Archived decisions

p I.F.E. Beagley

Carol Boulton

a A.S. Carew

p Anne Edwards

Mrs K. Heron

p Keith House

p G.M. Hockley

p Sam Payne

p Mrs M. Tucker

a Mrs. S.A. Wheale

p John K. West

Action

72 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies were received from Councillor Carew and Mrs. Wheale.

73 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or a personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should declare their personal interest and having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with paragraph 12 of the Code. No such interests were declared on this occasion.

74 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 17 April, 2008 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

75 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman had nothing to report on this occasion.

76 MINERALS PLAN

The Committee considered a briefing note by the Director of Environment, together with the report to Cabinet, together with related plans and schedules giving details of the various sites. Members discussed the issues and the main points arising were:

· The relationship between aggregate production levels and the rate of new build housing.

· The apportionment of different sources of aggregate e.g. marine, recycled, landbased.

· The future role of oil and gas.

· The outcomes of the Cabinet site tours of proposed sand and gravel sites.

The main concern expressed by Members was the fact that the reports and supporting information were late and incomplete, and in addition contained inconsistencies. They felt that Cabinet would have considerable difficulty in coming to a conclusion on the Plan when they did not have the definitive document before them. The Director of Environment explained that the report submitted to Cabinet encapsulated all the key features of the Plan and the full document would be made available to Council Members in good time for the full Council meeting in July.

In general terms the Committee supported the general tenor of the recommendations but offered the following specific advice to Cabinet.

1. The Select Committee notes the progress in preparing the Minerals Plan documentation, but wishes to place on record their disappointment that documents available to the Committee had not been sufficient to enable them to comment and advise as fully as they would have liked, taking into account the fact that some key information was either missing or inconsistent. The Committee urges Cabinet to satisfy itself that it has complete and reliable information on which to base its recommendations.


2. That in relation to the proposed delegation to the Leader referred to in recommendation (iii) of the Cabinet report, there should be a further report back to Cabinet and full Council in the event of the consultation highlighting matters that challenge the soundness of the Plan.


3. That Cabinet be requested to inform other members, particularly local members, when they are making a tour of sites.


4. That a revised and updated version of the Cabinet report with its appendices and plans be circulated promptly to Cabinet and Committee members.

Cllr. Hutcheson to communicate the Select Committee views to the Cabinet