The Council Rules provide for questions by any member of the Council to the Leader or any Portfolio Holder, without notice on:
(i) reports under the previous item; or
(ii) any other matter of a non operational character in relation to the powers and duties of the Council or which affects all or part of the District or some or all of its inhabitants.
Council Rules provide that answers to questions without notice may take the form of:
(a) direct oral answer from the Leader or, at the request of the Leader, from another member of the Cabinet;
(b) where the desired information is in a publication of the Council or other published work, a reference to that publication;
(c) where the reply cannot conveniently be given orally, a written answer circulated later to the questioner; or
(d) where the question relates to an operational matter, the Leader or a member of the Cabinet will request that a response be given direct to the questioner by the relevant Chief Officer.
In accordance with the Council Rules, a time limit of thirty minutes is set for questions. Any question not dealt with within the time available will receive a written reply. The Chairman may extend this period by up to a further 10 minutes at their discretion.
Minutes:
(a) Epping Forest District Health & Wellbeing Strategy
Councillor J H Whitehouse asked the Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Community Services, what consultation had been done with the groups, she thought would benefit by the initiatives in the Epping Forest District Health & Wellbeing Strategy 2018-2028?
Councillor G Mohindra, the Health and Wellbeing Champion for West Essex replied on behalf of Councillor H Kane as he had been involved with the Strategy. He assured Councillor J H Whitehouse that the strategy itself had been done in consultation with voluntary groups including VAEF, dentists, opticians and other local groups and he would send a list of organisations to her.
(b) Alternative use of funding for the Police
Councillor S Murray asked the Safer, Greener and Transport Portfolio Holder whether any consideration had been given to the District Development Funding for the extra Policing, to be alternatively used to fund the reintroduction of street lighting throughout the hours of darkness in the District.
Councillor S Kane advised that many residents had advocated the extra support to the local police and the Safer Communities Programme. Although it was not a statutory service, a three year initiative had been considered to bridge the gap between the shortfall of police officers today and the increase in police officers promised by the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Roger Hurst.
(c) Policing Presence in the District
Councillor D Sunger asked the Safer, Greener and Transport Portfolio Holder what was being done to increase the policing presence in the district, especially in the Chigwell area.
Councillor S Kane advised that, in addtion to the proposed Council funding for additional police officers, the Council had provided further funding for the Parkguard initiative, which provided a visual reassurance for residents and a valuable method of gathering information. The Council had been working closely with both the Essex Police and Metropolitan Police to provide a police presence in the Chigwell area. He advised that any crimes should be reported to the 101 hotline or if it was emergency to 999.
(d) Debden Parking Review
Councillor C Roberts asked the Safer, Greener and Transport Portfolio Holder that as landlord’s of retail units on The Broadway, Debden and with the current parking review taking place; could this be an opportunity to provide the same concessions to customers as the retail park.
Councillor S Kane advised that there were many factors effecting the trading at The Broadway which included the parking. He advised that the Council had a duty to get the balance right between residents, commuters and businesses and the parking review would be the correct process.
(e) Local Plan – Member Involvement
Councillor J M Whitehouse asked the Planning and Governance Portfolio Holder whether he could give an update on his commitment to involve members in the implementation of the Local Plan.
Councillor J Philip advised that the calendar of meetings had re-established the Local Plan Cabinet Committee and there would be a Members briefing on the 15 March 2018. It had not been decided how exactly the Master Plans would be dealt with although the Council would be considering the planning approaches through the Constitutional Working Party.
(f) Localism Task and Finish Panel Essex County Council (ECC)
Councillor C C Pond asked the Leader to respond and attend the ECC Task and Finish Panel’s request regarding what prospective services they would like devolved to the District Council.
Councillor C Whitbread advised that he would attend the meetings and respond to the request about services that EFDC would benefit in providing and taking from ECC.
(g) Local Plan – Jessel Green
Councillor S Murray asked the Planning and Governance Portfolio Holder whether the Cabinet had faith in the Local Plan and whether Loughton, in particular Jessel Green had been treated fairly.
Councillor J Philip advised that he had faith in the Local Plan and that with the hierarchy of assessment that had been required in terms of how the sites were assessed, it had been clear that green space within a built up area would be rated as a higher selection choice for proposed development. He stated that at the beginning of the process, five green sites within Loughton had been selected for housing and by the time the Council had reached Regulation 19, this had been reduced to one and the area had been reduced to 50%. Some changes had occurred and he would have been happy for more housing within Theydon Bois, although the sites were not available. He was confident that the Local Plan would be submitted within the required time scales.