Agenda and minutes

The Mayor’s Chaplain said prayers, at the request of the Mayor.

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors L Gilbert, G Hayes (morning only), S McGrory, L Smetham and J Weston.

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in any item on the agenda.

The Mayor noted that Members have those property interests within the administrative area of the Council as recorded in the Register of Interests.

The Mayor also noted that Members may:

·         be a Member of a Town or Parish Council

·         be a School Governor

·         be a member of an external organisation or amenity group

·         be a Director of a Council owned company

·         be appointed by the Council to a role in an external organisation

·         have previously expressed a view on the preparation of the Local Plan

·         been involved in decisions about land in their role as a Member of the Council, or in any of their “wider public life” roles;

but that none of these matters are disclosable pecuniary interests, or automatically preclude Members from participating in the business of the meeting.

The Mayor then invited Members to declare to the meeting if they had a disclosable pecuniary interest (or any other interest); and/or if they felt they were unable to approach the debate and vote on any item on the agenda with an open mind.

The following declaration were made:-

It was noted that the Deputy Mayor would declare a pecuniary interest in respect of item 7, Election of Mayor and Deputy Mayor for the 2016/17 Civic year and would leave the Chamber during its consideration.

Councillor C Browne declared an interest in item 13 of the agenda, as his wife was an employee of Cheshire East Council.

Councillor B Dooley declared that she had a disclosable pecuniary interest in Item 21 of the agenda, relating to the Local Plan and would be submitting her apologies for the reconvened meeting on the 26 February when this item would be considered.

Councillor Rachel Bailey referred to a public question which was to be raised under item 6 of the agenda relating to dairy farming and declared that she was a partner in a dairy farm and would, therefore, make no comment and would not be involved in any response to the question.

The Mayor informed the meeting that, as had been her practice in the past, she was not minded to vote on any matter unless a casting vote was required.

To approve, as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting held on 17 December 2015.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 December 2015 be approved as a correct record.

The Mayor:-

1          Reported, with great sadness the recent untimely death of a well known and highly respected officer of the Council, Jon Robinson.  Jon had a key role in a most important function of the Council: Internal Audit, and had been involved in some very important Audit-related matters. Jon had recently been recognised for 25 years’ service in his local government career and he would be greatly missed. She had attended Jon’s funeral, which had been very touching.  Council stood to observe a minute’s silence in his memory.

2          Warmly welcomed Councillor Geoff Baggott, the recently elected Councillor for the Congleton East Ward.

3          Informed Members that a list of all the Mayoral engagements which she and the Deputy Mayor had attended since the last Council meeting had been circulated around the Chamber.

4          Informed Members that the Mayor’s Charity Lunch would be held at the Swettenham Arms on Sunday 17th April, and invitations for this would be sent out very soon. She hoped that this event would be well supported by Council Members.

5          Noted that Caroline Simpson, Executive Director Economic Growth and Prosperity, would be leaving the Council before the next Council meeting. The Mayor thanked Caroline for all the work that she had done for Cheshire East over the past years and wished her well in her new position at Stockport Council.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 35 and Appendix 7 to the rules, a total period of 15 minutes is allocated for members of the public to speak at Council meetings. 

Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes, but the Chairman will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned, where there are a number of speakers.

Members of the public wishing to ask a question at the meeting should provide at least three clear working days’ notice in writing and should include the question with that notice. This will enable an informed answer to be given. It is not a requirement to give notice of the intention to make use of public speaking provision. However, as a matter of courtesy, a period of 24 hours notice is encouraged.

It should be noted the members of the public wishing to speak on Local Plan matters will have an opportunity to do so at the reconvened meeting, commencing at 10am on Friday 26 February 2016 (See agenda item 20).

Ms Jane Smith used public speaking time to address Council regarding badger  culling and bovine TB and asked what Cheshire East Council’s stance was on allowing the culling of badgers on its land.

