Agenda and minutes

All Members are required to disclose at this point in the meeting or as soon as possible thereafter, any disclosable pecuniary interest or personal interest in any item(s) being considered at this meeting.  

There were none.

RESOLVED: That the minutes 22January 2020 be signed as a true and correct record.

(NOTE: The Board is required to receive a deputation(s) on a matter which is before the meeting of the Board provided that notice of the intended deputation and its object shall have been received by the Borough Solicitor by 12 noon on Monday 4^th September 2017.  The total time for deputations in favour and against a proposal shall not exceed 10 minutes).

Mr Hurworth was invited to addressed the Board. He thanked the Board for opportunity to speak and advised that he was representing Gosport and Fareham Friends of the Earth.

He advised that Gosport needed to reduce CO2 emissions and that the calculated forecast of use for the next 80 years required a 13% reduction each year and that if net carbon emissions carried on as present Gosport would use up its allocation in 7 years.

Gosport had only 4mw of resusable energy compared to other authorities with 22mw, that planting 1000 trees was trivial when one school in Fareham had planted 50 in a day and that a ware recycled was poor at 23% when in Wales it was 70%

He requested that Gosport Borough Council declare recognise the climate change emergency and intend to adopt an action plan that’s ambitious, and that they join with Friends of the Earth to lobby the government, declare Climate change emergency, and support those that did not have any opportunity reply.

Grace Cane was invited to address the Board

She advised that she had address the Council in February and that she had been on strike and had organised a strike and that people still seemed confused as to why. People also seemed confused as to why she was repeating herself after the full Council meeting.

She challenged people to remember the predictions for the future when they were younger and that hopes then were for flying cars and space holidays and that these were exciting however the future predicted for herself was fragile and consisted of empty ecosysyems, bushfires, floods, no clean air and sea level rises.

She advised the Board that 1 billion animals and many humans had lost their lives, all with families left behind and that moving forward it could be anyone’s family or friends. She advised that she did not need to tell the Board that the World needed saving but was reiterating why it did. It was the only planet containing music, art, trees, flowers and birds.

She advised that she didn’t want to be brave and have to do this, but was doing it because she was scared. That she was one voice representing many young people in Gosport, views that were often ignored because of outdated views of young people and people that can’t see beyond their own personal gain.

She advised the Board that climate change caused lives to be lost, caused devestation within families and that she wasn’t telling people that the world needed saving but telling why it should be. It was the only planet with trees, music, art, birds and flowers and that she didn’t want to stand and be brave but was scared for the future.

She advised that she was representing the views of many young people and that people often failed to listen to the views of young people as they could not see behind their own personal gain and that climate change was bigger than all those  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

(NOTE: The Board is required to allow a total of 15 minutes for questions from Members of the public on matters within the terms of reference of the Board provided that notice of such Question(s) shall have been submitted to the Borough Solicitor by 12 noon on Monday 4^th September 2017).

There were none.

The motion attached at Appendix A (‘the Motion’) was presented to Full Council at its meeting on 5 February and in accordance with standing orders of the Council this has been referred to the Community Board for consideration.

The Climate Change Motion was presented to the Board. Proposed by Councillor Johnston and seconded by Councillor Pepper

The Climate Change working group had felt that in line with the Council resolution, the motion should be considered by the Board.

Councillor Bateman was invited to address the Board.

He advised that he was offering his personal views and was not representing the views of the Working Group that he chaired. He advised that he believed that the strategy previously agreed, covered the points of the motion.

He felt that the working group had been unable to consider the motion as the proposer of it was not present.

He provided the Board with an overview of the Climate Change Working Group and proposals to date, including the setting up of the working group and the development of the strategy. He advised the Board that links had been made with Hampshire County Council and that the lead officer had been establishing a carbon baseline for future planning purposes and coordinating the recruitment of a climate change officer.

The Board was advised that the Climate Change Working Group had met and developed the strategy which had subsequently been agreed by the Policy and Organisation Board along with the proposal for the associated action plan and establishing how the Working Group would oversee and support the workings of the strategy. It had been agreed by the Policy and Organisation Board that the Group and Climate Change be designated a function of the Community Board and possibly its own Board, to be discussed later on the agenda.

The recruitment of a Climate Change officer had begun and the baseline and the establishment of the baseline carbon data was ongoing as this was needed to measure the effectiveness of the plan.

