Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies from Councillors Julian Shinn, Andy McGregor and Pauline Higgins were received by the Chair.

Members and officers must declare any disclosable pecuniary interests in relation to any business on the agenda. Declarations should also be made at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting.

If in doubt contact the Legal or Democratic Services representative for this meeting.

There were no declarations of pecuniary interests.

To receive any questions from members of the public addressed to Members of the Cabinet in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.  There is up to 5 minutes for each question, one supplementary question may be asked arising from the original question. 

Questions must relate to any matter the Council has power or which affects the Borough, except no questions may be asked in relation to 

a)    A specific planning or licensing application

b)    A specific staffing appointment or appeal, or Standards determination

Public question time will last up to 30 minutes; questions will be taken in the order of receipt. 

The deadline for submission of questions is 12 noon on 17th February 2025. Questions to be submitted to democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk

There were no pre-submitted questions from the public.

To approve the minutes of the Council Meeting held on 19th December 2024, copies of which have been previously circulated.

Resolved, that the minutes of the Full Council meeting held on 19 December 2024 be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chair.

To consider any items the Chair has agreed are urgent.

The Chair advised that there had been no items raised under urgency.

To consider recommendations to the Council, details of which are set out in the attached items as 6A, 6B, 6C and 6D. 

Reports are available on the website as listed below:

7(A)     Joint Audit and Governance Committee - 29 January 2025

Asset Disposal Uplift, a recommendation from Joint Strategic Committee

The Chair of the Joint Audit and Governance Committee  introduced the recommendations from the Committee, which were seconded and following a vote, were supported. 

Resolved: that the constitutional amendment recommended by the Joint Governance Committee as detailed in paragraphs 3.26 to 3.28 in the report to the Joint Governance Committee be adopted

7(B)     Adur Cabinet - 30 January 2025

Budget Estimates 2025/26 and setting of the 2025/26 Council Tax

It was noted that this item would be considered in conjunction with item 9 of the agenda  

7(C)     Adur Cabinet 30 January 2025

Investing in our Places - Capital Programme 2025/26 - 2027/28

It was noted that this item would be considered in conjunction with item 9 of the agenda  

7(D)     Joint Strategic Committee - 6 February 2025

Joint Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy 2025/26 to 2027/28, Adur District Council and Worthing Borough Council

The Leader introduced the recommendations from the Joint Strategic Committee, which were seconded and following a vote, were unanimously supported. 

Resolved: that the Prudential Indicators and Limits, and MRP Statements, within the report to the Joint Strategic Committee be approved 

Members' question time will last up to 30 minutes, with questions being taken in the order of receipt and in rotation from each political group on the Council. The deadline for submission of questions is 12 noon on 17th February 2025. Questions to be submitted to democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk

Questions can be asked of the following:

a)    The Chair

b)    A Member of the Cabinet

c)    The Chair of any Committee

d)    The Council’s representative on any outside body

Questions cannot be asked in relation to the following:

a)    A specific planning or licensing application

b)    A specific staffing appointment, appeal or Standards determination

Rotation One

Cllr Neil Parkin asked the following question:

I have been told secret meetings have been held by Brighton and Hove,  Eastbourne, Lewes, Worthing and Adur Leaders to form 1 new level 1 Council. Can the Leader confirm this plan is being worked on?

I am not aware of any such secret meeting.

I have met with every council leader in West Sussex, Brighton and Hove and some from East Sussex collectively and sometimes individually to talk about devolution and local government reorganisation. 

The main point of those meetings has been to gain a shared understanding of government guidance.

The government is inviting interim submissions on future unitary authorities by 21 March and an interim plan by 26 September. It has been confirmed that for the March deadline a letter outlining the work needed to develop the interim plan will be sufficient. Detailed evaluation and data will not be needed at this stage, nor will any preferred option or options.

This approach allows for engagement with councillors and communities on what they would want to see from a unitary authority, before proposals are made to the government. This would include a meeting of our full council to discuss the interim plan before it is submitted.

Cllr Watts asked the following question:

Please could you update members on the progress to create and restore wetlands and marshlands on New Salts Farm which was purchased for this purpose as well as maintaining the strategic gap between Lancing and Shoreham in 2021? We understand that there is a charge on the land which may or may not have delayed progress but what strategies has this administration employed to overcome this obstacle and justify the significant investment of funds?

Thank you for your question Councillor Watts, the Council, under the previous administration, acquired the land at New Salts Farm in 2021 for the laudable reason of securing it from development and maintaining separation between settlements.  

