Meeting documents
SWT Full Council
Thursday, 29th September, 2022 6.15 pm
PDF 414 KBVenue: The John Meikle Room - The Deane House. View directions
Contact: Clare Rendell Email: c.rendell@somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk
Webcast: View the webcast
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Apologies
To receive any apologies for absence. Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillors S Buller, A Govier, A Hadley, R Lees, C Morgan, C Palmer, A Pritchard and G Wren. |
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Declarations of Interest
To receive and note any declarations of disclosable pecuniary or prejudicial or personal interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.
(The personal interests of Councillors and Clerks of Somerset County Council, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes.) Additional documents: Minutes: Members present at the meeting declared the following personal interests in their capacity as a Councillor or Clerk of a County, Town or Parish Council or any other Local Authority:-
The following Councillors further declared a personal interest on agenda item 9, as members of relevant Parish ... view the full minutes text for item 53. |
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Public Participation - To receive only in relation to the business for which the Extraordinary Meeting has been called any questions, statements or petitions from the public in accordance with Council Procedure Rules 14,15 and 16
The Chair to advise the Committee of any items on which members of the public have requested to speak and advise those members of the public present of the details of the Council’s public participation scheme.
For those members of the public who have submitted any questions or statements, please note, a three minute time limit applies to each speaker and you will be asked to speak before Councillors debate the issue.
We are now live webcasting most of our committee meetings and you are welcome to view and listen to the discussion. The link to each webcast will be available on the meeting webpage, but you can also access them on the Somerset West and Taunton webcasting website. Additional documents: Minutes: The following members of the public spoke on agenda item 9, Community Governance Review for the Unparished Area of Taunton:-
Brian Larcombe, who raised the following points:- · Concern was raised on lack of information on what the parish wanted. · He had only heard information on Taunton Town Council and ‘moving forward’. · Cheddon Fitzpaine had felt that it had been singled out as part of the Review. · He understood why the Town Council was important with the New Unitary Council on the way. · Concern was raised on the timing of the Review. · He believed that the New Unitary Council and Local Community Networks should be set up first and then Taunton Town Council.
Jo Pearson, who raised the following points:- · She objected the proposed area of Cheddon Fitzpaine and that it would be taken over by the Taunton Town Council. · She had attended many meetings and also completed the consultation. · Concern was raised that nobody seemed to be listening to the residents of Cheddon Fitzpaine. · She believed that the Working Group had twisted the results of the consultation. · She assumed that the councillors would not have read all the documentation within the agenda pack. · Concern was raised on the cost of council tax.
Jason Woollacott, who raised the following points:- · Cheddon Fitzpaine had strongly opposed the proposal. · He advised that majority of Cheddon Fitzpaine did not want to be absorbed into the Taunton Town Council. · He believed that Somerset West and Taunton Council did not know the area of the parish very well at all. · Cheddon Fitzpaine had felt that they needed to seek legal counsel. · He wanted to protect the parish.
Tessa Dean, who raised the following points:- · She represented Trull Parish Council. · Concern was raised that the postcards detailing the consultation had not been distributed properly. · She believed that there had been no proper consultation with the parishes or public. · Trull did not want to be included in the Taunton Town Council area. · Concern was raised that the comments made by Trull Parish Council had not been included within the report. · Concern was raised on what would happen to the funds received as part of the Community Infrastructure Levy. · She believed the Review had been a disaster for all surrounding parishes.
Michael Batsch, who raised the following points:- · He believed that abolition should be the last resort and that the Working Group had ignored that. · He believed that the Working Group had misinterpreted the legislation. · Cheddon Fitzpaine had now sadly been led to seek legal counsel.
Brian Heath, who raised the following point:- · He had been running a community garden in Taunton and wished to carry out a re-launch of the project.