Cllr Sam Gardner, Cabinet Member for Open Spaces, thanked Ms Smith for raising this issue and responded as follows that Cheshire East Council was aware that parts of Cheshire East were defined by Natural England/Defra as ‘high risk’ or ‘edge of high risk’ in terms of bovine TB. A range of measures were already in place for private landowners and, if appropriate, for Cheshire East Council, which was a landowner with tenant farmers.  These measures included robust biosecurity and vaccination, measures which the Council had itself undertaken on its own land.

Cheshire East would  keep this matter under review, taking full account of the relevant science and research. No cull had yet been authorised in Cheshire East and in the meantime the Council would continue to work with farmers, community groups and the TB eradication group to raise awareness and share best practice around bio-security and farm management.

Mr Bob Jackson used public speaking time to ask the following question:-

"I would like to highlight the  current state of domestic rubbish tipping on the pavements in Crewe and the state of the alleys where people dump mattresses, fridges, furniture and bags of rubbish. 

This is causing considerable distress to residents, especially the elderly, and is creating the impression of Crewe being a filthy, neglected and uncivilized town. 

This has been going on for years and the Council has adopted a coping strategy where people know that if they dump any rubbish on the street it will be collected within a couple of days. There are a few who now treat this as the norm and socially acceptable.  

It is not. 

Crewe is in desperate need of a dedicated warden to investigate who is responsible and then to educate or actually prosecute when they are identified.  

There is not a short term fix because education is not just for our generation but for the next. 

I would like to ask why there is an apparent reluctance of Cheshire East Council to do anything to resolve this situation. "

Cllr Glen Williams, Deputy Cabinet Member for Communities, responded, as follows:-

“The issue of increased fly-tipping and side waste incidents in Crewe has been raised by local elected Members. The Council is committed to dealing with fly-tipping and side waste, and has a two pronged approach based around collection and enforcement.

Collection - Ansa clear away any side waste and fly-tipping that is reported to them through the call centre. The resource currently devoted to this operation, in the south of the borough, is a pick-up vehicle and two operatives full time to deal with the worst affected streets in Crewe. This team not only collect fly-tipped rubbish/side waste but also visit known hot spots on a regular basis.

Enforcement - The community wardens will attend incidents of fly-tipping, side waste  ...  view the full minutes text for item 69.

To approve the designation of Councillor Olivia Hunter as the Mayor Elect and that a second Member be designated as the Deputy Mayor Elect, with a view to their formal election and appointment as Mayor and Deputy Mayor for Cheshire East for 2016-17, at the Mayor Making ceremony to be held on 11 May 2016.

The Deputy Mayor, Councillor O Hunter, had declared a pecuniary interest in respect of this item and left the Chamber during its consideration.

Consideration was given to a report relating the election of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor for the 2016/17 Civic Year. Council was requested to resolve that Councillor Olivia Hunter be designated as the Mayor Elect and that a second Member be designated as the Deputy Mayor Elect, with a view to their formal election and appointment as Mayor and Deputy Mayor for Cheshire East for 2016-17, at the Mayor Making ceremony to be held on 11 May 2016.

It was proposed and seconded that Councillor Arthur Moran be designated as the Deputy Mayor Elect.

Following his nomination, Councillor Moran, declared a non-pecuniary interest and left the meeting during consideration of this matter.

RESOLVED

That Councillor Olivia Hunter be designated as the Mayor Elect and that Councillor Arthur Moran be designated as the Deputy Mayor Elect, with a view to their formal election and appointment as Mayor and Deputy Mayor for Cheshire East for 2016-17, at the Mayor Making ceremony to be held on 11 May 2016.

To elect a Leader of the Council for a four year term of office

Consideration was given to a report requesting Council to elect a Leader of the Council for a four year term of office.

The following nominations were proposed and seconded:

Councillor Rachel Bailey

Councillor Damien Bailey

(Councillors Rachel Bailey and Damien Bailey left the Chamber whilst the item was discussed and the vote was taken).