There was a further ambition to renature the land as part of its work to address the climate and ecology crises, subject to funding, and provide a site accessible to the community. A renaturing scheme, relying on lottery grant funding, was developed in recent years that maximised the “ecosystem services” delivered at the site, in order to unlock project funding and revenue contributions.   

There are beneficiaries of a longstanding agreement that came with the land, who have ‘overage rights'. These . I can say that the overage beneficiaries were supportive of the renaturing project that was developed, while also seeking (naturally) to protect their longstanding beneficiary position. We continue to explore future options to enhance the site.

We know that over time developer attempts have been made to secure planning permission on the site and all have failed. This is due to some critical issues including the need to avoid settlement coalescence and flood risk.The Adur Local Plan 2017 shows that the site lies outside of the Built Up Area  and is therefore  considered as countryside in  planning  ...  view the full minutes text for item C/48/23-24

The Council is asked to suspend Council Procedure Rules for consideration and determination of item 9 on the agenda, where they conflict with the Budget Procedure Rules in accordance with paragraph 7.2 of the Budget Procedure Rules.

Resolved, The Council agreed to suspend Council Procedure rules where they conflicted with the budget procedure rules in accordance with paragraph 7.2 of the budget procedure rules.

To consider and set the Council Tax for 2025/26. 

A separate budget pack, produced by the Director for Sustainability and Resources, is attached as item 9, and the recommendations from the Cabinet, at item 6B and 6C, will also be considered as part of this item.

The Leader of the Council introduced the budget and setting of the council tax to members and delivered his budget speech (appended to these minutes as Appendix 1). 

The Deputy Leader seconded the budget proposals. 

The Leader of the Conservative group made a speech to the Council which is summarised as follows:

• Comments were made about voting levels at the General Elections
• Projects started by the previous Conservative administration were coming to fruition
• There were still a lot of elderly people being affected by the winter fuel allowance cut
• The development at Buckingham Park was being stopped in favour of a development at Southwick football club 
• Officers were thanked for all of their hard work 

The Leader of the Shoreham Beach Residents Association (SBRA) gave a speech on the proposed budget which is summarised as follows:

• Officers were thanked for their work
• There were variables in the figures within the budget that were uncertain
• There was a desire to see a commitment to the Buckingham park development
• Shoreham Beach Residents were pleased with expenditure on the Beach Green and repairs to the Boardwalk 
• There was no commitment to repair the Toilet Block on Beach Green. Poor Quality toilets would add pressure during summer months, especially considering the licensing for concessions on the beach
• There were no beach patrols to enforce swimming areas on the beach which led to difficulties with water crafts
• It was felt that the organisational redesign would not see the benefits dur to local government reorganisation
• The SBRA accepted and Supported the Council Tax increase

The Deputy Leader of the Green Group gave a speech on the proposed budget.

The Deputy Leader of the Green Party thanked the Leader of the Council for their speech and thanked officers for preparing the budget.

The Council voted on the budget proposals as put by the Leader 

For Cllrs Becky Allinson, Nigel Corston, Lee Cowen, Dan Flower, Carolyn Fuhrman, Jeremy Gardner, Andrew Harvey, Jude Harvey, Saffa Jan, Nigel Jenner, Joss Loader, Adrienne Lowe, Steve Neocleous, Carol O’Neal, Sharon Sluman, Debs Stainforth, Nigel Sweet, Gerry Thompson, Julia Watts

Against Cllrs Carol Albury, Carson Albury, Tony Ballasis, Emma Evans, Paul Mansfield, 

Abstentions nil

Resolved: 

1.    That the detailed revenue budget be approved as set out in appendix 7, leading to a precept figure of £7,818,990.

2.    That the Capital Programme be approved.

3.    The the formal council tax resolution (resolution 1,2 and 3) for Adur District Council  be approved set out at Appendix A including the Council’s specific Council Tax for 2025/26, Parish Precepts and Special Expenses, which include: 

4.    The basic part of Adur Council’s requirements (excluding special expenses) in 2025/26 to be £322.74 for a Band D equivalent property as per paragraph 3(h).

5.    The special expenses part of Adur Council’s requirements in 2025/26 to be £30.06 for a Band D equivalent property.

6.    The average Band D equivalent for Adur per paragraph 3(f), to be £343.71. 

7.    The Council is recommended to approve  ...  view the full minutes text for item C/50/23-24