Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Members:-

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee, Sub Committee, Panel or Forum;

(b)               all other Members present in any part of the room or chamber.

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interests were declared:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 29 November 2007 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 29 November 2007, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

The following documents are attached:-

(a)               Notice Invoking the Call-in

(b)               Record of the Decision of the Major Contracts and Property Portfolio Holder

(c)               Documentation sent to the Major Contracts and Property Portfolio Holder

Prior to the commencement of the consideration of the Call-In matter, the Chairman advised that the Portfolio Holder for Major Contracts and Property was in attendance at the Sub?Committee to respond to the call?in as part of the requirement of that process.

The Portfolio Holder Major Contracts and Property had agreed a decision to declare the tennis courts at West Harrow Recreation Ground available for lease and had authorised the Corporate Director Place Shaping to undertake a process to consider the disposal of this open space and agree terms for the grant of a lease for up to 35 years in relation to the site.   A Call?In Notice calling in the decision had been subsequently received, signed by 6 Council Members, and the decision had therefore been referred to this Sub?Committee for consideration.

The Sub-Committee received the notice invoking the call?in procedure, the report of the Corporate Director Place Shaping submitted to the Portfolio Holder and the relevant Decision Notice.

The decision had been called-in on two grounds:

·                     inadequate consultation with stakeholders;

·                     the absence of adequate evidence on which to base the decision.

The Chairman, after outlining the procedure to be followed at the meeting, invited Councillor B E Gate to speak on behalf of the signatories.  Councillor Gate expressed his concern at the decision, as he felt that it had been made without being properly considered in terms of public accessibility.  There had also, in his opinion, been no consultation with Ward Councillors, residents and stakeholders, and no views had been sought on the proposals prior to the decision being made. 

Councillor Gate referred to the first instance when he became aware of the proposal, which was at a Week of Action event and the matter had been displayed for information to those attending, although the item was not an element of the meeting.  He emphasised that he was not against the principle of the proposals as he agreed the Open Space was in a state of disrepair and that work was needed to bring the area to a more acceptable standard.  However, he remained concerned that the appropriate process had not been followed as part of the decision making by the Portfolio Holder.

Upon being invited to respond, the Portfolio Holder for Major Contracts and Property agreed that a process error had occurred which had led to Ward Councillors not being consulted at an early stage as part of his consideration of the decision.  He then explained the intention of his Decision was to serve as an enabling process to allow officers to discuss with interested parties proposals to bring the Tennis Courts, West Harrow Recreation Ground back into full use, as the site was not in good maintenance order.  He emphasised that part of the brief for this project would be to ensure public accessibility and provide added benefits to the local community and users of the facility.  He noted that the further decision stage after this point would involve a full  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.