The following motions have been received in accordance with Procedure Rule 16:

Notice of Motion proposed by Councillor Julian Dean and supported by Councillors Harry Taylor, Nat Green and Andy Boddington:

The International Panel on Climate Change has recently made clear the scale of the emergency facing us all. It is clear that current action to reduce emissions is inadequate both globally and in the UK, and if unchecked will result in a catastrophic 3 degrees of global warming.

The UK Government is yet to put forward plans for partnerships with local councils to achieve the Paris climate goals, although emissions reduction efforts at the local level could help the UK government achieve and exceed its existing National Determined Contribution.

In the lieu of a central government lead this Council agrees to:

·         Require all report risk assessments to include Carbon Emission Appraisals, including presenting alternative approaches which reduce emissions wherever possible.

·         Establish a Task and Finish Group of members, to run for a full year, with the remit to recommend actions and challenging targets across the Council’s activities.

§  Task a director-level 'Carbon Champion' officer with responsibility    for promoting the reduction, as rapidly as possible, of carbon emissions resulting from the Council’s activities.

·         Produce and publish our own Climate Action Plan in order to facilitate the most rapid emissions cuts possible.

·         Establish a local Climate Action Partnership to draw in support from business, the wider public sector, the voluntary sector and the wider community.

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Notice of Motion proposed by Councillor Roger Evans and supported by Councillors Chris Mellings, Viv Parry and Heather Kidd:

Before the introduction of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), most planning applications had Section 106 agreements attached to them in order to identify requirements on developers to make a financial contribution to community and infrastructure projects that were needed as a result of the approved development, These projects were, by and large, within the settlement (town or parish) where the development resulting from planning application was located.

When introduced it was stated that the use of CIL would largely follow this same process. This would involve the use of the Local Fund to meet agreed local infrastructure projects.  Recently it appears that a different interpretation has been adopted on the use of CIL. This interpretation has not been subjected to any discussion with the Parish and Town sector. It is acknowledged that the policy of how CIL is used needs to be updated.

Council resolves that:

·         Discussions are urgently held between Shropshire Council and representatives of the Shropshire Association of Local Councils (SALC).

·         Any change to the originally understood process to be brought back to a future Shropshire Council Meeting and its agreement sought before being implemented.

*Note

Many quote from the document issued by Shropshire Council stating how CIL was to be used. This document includes the statement below. No conversation or discussion has ever been held regarding any change. 

Spend Area 

5.7 The majority of CIL will be for local infrastructure requirements and will have a specific geographical focus:

i)          in the first instance CIL for local infrastructure will be spent in the settlement or networked group of settlements (cluster) in which the development has taken place; however

ii)         communities may nominate that their annual developer contributions are   directed to meet a particular infrastructure need in the wider Place Plan area     i.e. a Community Hub may decide to direct its proportion of developer contributions for that year, to meet an infrastructure need in the Market Town to which is naturally relates.

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Notice of Motion proposed by Councillor Hannah Fraser and supported by Councillors Nigel Hartin, David Vasmer and Nat Green:

Council notes with concern the continuing and growing confusion surrounding the Brexit talks and their impact on business, training and research in the Shropshire Council area. Council also believes it is timely to celebrate the continued peace, democratic strength and relative prosperity of the countries of the European Union following the devastating wars of the last century. It also continues to celebrate the huge contribution of citizens of other European countries to our region, including in the provision of social and health care.

Council recognises the concerns and hopes expressed by citizens who voted both ways in 2016 and notes that there is now a great deal more information about the options available and the risks of the UK leaving the EU than there was during the 2016 referendum. It notes with particular alarm the evidence of disinvestment and delayed investment in major industries within our region as a result of uncertainty and the threat of trade restrictions arising from some of the Brexit options.

Council recognises that the citizens of Shropshire voted to leave the EU in 2016 – but notes they were not given any choice about, or much information on, the range of options involved in departing the EU. It therefore believes that the UK should continue to affirm its status as a democratic nation by ensuring that the present electorate are satisfied with whatever arrangements are proposed for the UK’s future relationship with the EU, reaffirming its policy that those above the age of 16 and EU citizens should be entitled to vote.

Council further reaffirms its desire to continue to establish and maintain our towns links and influence with our European neighbours.

Notice of Motion 1

Councillor J Dean stated that he was pleased to accept the constructive amendment to the Notice of Motion, the amended wording was also supported by Councillors Harry Taylor, Nat Green and Andy Boddington.

Proposed by Councillor Jones and seconded by Councillor D Carroll:

‘The International Panel on Climate Change has recently made clear the scale of the emergency facing us all. It is clear that current action to reduce emissions is inadequate both globally and in the UK, and if unchecked will result in a catastrophic 3 degrees of global warming.

The Paris Agreement’s central claim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.  Additionally, the agreement aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change.

The UK Government is yet to put forward plans for partnerships with local councils to achieve the Paris climate goals, although emissions reduction efforts at the local level could help the UK government achieve and exceed its existing National Determined Contribution.

