Winchester City Borough Council Cabinet Meeting

No apologies were received.

There were no changes of membership to be made.

Councillors Porter and Tod declared personal (but not prejudicial) interests in respect of various agenda items due to their role as County Councillors.

Ian Tait addressed Cabinet in relation to the council’s nutrient mitigation project and specifically proposals to upgrade the council’s own sewage treatment works, and that whether any of the value from this work could be fed back into the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget.  Finally, he asked for assurance that no untreated sewage from existing council owned sewage treatment works was being discharged into rivers.

Councillor Tod responded that he was not aware of any such issue with the council’s sewage treatment works but he would investigate further and respond to Mr Tait’s question outside of the meeting.

RESOLVED:

          That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 13 December 2023 be agreed as a correct record.

Councillor Cutler announced that the number of incidents of fly-tipping in the Winchester district had significantly reduced since the previous year and the council had achieved the greatest reduction of all the councils in Hampshire. 

Councillor Becker announced that the council was supporting outdoor football sessions for children in Weeke, Stanmore, Colden Common and Whiteley during the half-term school holiday. 

Councillor Becker also announced that the next online consultation session to be held by Hampshire Together on the proposals for Winchester and Basingstoke hospitals would take place on 26 January 2024, with further events planned.  She urged residents to respond to the consultation – further details were available on the Hampshire Together website.  Councillor Tod also reminded that the proposals would be considered at a Health and Environment Policy Committee on 31 January 2024.

Councillor Thompson announced that from 10 to 13 February 2024, Middle Brook Street and Kings Walk would be transformed by a light installation project.  The “Glowing Galaxies” project had been funded through the government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Councillor Porter introduced the report which set out the updated Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) and included the consultation responses and consequential changes.  She highlighted that a number of consultation responses related to the operation of the Planning Committee which was outside the remit of the SCI.

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillors Read and Horrill addressed the meeting as summarised briefly below.

Councillor Read welcomed the report but drew attention to a number of minor corrections, including improvements required to the page layout and breaks and the correct reference to parish and town councils. He noted the greater reliance on online consultation methods and emphasised that other methods should also be available for anyone without internet access.

Councillor Horrill requested that the recommendations be amended to give delegated authority to make the required minor changes to the SCI prior to publication.  Access for those without the internet should be ensured and she queried why it was proposed some documents should be paid for.  Finally, she requested an additional note be added to clarify the current status of supplementary planning documents (SPDs).

Councillor Porter and the Strategic Planning Manager responded to the comments made advising that secondary legislation was awaited to clarify the future status of SPDs and confirmed that existing SPDs remained in force whilst the current Local Plan was in place.

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons set out in the report and outlined above.

RESOLVED:

1.           That the recommended changes to the Statement of Community Involvement 2024 as set out in Appendix 1 to the report (arising from the public consultation) be accepted; and

2.           That the Statement of Community Involvement (dated January 2024) attached at Appendix 1 to the report be adopted.

Councillor Learney introduced the report highlighting that the spending proposals were aimed to continue the ongoing improvement of the customer experience for car park users travelling by car, bike or pedestrians.

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillors Wallace and Bolton addressed the meeting as summarised briefly below.

Councillor Wallace expressed concern that he had made the same statement regarding last year’s report and the proportion of spending on alternative transport had apparently been reduced since 2022/23.  He stated that it was essential that increased measures were introduced to ensure an alternative transport solution.

Councillor Bolton requested that proposals to replace the lift be accelerated.  He queried when further information would be available on the costs of upgrading the Brooks car park and the impact of the Central Winchester Regeneration development on the proposed upgrade of the Middle Brook Street car park.

Councillor Learney responded to comments made, including emphasising that the report contained only one aspect of proposals relating to transport with other elements including community infrastructure levy spending and work with the County Council through the Winchester Movement Strategy.  The Head of Programme also responded to the queries relating to specific car parks.

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons set out in the report and outlined above.

RESOLVED:

1.             That subject to Full Council approval of the Budget and Capital Investment Strategy in February 2024, expenditure of £753,000 for the car park major works programme 2024/25 be approved as outlined in appendix A of the report.

2.                That authority be delegated to the Head of Programme – Place, in consultation with the Corporate Head of Asset Management and Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency, to make minor adjustments to the programme in order to meet maintenance and operational needs of the car park service throughout the year, as required, procure works as set out in the report and devise a suitable evaluation model and conclude the required processes.

3.                That authority be delegated to the Head of Programme – Place, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency to agree an evaluation model, seek tenders and complete the process for a contract to run and provide car park payment and related back-office systems.

RESOLVED:

          That the list of future items as set out in the February 2024 forward plan be noted.