The Chairman and Council stood in silent tribute to the memory of Mrs. R.F. Lincoln, who had been Councillor for Kerne Bridge Ward until her resignation in April and who had died since the last meeting of Council.

The Very Reverend Michael Tavinor, the Dean of Hereford, led the Council in prayer.

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors M.R. Cunningham, G.W. Davis, R.M. Manning, Miss F. Short, Mrs. E.A. Taylor and J.P. Thomas.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on this Agenda.

The following declarations of interest were made:

Councillors R.J. Phillips and D.B. Wilcox both declared a personal interest in the Youth Justice Plan as set out at page 19 of the agenda.

The Chairman of Council, Councillor J.W. Edwards, declared a prejudicial interest in the Kings Caple Parish Plan, set out at Page 32 of the agenda and indicated he would vacate the Chair and Chamber if there was any discussion on the item.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the annual meeting held on 12th May, 2006.

Before calling on Council to agree the minutes, the Chairman advised that it had been necessary to change the date of the Council meeting previously scheduled to be held on 10th November, 2006.  This meeting will now take place on 3rd November, 2006.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 12th May, 2006 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive the Chairman's announcements and petitions from members of the public.

The Chairman welcomed the Council to its first meeting in the new Whitecross High School.  He wished the Head Teacher, staff and pupils well in their endeavours and thanked the management company for allowing the meeting to take place on the premises.

He welcomed Councillor John Jarvis to his first meeting of Council as  Councillor for Kerne Bridge ward and wished him success in his new role.

He presented an award to Councillor D.B. Wilcox, Cabinet Member (Highways and Transportation) for the refurbishment of Eign Gate.  The Award was made by the Local Government News as part of its Street Design 2006 national awards.  The scheme was judged to be fourth out of more than 100 entries throughout the country.

The Chairman reminded Councillors of a reception for the Three Choirs Festival which was to be held on 7th August and asked those who had not responded to the invitation to do so as a matter of urgency.

PETITIONS

The Chairman presented a petition in support of provision of a relief road at Rotherwas to Councillor R.J. Phillips, the Leader of the Council.

He also presented a petition to Councillor P.J. Edwards, the Cabinet Member (Environment) asking for planning control on the siting and erection of large scale polytunnels.

To receive questions from members of the public.

Under the Constitution a member of the public can ask a Cabinet Member or Chairman of a Committee any question relevant to a matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties, or which affects the County, as long as a copy of the question is deposited with the Head of Legal and Democratic Services more than six clear working days before the meeting.  A number of questions had been received in time to be included in the agenda.  The questions and responses are set out below:

Question from Mr M Hubbard, Hereford in a personal capacity:

"As a riparian owner on the Wye and keen to maintain the charter rights of the citizens of Hereford, enabling free use of the river for leisure & fishing purposes, can I be assured that those rights, that have been protected by the city for several hundred years and are now held in stewardship by the Herefordshire Council, are still being protected and how?"

Councillor D.B. Wilcox, Cabinet Member (Highways and Transportation) replied that many matters concerning the River Wye, including those relating to ecology, wildlife, pollution and navigation are regulated by the Environment Agency.  The Council has no power to interfere with the private riparian rights of persons who own land adjoining the rivers within the County.  The Council is engaged in litigation regarding various claims to historic fishing rights within the City of Hereford.  That litigation is still ongoing and in consequence no final resolution of the competing claims has yet been achieved.

Question from Mr M Hubbard, Hereford in his role as Chairperson of the Friends of Castle Green:

"Please would Herefordshire Council provide me with a breakdown of the total costs of maintaining & repairing the city parks known as Castle Green, Redcliffe Gardens and Cantilupe Gardens, including Castle Pool, over the past year.  Please would Herefordshire Council also provide a breakdown of projected long-term spending on capital projects for the same areas."

Councillor R.V. Stockton, Cabinet Member (Community Services) stated that the costs of maintaining the areas known as Castle Green, Redcliffe Gardens and Cantilupe Gardens in respect of routine grounds maintenance activity for the financial year 2005/6 were in the region of £40,486.  This figure did not include any emergency work which was unlikely to exceed £5,000.  He advised that there was no specific allocation for the maintenance of the Castle Pool area.

