Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors P Smart and Xhaferaj, whilst apologies for lateness were received from Councillor Murray.

It was RESOLVED:

that the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 September 2024 be signed as a true record.

It was RESOLVED:

that the Order of Business be as printed on the Agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Mayor noted that his communications had been circulated and highlighted his upcoming festive tours at Christchurch Mansion.

* In the absence of Mr Balbirnie, a written response would be provided.

It was RESOLVED on a motion MOVED by Councillor J Cook and SECONDED by Councillor Long:

that the draft Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Principles 2025 – 2028 be adopted.

It was RESOLVED on a motion MOVED by Councillor Pope and SECONDED by Councillor C Smart:

that Council note the Strategic Overview & Scrutiny Committee Annual Report 2023-2024.

This Council believes that the Article 4 Direction for small HMO’s, as was agreed by Full Council in November 2023, should be extended to cover a greater area of The Borough.

In order to achieve this, we request that the planning department takes all the necessary steps to complete an annual assessment of evidence, with a report to be brought to the Executive and then Full Council for the March meetings each year on the possible extension of the Article 4 area.

In accordance with Part 4, Section 1 of the Constitution (Rules of Procedure for Council) the Chief Executive has provided the below comments for inclusion with this summons.

The Article 4 direction has only been in place since 1 June 2024 and so any effects at this stage will be limited. It followed a lengthy process including public consultation and compilation of evidence requiring significant input from multiple teams and authorities. An annual update to this would be a significant amount of work for the Planning Policy Team and would largely replicate the same amount of work as the original evidence base (see C/22/18 Appendix 1 Ipswich Borough Council HMO Article 4 Direction Technical Evidence Paper)

The 2023 The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) (paragraphs 53 and 54) requires the use of Article 4 Directions to be limited to situations where it is  ‘necessary to avoid wholly unacceptable adverse impacts’ or ‘to protect local amenity or the wellbeing of the area’; and should be ‘based on robust evidence, and apply to the smallest geographical area possible’ and should not be used unless there is ‘clear justification’ for doing so.

The National Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) further states in ‘When is permission required?’ that robust evidence is required to justify the purpose and extent of the Direction, to demonstrate that such action is needed to protect local amenity or wellbeing of the area. It also requires the potential harm that the Direction is intended to address to be clearly identified, and that a particularly strong justification is required if the Article 4 direction is to cover a wide area such as an entire local planning authority.

It was MOVED by Councillor Pope and SECONDED by Councillor Phillips that:

This Council believes that the Article 4 Direction for small HMO’s, as was agreed by Full Council in November 2023, should be extended to cover a greater area of The Borough.

In order to achieve this, we request that the planning department takes all the necessary steps to complete an annual assessment of evidence, with a report to be brought to the Executive and then Full Council for the March meetings each year on the possible extension of the Article 4 area.

The motion was put to the meeting and LOST.

It was RESOLVED on a motion MOVED by Councillor M Cook and SECONDED by Councillor Muhith:

a)           that Council approves the Council Size Proposal, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report;

b)           that Council authorises the Democratic Services Manager to submit the proposal to the LGBCE.

It was RESOLVED on a motion MOVED by Councillor M Cook and SECONDED by Councillor Muhith:

that Council approves draft protocol for the appointment of Honorary Freemen, subject to the amendments set out in the addendum.

There were no changes to placings.