Gosport Borough Council Council Meeting

An apology for non attendance was received from Honorary Alderman Dickson.

There were none.

RESOLVED: That subject to the alterations identified, the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday, 20 March 2024 be signed as a true and correct record.

Councillor Finn was congratulated on his election and replied to the Council.

Members of the Council took the opportunity to pay tribute to Honorary Freeman O’Neill, Councillor Morgan, and Former Councillors Linda Barker and John Early.

The Mayor advised that he was looking forward to his Mayoral Year and was expecting that the behavior in the Chamber would be appropriate, polite and kind.

He would be reinforcing these values across the meetings.

There were none.

Two Members questions had been received.

A question in the name of Councillor Hammond to Councillor Chegwyn.

Under standing order 3.3, could I ask the leader to comment on the statement that the Caroline Dinenage made in the News about the Alverstoke Flood defences. 

Answer: I am grateful for the opportunity as the Gosport MP has been posting false information and this is an opportunity to set the record straight.

She had stated that the Alverstoke Flood Scheme had been cancelled but that this was wrong. It were not cancelled. It had been suspended under the Conservative administration and were currently still suspended. An issue had been identified with cabling being exposed and this had tried to be resolved, but the issues with it remained, this contributed to the ongoing cost issue that the Environment Agency were not paying for. The statement was a cheap political point and the Coastal Partners had advised that the scheme was on hold and that there was a funding gap of £800,000 that needed to be paid by the Environment Agency. The Local Authority were not in a position to fund this, both this and the cabling issue had resulted in the project being put on hold, but not cancelled.

Supplementary question:

Why do the ward Councilors insist in telling residents that plans for schemes at Jackie Spencer bridge were being considered? When they weren’t and this added to confusion, when the messaging should be that the scheme was on hold.

Answer: Information was also being sent to constituents via an email mailing list and that it was also inaccurate though not as bad as what had been published by the MP. It was incorrect to say there was a possibility for the weir to be opened when it had not been for a number of years and would not be again as the advice had been not to open it. Advising it would be created problems and it had been advised that the fate was not opened.

A question in the name of Councillor Bradley to Councillor Chegwyn.

Please could we have an update on the Lee on the Solent Skate Park?

The Skate Park had been closed over concerns for safety. There had been information shared by a Lee West Councillor on Social Media calling for it to be reopened, and that Councillor had previously been the Council officer responsible for the construction of the skate park which had been constructed poorly and the reasons it had been closed was because there were significant safety concerns about its construction. This was known by officers as had been highlighted in the ROSPA reports but had remained open. It had been moved as a result of the instillation of the splash park and as a result had not been allocated enough space to be safe, lacking space for safety zones.

The surface was concrete and abutted the fence into the pedestrian zone, the fence was not high enough to protect the busy promenade and raised a high risk of injury.

This had not been dealt with.

The Skate park had been constructed in June 2010 and was relocated in 2018 as part of the splash park development. A specialist installation quote was not procured. The park was not opened in March 2019 as it did not have a safe surface, equipment and was recommended for safety improvements as the design was outdated, did not flow and a different location for the site should have been considered. In May and June remedial work was undertaken but in July 2019 it was still deemed to be unsafe with a number of pieces of equipment not meeting British Safety Standards.

No responses were received to a procurement exercise for the repair work undertaken in March 2022 but there were no records of what had been repaired and the park remained open.
Concern was raised once again that the park was unsafe, and the park was now closed and would not be reopened.

It was fortunate that no one had been injured, and disgraceful the park had been opened when it was repeatedly declared unsafe.

It was proposed and seconded that Councillor Kirsten Ballard be elected as the Depuy Mayor for the Municipal Year 2024/25.

She thanked the Council and nominated her husband, Jon Bradley as her consort for the year.

Consideration was given to the report of the Returning Officer detailing the results of the local elections on 2 May 2024.

The report was noted.

Consideration was given to a report advising the Council of the balance of the seats on the Council and the position with regard to Political Groups and to undertake a review in accordance with the “Proportionality Rules” of the balance of seats on the Boards and Committees of the Council.

RESOLVED: That the

1.    That the Community and Environment Board, Housing Board, Policy and Organisation Board comprise of  7 seats and Regulatory Board comprise of 7 members; and the Licensing Sub-Board remain comprised of 3 members; and the Licensing (General Applications) Sub-Board remain comprised of 5 members. The Standards and Audit Sub-Board will comprise of 5 members and the Grants Sub-Board will comprise of 5 members .

2.    The allocation of seats on the Boards as set out in paragraph 3.2

RESOLVED: That Councillor Chegwyn be appointed the Chairman of the Policy and Organisation Board for the Municipal Year 2024/25.

Consideration was given to the proposed ‘blue sheets’ detailing the Boards, Outside Bodies, Chairman and Vice Chairman of Boards.

Gosport Community Safety Partnership Strategic Board

Appointed: Councillor Hutchison, Standing Deputy Councillor Ballard

Hampshire Police and Crime Panel

Appointed: Councillor Hammond, Standing Deputy Councillor Jessop

Gosport and Fareham Joint Environmental Health Panel

Appointed: Councillor Kelly

Lee on the Solent Community Association

Appointed: Councillor Bradley

Project Integra Strategic Board

Appointed: Councillor Hammond, Councillor Ricketts standing deputy.

Partnership for Urban South Hampshire Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Appointed: Councillor Westerby, Standing Deputy Councillor Durrant.

The following Outside bodies required a representation to be appointed.

South East Employers: Appointed Councillor Westerby

Gosport Food Partnership: Appointed Councillor Huggins

Portchester Joint Crematorium Committee: Additional Appointment, Councillor Jessop

Solent Sea Rescue: Appointed Councillor Huggins.

The Council was advised that the threshold for the petition to be considered at a Full Council had been met. The petition request had been considered at the previous meeting and discussed at length. There was no obligation for a report to be presented to the Council.

There were none.