Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors A. Bailes, R. Bailes, J. Clarke, R. Lambert and H. Rone-Clarke.

Members were informed that Councillor S. Robinson had been slightly delayed and would be arriving at the meeting later in the evening.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

In respect of Minute Item 23/25 – Bromsgrove District Plan – Councillors S. Ammar, S. Baxter, R. Hunter, B. Kumar and S. Peters declared other disclosable interests due to the fact that sites for consultation detailed in the report were located close to their homes.

Councillor S. Colella declared an other disclosable interest in respect of Minute Item 23/25 – Bromsgrove District Plan – on the basis that three sites for consultation detailed in the report were located within a mile of his home.

During consideration of this item, clarification was requested as to whether the proximity of a Member’s home to any of the 400 sites that were subject to consultation needed to be declared, as Members commented that it was likely that all elected Councillors lived near to at least one site.  Officers explained that Members were being advised that if there was a site detailed in the report that Members felt they might have an interest in, which could include due to the proximity of the site to a Councillor’s home address, then for transparency they should declare this at the Council meeting.  However, at this stage, there was no requirement for Members to leave the room during the debate or to absent themselves from the vote because the decision at the meeting was not in relation to the individual sites.

Councillor C. Hotham declared an other disclosable interest in respect of Minute Item 23/25 – Bromsgrove District Plan – in his capacity as a member of Barnt Green Social Club, as one of the possible sites included in the consultation paper included the current location of the club.

Councillor J. Robinson declared an other disclosable interest in respect of Minute Item 23/25 – Bromsgrove District Plan – in relation to his employment by National Highways which would potentially be one of the stakeholder organisations engaged as part of the consultation process.  Councillor J. Robinson also declared an other disclosable interest in this item on the basis that his wife worked for Birmingham City Council, which was another stakeholder organisation that might be engaged through the consultation process.

Councillor S. Robinson declared an other disclosable interest in respect of Minute Item 23/25 – Bromsgrove District Plan – in relation to her employment by Birmingham City Council which would potentially be one of the stakeholder organisations engaged as part of the consultation process.

The Leader and Portfolio Holder for Strategic Partnerships, Economic Development and Governance presented a report relating to the political balance at the Council.

Members were advised that this report had had to be prepared following changes to the political balance at the authority since the Annual Council meeting held in May 2025.  There was the potential that a further report on the subject of the political balance would be presented for Council’s consideration in July 2025, subject to the outcome of ongoing discussions between group leaders.

The figures presented in the political balance report were subsequently discussed by Members.  Whilst the accuracy of these figures was not contested, concerns were raised that the allocation of seats in accordance with legal rules would result in the Audit, Standards and Governance Committee and the Overview and Scrutiny Board having a single vacant seat each.  This was due to the fact that one political group which was entitled to seats on those Committees could not take up those seats because all of the group’s members served on the Cabinet and there were legal and constitutional barriers to their participation as members of those particular Committees.  Concerns were raised about the impact that having vacancies on those two Committees in particular could have on the transparency and effectiveness of the arrangements in place for challenging decision making, particularly by Cabinet.

To address these concerns, it was suggested that the Council could consider suspending the political balance and then allocating the vacant seats to political groups not represented on the Cabinet.  The suspension of the political balance could not occur at this extraordinary meeting of Council as there was a legal requirement to give five clear working days’ notice in the agenda for a Council meeting where it was proposed that the political balance should be suspended and this had not occurred.  However, Members commented that this could potentially be achieved in time for the July meeting of Council.

The suggestion to suspend the political balance was discussed and in doing so reference was made to the fact that this could only be achieved if no single Member voted against the proposal at a Council meeting.  Concerns were raised that there was no guarantee that consensus would be achieved.  As an alternative, the suggestion was made that the Council could increase the number of seats on both the Audit, Standards and Governance Committee and on the Overview and Scrutiny Board.  Whilst this would still result in there being vacant seats on those Committees, it was suggested that this would result in the appointment of 11 Councillors to both bodies, in line with the current size of both Committees.

Members highlighted that group leaders had recently agreed to discuss the political balance at a meeting of the Constitution Review Working Group.  The suggestion was made that this meeting could take place before publication of the agenda for the July meeting of Council in order to achieve some clarity on the different positions of the various political  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22\25

The Portfolio Holder for Planning, Licensing and Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) presented the Bromsgrove District Local Plan Draft Development Strategy Consultation 2025 report for Council’s consideration.

In presenting the report, the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Licensing and WRS explained that Council was being asked to debate the approval of a consultation on the formation of a District Plan.  The report was inviting Members to agree to vote for 12 weeks of consultation.  However, Members were not due to make any decisions at the meeting in respect of any sites for potential development and Council was asked to note that no decisions had been taken yet on any potential sites for development.  Instead, the purpose of the report at this stage of the process was to invite Members to agree to consult with the public and other interested stakeholders on their views of what could be included in the Bromsgrove District Local Plan in the future.

The Portfolio Holder for Planning, Licnesing and WRS commented that the Government was requiring local authorities to ensure the development of a certain number of homes in each authority’s area by 2043.  In Bromsgrove, a target of an additional 9,000 properties had been added to the previous target for the District, resulting in a requirement for 12,000 homes to be developed in the District by 2043.  The Government also expected local authorities to develop new District Local Plans within 30 months of the implementation of the new plan making system.  This would involve further rounds of public consultation, in addition to the process proposed in this report, and had been scheduled in accordance with the timetable detailed in the Local Development Scheme that had been agreed by Members in February 2025.

It was acknowledged that the process of identifying potential sites for development in Bromsgrove District was challenging.  Members were asked to note that 89 per cent of the District was classified as green belt.  In total, 400 potential sites for development had been identified.  Some of these sites were considered to be more viable than others but all were subject to consultation.

The purpose of the District Local Plan was to provide a fully comprehensive document that could guide future development in the District.  The content of the District Plan needed to complement the authority’s vision, as detailed in the Council Plan.  In addition, a District Local Plan should set out plans for development in the future.  The drafting of a District Local Plan needed to involve consultation with interested stakeholders, including the public.  At this particular stage, subject to Members’ agreement, the consultation would launch on 30^th June 2025.  There would be various opportunities for the public to comment in this consultation process, including by submitting comments online and by attending public consultation events.

Prior to the publication of the report in the agenda for the meeting, Members had been invited to consider the various possible sites.  All Members had been invited to attend meetings of the Strategic Planning Steering Group (SPSG)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23\25

There was no urgent business for consideration on this occasion.