The nominations were put to the vote with the following results:-

Councillor Rachel Bailey – 53 votes

Councillor Damien Bailey – 17 votes

Abstentions - 5

RESOLVED

That Councillor Rachel Bailey is elected as Leader of the Council for a four year term of office.

(Councillor Rachel Bailey thanked the Council for her election to this office and stated that she looked forward to serving Cheshire East as Leader).

To consider the recommendation from Cabinet.

Cabinet, at its meeting on 9 February 2016, had considered a report setting out the Council’s financial and non-financial performance at the third quarter stage of 2015/16.

The report included a recommendation to Council to approve fully funded supplementary capital estimates and virements above £1,000,000 in accordance with Finance Procedure Rules, in respect of the Crewe Town centre regeneration and the Care Act Phase 2, system implementation, as set out at Appendix 7 of the Cabinet report.

RESOLVED

That the fully funded supplementary capital estimates and virements above £1,000,000, as set out in Appendix 7 of the report, be approved, in accordance with Finance Procedure Rules.

To consider the recommendations from Cabinet.

Cabinet, at its meeting on 9 February 2016, had considered a report on the Council’s Corporate Plan for the years 2016/17 to 2019/20 and the Medium Term Financial Strategy for the years 2016/17 to 2018/19. The report to Cabinet had summarised the resolutions that Cabinet were requested to recommend to Council, at Appendix A.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Assets reported that the Government had announced the day before the Cabinet’s meeting that the Council would receive transitional grant of £2.97M in 2016/17 and again in 2017/18. He had also informed Cabinet that the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 4^th February 2016 had made no specific comments in relation to the report.

The Portfolio Holder also reported that the Medium Term Financial Strategy reflected the confirmation of grant funding levels for Public Health Funding (reduced by £298,000 compared to provisional figures) and the Independent Living Fund Grant (confirmed as £12,000 above the estimated position) and would both be matched by equal changes in service expenditure.  He also reported the renaming of the current “Business Retention Scheme” earmarked reserve to “Collection Fund Management Reserve”, which better reflected the nature of this funding.  The balance of this reserve would stand at £8.4m and would be used to manage cash flow implications arising from administration of the Collection Fund.

The recommendations from Cabinet, as set out on pages 89 and 90 of the agenda papers were proposed and seconded, together with additional recommendations from two reports, which had considered by Cabinet as urgent items on 23 February 2016. The first of these related to the findings of a statutory consultation exercise as part of plans to make significant changes to the Children’s Centre delivery in Cheshire East.  There was a need to address a significant financial shortfall in the Council’s budget associated with reducing Central Government grant and increasing costs. The savings being consulted upon would achieve a £500k saving against the Council’s base budget.

The second additional recommendation related to the 2016/17 Final Local Government Finance Settlement, which had been received on Monday
8 February 2016. The settlement had contained some good news in the form of temporary Transitional Grant Support, although it also confirmed that by the start of the 2019/20 financial year the Council would have lost all of its Revenue Support Grant. Details were set out in the Cabinet report.

Cabinet had made recommendations to Council on, an appropriate financial strategy that would achieve the best overall impact from the additional temporary Transitional Grant that had now been confirmed.

It was moved and seconded that Council approve:

1          The new Corporate Plan 2016/20.

2             The Revenue estimates for the 2016/17 budget and the medium term Capital Programme estimates 2016/19, as detailed in the Medium Term Financial Strategy Report 2016/19.

3             Band D Council Tax of £1,261.95 representing an increase of 3.75%. This arises from the provisional finance settlement allowing up to a 2% additional charge to fund Adult Social Care pressures.

4  ...  view the full minutes text for item 73.

To consider the recommendations from Cabinet

Cabinet, at its meeting on 9 February 2016, had considered the Treasury Management Strategy and Minimum Revenue Provision Statement 2016/17.