The working group has begun to look at initiatives like the free refill stations and were examining the Greening campaign in more detail. They were also looking at ways to work with Hampshire County Council to reach out into communities. The Council also had a representative on the

The Board was advised that there was lots of background work being undertaken to progress the working group, the strategy and the action plan and that links had been established with Eastleigh Borough Council as they had provided some useful training resources.

Councillor Bateman expressed disappointment that the group had previously worked with unanimity and had been working well apolitically, but this seemed to be dissolving. He expressed disappointment that the motion had not been presented to the working group for discussion,

The Board was advised that a number of points in the motion were already covered in the Strategy and advised that the wide spread consideration of climate change across the Council was a fundamental part of what the strategy was trying to achieve. It would be a foundation to the plan and would evolve moving forward.

It was clarified that the Policy and Organisation Board had agreed for the Climate Change Working Group to be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

Report to follow.

Consideration was given to the report of the Senior Solicitor seeking the approval of the Community Board to extend the Borough of Gosport Public Spaces Protection Dog Control Order 2017 (“PSPDCO”) which will be automatically revoked with effect from 23:59 hours on 30 April 2020.

The Board was advised that there were two amendments that at paragraph 3.3 the word aware be changed to unaware and that the description in the location described in schedule 2, paragraph 1.1 be amended to read ‘pirates cove’ to accurately reflect the name of its location.

The Board felt that it was clear that this was an extension to the order to allow it to carry on but that amendments were possible if required. It was requested that the review be diarised to ensure it took place every three years.

Members welcomed restrictions in parks, and cemetery’s and on sports pitches.

RESOLVED: That subject to the amendments identified the Board

·         Considered the results of the consultation exercise in relation to this matter carried out between 17^th February 2020 and 02^nd March 2020 as set out in Appendix C.

·         Had regard to the representations made in response to the consultation exercise and note the responses received.

·         Extends the existing PSPDCO and if relevant record any modifications and or approve the PSPDCO attached at Appendix A (“Draft PSPDCO”);

·         Delegates authority to the Borough Solicitor to take the necessary steps, including publicity requirements to implement the extended PSPDCO in the form of Appendix A

Consideration was given to a report of the Borough Solicitor and Monitoring Officer proposing to create a Climate Change Board and a Housing Board and the associated amendments to the Terms of Reference and constitution for approval at the next Annual Meeting of the Full Council.

The report was submitted at last minute to enable the Board to consider the effect of creation of a Climate Change Board on the Terms of Reference of this Board, allowing it to be considered before the adjourned Council meeting in May.

Carving out climate change responsibilities has also meant a reconsideration of the functions of Community Board, which has led to the proposal to also create a separate Housing Board to deal with housing issues. Paper only finalised by Officers this morning.

The proposed reorganisation reflects the importance of these issues to the Council.

A Member advised that they remembered there previously being a standalone Housing Board and welcomed the proposal for this, particularly with a number of housing projects being undertaken.

Members discussed the proposal for a Climate Change Board and some Members felt that the proposals for Board were not what the Climate Change Working Group had suggested they would like to see as the Group evolved and that there was a preference for a Scrutiny based approach.

They requested that consideration be given to the scrutiny of climate change issues across all functions of the Borough and that the overarching desire was that the Council included climate change as a consideration in every aspect of the Council’s work. This included trees, charging points and the encouraging of the use of electric vehicles.

Members requested that the Board have the powers of Scrutiny within their remit, they also felt that there was not sufficient time to consider the report and its content as it was presented to the Board on the evening of the meeting.

The Board was advised that the proposal was not for a Scrutiny Board.

Some Members proposed and requested that the proposal be amended to give the proposed Board the powers to scrutinise all aspects of the Council and to allow it to scrutinise all actions and decision.

Some Members felt that it would be beneficial to defer the item for consideration at a future date.

Members were reminded that a Scrutiny Committee did not have the remit of Council Boards, and that Scrutiny would allow for the consideration of the Council’s actions but not give it decision making powers.

Members felt that the consideration of climate change should be fundamental to all decisions and be able to scrutinise them as the committee felt fit. It was suggested that the terms of reference

It was proposed and seconded that an additional term be added to the terms of reference to reflect the desire to have the overarching power to scrutinise the Council.

A Member stated that it was important to recognise that if the Climate Change proposal was for a Scrutiny, it would not have the powers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

There were none.