Agenda and draft minutes

It was proposed by Councillor Boden, seconded by Councillor Mrs French and resolved that Councillor Nick Meekins be elected as Chairman of the Council for the period to the next Annual meeting and that he be paid an allowance of £4,120 plus travelling expenses. 

Councillor Meekins received the Chain of Office, signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office and addressed the Council as follows: Fellow Councillors, thank you for re-electing me as Chairman of Fenland District Council. I will endeavour to represent the Council at as many events as I possibly can during the following year. 

It was proposed by Councillor Meekins, seconded by Councillor Mrs Mayor that Councillor Brenda Barber be elected as Vice-Chairman of the Council.

It was further proposed by Councillor Booth, seconded by Councillor Cutler that Councillor Patrick be elected as Vice Chairman of the Council.

Following a vote, Councillor Brenda Barber was elected as Vice-Chairman of the Council for the period 2024/25 and it was resolved that she be paid an allowance of £1,000 plus travelling expenses. 

Councillor Barber signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office and addressed the Council saying that she has enjoyed her role as Vice Chairman to date and she will continue to do her best to support the Chairman in any way she can over the next year.

To confirm and sign the minutes of 26 February 2024.

The minutes of the meeting of 26 February 2024 were confirmed and signed.

There were no announcements from the Chairman or Chief Executive.

To determine that:

1.         The Annual Meeting of the Council in 2025 be held on:

      Monday    19 May 2025

2.         Ordinary meetings of the Council in 2024/25 be held as follows:

Monday     15 July 2024

      Monday     30 September 2024

      Monday     16 December 2024

      Monday     24 February 2025

The suggested meeting dates for the Annual Meeting and for the ordinary meetings of the Council for 2024/25 were proposed as follows:

·         Monday 15 July 2024

·         Monday 30 September 2024

·         Monday 16 December 2024

·         Monday 24 February 2025

·         Monday 19 May 2025

Proposed by Councillor Meekins , seconded by Councillor Boden and AGREED the proposed dates for the Annual Meeting and ordinary meetings of the Council for 2024/25.

Councillor Meekins reported that there had been no questions submitted under Procedure Rule 8.6.  Under Procedure Rule 8.4, Councillor Booth asked the following questions as Leader of the Opposition:

·         Given the fact that the date for the Annual Council meeting had been set last year to take place on 13 May 2024, some members such as Councillor John Clark are not present at the meeting today due to being on holiday which was booked so it did not coincide with Annual Council. He asked why it was felt necessary to reschedule the Annual Council meeting, will this also be the case with other meetings in the future and can that be avoided if at all possible? Councillor Boden responded that he will do his upmost to avoid having to reschedule meetings in the future and explained that it is a difficult task to schedule a calendar of meetings for the forthcoming year. He made the point that when setting dates other factors have to be considered such as taking into account the various timescales which as an authority need to be adhered to, as well as considering the dates of meetings held by the County Council and the Combined Authority. Councillor Boden added that when he considered the draft calendar of dates, he had overlooked the fact that Cabinet and Council had not been scheduled to take place on the same day. He explained that the 13 May was not deemed to be a suitable date as there have been elections in a number of constituent authorities within the Combined Authority area and as a result there have been changes to the political proportionality in the Combined Authority for its committees which is one of the matters which needs to be considered by the Council. Councillor Boden explained that had Annual Council taken place on 13 May then the political proportionality information would not have been available, and it would have proved difficult to conduct that part of business.

Members asked questions of Portfolio Holders in accordance with Procedure Rules 8.1 and 8.2 as follows:

·         Councillor Connor addressed Councillor Murphy and stated that he would like to congratulate Adam Pratt and his team of Refuse and Recycling operatives as well as Street Cleansing Operatives and Rapid Response crew for the excellent work that they carry out. He added that he has never heard any negativity from residents only words of praise for the work that they undertake in all types of weather. Councillor Connor expressed the view that they are all a credit to the Council, and he asked for his sentiments to be fed back to the staff.

·         Councillor Connor addressed Councillor Wallwork and asked if she could pass on his thanks and appreciation to the Environmental Health Officers for the excellent work that they undertake in often challenging situations. He added that Dawn Sadler has gone over and beyond in her duties to get several difficult cases dealt with to reach a satisfactory conclusion in a timely and proactive manner and he asked for his thanks to be passed on.

