Agenda item

To consider any Notices of Motion that have been received in accordance with the Council Procedure Rules.

Consideration was given to the Notices of Motion which had been submitted in accordance with the Council’s Procedural Rules.

 

1          Fair Tax Declaration

 

Proposed by Councillor P Williams and Seconded by Councillor N Mannion

 

Recognising that Cheshire East Council already meets some of the requirements of the Fair Tax Declaration, Council resolves to sign-up to the Declaration in its entirety

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Motion be referred to the Corporate Policy Committee or such other appropriate committee, based upon the constitutional terms of reference

 

Post meeting note – the Notice of Motion was referred to the Finance Sub Committee.

 

2          Safe Night-time Travel for Workers

 

Proposed by Councillor L Smith and Seconded by Councillor S Handley

 

This Council notes that;

 

• Shift work is widespread in many industries, particularly hospitality, as well as health and care workers, retail , cleaning, security and porter staff and can often entail late-night working;

• Many workers, especially women, are increasingly worried about their safety travelling to and from work at night

 

This Council believes that;

 

• While employers may feel their duty of care to staff ends when an employee finishes a shift, they also need to take into consideration journeys home, especially during unsocial hours;

• The weakness of enforcement of the law against sexual assault, including up-skirting, on public transport is appalling and only 2% of victims go on to report sexual harassment on public transport;

• The Get Me Home Safely campaign - Get ME Home Safely | Make Our Communities & Workplaces Safer , which calls on employers to take all reasonable steps to ensure workers are able to get home safely from work at night, is greatly needed and should be supported;

• Greater numbers of trained staff and stronger enforcement of the law against sexual assault and harassment on public transport are urgently needed;

 

This Council will;

 

• Use its powers - as others such as East Dunbartonshire Council - and adopt a policy that our licensing board will ensure the process for approving late night licences will be linked to the provision of free transport home.

• Calls on Cheshire East Council to use its powers - as others have done – to allow our licensing board include additional criteria when considering late opening applications from licensed premises dependent on venues providing free transport home for night shift employees. This will significantly benefit the safety and wellbeing of hospitality workers, particularly women, who often cannot afford, or access, safe transport options late at night and benefit our community.

• Publicly call for improvement to late night and off-peak transport service provision and use the Government’s Safety of Women at Night Fund to provide extra night services, as well as work with employers to use the fund for supplementary taxi travel.

• Publicly call for the lowering of fares and opposition to any cuts to public transport funding and for our local council to use their powers and political platforms to achieve this.

• Publicly call for the municipal ownership of buses in order to lower prices and improve service provision, especially for night-time and off-peak services and endeavour to work with Greater Manchester Combined Authority as they move forward with bus franchising using powers under the Bus services Act 2017

• Make representation to appropriate regional and national levels of governance to bring forward national minimum standards for taxis and private hire as per the recommendations of the Task and Finishing group and in support of this motion and its demands on behalf of our local community.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Motion be referred to the Environment and Communities Committee and the Highways and Transport Committee or such other appropriate committee, based upon the constitutional terms of reference.

 

3          Public Art Consultations

 

Proposed by Councillor A Gage and Seconded by Councillor S Edgar

 

This Council resolves that all works of public art undertaken by the council or works of public art to be undertaken by third parties on council owned land or assets should be subject to a public consultation of residents within the affected settlement area.  Where singular or multiple artwork option(s) are proposed the consultation should provide the consultees with the option to oppose the proposed artwork.

 

The consultation should last no less than 21 days and all results should be made readily available to the Cheshire East public before a final decision is made. The consultation will act in an informatory and advisory capacity with all final decisions on the commissioning of public art to be decided by the relevant body of democratically elected members as defined by the council’s constitution.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Motion be referred to the Economy and Growth Committee or such other appropriate committee, based upon the constitutional terms of reference.