He also advised that there was no ongoing capital allocation for these sites.  However, in recent years there had been a one-off allocation of £110,000 for the cleansing and de-silting of the Castle Pool and in addition there had also been a one-off sum of £34,000 allocated for the renovation of the Mill Street steps leading to the Castle Green.  He said that there were no future items of capital expenditure identified for these areas at this time.

Questions from Mr R Hattersley, Hereford

City Assets

"There has been rumour and counter rumour locally about the selling off of key council property in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

To receive any written questions.

Councillors may ask questions of Cabinet Members and Chairmen of Committees so long as a copy of the question is deposited with the Head of Legal and Democratic Services at least 24 hours prior to the meeting.  A list of questions, set out in the order in which they had been received, was circulated at the beginning of the meeting.

The Chairman reminded those Councillors who had submitted questions that they were entitled to ask a supplementary question and asked that they did not use this as an opportunity for further debate.

Question from Councillor B. Hunt

"Given the unique function of the Members’ Support Service, does the Cabinet Member agree with me:-

a)                  that it is inefficient to dismember the service into three locations i.e. the present offices for secretarial, the remote garden pavilion for the Members’ Information and Support Officer and Rotherwas for Members’ I.T. Support?; and

b)                  that no notice or consultation was given to Members as to their requirements?; and

c)                  that it was only the minor financial saving that initiated this exercise and that it lowers the standard of service to Councillors, the grass roots interface with our public?; and

d)                  what action do you propose taking to remedy this unsatisfactory situation?"

Councillor Mrs. J.P. French, Cabinet Member (Corporate and Customer Services and Human Resources) replied that the changes were designed to link officers to the professional base that most closely identified with the work they undertook and to make better use of the resources.  A key piece of work for the Members Information and Support Officer, as part of the Communications Team, would be to work on those Communications activities for Members which Members would like to see improved.

She said that the Local Government Act 1972 provided for the delegation of managerial responsibility to officers reserving wider strategic responsibilities to Members.  This distinction was reinforced in amendments to the Local Government Act which required the Head of Paid Services (Chief Executive) to account to Members on: the manner in which the discharge of the different function was co-ordinated; the number and grades of staff required for the discharge of its function; the organisation of the authority’s staff and the appointment and proper management of those staff.

She said that the job description of individual Directors required them to support the Chief Executive in that role by requiring them to lead and manage the Directorate in a manner which created a highly motivated, developing and committed workforce.  It was because theseservices were used and valued by Members that the proposals were discussed with Group Leaders on two separate occasions – at the beginning of the consultation period and when the proposals were confirmed following discussion with staff and consultation with the Trade Union.

She advised that the only financial saving to result from the restructure would be to pay for the services of IT support as required rather than maintaining a support resource, often with no use being made of it, which was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

To consider any Notices of Motion.

There were no Notices of Motion.

To receive the report and to consider any recommendations to Council arising from the meetings held on

(a)               25th May, 15th and 29th June and 13th July, 2006; and

(b)               20th July, 2006 (supplementary report to follow).

The Leader of the Council, Councillor R.J. Phillips, presented the reports of the meetings of Cabinet held on 25th May, 15th and 29th June and 13th and 20th July, 2006.

In relation to Item 1.2 - Herefordshire Unitary Development Plan (UDP): Inspector's Report, Statement of Decisions and Reasons, and Proposed Modifications the Leader proposed an amendment to the recommendation.  He proposed that the Council rejects the Inspector's recommendations 5.14/1 and  5.3/3 reference to land at Bullinghope and amends the relevant Modifications accordingly .  This would have the effect of including the Bullinghope site and text as it was in the revised Deposit Draft.  He stated that there were no proposals to reject the Inspector's recommendations in relation to housing land at Holmer, Hereford.

In moving the recommendation, he spoke of the need for additional housing within Hereford City by the end of 2011.  He also said it would be an opportunity to raise additional funding which may be required to fund the access road at Rotherwas which was vital to the economic development of the City. 

Councillor P.J. Edwards, Cabinet Member (Environment) seconded the proposal.

