Agenda and minutes

To record apologies for absence. 

Councillor Emily Smith (Chair) had sent her apologies for absence.  Councillor Bethia Thomas, the Vice-Chair, took the chair for this meeting. 

To adopt and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 24 June 2022. 

RESOLVED: to adopt as a correct record the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 24 June 2022 and agree that the chair signs them as such. 

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests, other registrable interests and non-registrable interests or any conflicts of interest in respect of items on the agenda for this meeting.

None

To receive notification of any matters which the chair determines should be considered as urgent business and the special circumstances which have made the matters urgent, and to receive any announcements from the chair.

None

To receive any questions or statements from members of the public that have registered to speak. 

Three members of the public had registered to speak at the meeting. 

(1)       Lizzie Pugh made a statement and gave a presentation, requesting Cabinet to provide a splash park in Faringdon.  The presentation set out the need for a splash park, provided estimated costs, and suggested the best location for the facility. 

The Cabinet member for healthy communities thanked Lizzie for her statement and welcomed the idea for a splash park in Faringdon.  However, the council would be unable to fund the installation and ongoing costs alone.  Instead, the Cabinet member suggested ways in which a splash park could be progressed by raising funds from other sources and working together with other partners.  The Cabinet member reported that the council would bear this idea in mind when working on plans and strategies for leisure activities across the Vale.  Councillors encouraged Lizzie to contact the council’s enablement team to provide details of funding sources.  There would be a need for partnership working to achieve this, in which the council could take part. 

(2)           Julie Mabberley had submitted a question on behalf of the Wantage and Grove Campaign Group.  The question, which was read out in her absence, related to the Active Communities Strategy, which was on the agenda for this Cabinet meeting.  It asked when performance indicators, targets and measures would be produced for the council’s strategy. 

The Cabinet member for healthy communities reported that following the adoption of the strategy, the council would prepare a delivery plan, with targets and performance measures.  It was hoped that this would be brought to Cabinet for approval by the end of the year.  In the meantime, the council continued to provide a range of active communities’ initiatives and opportunities, particularly supporting residents with long-term health conditions post-Covid and for families that needed support with children’s activities. 

(3)       Honorary Alderwoman Joyce Hutchinson asked a question regarding the new leisure strategy, which was due to be published approximately one year ago, and as this had not happened, was the Active Community Strategy a replacement?   If so, was the section 106 money to be allocated according to the original legal agreements made by the council and the developers? 

The Cabinet member for healthy communities reported that the impact of Covid-19 had required the re-allocation of resources and therefore work on this had been delayed.  The active communities’ strategy was one of a suite of strategies that would be part of our overarching healthy communities strategy and address many of the health and wellbeing priorities of the council’s Corporate Plan.  Officers were working with Sport England to secure relevant external support and expertise to develop a district wide leisure facilities strategy that would sit within the same suite of strategies.  This would outline needs across the district and would provide evidence to inform the new Joint Local Plan. 

Section 106 funds earmarked for terminated Wessex Leisure Centre project remained allocated until the most appropriate, beneficial and deliverable uses of the funds were determined.  The council was engaging  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

To consider any recommendations to Cabinet from other committees. 

Cabinet received updates from other committees, including the Scrutiny Committee, the Joint Audit and Governance Committee, and the Climate Emergency Advisory Committee.   

To consider the head of policy and programmes’ report. 

Cabinet considered the head of policy and programmes’ report, which proposed a new active communities’ strategy.  The strategy’s vision was ‘be active, be healthy, be happy’.  The strategy had six key aims to:

§  enable everyone to be active

§  create healthier communities through walking and cycling

§  maximise the potential of our natural environment

§  build the skills base of our communities

§  provide effective communication, promotion and consultation

§  provide collaborative partnerships and funding advice

A delivery plan would be brought to Cabinet later in the year. 

The Scrutiny Committee had welcomed the strategy and had made suggestions for improvements, which had been included in the policy proposed to Cabinet. 

Cabinet welcomed the strategy as it provided opportunities to increase the general health of Vale residents by getting people more active and lead to improved health.  Small changes could have significant benefits.  Councillors suggested that using the green environment would help meet the strategy’s aims. 

RESOLVED: to approve the Active Communities Strategy, attached at appendix 1 to the head of policy and programmes’ report to Cabinet on 22 July 2022. 

To consider the head of development and corporate landlord’s report. 

Cabinet considered the head of development and corporate landlord’s report.  This set out the outcome of public consultation exercise and proposed a new car park order and policy. 

The Cabinet member for finance and corporate assets welcomed the report and praised officers for the work that had been put into developing the new car park order and policy.  This brought the council’s car park order and policy up to date to support the civil parking enforcement introduced in November 2021.  It also brought the council into line with most councils in the country and would make the car parking service more efficient, and more transparent for the public. 

Cabinet noted that the only objection to the car park order was to the time allowed for free parking, an issue that was not related to civil parking enforcement but could be considered later in the year when Cabinet reviewed its car parking fees and charges. 

Cabinet welcomed the new car park orders and policy.  The new policy brought together existing and updated policy elements to set out how the council delivered its parking service.  It also was linked to the active communities’ strategy and the council’s general direction of travel in its corporate plan to encouraging greener thinking. 

Cabinet noted that the report referred to two car park orders.  The Cabinet member explained that one car park order covered the Vale district, whereas the other covered the Rye Farm and Hales Meadow car parks which, although located just outside the district boundary, were owned and managed by the council. 

The report also proposed that the council joined PATROL, the Parking and Traffic Regulations Outside London Adjudication Joint Committee, as a member.  This committee enabled all councils with car park orders to carry out civil enforcement of parking contraventions and to exercise their legal functions.  Cabinet supported the council becoming a member of the PATROL joint committee and noted that the appointments of a member and substitute member to this committee were decisions to be made by the leader. 

RESOLVED to:

(a)    agree the making of new 2022 car park orders having considered the comments made during the consultation period;

(b)    authorise the head of legal and democratic to make the new order and to determine the date it comes into effect;

(c)    adopt the new Joint Management Parking Policy, set out in Appendix C to the head of development and corporate landlord’s report to Cabinet on 22 July 2022;

(d)    agree to the Vale of White Horse District Council joining PATROL (Parking and Traffic Regulations Outside London) Adjudication Joint Committee as a member;

(e)    request the leader to appoint Councillor Neil Fawcett to represent the Vale of White Horse District Council on the PATROL Adjudication Joint Committee for the remainder of this council until May 2023; and

(f)     request the leader to appoint Councillor Andrew Crawford as the named substitute in respect of the appointment under (e) above.