Agenda and draft minutes

The meeting began with a minute’s silence in respect of David Morris, former Chief Executive of Ribble Valley Borough Council, who had recently died. The Mayor also welcomed Councillor William Holden to his first meeting of the Council.

The Mayor’s Chaplain, Rev McLean opened the meeting with prayers.

Apologies for absence from the meeting were received on behalf of Councillors J Alcock, R Elms, S Farmer, S Hore, R Newmark, and M Peplow,

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 July 2024 and the Extraordinary meeting held on 20 August 2024 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary, other registrable or non-registrable interests.

There was no public participation.

The Mayor reported on a wide range of events that she had attended since the last meeting. The Mayor highlighted her recent ‘Farming in the Ribble Valley’ event which was arranged in conjunction with the NFU. She also noted visits to schools, agricultural shows, the Veterans in Communities group, Sawley Art Group, Blackburn Sea Cadets, and congratulated Chipping on being a finalist in the 2024 RHS Britain in Bloom competition.

The Leader began by reporting that, further to the Extraordinary Council meeting held 7 weeks earlier, the Leaders of Fylde, Wyre, and Burnley had confirmed they were against local government reorganisation. The Leader had debated devolution in Lancashire alongside the Labour Leader of Chorley on BBC Radio 2, and whether there should be a Lancashire Mayor. He noted the comments of the Labour Leader that there would be a ‘Council of the Nations and Regions’ that the elected Mayors would attend, which the Leader felt was the opposite of devolving powers back to the people.  He also noted that the Guardian newspaper had reported that the ‘Council of the Nation and Regions’ would be chaired by the Prime Minister, with the majority of the attending Mayors being from the Labour Party. The Leader felt this would transfer power from Councils to a small few with greater powers.

The Leader highlighted the ongoing work of the Council with the Active Villages Scheme, which was devised in Dunsop Bridge and Slaidburn, and plans were now being considered in Hurst Green, Waddington, and Ribchester. The overall purpose was to identify and train local people who could continue the work to facilitate activity sessions. The Council was also developing the Active Park Scheme which would continue the work in up to five parks. The Council was working with United Utilities to remotely read water meters from the Council’s refuse vehicles, which would provide early warnings of potentially costly water leaks, reducing water costs and CO2 emissions. The Council’s workforce had been increased to accommodate two new apprentices, with a view to supporting young people in their careers. He noted that the Council’s IT apprentice had just been successful in securing full time employment at Blackburn with Darwen Council.

The Leader was pleased to report that the Council’s Revenue and Benefits Team had been shortlisted for Revenue Team of the year.

The Leader also informed the Mayor that a record 25,000 visitors had attended the Clitheroe Food Festival and he thanked everyone involved in making the event a success.

The Leader went on to express his concern over the consequences of charging VAT on private school fees and business rates. He noted that Independent Schools contributed nearly £9 million to the local economy employing many people and generating £5 million in tax revenue. He also noted the number of children who had Special Educational Needs (SEN) for which it took up to two years to receive an Education Health and Care Plan. He was concerned that some of these children had suffered trauma and anxiety and could not navigate large groups. He knew of nurses, council workers and taxi drivers trying to do their best by privately educating their children, and noted that going to university was a choice and was not subject to VAT.

The Leader informed the Mayor that the Council had responded to the new proposed minimum housing figure of 347 houses per year, which was nearly three times the current figure.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 319.

Report of the Chief Executive enclosed.

Consideration was given to the written report of the Chief Executive regarding a review of political balance and Committee membership arrangements for the municipal year 2024/25 following the recent by-election in Clitheroe.

RESOLVED THAT COUNCIL:

Approve the allocation of seats as outlined in Appendix A and the appointment of Members to Committee as set out in Appendix C of the report.

The Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Lee Jameson noted that the Council were experiencing an increase in planning applications for Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs). He asked if Officers were confident that right methods were in place to assess these and the right policies within the Core Strategy to be able to defend any potential refusals? He felt there was a concern that applications within the Conservation Area were having work done on them internally which may not be in the best interests of the buildings historical structure and asked if the resources were available to inspect these. He noted that Clitheroe Councillors appeared to be calling in applications as it was unknown if they would actually appear on the lists put before the Committee and suggested that if this was known in advance that potential call ins could be reduced.

The Leader responded confirming that the Policies contained within the Council’s Core Strategy were up to date and provided a suitable basis to determine all types of development submitted to the Local Planning Authority (LPA), including applications for HMOs. He noted there were currently 2 live applications for HMOs which would be assessed against both local and national planning policies. He noted that not all HMOs required an application to the LPA as permitted development rights existed for dwellings to be converted into small HMOs. Works may commence internally to a building without an application being submitted to the LPA as internal works typically did not need planning permission. This included buildings in conservation areas as it was only listed buildings which were likely to need consent from the LPA for internal works. However, if works commenced without an application or during the consideration of an application, the Council’s Enforcement Officers would investigate concerns raised and consider any necessary action. He went onto explain that for all types of applications submitted to the LPA, the Council’s scheme of delegation dictated which were considered by Planning Committee and which were delegated to the Director. There was a statutory consultation period with the majority of applications along with a notification sent to neighbouring properties, following which the Officer would start to assess the proposals, noting all of the responses received. The Officer would not be in a position to consider a recommendation and whether an application would go to Committee until the end of the statutory consultation period and neighbour notification period. However, the call in procedure existed to enable ward Councillors to request applications to be considered by Committee early within the application process where there was a planning reason and where there was a high level of public interest.

In his second question, Councillor Jameson asked the Leader if he valued the importance of motions to Full Council and seeing the implementation of such motions?

The Leader thanked Councillor Jameson for his question and responded that, traditionally, notices of motion had been infrequent and usually where the Council wished to make a statement about a National or International issue.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 321.

To receive and consider, where appropriate, the minutes of the committees since the last meeting (items marked *** are referred to Council for decision).

1.    Community Committee – 20 August 2024

2.    Planning and Development Committee – 22 August 2024

3.    Personnel Committee – 28 August 2024

4.    Health and Housing Committee – 29 August 2024

5.    Licensing Committee – 3 September 2024

6.    Economic Development Committee – 5 September 2024

7.    Policy and Finance Committee – 10 September 2024

8.    Parish Councils Liaison – 12 September 2024

9.    Planning and Development Committee – 19 September 2024

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the above committees be received with the exception of Minute number 306.

Minute 306 – Samlesbury Enterprise Zone Masterplan and Local Development Order (Consultation Summary)

RESOLVED THAT COUNCIL:

1.    Adopt the new Local Development Order (2024) for the Lancashire Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing Enterprise Zone at Samlesbury for the next ten years and for this to be submitted to the Secretary of State for their consideration.

2.    Approve and adopt the new Masterplan (2024) for the Lancashire Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing Enterprise Zone at Samlesbury for Development Management purposes. This is subject to minor changes as necessary which are delegated to the Director of Economic Development and Planning.

There are no items under this heading.

There were no items under this heading.