Agenda item

Public Question Time

Meeting of Full Council, Wednesday, 13th December, 2017 7.30 pm (Item 3.)

To answer public questions under Council Procedure Rule10.

· The Mayor will invite questions in turn, via the raising of hands. Prior notice of the questions is not required.

· Each questioner may ask one question and a supplementary question (on the same subject)

· Each questioner is asked to direct their question to the Mayor and provide their name and the ward they live in.

· The questions must not be a statement, but must relate to the functions of the Full Council. The questions cannot be about an individual’s personal circumstance or substantially be the same as a question raised in the past

6 months.

· The Mayor may invite any Councillor to respond. No Councillor will speak more than once on a question and will confine their comments to responding to the question

· Up to 30 minutes is allocated to Public Question Time.

Minutes:

Questions asked in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9 were as follows:

Questioner’s Name	Name of Councillor Responding
Mr Hall – (Langley Green) The question I would like to ask relates to the water feature in Queen’s Square. Who was responsible for monitoring the water quality of the fountains and how frequently? Supplementary Question Would the Council consider putting any signs up to remind the public that the fountain was a water feature and should not be entered or played in for health and safety reasons?	Councillor P. Smith (Cabinet Member Planning and Economic Development) It was a good question and as part of the design process a closed system was produced that includes a water purification system that cleans and recirculates the water. The Council’s Environmental Health team monitors the system I believe on a daily basis. During the first year the supplier was on call to ensure that the feature works correctly and safely. Councillor P. Smith (Cabinet Member Planning and Economic Development) I will look into that idea with the officers, but my initial thought was that, this would be unlikely.
Mr Symonds – (Ifield) I am asking this question on behalf of the Ifield society. The Council has recently granted Ifield Brook meadows with a Local Green Space (LGS) status, thus giving this area some protection from development. What is stopping the Council from upgrading the area with local Nature Reserves Status (NRS)? Which was supported by the Sussex Nature Trust. Supplementary Question With the HCA being the landowners, and the HCA also being a Government agency, can the Council confirm as to whether the Ifield Brook Meadows was private or public land?	Councillor P. Smith (Cabinet Member Planning and Economic Development) Yes you are correct that we placed LGS status to stop any development on this special area for the foreseeable future. To become a NRS we needed the landowner’s permission and that of Natural England. We have actually written to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) as the land owner on this matter and included the Ifield Society’s petition but they declined to give us permission. I’ll email you a response on this matter as I’m aware you might struggle to hear my response. Councillor Thomas – (Environmental Services and Sustainability) The fact the Council was able to grant Ifield Brook meadows as LGS, the only one in Crawley, was down to Mr Symonds and others like him who for decades had been campaigning for the protection of the meadows. That support provided us with the evidence to justify the LGS status, so thank you for your hard work. Councillor P. Smith (Cabinet Member Planning and Economic Development) I cannot provide a technical reply on the land’s status, but legally we do have to seek and gain the HCA’s permission to do anything with regard to the land.
Mr Wren – (Broadfield) Mr Wren’s question raised related to a complaint he had made to the Council over his garage tenancy and the damage caused to his vehicle from the faulty garage roof. The Mayor rejected Mr Wren’s question as the Full Council was not the correct forum to consider an individual’s complaint. Councillor Joyce (Cabinet Member of Housing), stated he would ask officers’ to brief him on Mr Wren’s complaint and he would then look into the matter further himself.

Questioner’s Name

Name of Councillor Responding

Mr Hall – (Langley Green)

The question I would like to ask relates to the water feature in Queen’s Square. Who was responsible for monitoring the water quality of the fountains and how frequently?

Supplementary Question

Would the Council consider putting any signs up to remind the public that the fountain was a water feature and should not be entered or played in for health and safety reasons?

Councillor P. Smith

(Cabinet Member Planning and Economic Development)

It was a good question and as part of the design process a closed system was produced that includes a water purification system that cleans and recirculates the water.

The Council’s Environmental Health team monitors the system I believe on a daily basis. During the first year the supplier was on call to ensure that the feature works correctly and safely.

Councillor P. Smith

(Cabinet Member Planning and Economic Development)

I will look into that idea with the officers, but my initial thought was that, this would be unlikely.

Mr Symonds – (Ifield)

I am asking this question on behalf of the Ifield society. The Council has recently granted Ifield Brook meadows with a Local Green Space (LGS) status, thus giving this area some protection from development.

What is stopping the Council from upgrading the area with local Nature Reserves Status (NRS)? Which was supported by the Sussex Nature Trust.

Supplementary Question

With the HCA being the landowners, and the HCA also being a Government agency, can the Council confirm as to whether the Ifield Brook Meadows was private or public land?

Councillor P. Smith

(Cabinet Member Planning and Economic Development)

Yes you are correct that we placed LGS status to stop any development on this special area for the foreseeable future. To become a NRS we needed the landowner’s permission and that of Natural England. We have actually written to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) as the land owner on this matter and included the Ifield Society’s petition but they declined to give us permission. I’ll email you a response on this matter as I’m aware you might struggle to hear my response.

Councillor Thomas – (Environmental Services and Sustainability)

The fact the Council was able to grant Ifield Brook meadows as LGS, the only one in Crawley, was down to Mr Symonds and others like him who for decades had been campaigning for the protection of the meadows. That support provided us with the evidence to justify the LGS status, so thank you for your hard work.

Councillor P. Smith

(Cabinet Member Planning and Economic Development)

I cannot provide a technical reply on the land’s status, but legally we do have to seek and gain the HCA’s permission to do anything with regard to the land.

Mr Wren – (Broadfield)

Mr Wren’s question raised related to a complaint he had made to the Council over his garage tenancy and the damage caused to his vehicle from the faulty garage roof.

The Mayor rejected Mr Wren’s question as the Full Council was not the correct forum to consider an individual’s complaint.

Councillor Joyce (Cabinet Member of Housing), stated he would ask officers’ to brief him on Mr Wren’s complaint and he would then look into the matter further himself.