·         Councillor Hoy stated that she was surprised over the weekend to see an open letter from the Chief Executive of the County Council, in which he called into question the professionalism of the Senior Officers Team at Fenland. She expressed the view that she has always found the officers to be very professional and whilst sometimes there maybe differences of opinion, they always act in a professional manner, and she made the point that she has no complaints about them and holds them in extremely high regard. Councillor Hoy asked whether Councillor Boden agrees with her statement, and she asked whether he would refute the claims which were made? She added that she is genuinely concerned about how the letter came to light as she cannot ever recall this type of incident taking place in the 14 years that she has been a councillor. Councillor Hoy stated that it may be that a code of conduct complaint may be required but that will not become apparent until an investigation is conducted and asked Councillor Boden whether he will be prepared to investigate this matter further on behalf of the Council? Councillor Hoy added that, in her view, it is important to do so due to the fact as employers there is a duty to defend its employees when they have their reputation tarnished unfairly in such a way. Councillor Boden stated that he was also sent a copy of the open letter on Friday which Councillor Hoy has referred to and he explained that he does not want to exacerbate a situation which has already gone regrettably further than it should have done. He expressed the opinion that he fully endorses the comments made by Councillor Hoy and added that he has 100% confidence in the professionalism of the Senior Officer Team at Fenland. Councillor Boden added that he will be drafting an email to the Chief  ...  view the full minutes text for item C7/24

Motion submitted by Councillor Summers regarding Planning.

Councillor Summers presented his motion regarding Planning and Councillor Roy seconded the motion, and it was opened for debate.

Members made comments as follows:

·         Councillor Connor stated that in his 11 years as a County Councillor he has the misfortune to endure many poor motions brought by the County Council and, in his opinion, this motion before members is of the same level, although he has a lot of respect for most Independent members of the Council at Fenland. He made the point that the three independent members have either been a member of the Planning Committee or a substitute member in the last year and one of the new Planning Committee members had passed comment to him and stated that before he had been elected as a councillor, he did not appreciate the amount of work which goes into a Planning meeting, including reading the agenda and associated reports, numerous site visits all over the Fenland area and then the committee meeting which can last for many hours. Councillor Connor stated that the councillor also made the point with regards to how open and transparent the Planning system was in Fenland in both the process and determination of the applications and made the point that there is a process in which a councillor can call in an application if the site falls within their ward or the adjoining ward and there does need to be a material planning reason in order for this to happen. He made the point that as he as Chairman of the Planning Committee reviews these applications and if they meet the relevant criteria, he will ensure the application is determined by the committee rather than delegate it to officers, stating that he has received three call in requests over the last five years from members and all of those applications have been determined by the Planning Committee. Councillor Connor made the point that all applications recommended for refusal by officers are reviewed by him and if he feels that members of the Planning Committee would find the application interesting then he consults with the Head of Planning to bring the application forward and also highlighted that if six letters of support or objection are received then the application will be determined before the Planning Committee which is another tool which demonstrates the openness and transparency of the planning process. He made the point that one of the many concerns highlighted by Councillor Summers appears to be the number of planning determinations which go against the officer’s recommendation, and he expressed the view that it could be because that the current adopted Local Plan is old. Councillor Connor made the point that planning is subjective and what may be acceptable to one member may not be to another and also to the general public. He expressed the view that for those reasons he will not support the motion and there are enough factors in place to give members the reassurance that the right process has  ...  view the full minutes text for item C8/24

Motion submitted by Councillor Boden regarding the use of industrial bottom ash aggregates (IBAA).

Councillor Boden presented his motion regarding the use of Industrial Bottom Ash Aggregates(IBAA), Councillor Sennitt Clough seconded the motion, and it was opened for debate.

Members made comments as follows:

·         Councillor Nawaz stated that he will support the motion, but questioned whether there is a recent report which has been conducted by the Environment Agency (EA) concerning the investigation and analysis as to the constituents that have been deposited. He added that if one has not been undertaken would it be possible for the Council to make a request of the EA to conduct a more recent investigation to determine the various organic and inorganic constituents of IBAA which has been deposited over the last few years as well as the current operations. Councillor Nawaz asked whether it would be possible for that report to be presented in such a way that it can be easily interpreted with clear indications of the normal expected levels in the environment and in the soil and what is actually present. He added that he would also like the report to incorporate the pollution caused by noise, smell and dust and to include the levels of those that can be accepted and if the levels exceed acceptable levels can the EA take some action.

