Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

Apologies were received from Cllr Jo Clements, Cllr Birain Chick and Cllr Gavin Wright.

To receive information on any changes in the membership of the Committee.

Note – When a member of a Committee is unable to attend a meeting of a Committee or Sub-Committee, the relevant Political Group Leader (or their nominated representative) may, by notice to the Monitoring Officer (or their nominated representative) prior to the meeting, appoint a substitute member from within the same Political Group. The contact details on the front of this agenda should be used for notifications.

There were no substitute members.

To elect a Chair for the Environment and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2025/26 municipal year.

Nominations were sought for the election of Chair. A nomination was received and seconded for Councillor C Rigby. No further nominations were received.

RESOLVED that Councillor C Rigby be elected as Chair of the Environment and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2025/26 Municipal Year.

To elect a Vice-Chair for the Environment and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2025/26 municipal year.

The Chair sought nominations were sought for the election of Vice Chair. A nomination was received and seconded for Councillor D D’Orton-Gibson. No further nominations were received.

RESOLVED that Councillor D D’Orton-Gibson be elected as Vice Chair of the Environment and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2025/26 Municipal Year.

Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in this agenda. Please refer to the workflow on the preceding page for guidance.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

Item 8 - Cllr Ricketts declared that she was Secretary of Christchurch Harbour Marine Society which was a voluntary role. Cllr Ricketts presented the petition and then left the meeting after questions and before debate.

Item 9 - BCP Local Plan Cllr Ricketts declared a Disclosable Pecuniary  Interest due to her employment and was not present for this item.

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Meeting held on 2 April 2025.

RESOLVED: that the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 2 April 2025 were approved as a correct record.

To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution. Further information on the requirements for submitting these is available to view at the following link:-

https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeID=151&Info=1&bcr=1

The deadline for the submission of public questions is mid-day Thursday 8 May 2025 3 clear working days before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a statement is midday Tuesday 13 May 2025 the working day before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a petition is 10 working days before the meeting.

The Committee was advised that there had been no public questions or statements received on this occasion.

The Council’s constitution provides that Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Committees may consider requests for work from a range of sources, including requests from Portfolio Holders, Cabinet and Council. 

The O&S Committee is asked to consider a request for scrutiny recently made by Council, and to determine the request in line with the associated constitution procedure rules.

The Chair presented the item, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these Minutes in the Minute Book. The Committee was advised that this was to comply with the decision of Council and the requirements of the council’s constitution.

The Council’s constitution provides that Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Committees may consider requests for work from a range of sources, including requests from Portfolio Holders, Cabinet and Council. 

The O&S Committee was asked to consider a request for scrutiny recently made by Council, and to determine the request in line with the associated constitution procedure rules.

A petition to protect Christchurch Harbour was presented by Cllr V Ricketts at full council and it was recommended that it be referred to the next available Environment and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting for consideration.

RESOLVED that the protect Christchurch Harbour matter be added to the work plan.

Following Stage 1 examination hearings on the draft BCP Local Plan in January 2025, the Inspectors provided a post hearing letter in early March 2025. The letter stated that the Council had failed to adequately discharge the Duty to Cooperate. This is not something that can be rectified during the examination.

Cabinet is therefore recommended to withdraw the draft BCP Local Plan from examination.

The associated Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Charging Schedule that was submitted for its own examination at the same time is also recommended to be withdrawn due its strong ties with the draft Local Plan.

If Cabinet and Council agree the withdrawal of the Local Plan and CIL Charging Schedule, a new Local Plan will need to be prepared. A timetable (Local Development Scheme - LDS) for this new Plan is recommended in Appendix 1.

To facilitate community involvement and good plan making and development management processes, an updated Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) is also recommended for Cabinet to agree at Appendix 2.

The Portfolio Holder for Planning presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'B' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

Following Stage 1 examination hearings on the draft BCP Local Plan in January 2025, the Inspectors provided a post hearing letter in early March 2025. The letter stated that the Council had failed to adequately discharge the Duty to Cooperate. This was not something that could be rectified during the examination.

It was therefore recommended to withdraw the draft BCP Local Plan from examination.

The associated Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Charging Schedule that was submitted for its own examination at the same time was also recommended to be withdrawn due its strong ties with the draft Local Plan.

If Cabinet and Council agreed the withdrawal of the Local Plan and CIL Charging Schedule, a new Local Plan would need to be prepared. A timetable (Local Development Scheme - LDS) for this new Plan was recommended in Appendix 1.

To facilitate community involvement and good plan making and development management processes, an updated Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) was also recommended for Cabinet to agree at Appendix 2.

There was no formal recommendation made, there was strong support for collaborative scrutiny across committees and early engagement.  This would be discussed outside of the meeting between scrutiny chairs.

The Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Committee is asked to consider and identify work priorities for publication in a Work Plan.

The Chair presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'C' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Committee was asked to consider and identify work priorities for publication in a Work Plan.

There were two scrutiny requests considered by the Committee detailed below:

Building Standards – the effectiveness, enforcement, and future of building inspections within the BCP area, with a focus on restoring Local Authority control and ensuring robust, impartial oversight.

The Committee was informed that there was an enquiry in parliament on this and the results would be published in the autumn which could them be considered with the request.

Pedestrian Crossings – The Committee was asked to review the timing settings for pedestrian crossings in the BCP area.

RESOLVED that the Building Standards request be postponed until the outcome of the Government enquiry in the Autumn, when it would be re assessed.  The Committee agreed that Cllrs Rice and Chapmanlaw act as rapporteurs for the pedestrian crossings request and report back at a future meeting.  The Committee approved the items on the work plan and delegated responsibility for programming to the Chair and Vice-Chair.

Voting: Unanimous

The next meeting is Wednesday 9 July 2025 6.00pm.