Councillors A.C.R. Chappell and Mrs. W.U. Attfield, expressed shock and concern at the proposal.  While recognising the need for improved access to the Rotherwas Industrial Estate, they felt that Bullingham Lane would be unable to cope with the amount of traffic likely to be generated by 300+ new houses.  In one direction the lane passed under a narrow railway bridge which would be impossible to widen and in the other direction it joined the Ross Road which was already renowned for its traffic problems.  Although some improvements were expected once the new road layout at the Asda store was completed, additional traffic from over 300 homes would cause serious congestion south of the river.  They reminded Council of the previous opposition to additional housing from local residents at Bullinghope and warned of further objections if the proposal was carried.  They urged Council to reject the proposal, saying that investigations should be carried out into other means of funding the Rotherwas Access Road.

Councillor W.J.S. Thomas, whose ward includes the proposed route for the Rotherwas Access Road, said that the building of the road was one of the most important things that the Council had to achieve.  He said that the businesses located at the Rotherwas Industrial Estate had suffered because of the inadequate access and this was having an effect on jobs.  Unless more jobs, and better quality jobs, were provided more and more young people would be leaving the county to live and work elsewhere.  He spoke of other improvements which were needed in and around the City, for the benefit not only of businesses and residents but also for visitors - flood alleviations measures particularly at the Holme Lacy causeway, a road to join the A49 and the A465 with the new section of the Roman Road, and another bridge over the River Wye as well as the provision of a park and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

Subject to the Council's decisions In relation  to the review of the Constitution, to extend the appointment of Cabinet Members to May 2007 and to extend the appointment of Chairmen of Committees to May 2007.

RESOLVED:  That the appointments to office holders of the offices described in Appendix 1 to the Minutes of the Meeting held on 12th May, 2006 be extended to May 2007.

To receive the report and to consider any recommendations to Council arising from the meetings held on 23rd May and 4th July, 2006

Councillor R.I. Mathews presented the report of the meetings of the Regulatory Committee held on 23rd May and 4th July, 2006.

RESOLVED:That the report of the meetings of the Regulatory Committee held on 23rd May and 4th July, 2006 be received.

To receive the report and to consider any recommendations to Council arising from the meetings held on 9th June and 14th July, 2006.

Councillor T.W. Hunt presented the report of the meetings of the Planning Committee held on 9th June and 14th July, 2006.

RESOLVED:That the report of the meetings of the Planning Committee held on 9th June and 14th July, 2006 be received.

To receive the report and to consider any recommendations to Council arising from the meeting held on 26th June, 2006.

Councillor T.M. James presented the report of the meeting of the Strategic Monitoring Committee held on 26th June, 2006.

RESOLVED:That the report of the meeting of the Strategic Monitoring Committee held on 26th June, 2006 be received.

To receive the report and to consider any recommendations to Council arising from the meeting held on 30th June, 2006.

In the absence of Mr Robert Rogers, Councillor J.W. Edwards presented the report of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 30th June, 2006.

RESOLVED:That the report of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 30th June, 2006 be received.

To receive the report and to consider any recommendations to Council arising from the meeting held on 30th June, 2006.

Councillor A.C.R. Chappell presented the report of the meeting of the Audit Committee held on 30th June, 2006.

RESOLVED:That the report of the meeting of the Audit Committee held on 30th June, 2006 be received.

To note formally the result of the by-election for Kerne Bridge Ward.

Council received formal notification of the results of the Kerne Bridge By-Election held on 1st June, 2006.

The full result of the by-election was as follows:

To receive the report of the meeting of the West Mercia Police Authority held on 13th June, 2006.  Councillor B. Hunt has been nominated for the purpose of answering questions on the discharge of the functions of the Police Authority.

Councillor B. Hunt presented the report of the West Mercia Police Authority held on 13th June, 2006.

RESOLVED:That the report of the meeting of the West Mercia Police Authority held on 13th June, 2006 be received.

To receive the report of the meeting of the Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority held on 12th June, 2006.

In the absence of Councillor G.W. Davies, Councillor Brig. P. Jones, CBE presented the report of the meeting of the Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority which was held on 12th June, 2006.

In response to a query he agreed to suggest that the job title for the post involved with prevention of  firesetting by juveniles be reconsidered.

RESOLVED:That the report of the meetings of the Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority which were held on 12th June, 2006 be received.