Issue - meetings

The following documents are attached:-

a)           Notice invoking the Call-in

b)           Minutes of the Cabinet Meeting held on 17 November 2011

c)            Report and tabled documentation submitted to the Cabinet Meeting held on 17 November 2011

The Chairman welcomed to the meeting, Mr Stephen Lewis and other residents who were signatories to the Call-in notice.  He also welcomed the Portfolio Holder for Property and Major Contracts, who was in attendance to respond to the call-in, the Corporate Director Place Shaping and the Head of Corporate Estate.

In accordance with Committee Rule 4.1.1, the Sub-Committee agreed that Councillor Barry Macleod-Cullinane could speak at the meeting.

Mr Lewis confirmed that their call-in related to the decision made by Cabinet on the Whitchurch Pavilion and Playing Fields taken on 17 November 2011.  They also confirmed that the basis of their reasons for call-in related to grounds a and b of the Protocol, namely that there was inadequate consultation with stakeholders prior to the decision and there was an absence of adequate evidence on which to base the decision.

Mr Lewis and Councillor Macleod-Cullinane outlined their reasons relating to each of the grounds raised in the call-in notice.  During the course of their presentation, they raised the following issues:

·                     there had been a lack of consultation stretching back to 2008/09 when the proposals had been initially discussed.  Very few residents had received a leaflet relating to a presentation on the future of the Pavilion and Playing Fields and additionally in their view, had received nothing from the Council on this issue;

·                     it was believed that a new stage of consultation was required.  There had been a number of socio-economic factors which had changed since 2009;

·                     wide ranging consultation was required for this project which should involve all local residents and Ward Councillors.  Local residents and Ward Councillors had not been consulted as part of this process;

·                     senior officers within the Council had confirmed that consultation with Ward Councillors had not taken place.  The report to Cabinet had incorrectly stated that this had occurred.  Ward Councillors had not been asked for their view, which had been acknowledged by the Corporate Director Place Shaping in writing;

·                     the Council had not followed its principles of decision making and it had not given due consideration to relevant professional advice;

·                     there was inadequate evidence to base the decision on as an initial presentation was conducted in 2009.  There was no clear evidence to show that there had been consideration to further issues that may have arisen between 2009 and this current stage;

·                     there had not been a demonstration of robustness in the details within the report presented to Cabinet.  Additionally questions had been submitted to the Portfolio Holder at the Cabinet meeting on 17 November 2011, for which answers had only been received after the call-in notice period had expired.  In their view, as these answers should have been prepared for the meeting this demonstrated that they had not been robust in their consideration to a change in the evidence base;

In conclusion the representative of the signatories stated that there had been no consultation with relevant local residents, it was unlikely that the development would meet the needs of the local community and their  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12

Report of the Corporate Director Place Shaping.

RESOLVED:  That 

(1)               having considered the findings of this report and, in accordance with officer recommendations, the Whitchurch Consortium be selected as the Council’s preferred bidder for the purposes of further consultation as set out below;

(2)               the Corporate Director Place Shaping be authorised to:

(i)                 consult Ward Councillors on the proposals put forward by the Whitchurch Consortium;

(ii)               agree arrangements for the Whitchurch Consortium to present their proposed development plans in a public forum;

(iii)             place statutory advertisements required in connection with the proposed leasing of the open space land and to consider and respond to any representations received as a result of the above actions;

(iv)             negotiate the Development Agreement, associated Service Level Agreement and Terms of the Lease;

(3)               note that the consultation results will be reported to Cabinet in due course prior to any final decision and that, in any event, no development shall take place unless and until the Whitchurch Consortium have obtained planning permission.

Reason for Decision:  To attract inward investment providing for the Pavilion to be replaced and run in conjunction with substantially improved playing fields for the benefit of the community at large and at no financial cost to the Council.

Cabinet received a report of the Corporate Director Place Shaping, together with amended recommendations, which set out details of the January 2009  Tender  to secure the  refurbishment or replacement of the Whitchurch Pavilion, the maintenance  of Whitchurch Playing Fields and the enhanced provision of sports, leisure and community use  through a Partnering  Development Project with the Council.

The Leader of the Council referred to an additional tabled document which contained further revisions to the recommendations, which he hoped would help allay some concerns raised by the questioners in relation to the consultation process.

The Corporate Director Place Shaping apologised to Cabinet and Belmont and Canons Ward Councillors for a misleading statement in his report and confirmed that Ward Councillors had not been consulted on the proposals.  Instead, they had been advised of the intention to present the report but that this course of action in itself was unacceptable to him.  As a result, he had put in place business processes to ensure that such mistakes were not made in the future and that Ward Councillors were fully engaged in processes.

The Portfolio Holder for Property and Major Contracts provided some background to the site since proposals were first put forward in 2008.  He added that the site was of strategic significance and that, following a tendering exercise, 12 parties had expressed an interest in the site.  He added that only two of those who had tendered, the Harrow Rugby Club and the Whitchurch Consortium, were shortlisted.  Various options for the site had been considered, including an option for a lease to a preferred bidder, which was now being recommended to Cabinet.

The Portfolio Holder added that once the decision was made, meaningful consultations would be undertaken with local residents and Ward Councillors and he assured Cabinet that there would be no construction on site unless and until full planning permission had been granted.

The Portfolio Holder for Community and Cultural Services indicated his support for the Whitchurch Consortium, which had provided a sound business case for the development of the site.  However, his work with local sports clubs would not stop here as he intended to create a thriving sporting community by engaging with those who had expressed an interest in this site, including other local sports clubs.  The Portfolio Holder added that networking was an essential element in creating such a community and he hoped that local sports and rugby clubs would also engage in this process so that passions and experiences could be shared towards a common goal of creating an active community and reviving participation levels.  Moreover, as a result of the London 2012 Olympic Games, external funding for sport event programmes had been obtained from Sport England and he urged sports clubs to engage in this process to achieve common goals.

He thanked all those volunteers who worked hard for their clubs and assured them that the Council was committed to help build on capacity to enable local sports clubs to thrive.

The Leader of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 310