review and requested Council to consider additional information in order to decide whether it wished to change the community governance arrangements for the Frost Estate and create a new Parish Council, or whether it considered that there should be no changes to the governance arrangements for the area. In introducing the report, the following key points were highlighted:

·         355 properties had been surveyed and 715 questionnaires delivered during September 2014.

·         During the Stage 1 Consultation process 357 responses had been received which equated to 49.93% of the electorate. Of those 299 indicated a preference for a Parish Council, which was 83.75% of the 357 voters (41.81% of the electorate).

·         During the Stage 2 Consultation process, 380 residents had agreed to a Parish Council, 70.9% of 536 responses, in comparison to 156 who disagreed which equated to 29.1% of responses.

·         369 respondents agreed to 9 Parish Councillors if a Parish Council was created, which would result in 7 Parish Councillors for the Frost Estate East Ward and 2 for the Frost Estate West Ward.

·         That in March 2015 Council deferred the decision on a Parish Council in order to address the key issues.

·         That in July 2015 a public meeting with senior council officers had been held and attended by over 200 residents.

·         In August 2015 a meeting with those for and against the Parish Council had been convened.

·         That if a Parish Council was created Thurrock Council would remain the Council Tax billing authority.

·         An example of the householder charges for each property band was provided based upon a £38,700 precept, which equated to a £99 charge for band D properties, £66 for band A (or £50 if the resident was entitled to a 25% discount) and £143 for a band F property.

·         That if created the first Parish Council election could not be held until May 2016, which would result in the first precept being set from April 2017, which thereby would result in any scheme implementation taking two years.

The Interim Chief Executive further reported that following discussions with the Frost Estate Residents Association (FERA) and the Against Parish Council Committee (APCC), he felt that a consensus had been reached so that if a Parish Council was agreed both organisations would work together to help form the Shadow Parish Council. Conversely if the Parish Council was not agreed both organisations could work together to form a charity or Limited Company in order to create a legal entity which would be eligible to bid for funding.

Members were advised of the possible options going forward, and asked to consider both the points outlined in the report and the weight given to the following matters, which had been raised during the last two meetings the Interim Chief Executive had chaired with Frost Estate residents:

·         That during the Stage 2 Consultation process over 70% residents had voted in favour of a Parish Council and over  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

The Mayor advised that the report requested the Council to confirm the calculations relating to the allocation of seats on committees following Councillor Churchman ceasing to be a member of the UKIP group, as stated at Full Council on 22 July 2015.

Upon being put to the vote, Members voted unanimously in favour of the recommendation, whereupon the Mayor declared this to be carried.

RESOLVED:

That the allocation of seats, as set out in Appendix 1 and 2.16, be approved.

The Council are asked to agree any changes to the appointments made to committees and outside bodies, statutory and other panels, as requested by Group Leaders.

The Mayor enquired whether Group Leaders wished for any changes to be made to the appointments previously made to Committees and outside bodies, statutory and other panels in light of the changes to the Political Balance which had been agreed.

The Leader of the Council advised that he wished to make a number of changes to appointments; however he would confirm these during the Council meeting in September.

The Leader of the UKIP group informed Members that he wished to make the following changes:

·         for Councillor Snell to be the UKIP appointed representative on the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and thereby to remove Councillor Cherry from the membership of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee in accordance with the revised political balance.

·         for Councillor Churchman to be removed as a UKIP representative on the Licensing Committee.

·         for Councillor Chris Baker to be appointed to the UKIP vacancy on the Planning Committee.

·         for Councillor Chris Baker to be appointed as a member of the Planning, Transport and Regeneration Overview and Scrutiny Committee to replace Councillor Churchman.

Councillor Churchman, Independent Member, advised that no changes would be made to the appointments of Independent Members until himself and Councillor Ray had an opportunity to consult with Councillor Palmer, who was unfortunately unwell.

Members voted unanimously in favour of the changes to Appointments to

Committees and Outside Bodies, Statutory and Other Panels.

RESOLVED:

1.         That Councillor Snell be appointed as a member of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

2.         That Councillor Cherry be removed as a member of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

3.         That Councillor Churchman be removed as a UKIP member from the Licensing Committee.

4.         That Councillor Chris Baker be appointed as a member of the Planning Committee.

5.         That Councillor Chris Baker be appointed as a member of the Planning, Transport and Regeneration Overview and Scrutiny Committee to replace Councillor Churchman.

In accordance with Chapter 2, Part 2 (Rule 14) of the Council’s Constitution.

The Mayor advised that no questions from members of the public had been received.