In the interim before Central Government comes forward with proposals for Local Government based on the Paris Agreement this Council resolves to:

1.         Ask the Leader and Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to ask when Central Government expects to issue its proposals

2.         Ask the Leader to reinforce the Council’s commitment to the environment, including climate change, by naming a member of the Administration responsible for the Environment to promote the work being undertaken by the Council

3.         Request the Performance Management Scrutiny Committee establish a Task and Finish Group to do the following:

·               Review Shropshire Council’s existing Environmental policies and the effectiveness of actions already taken

·               To come forward with further recommendations for Shropshire Council to consider in the future

We encourage the Task and Finish Group to consider the following as starting points in their considerations:

·               Requiring all report risk assessments to include Carbon Emission Appraisals, including presenting alternative approaches which reduce emissions wherever possible.

§    Clarify which Director-level officer has responsibility for promoting the reduction, as rapidly as possible, of carbon emissions resulting from the Council’s activities.

·               Review the need for a Shropshire Council Climate Action Plan and any related delivery bodies

·               Making Environmental Impact a consideration for the inclusion within the Council’s procurement framework’.

RESOLVED:

That the Notice of Motion be supported.

Notice of Motion 2

The following Notice of Motion was proposed by Councillor Roger Evans and supported by Councillors Chris Mellings, Viv Parry and Heather Kidd:

‘Before the introduction of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), most planning applications had Section 106 agreements attached to them in order to identify requirements on developers to make a financial contribution to community and infrastructure projects that were needed as a result of the approved development, These projects were, by and large, within the settlement (town or parish) where the development resulting from planning application was located.

When introduced it was stated that the use of CIL would largely follow this same process. This would involve the use of the Local Fund to meet agreed local infrastructure projects. Recently it appears that a different interpretation has been adopted on the use of CIL. This interpretation has not been subjected to any discussion with the Parish and Town sector. It is acknowledged that the policy of how CIL is used needs to be updated.

Council resolves that:

·               Discussions are urgently held between Shropshire Council and representatives of the Shropshire Association of Local Councils (SALC).

·               Any change to the originally understood process to be brought back to a future Shropshire Council Meeting and its agreement sought before being implemented.

*Note

Many quote from the document issued by Shropshire Council stating how CIL was to be used. This document includes the statement below. No conversation or discussion has ever been held regarding any change. 

Spend Area

5.7 The majority of CIL will be for local infrastructure requirements and will have a specific geographical focus:

i)     in the first instance CIL for local infrastructure will be spent in the settlement or networked group of settlements (cluster) in which the development has taken place; however

ii)    communities may nominate that their annual developer contributions are directed to meet a particular infrastructure need in the wider Place Plan area, i.e. a Community Hub may decide to direct its proportion of developer contributions for that year, to meet an infrastructure need in the Market Town to which is naturally relates.

The Portfolio Holder for Planning and Housing Development stated that he could not support the Notice of Motion as the actions identified had either been actioned or were being planned.  The Chairman of the Performance Management Scrutiny Committee agreed and added that the Notice of Motion was redundant given the ongoing work which, on completion, should allay any concerns. The Chairman of the Place Overview Committee commented that there had been communication issues that were being resolved and he did not wish to impede the ongoing work of the Task and Finish Group.

Councillor Evans voiced his disappointment at the lack of support for the Notice of Motion and hoped that future clear communication would help to bring local communities on board with the Council to take CIL forward together.

RESOLVED:

That the Notice of Motion be not supported.

Notice of Motion 3

The following Notice of Motion was proposed by Councillor Hannah Fraser and supported by Councillors Nigel Hartin, David Vasmer and Nat Green:

‘Council notes with concern the continuing and growing confusion surrounding the Brexit talks and their impact on business, training and research in the Shropshire Council area. Council also believes it is timely to celebrate the continued peace, democratic strength and relative prosperity of the countries of the European Union following the devastating wars of the last century. It also continues to celebrate the huge contribution of citizens of other European countries to our region, including in the provision of social and health care.

Council recognises the concerns and hopes expressed by citizens who voted both ways in 2016 and notes that there is now a great deal more information about the options available and the risks of the UK leaving the EU than there was during the 2016 referendum. It notes with particular alarm the evidence of disinvestment and delayed investment in major industries within our region as a result of uncertainty and the threat of trade restrictions arising from some of the Brexit options.

Council recognises that the citizens of Shropshire voted to leave the EU in 2016 – but notes they were not given any choice about, or much information on, the range of options involved in departing the EU. It therefore believes that the UK should continue to affirm its status as a democratic nation by ensuring that the present electorate are satisfied with whatever arrangements are proposed for the UK’s future relationship with the EU, reaffirming its policy that those above the age of 16 and EU citizens should be entitled to vote. Council further reaffirms its desire to continue to establish and maintain our towns links and influence with our European neighbours’.

Councillor Wood considered that the Notice of Motion fell outside the competence of the Council and called for the question to be put, this was seconded by Councillor B Williams and, on being put to the vote, this view was supported by the majority.

RESOLVED:

That the Notice of Motion be not supported.