The key elements of the strategy for 2016/17 were for the Council to:

·         Retain capital financing costs within an affordable limit of c.£14m.

·         Not enter into any overall additional external borrowing in 2016/17.

·         Take an appropriate approach to risk if short term loans were required, by only borrowing from lenders identified in the strategy.

·         Maintain security of investments by only using counterparties detailed in the strategy.

·         Support a flexible approach to treasury management that could react to opportunities and market conditions to maximise effectiveness, whilst protecting the public funds managed within the strategy.

The Treasury Management Strategy was set out in Appendix A to the Cabinet report and had been reported to the Audit and Governance Committee on 10^th December 2015 for scrutiny purposes.

The recommendation from Cabinet was proposed and seconded.

RESOLVED

That the Treasury Management Strategy and the Minimum Revenue Provision Statement Statement for 2016/17, as set out in Appendix A to the report, be approved.

To set the Council Tax for Cheshire East Council for the financial year 2016/17, in accordance with the formal resolutions as shown in section 13 of the report.

Consideration was given to a report relating to the setting of the Council tax for 2016/17.

Cheshire East Council, as a billing authority, was responsible for the billing and collection of Council Tax due from local taxpayers and must, therefore, make a resolution to set the overall Council Tax level. This meant that the Authority also collected Council Tax income to cover not only its own services but also precepts set by other authorities.

The Council Tax levied was, therefore, made up of four elements:

·         Cheshire East Borough Council element

·         Town & Parish Council precepts

·         Police & Crime Commissioner for Cheshire precept

·         Cheshire Fire Authority precept

Legislation required the recording in the minutes of how each Member voted on any decision relating to the Budget or Council Tax. Accordingly, a recorded vote was carried out in respect of this item, with the following results:-

For

Cllr C Andrew, Cllr A Arnold, Cllr G Baggott, Cllr D Bailey, Cllr Rachel Bailey, Cllr Rhoda Bailey, Cllr P Bates, Cllr G Baxendale, Cllr M Beanland, Cllr D Bebbington, Cllr S Brookfield, Cllr E Brooks, Cllr D Brown, Cllr C Browne, Cllr B Burkhill, Cllr P Butterill, Cllr S Carter, Cllr C Chapman, Cllr J Clowes, Cllr S Corcoran, Cllr H Davenport, Cllr S Davies, Cllr M Deakin, Cllr Tony Dean, Cllr B Dooley, Cllr L Durham, Cllr S Edgar, Cllr I Faseyi, Cllr JP Findlow, Cllr R Fletcher, Cllr D Flude, Cllr T Fox, Cllr S Gardiner, Cllr S Gardner, Cllr M Grant, Cllr P Groves, Cllr J Hammond, Cllr M Hardy, Cllr A Harewood, Cllr G Hayes, Cllr S Hogben, Cllr D Hough, Cllr O Hunter, Cllr J Jackson, Cllr L Jeuda, Cllr A Kolker, Cllr J Macrae, Cllr D Mahon, Cllr N Mannion, Cllr D Marren, Cllr A Martin, Cllr R Menlove, Cllr G Merry, Cllr A Moran, Cllr B Moran, Cllr H Murray, Cllr D Newton, Cllr M Parsons, Cllr S Pochin, Cllr J Rhodes, Cllr B Roberts, Cllr J Saunders, Cllr Sewart, Cllr M Simon,  Cllr D Stockton, Cllr A Stott, Cllr G Wait, Cllr B Walmsley, Cllr G Walton, Cllr L Wardlaw, Cllr M Warren, Cllr J Weatherill, Cllr H Wells-Bradshaw, Cllr G Williams, Cllr J Wray.

Not Voting

Cllr H Gaddum

The motion was declared carried with 76 votes for and 1 not voting.