Ian Talbot, who raised the following points:- · Highlighted that Bishops Hull had not been included in the Review. · He mentioned that Longrun and Roughmoor had been included, but that technically they were part of Bishops Hull. · He was confused by the proposals. · Concern was raised that a boundary review could not be carried out without ... view the full minutes text for item 54. |
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To receive any communications or announcements from the Chair of the Council
Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair of the Council made the following announcements:- · The Chair of the Council reminded Councillors that nominations for the Civic Awards were now due. · The Chair also reminded Councillors of the six-monthly attendance rule and that after 1 October 2022, no by-elections would be held. |
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To receive any communications or announcements from the Leader of the Council
Additional documents: Minutes: The Leader of the Council thanked teams for the events that had taken place during the week, which included an Innovation Project and Culture Forum. |
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To receive only in relation to the business for which the Extraordinary Meeting has been called any questions from Councillors in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13
Additional documents: Minutes: No questions had been received in relation to Procedure Rule 13. |
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Somerset West and Taunton Council amended Political Allocation
This matter is the responsibility of the Leader of the Council, Councillor Federica Smith-Roberts.
The purpose of this report is to amend the Council’s numerical political allocation due to the following changes since the last update in March 2022. Additional documents: Minutes: During the discussion, the following points were raised:- · The Leader of the Council advised that Councillor D Johnson was to come off of the Licensing Committee. · The Leader of the Conservative Party advised that Councillor M Barr was to go on the Licensing Committee.
Resolved that Full Council approved the revised:- a) Political allocation as attached (Appendix A) b) Councillor appointments to Committees (Appendix B) |
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Audit and Governance Committee Terms of Reference update
This matter is the responsibility of the Leader of the Council, Councillor Federica Smith-Roberts.
The purpose of this report is to provide the Council with an updated version of the Audit and Governance Committee Terms of Reference. Additional documents: Minutes: During the discussion, the following point was raised:- · The Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee advised he was happy to second the report as part of the audit baseline report.
Resolved that Full Council approved the updated Terms of Reference for the Audit and Governance Committee. |
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This matter is the responsibility of the Community Governance Review Working Group.
This report sets out the responses received during the second stage consultation and proposes final recommendations for adoption as the outcome of the review. Additional documents: Minutes: During the discussion, the following points were raised:- · The Chair of the Working Group introduced the report and gave information that had been included in a presentation to Full Council, which included why certain areas had and had not been included in the Review. He also reassured Full Council that the democratic process had been followed correctly and that he was proud of the result achieved. He finished by thanking all the public speakers for their comments. · Councillor I Aldridge arrived part way through the debate, so would not be able to take part in the vote. · Councillor R Habgood proposed a recorded vote. The vote was taken and carried. · Councillors commended the officers and thanked the members of the Working Group for all their hard work. · Councillors highlighted that the Community Governance Review (CGR) had been part of the One Somerset Business Case. · Councillors agreed that Somerset West and Taunton Council (SWT) had not taken the easy route of simply parishing the unparished area. · Councillors highlighted that the addendum had included some minor changes to the maps. · Councillors highlighted that the CGR had consulted with the parishes but had not carried out a referendum. · Most councillors agreed that the CGR had been carried out with due diligence and care. · Some councillors believed that the area represented the 2022 version of Taunton and should include more than just the unparished areas. · Councillors N Thwaites, J Lloyd and T Venner left the meeting. · Councillors were pleased to see progress being made with the project, as Taunton had waited for 15 years for a Town Council to be created and they hoped that it would be a fully functional council that would service the town and surrounding parishes. · Councillors who had been part of the Working Group agreed that the cross-party composition had worked well together. They also assured Full Council that there had been no assumptions made on the maps and that they had listened to the public consultation responses. · Some councillors believed that the unparished area should have been parished first, which would have sped up the process. They then suggested a wider review could have taken place at a later date. · Some concern was raised that the CGR had been carried out as a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) ‘land grab’ and that very little democracy could be identified within the process. The Deputy Monitoring Officer advised that he was confident that SWT had been compliant in the legal process of the CGR. · Councillors agreed that the Working Group had been given a difficult task to review as part of the CGR. · Councillors made comments on the council tax precept and that it related to services that would be provided for the county town. Councillors also hoped that the Town Council would be able to provide services that the New Unitary Council would not. · Councillors agreed that the CGR had been about creating a great vision for Taunton. · Councillors queried what would happen if a Judicial Review was to take ... view the full minutes text for item 60. |