Agenda item

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 Friday 16 April at 12 noon. Questions to be submitted to democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk.

 

Questions can be asked of the following:

a.     The Mayor

b.     A Member of the Executive

c.     The Chairman 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

 

The Mayor announced that the Proper Officer had received 14 questions from Members in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12. He advised that one supplementary question could be asked which must arise out of the original question, or, the reply. 

 

Questions would be asked in rotation of the Groups represented in the Chamber and there were 30 minutes allowed for questions with 11 rotations of speakers possible. At the end of 30 minutes the Mayor explained that he would extend the time to conclude the current rotation of questions.

 

The Mayor announced that the following Councillors had submitted questions:

 

Councillors Walker, Thorpe, Nowak, Deen, James, Baker, Howard, Wills, Murphy and Chowdhury. Councillor Walker withdrew the submitted question as answers had been provided in an earlier part of the meeting

 

First rotation:

 

Question from Councillor Hazel Thorpe to the Leader

 

Cllr Humphries as you are aware, developers’ CIL and S106 monies are monitored and should be reported annually to show the public how much money has been raised and how it is spent. It should have been published on December 31st 2020.

Although most of the CIL pot can be spent on infrastructure projects anywhere in the Borough,  there is a need to ensure that 15% of the money collected is spent on projects located in ward where the development is approved.

 

This will usually be within the same ward as the development in question though not always.

 

I was told that there was a Joint Officer group meeting on or around the 22nd of January of this year, to decide how the process for the CIL local pot could be launched.

 

There is currently £11k in the pot for Tarring. 

 

My Question is:

 

Given that a key aim is to ensure that this is a community led process - 

 

What involvement will local groups and ward members have and when will this happen as there has been a long period of silence since I asked my questions?

 

The Leader replied that the Joint Officer Member Board agreed to delay the launch of the Neighbourhood Pot to await the outcome of the Examination which was to consider extending the CIL charge for all Wards.  However, the Inspectors decision was expected shortly and it was intended to launch the Neighbourhood Pot in parallel with the new Charging Schedule during the summer.  The public engagement and request for bids would be for those Wards that had exceeded £10,000 and currently, as well as Tarring, included Central, Durrington, Offington, Marine and Salvington wards.

 

Both the Joint Strategic Committee and the JOMB had agreed the process for evaluating bids and as indicated the onus would be on the community putting forward projects for potential funding.  As part of the bidding process local community groups would be encouraged to engage and seek support from the relevant Ward Councillors.  The CIL Neighbourhood Pot was intended to be focussed on the needs/wants of the local community, hence the emphasis on the money being available to local community groups and organisations to fund infrastructure projects which would benefit their local area.  Ward Members would be able to assist the community groups by providing their support for particular projects which they believed would have the biggest impact on the ward (and/or neighbouring ward).

  

Question from Councillor Richard Nowak to the Leader

 

"The purchase of the fields along Shepherds Mead and Long Meadow by this council is a very welcome initiative to improve biodiversity and establish the council's commitment to the local environment. The fields are currently widely used by walkers and dog walkers.

 

Can the Leader offer reassurances that all users will be consulted with and accommodated as plans for the fields are developed?"

 

 

The Leader replied that over the coming months multiple engagement activities and sessions would be held to fully explore how the Council would work with local people to enhance the natural environment at Shepherds Meads and Long Meadow, while maintaining the really popular amenity value of the space for the local community.

 

Working in partnership with South Downs National park, the Council would be working very closely with local residents as well as the many frequent visitors to the site from further afield, with activities advertised on site at Shepherds Mead, as well as through council media streams and the strong local relationships already in place, ensuring that it was reaching everyone that wanted to be involved.

 

 

Second rotation

 

Question from Councillor Jim Deen to the Executive Member for Regeneration

 

The Council recently issued a press release implying that the planned public realm improvements scheme for Portland Road would cost £925,000. Could the Executive Member for Regeneration confirm what the actual total cost of the scheme will be from the date of its first announcement in January 2018 through to the date when the scheme will be completed?

 

The Executive Member told the Council that the build cost for the scheme referred to in the press release was accurate - £927,544 - a figure that was also referred to in the Officers’ Decision report of 21 January 2021. It was confirmed that the project, under the project management of the Borough Council team, would  be delivered within the overall budget of £3m identified for this work by West Sussex County Council and reported in the Joint Strategic Committee papers of June 2020. The Executive Member looked forward to reporting on the precise figure on completion of this important scheme for our town centre traders and visitors.

 

Councillor Hazel Thorpe to the Executive Member for Digital & Environmental Services

 

Brighton and Hove City Council are investing £1 m in the safety of their residents and visitors this summer when facilities are open again.

 

How much is this council  intending  investing in our safety in Worthing, what is your strategy for supporting charities who put on events and how do you intend to implement it especially with respect to public conveniences?

 

The Executive Member stated that Council had received over £250,000 from the government in the previous 12 months to support reopening of the town centre following all of the lockdown periods. This funding had accommodated a number of interventions including:

 

·       Road closures, to enable businesses to utilise new outside space for additional tables and chairs (e.g. Portland Road and Montague Place)

·       Taxi Marshalls, to provide support for dispersing in the town centre from Thursday to Sunday (in peak times)

·       Additional covid signage to highlight the need for social distancing

·       Dedicated safety marketing campaigns, including #WelcomeBackAW and #RoadmapAW

·       Business support through our Business Advice pages

 

The Council was also actively working with partners, including the Town Centre Initiative and the Police, to ensure safety in the town centre. This work was in addition to the ‘business as usual’ activities around outreach work.

 

For events, whilst additional covid safety guidance had been introduced (via national bodies) charities would still be able to ‘apply’ to run an event through the  events team. To support these events, and the town centre as a whole, as lockdown restrictions have eased, all public conveniences were now fully open and covid signage had been installed to advise the general public to adhere to covid safety.

 

Councillor Charles James to the Executive Member for Digital & Environmental Services

 

"The people of Worthing are looking forward to Spring and Summer with more anticipation than ever before. 

 

Can the executive member for environmental services confirm that when the sun comes out the town centre will be bursting with colourful flower displays?"

 

The Executive Member told the Council that making sure town centres were attractive and well turned out was a priority for the council.

 

The Council had come to the end of its current floral display contract and a recent tender exercise produced no viable tenders.  The council saw this as an opportunity to build skills and resources around our floral displays, and as such the team began the task of bringing these works in house to make sure the town centre remains bright, colourful and inviting. Flowers were on order, as were all associated pieces of equipment, and we are currently recruiting to the roles required to deliver the programme. The flowers were being grown off site currently, and it was envisaged that the first stages of planting would begin in April but this was weather dependent as there had been some late frosts. There would be further planting later in the season to extend the flowering time to make sure the centre was bright and colourful for the longest period possible.