Skip to main content

Agenda item

Call in of Cabinet Decision relating to the Lease of Land at Station Road Kemble

Purpose

To respond to the call-in of the decision to lease land at Station Road, Kemble, as allotments and community gardens to the local community and de-allocate this site within the adopted Cotswold District Local Plan (2011 to 2031) as a site for housing development.

 

Recommendation

That the Committee, considers the additional information presented in this report and decides whether,

(a)They are satisfied that the detail presented here does not fundamentally change the decision that has been made and therefore no further action is taken, or,

(b)To refer the matter back to Cabinet for further consideration.

(c)The matter requires a Full Council decision, that there are sufficient grounds to refer it to Council and a request is therefore made for it to be added to the next Council agenda.

Minutes:

The purpose of the report was to consider the call-in of the decision to lease land at Station Road, Kemble, as allotments and community gardens to the local community and de-allocate this site within the adopted Cotswold District Local Plan (2011 to 2031) as a site for housing development.

 

The Chair introduced the item, highlighting that the purpose of call-in happens when Overview and Scrutiny Committee identifies that there is information that should have been brought to the decision making executive body and/or made available in such a way that members of the public could see that information, and therefore ensure sufficient oversight. The Chair also noted that the call-in request was submitted before the draft minutes of the meeting were available, and that the availability of the minutes earlier may have allowed a more complete view of the decision that had been made.

 

The Leader of the Council, who substituted for the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, addressed Ms. Lawlor’s questions, stating that the considerations she raised were reasons why the decision to lease the gardens and de-allocate them from the Local Plan had been made.

 

Members discussed whether the Kemble and Ewen Neighbourhood plan had been sufficiently taken into consideration, and whether sufficient financial details were made available.

 

Members asked for the additional detail on finances and square footage mentioned by the Assistant Director for Property and Regeneration to be distributed after the meeting.

 

It was highlighted that through the partial review of the Local Plan, there would be an opportunity for scrutiny of the deallocation of the site, as well as engagement with the local Town and Parish councils.

 

Members commented that the call-in process had raised issues that had not otherwise come to light about how the decision had been made. Members also stated that the call-in therefore achieved its purposes, but also that it highlighted the need for the additional information to have been incorporated within the original Cabinet report.

 

Members also raised concerns around whether the process of notifying Overview and Scrutiny committee members was as efficient as it could be, as various members appeared to have been informed at various points in time, with no single notification going out to all members.

 

The Committee considered the three recommendations set out in the report in reverse order and voted on them.

 

Voting record;

 

The Committee first voted on whether they considered that recommendations c and b were not required;

 

(c) The matter does not require a Full Council decision, that there are sufficient grounds to refer it to Council and a request is therefore made for it to be added to the next Council agenda

For 8, Abstentions 0, Absent 2

 

(b) To not refer the matter back to Cabinet for further consideration.

For 8, Abstentions 0, Absent 2

 

The Committee discussed the wording of recommendation a) and decided to amend the wording to clarify that there would be further action by the Committee in the form of a written progress report in due course.

 

(a) They are satisfied that the detail presented here did not fundamentally change the decision that has been made and would receive a written progress report in due course.

For 8, Abstentions 0, Absent 2

 

RESOLVED: That the detail presented did not fundamentally change the decision that had been made and the Committee will receive a written progress report in due course.

Supporting documents:

 

Related Pages