Agenda item - Council Owned Land on the Urban Fringe

Proposed by Councillor Nemeth on behalf of the Conservative Group.

51.1      The Notice of Motion as listed on the agenda was proposed by Councillor Nemeth on behalf of the Conservative Group and formally seconded by Councillor Bagaeen who reserved his right to speak later in the debate.

51.2      Councillor Hill proposed a joint amendment on behalf of the Labour and Green Groups which was formally seconded by Councillor Littman.

51.3      Councillors Barnett, Janio, Ebel, Platts, Theobald, Atkinson, McNair and Bagaeen spoke on the motion and the amendment.

51.4      Councillor Nemeth noted the comments and confirmed that he did not accept the amendment and asked that the minutes should include a full list of the vote.

51.5      The Mayor noted that the amendment had not been accepted and therefore put it to the vote and called on each of the Group Leaders to confirm their position as well as the Groups in turn and each of the Independent Members:

Councillor Mac Cafferty stated that the Green Group were in favour of the amendment and this was confirmed by the Members of the Green Group;

Councillor Platts stated that the Labour Group were in favour of the amendment and this was confirmed by the Members of the Labour Group;

Councillor Bell stated that the Conservative Group were against the amendment and this was confirmed by the Members of the Conservative Group;

Councillor Brennan confirmed that she wished to abstain from voting on the amendment;

Councillor Fishleigh confirmed that she was voting for the amendment;

Councillor Janio confirmed that he was voting against the amendment;

Councillor Knight confirmed that she was voting in favour of the amendment.

51.6      The Mayor confirmed that the amendment had been carried and therefore put the motion as amended to the vote:

This Council

1.         Requests that the Chief Executive contacts Robert Jenrick MP, toexpresses council’s preference that the land on the urban fringe of Brighton & Hove which is presently privately owned or ownedby Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC), or subsequently acquired by BHCC, shouldnot be put at risk, used or disposed of for housing development by housebuilding targets imposed through central government planning policy, and that our preference is for brownfield development.; and;

2.      Notes that the inclusion of urban fringe sites in the City Plan was expressly required by the current government's Planning Inspector, and the council's refusal to consider sites would have resulted in a failure to adopt a plan and an inability to apply local policies;

(1)   Expresses concern that the government's planning reforms do not by default consider urban fringe sites to be "protected", provide no guarantees that the urban fringe sites which would be protected from development in the proposed City Plan Part 2 would remain so, and do not rule out development on so-called "protected sites" in any case; and

(2)   Stating that while the council’s City Plan means that over 85% of new residential development will take place on brownfield sites, the requirement to meet centrally set housebuilding targets continues to force councils to use urban fringe sites for housing development;

3.         Notes that the city's current urban fringe policies providing amenity to residents, such as increased public access, biodiversity net gain, food growing, and sustainability are at risk from the government's proposed reforms.

51.7      The Mayor then called on each of the Group Leaders to confirm their position as well as the Groups in turn and each of the Independent Members:

Councillor Mac Cafferty stated that the Green Group were in favour of the motion as amended and this was confirmed by the Members of the Green Group;

Councillor Platts stated that the Labour Group were in favour of the motion as amended and this was confirmed by the Members of the Labour Group;

Councillor Bell stated that the Conservative Group were against the motion as amended and this was confirmed by the Members of the Conservative Group;

Councillor Brennan confirmed that she wished to abstain from voting on the motion as amended;

Councillor Fishleigh confirmed that she was voting against the motion as amended;

Councillor Janio confirmed that he was voting against the motion as amended;

Councillor Knight confirmed that she was voting in favour of the motion as amended.

51.8      The Mayor confirmed that the motion as amended had been carried.

Closure Motion

51.9      The Mayor noted the meeting had been in session for 4 hours and in accordance with council procedural rules, he was required to move a closure motion. He therefore moved that the meeting should be concluded and put the motion to the vote.

51.10   The Mayor called on each of the Group Leaders to confirm their position as well as the Groups in turn and each of the Independent Members:

Councillor Mac Cafferty stated that the Green Group were in against the motion and this was confirmed by the Members of the Green Group;

Councillor Platts stated that the Labour Group were in favour of the motion and this was confirmed by the Members of the Labour Group;

Councillor Bell stated that the Conservative Group were against the motion and this was confirmed by the Members of the Conservative Group;

Councillor Brennan confirmed that she was voting against the motion;

Councillor Fishleigh confirmed that she was voting against the motion;

Councillor Janio confirmed that he was voting against the motion;

Councillor Knight confirmed that she wished to abstain from voting on the motion.

51.11   The Mayor noted that the motion had been lost and therefore moved to the next item.