Agenda item

Members question time will last up to 30 minutes, questions will be taken in order of receipt, in rotation from each political group on the Council. The deadline for submission of questions is 17^th July 2023 at 12 noon. Questions to be submitted to democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk

Questions received can be asked of the following:

a)    The Chairman

b)    A Member of the Cabinet

c)    The Chairman of any Committee

d)    The Councils representative on any outside body

Questions cannot be asked on the following

a)    A specific planning or licensing application

b)    A specific staffing appointment, appeal or Standards determination

Rotation One

Cllr Arnold asked the following question:

In late 2021 we asked the Council Executive to call for a meeting with Southern Water’s CEO to demand immediate action on sewage in our River Adur and sea.

At the time the Cabinet member for Communities and Wellbeing said that Ofwat was a strong enough mechanism for appropriate fines. Since then Southern Water was required to hand back £30m to customers at the end of 2022, but we now see a potential 73% rise in bills to pay for improvements in the sewer system. Adur is among 40 councils working together to hold Southern Water to account over pollution and infrastructure failures.

What progress is being made in this?

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration replied that the Southern Water stakeholder group was facilitated by Wealden Council. However, the group was unwieldy due to the large number of Councillors sitting on it. The stakeholder group was in the process of establishing a working group and the Cabinet Member would keep Council informed of progress.

Cllr Carol Albury asked the following question:

Perhaps Councillor Neil Parkin could explain if there is any truth to the rumours that the Frost Site has been sold to Croydon Council, and they have been bought by Croydon to house their Council Tenants.

The Leader replied that he was pleased to confirm that Officers had checked with Croydon Council representatives that there was absolutely no truth to the rumour.  Similar rumours had been circulated relating to other sites; the focus remained very much directed towards delivering affordable homes for local people in need.

Rotation Two

Cllr Harvey asked the following question

We have a government that lacks urgency in meeting net zero targets. The

recently published 2023 progress report from the Climate Change Committee

states “Our confidence in the UK meeting its goals from 2030 onwards is now

markedly less than it was in our previous assessment a year ago”.

In this context we are fortunate to have Shoreham Port; an innovative enterprise which is being taken into a net zero future and is showing how all aspects of building, industry and employment can be managed sustainably.

Can we be assured that sustainable, renewable developments at the port will be supported and enabled by this council, with due diligence and timely engagement in planning processes.

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Strategic Planning replied that he shared the councillors excitement about development coming forward at the Port and the Port team should be commended for their proactive approach to delivering new accommodation for businesses and their commitment to integrating sustainability into the operation of the Port when delivering new development. 

The recent launch of the Hydrogen Strategy for Sussex highlighted the potential for the Port to play a leading role in the production of green hydrogen and, as Members would be aware, this was a project the Port had been developing as part of its overall strategy. 

On the matter of Planning, it would have been inappropriate at this stage to comment on the merits of any prospective planning application and in applying due diligence, it was always very important to ensure that the Planning Committee considered proposals with an open mind and taking all of the material considerations into account.

Rotation Three

Cllr Arnold asked the following question

The transport studies we ask of developers talk of service provision and transport journeys. Cases in point were the Free Wharf study or the Mannings plans citing frequency of trains and 12% journeys by rail.

In light of the proposed rail ticket office closures and the potential for a resulting reduction in rail travel will you be asking for transport plans to factor in this consideration - particularly as transport facilities have been often used as a reason to go to below the 0.8 parking spaces per dwelling recommended by West Sussex County Council?

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Strategic Planning replied that everyone had heard the news about proposals to consult on the closure of ticket offices. 

All of the stations in Adur District were busy and everyone could agree that having someone around to assist passengers would be helpful.  The Cabinet Member couldn’t understand why the Councillor thought there would be any fewer trains though as that would be the key factor when it came to putting together travel plans and calculating car parking space ratios.