·         Councillor Miscandlon stated that it is his understanding from recent investigations that IBAA and IBA is banned in some European Union countries, and it is not permitted to be used in any construction or in domestic areas and he feels that it is a matter which needs to be addressed.

·         Councillor Taylor made the point that IBAA is transported via lorry, and it has different size particles which are predominantly dust. He added that if the EA are stating that none of this can go anywhere near a water course then, in his view, it may be toxic in some form and, therefore, be a danger to humans. Councillor Taylor expressed the view that he would, therefore, like to see a higher authority than the EA deal with the issue properly and he will fully support the motion but feels that the right answers and information need to be provided by an agency higher than the EA.

·         Councillor Roy stated that it would appear that IBAA has been present on the site for a lengthy period of time and he questioned whether there is any information held which indicates whether there has been any contamination of nearby watercourses, how it is being stored as well as whether there is any risk to the local wildlife or residents who live in the vicinity. He added that he will happily support the motion and those local residents should be provided assurances that everything is being done by the Council to look into the issue.

·         Councillor Gerstner stated that there were a number of conditions which were placed on the planning application in regard to the environmental impact of IBAA and it appears that a number of those conditions have not been  ...  view the full minutes text for item C9/24

To agree the committee structures and terms of reference for the forthcoming municipal year as well as confirming the allocation of seats to those committees and also to outside bodies in accordance with political proportionality rules and to receive notification of the appointments to committees.

Members considered the Committee Balance, Political Balance and Allocation of Seats report and the Chairman drew members attention to the addendum which had been circulated to them which provides updates on the vacancies that still existed at the time of publication.

Councillor Boden, in presenting the report, advised members that Councillor Booth has confirmed that he does not have any further amendments to be included as part of the report. He explained that the apportionment of positions on outside bodies to individual councillors is not a matter which is being decided at the current time and that will be subject to further discussion s between group leaders and will be taken forward at the next Cabinet meeting.

Councillor Booth requested that members move to the substantive motion.

Proposed by Councillor Boden, seconded by Councillor Booth and AGREED:

·         to approve the Committees and Panels set out at Appendix A for the 2024/25 municipal year;

·         the terms of reference set out at Part 3 of the Council’s Constitution in relation to the committees and panels referred to at paragraph 3.1;

·         the politically proportionate allocation of seats to Committees and Panels as set out in Appendix B;

·         the allocation of seats and position of Chairman and Vice Chairman also as set out in Appendix B;

·         the appointments to seats allocated in accordance with paragraph 3.4 (Appendix B) including any co-opted or non-members;

·         the list of Outside Bodies as set out at Appendix C for 2024/25;

·         the politically proportionate allocation of seats to Outside Bodies all as set out in Appendix C; and

·         to note that the distribution of seats amongst Outside Bodies, to achieve overall political proportionality based on the allocations approved at paragraph 3.7 and the subsequent appointments to those seats will be discussed between Group Leaders and presented for approval at the next meeting of Cabinet on 17 June 2024.

(Councillor Benney arrived at the meeting at 5.17pm, following the end of this item)

This report requests the Council to make appointments to the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority for the municipal year 2024/25.

Members considered the Combined Authority Membership and Other Appointments Report and the Chairman drew members attention to an addendum to the report which had been circulated and provides an update as to the overall political proportionality across the constituent area as well as revised nominations to the seats allocated to Fenland District Council.

Councillor Boden, in presenting the report, stated that the Combined Authority only provided the proportionality information to officers a few days ago.

Proposed by Councillor Boden, seconded by Councillor Mrs French and AGREED to make the following appointments/nominations to the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority for the municipal year 2024/25:

1.    appoint the Leader of Council to act as the Council's appointee to the Combined Authority and one substitute member as set out in Appendix 3;

2.    nominate two members to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and two substitute members from the same political parties as those appointed as set out in Appendix 3;

3.    nominate one member to the Audit and Governance Committee and one substitute member from the same political party as set out in Appendix 3.

4.    note the Leader’s nominated appointments to the Thematic Committees as set out at Appendix 3 and highlighted in green; and

5.    delegate authority to the Chief Executive to make any amendments to the appointments to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Audit and Governance Committee in consultation with the Political Group Leaders as required between now and the next Annual Meeting of Council.