RESOLVED

That the Council Tax for Cheshire East Council for the financial year 2016/17, be set at £1,261.95, in accordance with the formal resolutions as follows:-

Formal Resolution

1          That it be noted that on 17th December 2015 the Council calculated the Council Tax base 2016/17:-

(a) for the whole Council area as 142,186.60 (item T in the formula in Section 31B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the “Act”)).

(b) for individual parishes, as in Appendix A to the report.

2.         Calculated that the Council Tax requirement for the Council’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75.

To consider the recommendation from Staffing Committee.

Consideration was given to a recommendation from Staffing Committee relating to the Pay Policy Statement 2016/17.

Section 38 of the Localism Act 2011 required local authorities to produce a Pay Policy Statement by 31 March on an annual basis.  Regard had to be given to any guidance from the Secretary of State in producing this statement and the Local Government Transparency Code 2015.

The Pay Policy Statement for 2016/17, which reflected the expected position as at 1^st April 2016, was attached as Appendix 1 to the report. Significant changes since last year’s Statement were outlined in Section 12 of the report.

The recommendation from Staffing Committee was moved and seconded.

RESOLVED

1.            That the significant changes since the 2015/16 Pay Policy Statement be noted, as outlined in Section 12.2 of the report.

2.            That the Pay Policy Statement for 2016/17, as recommended by the Staffing Committee, be approved and published accordingly.

To consider the recommendations from the Constitution Committee.

The Constitution Committee, at its meeting on 18 February 2016, had considered  a report outlining a number of proposals by the Constitution Member Working Group.

Council was required to approve one of the proposals, namely a job description for Committee Chairmen, attached at Appendix 1 to the report.

The recommendation from the Constitution Committee was moved and seconded.

RESOLVED

That the job description for Committee Chairmen, as attached at Appendix 1 of the report to the Constitution Committee, be approved and adopted.

To consider any Notices of Motion that have been received in accordance with Procedure Rule 12.

Two Notices of Motion had been submitted to Council in accordance with Procedure Rule 12.  The Motions were proposed and seconded and referred to the relevant decision-making body for determination as follows:

1          Potential Effects of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership on Local Authorities

            Proposed by Councillor J Jackson and Seconded by Councillor A Harewood.

            This Council notes:

1.         That the EU and USA launched negotiations in July 2013 on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

2.         That negotiations are underway to determine which goods and services TTIP will apply to and if new rules can be agreed to protect investors, harmonise standards, reduce tariffs and open new markets throughout the EU and USA.

3.         That there has been no impact assessment about the potential impact on local authorities.

4.         That there has been no scrutiny of the negotiating texts by local government and no consultation with local government representatives

5.         That MPs are also unable to scrutinise the negotiating documents.

This Council wishes to express a concern that:

1.         TTIP could have a detrimental impact on local services, employment, suppliers and decision-making.

2.         A thorough impact assessment of TTIP on local authorities has not been undertaken and this needs to happen before the negotiations can be concluded.

3.         The proposed Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism has been used by corporations to overturn democratic decisions by all levels of governments at significant public cost. Local decision-making must be protected from ISDS.

4.         Sourcing supplies and employment locally is important to strengthening local economies and meeting local needs and TTIP must not impact on local authorities’ ability to act in the best interests of its communities.

This Council resolves:

1.         To write to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, our local MPs and the North-West region MEPs raising our serious concerns about the potential impact of TTIP (and especially the proposed ISDS mechanism) on local authorities.

2.         To call for an impact assessment on the potential impact of TTIP on local authorities.

The Motion was referred to Cabinet.

2          Ethical Investment Guidelines

            Proposed by Councillor S Corcoran and Seconded by Councillor L Jeuda.

            Council notes with alarm the recent statement from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) confirming that new guidelines will be introduced in 2016 which will curb councils’ powers to divest from or stop trading with organisations or countries they regard as unethical.

Council recognises that the focus of these new measures may be on procurement and investment policies and that they may have profound implications for councils’ ethical investment policies more generally.

