Agenda and draft minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2024 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To disclose any pecuniary, other registrable or non-registrable interests as set out in the adopted Code of Conduct. In making their disclosure councillors are asked to state the agenda item, the nature of the interest and any action they propose to take as part of their declaration.

If required, further advice should be sought from the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any updates from the Chair of the Place and Resources Overview Committee.

There were no updates from the Chair on this occasion.

Representatives of town or parish councils and members of the public who live, work, or represent an organisation within the Dorset Council area are welcome to submit either 1 question or 1 statement for each meeting.  You are welcome to attend the meeting in person or via MS Teams to read out your question and to receive the response.   If you submit a statement for the committee this will be circulated to all members of the committee in advance of the meeting as a supplement to the agenda and appended to the minutes for the formal record but will not be read out at the meeting. The first 8 questions and the first 8 statements received from members of the public or organisations for each meeting will be accepted on a first come first served basis in accordance with the deadline set out below.  Further information read Public Participation - Dorset Council

All submissions must be emailed in full to lindsey.watson@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk  by 8.30am on 9 September 2024.

When submitting your question or statement please note that:

•         You can submit 1 question or 1 statement.

•         a question may include a short pre-amble to set the context.

•         It must be a single question and any sub-divided questions will not be permitted.

•         Each question will consist of no more than 450 words, and you will be given up to 3 minutes to present your question.

•         when submitting a question please indicate who the question is for (e.g., the name of the committee or Portfolio Holder)

•         Include your name, address, and contact details.  Only your name will be published but we may need your other details to contact you about your question or statement in advance of the meeting.

•         questions and statements received in line with the council’s rules for public participation will be published as a supplement to the agenda.

•         all questions, statements and responses will be published in full within the minutes of the meeting.

One question was received from a member of the public. The question asked and response provided is included at appendix 1 to the minutes.

To receive questions submitted by councillors.  

Councillors can submit up to two valid questions at each meeting and sub divided questions count towards this total.   Questions and statements received will be published as a supplement to the agenda and all questions, statements and responses will be published in full within the minutes of the meeting. 

The submissions must be emailed in full to lindsey.watson@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by 8.30am on 9 September 2024.

Dorset Council Constitution – Procedure Rule 13

There were no questions from councillors.

To consider a report of the Strategic Place Adviser.

The committee received a report of the Strategic Place Adviser, which presented the draft Strategic Asset Management Plan to cover the period 2024 – 2030 and invited comments before the draft plan was considered by Cabinet.

Councillors considered the draft Strategic Asset Management Plan and comments were made in the following areas:

·       Key performance indicators (KPIs) were to be developed

·       Assets belonged to Dorset Council and would be utilised to the benefit of the whole area

·       The use of assets to support and develop service areas was considered and there was a need to consider the council’s areas of priority

·       A point was raised as to whether there were plans to set up panels to look at particular asset areas, with the example of the County Farms Panel provided. This could be considered if felt to be beneficial

·       A discussion was held about links to the provision of land for housing including affordable housing. The links with the development of the new Dorset Council Plan and Local Plan were highlighted

·       Detail of the timetable for the rolling programme of asset review was provided, which would be reported through the governance process, and there was a request for further information on dates for this

·       It was noted that the plan should be the enabler of council priorities, and could assist with the definition of these, without being too prescriptive

·       A comment was made that there needed to be a focus on the economic growth and regeneration of town centres and that the need for a town centre strategy was acknowledged as a longer-term plan

·       There was a need to ensure an appropriate level of resource in this area to progress priorities

·       The plan provided the strategic overview of how the council used its assets for wider priorities and further work would be required on how these were then progressed

·       There would be councillor involvement in the various strategies to be progressed and decisions on specific assets would include consultation at the appropriate time

·       There were shorter- and longer-term elements within the strategy and a need to understand where an asset could contribute to a council priority, and if there were areas that could be progressed at a quicker pace

·       KPIs should be carefully considered to ensure that the right metrics were put in place

·       Work was being undertaken to ensure links between different council departments when considering an asset that crossed over into different council areas.

At the end of the discussion, the Chair provided a summary of the key points raised:

·       Councillors were broadly supportive of the new Strategic Asset Management Plan

·       There was recognition that further work was required on defining the council’s priorities and that this linked to work on the new Dorset Council Plan

·       Further work was required on establishing key performance indicators for this area

·       There would be further discussion with councillors in respect of the various strategies to be developed.

To consider a report of the Planning Enforcement Manager.

The committee considered a report of the Planning Enforcement Manager, which invited comments on the Development Management Local Enforcement Plan 2024, which set out Dorset Council’s approach to enforcement matters in line with the National Planning Policy Framework.

Councillors considered the issues arising from the report and during discussion, comments in the following areas were raised:

·       An overview of resourcing in the Enforcement Team was provided and a request made for a breakdown of the number of cases dealt with, within each area

·       The position with temporary campsites. It was noted that although the proposed plan did not refer to specific cases, consideration could be given to having report templates and notices in place to assist with responding to issues as required

·       Information provided on how cases were considered and allocated, and it was noted that the proposed plan would set this out

·       A point was noted about the use of language within the plan and a request that this be reviewed to ensure it was written in plain English. This would be reviewed following the meeting

·       The importance of good communication in this area was raised and a need for understanding of how enforcement worked by ward councillors and residents

·       There was a need to make points relating to the consequences of non-compliance with planning / enforcement issues more robust within the plan and in communications with the public, with the particular example of actions around tree preservation orders discussed

·       The Planning Enforcement Manager provided an overview of the way the council would work with parties before formal enforcement action was taken and provided specific detail around how issues with trees were dealt with

·       In response to a question about the follow up on planning permissions being received, the Service Manager for Development Management and Enforcement noted that there was a reliance on ward councillors, parish and town councils and the public to raise potential issues with non-compliance with planning permissions. A separate piece of work was underway to look at adding a monitoring fee as part of Section 106 agreements for larger developments, which could be used to resource effective monitoring in these cases

·       The health and safety of enforcement officers was considered.

