Agenda and minutes

The Chair, Margaret Greer welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Chair explained the expectation of public conduct during the call-in.

The call-in lead Member, Cllr Hannah Dyson introduced herself.

Members of the Council are invited to identify any disclosable pecuniary, other pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests relevant to the items on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To review the decision of the Leader of the Council taken on 7 July 2023 as a result of the matter having been called-in.

Overview & Scrutiny Committee were to consider the decision to proceed with the disposal (agreement for lease) for land at Whitewebbs Park Golf course and review the decision taken.

Details of the decision taken and issued on 7 July 2023, were included on the Publication of Decision List No. 07/23-24. The report also set out officer responses to the reason for call-in.

The decision was called in for review by 8 Members of the Council; Councillors Hannah Dyson (Lead), Reece Fox, David Skelton, Lee Chamberlain, Alessandro Georgiou, Chris Joannides, Ruby Fox and Andrew Thorpe.

The reasons for call-in received from eight Members of the Council, together with officer responses to the reasons for call-in.

Reasons for the call-in received from eight Members of the Council were presented by Councillor Hannah Dyson, Lead Memberfor the decision.

The original decision documents

(This item contains exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 (information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person – including the authority holding that information) of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, as amended).

Councillor Hannah Dyson, Call-In Lead Member, summarised concerns /objections received by local resident groups and comments received via Whitewebbs Ward Councillors.

Councillor Dyson felt that the council should not proceed with the proposed lease for the following key reasons: lack of local support and consultation, the requirement to maintain open access to the parkland, a 90% miscalculation in initial calculations, the loss of a crucial hub for biodiversity and the decision is subject to ongoing legal action. The scale of public opposition has been made clear on numerous occasions and people feel ignored and un-consulted.

Particular points of contention were the inadequate notice during Christmas holidays, the lease terms were not made available even in draft form so residents had little time to respond. Also, the lack of evidence to support claims of full public access or significant enhancements to the park, which are only indicative proposals with no legal contractual significance.

The Chair, Margaret Greer thanked the crowd for their attendance.

Officers and the Leader of the council were invited to respond.

The Leader, Cllr Nesil Caliskan thanked Councillors and public for the opportunity to address some of the points raised by the call-in Lead.

The Leader asserted that there had been a considerable amount of consultation and information shared, dating back to 2021. Whilst this call-in was about the lease process the Whitewebbs debate had gone on for several years.

On the specific point of the notice for the proposed lease and notice going up on the site itself, Cllr Caliskan pointed out that alongside the site notice there was a notice in four hub, libraries, the civic centre and local press in conjunction with other public documents published online as part of the council reports. Crucially, there had been a local election in which the administration was very clear as to the intention for the site, decisions made by the administration are made in the interest of the whole borough and this decision is both a chance to enhance the whole ward and benefit all residents.

In terms of access to parkland and biodiversity the proposal will see 60% of the former golf course turned into parkland with better access to the woods.

In respect to the calculation of finances, all aspects of costs were included, overheads and capital costs are a cost to the local authority.

It was emphasised that the lease will only be completed if planning permission is granted and this is subject to planning committee agreeing the application.

The Chair thanked the leader and opened the floor for questions from members of the committee as follows:

Cllr Hockney began by referencing cases in other Local Authorities, where it was found that alternative uses of parks was found to be a breach of the parks act 1967 and questioned if these cases had been considered.

Principal Lawyer, Elizabeth Paraskeva confirmed there were no concerns as regards the cases referenced, and that correct and lawful action had been taken by the Council.

The Leader  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3b

To note that the next scheduled date of the Overview & Scrutiny Business meeting is 14 September 2023 at 7:00pm in the Conference Room at the Civic Centre.

The next business meeting would be 14^th September 2023.

Item 3 above refers.

The Call-In Lead, Hannah Dyson, summarised the points made during the discussion and called for the residents to be listened to and the decision referred back to Cabinet so concerns could be adequately addressed.

The Chair, Cllr Greer summarised the discussion and asked Committee Members to decide upon the three options available to them.

The Committee AGREED to confirm the original decision made by The Leader, Cllr Caliskan.

Cllr Greer thanked the public, members and officers for their time and consideration.