 

4          Tree Planting

 

Proposed by Councillor T Dean and Seconded by Councillor Q Abel

 

That this Council:

a)        recognises the significant benefits of street trees and is committed to increasing the number of street trees across the borough

 

b)        will work with Town and Parish Councils to identify suitable locations for tree planting and hedgerow creation

 

c)         will ensure its policies require rather than prevent the replacement of felled street trees where appropriate to do so.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Motion be referred to the Highways and Transport Committee or such other appropriate committee, based upon the constitutional terms of reference.

 

5          Cost of Living

 

Proposed by Councillor J Clowes and Seconded by Councillor T Dean

 

We propose that:

Cheshire East Council is determined to ensure the protection of the residents of Cheshire East from the cost-of-living challenge driven by Covid and Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

 

These combined effects have led to rising energy prices and our residents facing significant cost of living pressures.

 

This council is cognisant of the significant work that the Government has done to support the residents of Cheshire East. It notes the benefit that the two-year energy price guarantee and the certainty it will give to residents across Cheshire East as well as the enormous help that the £400 energy bill discount will provide to every household.

 

It further notes the additional support of the £650 cost of living payment for those in receipt of means-tested benefits, £300 for pensioner households and £150 for recipients of disability benefits in Cheshire East.

 

Cheshire East Council thanks the Government for providing equivalent support for those not on the mains energy grid and the protection of jobs in Cheshire East that the six-month protection for businesses will provide.

 

Cheshire East Council further welcomes the Government’s longer-term plans that will maximise domestic energy produced through North Sea oil and gas, as well as nuclear energy and renewables that will contribute towards securing energy independence in the long term and ensure that Cheshire East will never be subject to energy price hikes caused by illegal wars again.

 

Cheshire East Council therefore resolves to:

 

1          Work with the Government to ensure that it delivers the much-appreciated support to the residents of Cheshire East as quickly as possible.

2          Proactively identify those most in need of support in Cheshire East and ensure that they access all the Government support for which they are eligible.

3          Identify further local opportunities in Cheshire East for energy generation to help increase the supply of energy to further aid the long-term lowering of prices, support the Government’s aim of domestic energy security and create local jobs.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Motion be referred to the Corporate Policy Committee or such other appropriate committee, based upon the constitutional terms of reference.

 

Post meeting note – the Notice of Motion was referred to the Adults and Health Committee.

 

6          Criteria for the installation of zebra crossings and light controlled crossings

 

Proposed by Councillor S Akers Smith and Seconded by Councillor
L Anderson

 

That a report be prepared for the relevant Committee which will enable the Council to review the criteria for traffic light timings and to review the criteria for the installation of zebra crossings and light controlled crossings with the ambition to installing more each year.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Motion be referred to the Highways and Transport Committee or such other appropriate committee, based upon the constitutional terms of reference.

 

7          Hydraulic Fracturing (‘Fracking’)

 

Proposed by Councillor N Mannion and Seconded by L Anderson

 

Last month the Government announced the lifting of the moratorium on fracking that had been in place since 2019 following earth tremors and environmental concerns.

 

It is understood that certain areas of Cheshire East may have geological conditions, shale rock, suitable for the hydraulic fracturing process to extract shale gas.

 

As admitted by the British Geological Survey, the risk of large tremors from fracking ‘remains a scientific challenge for the geoscience community’.

 

In addition to the risk of earth tremors there remain significant unresolved environmental concerns around the contamination of ground water and associated public health and safety issues.

 

Therefore, it is proposed that:

 

1.    Cheshire East Council not support any activity associated with the exploration, extraction or storage and transportation of shale gas on land it owns, leases or manages.

 

2.    That where necessary, the council’s environmental, mineral and planning policies be updated to deter all activities associated with fracking and shale gas exploration, extraction or storage and transportation within Cheshire East.

 

3.    Local Members of Parliament be lobbied to support this position.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Motion be referred to the Environment and Communities Committee or such other appropriate committee based upon the constitutional terms of reference.

 

8          Debate Not Hate

 

Proposed by Councillor S Corcoran and Seconded by Councillor
C Browne

 

This Council supports the Debate not Hate Campaign, signs the public statement and calls for the government convened working group to tackle this issue.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Motion be approved.