The Chair highlighted that the report was to be considered by Cabinet on 15 October 2024. He noted that there was a general level of support for the proposed plan within the committee and noted that the comments raised by the committee, summarised above, would be presented to Cabinet for their review.

To consider a report of the Head of Service for Commercial Waste and Strategy.

The committee considered a report of the Head of Service for Commercial Waste and Strategy, which presented the Dorset Council Waste Strategy to set out the strategic vision and framework for how the council would deal with waste in Dorset in the longer term, but with a focus on actions over the next 5 years due to the significant legislative changes anticipated.

Councillors reviewed the issues arising from the report and during discussion the following points were noted:

·       Link with the review of fleet requirements

·       Acknowledgment of future challenges from changes in legislation and a request that councillors be kept informed

·       Reference to fly tipping and action being taken in this area linking in with the Police and Crime Commissioner

·       A suggestion was made that, in respect of tackling issues with commercial waste in holiday lets, there could be a link with parish and town councils for notifying where premises were

·       Issues raised regarding missed bin collections and the implications of road closures on collection rounds

·       Engagement would be undertaken with ward members ahead of any changes to collection routes

·       There would be a future review of household recycling centres (HRCs) across the council area and this would include engagement with councillors

·       Further work was required in respect of policy objective 4 – Develop and enhance a network of local waste management facilities that enables Dorset to collect, deliver, store, transport and treat waste efficiently and effectively

·       The infrastructure for waste management represented a key challenge which linked to a wider depot review and the strategic asset management programme

·       How HRCs outside of the Dorset Council area were reflected in the council’s strategy was raised

·       It was noted that the Waste Strategy was the high-level document that other work streams such as the HRC Strategy sat underneath

·       An assurance was sought in respect of the importance of HRCs within the council’s strategy in this area.

Recommendation to Cabinet

That the revised Dorset Waste Strategy be approved.

To consider a report of the Environmental Health Officer.

The committee received and considered a report of the Environmental Health Officer, to present the Dorset Council Contaminated Land Strategy 2024, which replaced, updated and unified precursor councils’ individual strategies and ensured that activities continued to reflect current law and good practice in this area. This would ensure that risks from land contamination to human health, property and the environment would continue to be appropriately and efficiently managed.

Recommendation to Cabinet

That the Dorset Council Contaminated Land Strategy 2024 be approved.

To review the draft Place and Resources Overview Committee Work Programme.

To review the Cabinet Forward Plan.

Councillors reviewed the committee work programme and items scheduled for future meetings. The Chair reported that following the informal meeting to discuss the draft work programme and consultation with committee members and the wider Council membership, a number of potential items were being worked up with officers and would be added to the work programme.

A point was made that the committee needed to be sighted on items at an earlier stage in order to have adequate time to comment and contribute to the development of policies and strategies.

The Chair noted items to be considered by forthcoming meetings of the Joint Overview Committee.

Councillors considered potential items for future consideration which included issues around the development of the new Local Plan and a request for earlier involvement in the production of the Growth and Economic Regeneration Strategy.

To consider any items of business which the Chairman has had prior notification and considers to be urgent pursuant to section 100B (4) b) of the Local Government Act 1972. The reason for the urgency shall be recorded in the minutes.

There were no urgent items.

To move the exclusion of the press and the public for the following item in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph x of schedule 12 A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended). The public and the press will be asked to leave the meeting whilst the item of business is considered.  

There are no exempt items scheduled for this meeting.

There was no exempt business.

Agenda item 5 – Public Participation

Question received

Question from Carole Chedgy – Vice Chair Allendale Community Centre

I am a Trustee and Vice Chair of the Allendale Community Centre, a registered charity, in Wimborne, Dorset. We have a lease of the Allendale Centre from Dorset Council from 2^nd April 2020 to 1^st April 2035.

Essential repairs (including a leaking roof )  which are due to be carried out by Dorset Council under the lease and agreements have been planned since 2020. There is a report of 139 pages by Crickmay Stark Architects of December 2022 commissioned by DC setting out the work to be done, plus many other subsequent reports and plans and surveys. Two planned dates for the work to be done in 2023 and 2024 have been cancelled by DC.

In August an officer told us the work had been “pulled” as the Centre is part of a regeneration and development zone.

We have read the report and plan at item 7 on the agenda. This refers to a 3 year plan.

Our question is has the work been “pulled” because of this document, and whether or not this is the case, will DC immediately carry out the vital and necessary work planned 4 years ago so that it complies with the lease and agreements made?

Response provided at the meeting

The deferral of the works isn’t related to Strategic Asset Management Plan being discussed at item 7.

At this stage, the works have been temporarily deferred to ensure that the proposed programme of significant roof repairs on the Allendale Centre represents value for money and the following points should be noted:

1.    A recent survey report dated 2024 identified additional repairs externally on the Centre and we want to ensure that a new roof represents the best option, given the increasing costs of the roof

2.    The Council has a limited capital investment allocation in 24-25 and the priority is to ensure all facilities are safe, legal and compliant ahead of major building improvements. These are being prioritised on a condition basis.

3.    A strategic review of DC owned accommodation in Wimborne is underway in order to support the emerging towns strategy. This review – supported by Cllr Bartlett- will include the former magistrates court, former Pippins site, Movie Makers Hut and St Johns Ambulance site and it’s important to reflect the Allendale Centre as part of that review.

A decision will be made in the near future, and before the end of this year, and we’ll provide an update to yourself.