Council believes that the proposed measures now being outlined by the DCLG will seriously undermine the Council’s ability to commit to ethical procurement and investments.

Council also notes that the new guidelines represent an attack on local democracy and decision-making through a restriction on councils’ powers. This is directly contrary to the government’s own stated commitment to the principle of localism, given a statutory basis by the Localism  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

Members asked the following questions:-

Councillor S Carter in respect of meetings between representatives from the Council and the King School, Macclesfield.  The Leader of the Council responded.

Councillor J Jackson in respect of the developers selected for the development of Macclesfield Town Centre.  The Leader of the Council responded.

Councillor M Hardy in respect of local feedback to the state of the highways.  Councillor D Brown responded. 

Councillor N Mannion in respect of fracking.  The Leader of the Council responded.

Councillor D Bailey in respect of the closing down of respite care in Shavington and Children’s Centres.  The Leader of the Council responded.

Councillor L Jeuda in respect of Paradise Mill, Macclesfield.  The Leader of the Council undertook to provide a written response. 

Councillor B Roberts in respect of the Clean for the Queen weekend.  Councillor G Williams responded.

For Council to agree that the meeting be adjourned until 10.00 am on Friday 26 February 2016 in order to deal with the remainder of the business on the agenda

Council agreed that the meeting would stand adjourned until 10.00 am on Friday 26 February 2016.

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors S Carter, B Dooley, L Gilbert, M Jones, J Macrae, D Marren, L Wardlaw and J Weston.

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in any item on the agenda, which may not have been disclosed on 25 February 2016.

The Mayor noted again those matters previously noted under item 3 of these Minutes (Declarations of Interest) and then invited Members to declare to the meeting if they had a disclosable pecuniary interest (or any other interest); and/or if they felt they were unable to approach the debate and vote on any item on the agenda with an open mind.

No declarations were made.

The Mayor informed the meeting that, as has been her practice in the past, she was not minded to vote on any matter unless a casting vote was required.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 35 and Appendix 7 to the rules, a  period of time is allocated for members of the public to speak at Council meetings. 

This will be  in respect of items to be considered on 26 February 2016 only.

Individuals wishing to speak should register their intention by midnight on Monday 22 February 2016, by contacting the officer listed at the foot of this agenda and provide an indication of the issue in respect of which they wish to speak.

In so far as it is possible, the Mayor will allow speakers to speak at the beginning of the morning and afternoon session in which it is intended that the item will be dealt with, as listed below:-

Morning (from 10am onwards):

Introduction, Strategic Policies, Crewe, Macclesfield, Alsager, Congleton, Handforth (including New Settlement), Knutsford, Middlewich, Nantwich

Afternoon (after 1pm):

Poynton, Sandbach, Wilmslow, Other Sites & settlements

Note – These are indicative times only and it is possible that items listed for the morning session may carry over to the afternoon session.

.

The Mayor stated that she would incorporate public speaking into Item 21 (Cheshire East Local Plan), as appropriate, to allow speakers to speak at the beginning of the morning and afternoon session in which it was intended that the item in question would be dealt with.  It was proposed that the morning session dealt with the introduction, Strategic Policies and issues relating to Crewe, Macclesfield, Alsager, Congleton, Handforth (including new settlement), Knutsford, Middlewich and Nantwich.  Issues relating to Poynton, Sandbach, Wilmslow and other sites and settlements would be dealt with during the afternoon.

To consider a report and recommendations on the Cheshire East Local Plan.

Members are reminded to bring their copy of the documentation to the meeting.

The documents referred to in the report may be accessed via the links in the report.  A limited number of paper copies of the document will be available at the meeting for members of the public to refer to but not to take away.

Copies of the documents are available to purchase on request.  For further details contact the officer listed at the foot of this agenda.

Copies of the documentation are also available for public inspection at the following locations:

·         The Customer Centre, Town Hall, Macclesfield, SK10 1EA

·         The Municipal Buildings, Earle Street, Crewe, CW1 2BJ

·         The Council Headquarters, Westfields, Middlewich Road, Sandbach CW11 1HZ

Consideration was given to a report regarding proposed changes to the Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy, alongside the Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) and Sustainability (Integrated) Appraisal (SA) Addendums for public consultation, together with the recommendations of the Strategic Planning Board meeting on 18 February and the Cabinet meeting on 23 February.

The recommendations as set out on page 372 of the report, together with the recommendations of the Strategic Planning Board and of Cabinet, were proposed by Councillor Rachel Bailey and seconded byCouncillor David Brown.

Although it was not common practice for officers to speak at full Council meetings, in this instance and in view of the importance of the Local Plan to the Council, a series of presentations was given by Mr A Fisher, the Council’s Head of Planning Strategy.

Following a presentation on strategic policies by the Head of Planning Strategy, the following members of the public spoke in respect of the Cheshire East Local Plan:

Mrs Sue Helliwell

Mr Keith Williams

Mr David Lewis

Ms Eileen Furr

Mr Brian Chaplin

Mr Andrew Haldane

Ms Heather Jones

Mr Pat Cullen

The Member debate on strategic policies was followed by closing comments by Councillor Rachel Bailey, the proposer of the motion.

Presentations by the Head of Planning Strategy on Crewe & Nantwich, Macclesfield, Handforth & Knutsford, and Alsager, Congleton & Middlewich were followed by Member debate and closing comments by Councillor Rachel Bailey.

The meeting adjourned for lunch at 1 pm and reconvened at 1.45 pm

The following members of the public spoke in respect of the Cheshire East Local Plan:

Mr Ashley Weinberg

Mr Roger Bagguley

Mr Manuel Golding

Presentations by the Head of Planning Strategy on Poynton & Sandbach, and Wilmslow and “other sites” were followed by Member debate and closing comments by Councillor Rachel Bailey.

The following amendments were proposed and seconded and declared lost:

·      On page 89 of the Local Plan Strategy in the section Vision for Key Service Centres – to not delete the words “to meet local needs” Proposed: Councillor D Hough Seconded: Councillor R Fletcher

·      To remove CS41 Chelford Road / Whirley Road. This site should be removed the site allocations and therefore the Local Plan Strategy as it fails the site selection methodology namely impact on infrastructure, including transports networks, and schools. Proposed: Councillor M Hardy Seconded: Councillor L Durham

·      To omit the Site CS43 ‘Radway Green North’ in Alsager. Proposed: Councillor D Hough Seconded: Councillor R Fletcher

·      Policy CS24 (Capricorn): The area in the south of the site currently designated as housing should be designated as mixed use (where planning permission has not already been granted) and add new paragraph to say “the land designated as mixed use will only be used for housing if it can be demonstrated that there is no demand for employment use and/or employment use is not viable.” Proposed: Councillor S Corcoran Seconded: Councillor S Hogben

·      To remove Policies CS62 and CS63 from the Local Plan Strategy Proposed: Councillor T Fox Seconded:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 84.

To receive such announcements as may be made by the Leader

The Leader made announcements in relation to the following:

·                Performance monitoring

·                Member Development

·                A review of Overview and Scrutiny

·                Changes to Cabinet.  Appointments to the Cabinet, and the responsibilities allocated to each Cabinet Member, were announced, as appended to these minutes

·                Strategic Infrastructure, including HS2 and the local highway network

·                Countryside, Culture & Visitor Economy

·                Investment, including the launch of the Council’s latest ASDV, The Skills and Growth Company

·                Planning and Development Management

·                Regeneration, including development projects in Crewe and Macclesfield

·                The appointment of a Corporate Parenting Committee

·                Endorsement of the work of the Council’s ASDVs

The appointment of Councillor Ellie Brooks as Heritage Champion was announced by the Leader and noted by Council.

A copy of the Leader’s announcements would be circulated to all Members of the Council.