Agenda and minutes

To confirm and sign as a correct record, the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee, held on Wednesday 12 January 2022.

It was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on Wednesday 12 January 2022 be approved as a correct record.

The Committee is asked to note any apologies for absence and substitutions received from Members.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Amos, Morrison and M Stephenson (no substitutions).

Councillors are invited to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Personal Interest, and the nature of it, in relation to any item on the agenda.

Councillor Barry declared an interest in minute 58 below, Celebrating the Areas Heritage, specifically in relation to the 5 year development plan in Brightlingsea as he had worked on that project. He remained in the meeting and participated in the discussion and decision making on this item.

Subject to providing two working days' notice, a Member of the Committee may ask the Chairman of the Committee a question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the District of Tendring and which falls within the terms of reference of the Committee.

On this occasion no Councillor had submitted notice of a question.

Pursuant to the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 13, the Committee will review any new and/or amended published forthcoming decisions relevant to its terms of reference and decide whether it wishes to enquire into any such decision before it is taken.

Matters may only be raised on those forthcoming decisions at Committee meetings where the Member has notified the Committee Services Manager in writing (or by personal email) of the question they wish to ask, no later than Midday, two working days before the day of the meeting.

The Committee NOTED the contents of the report.

To present to the Committee the updated Recommendations Monitoring Report, outlining any recommendations the Committee have sent to Cabinet. The Committee is requested to consider the report and determine whether any further action is required on the recommendations submitted.

The Committee had before it the current Recommendations Monitoring Report which set out those items which had previously made recommendations to the Cabinet/ Portfolio Holder and the approved response to the recommendations and any subsequent action approved by the Committee on those matters.

The Committee also had before it an Addendum to the report that outlined Councillors M Stephenson’s proposed further actions in response to Cabinets response to the recommendations from this Committee on the Budget matters (minutes 50 of 12 January 2022 refers).

After some discussion the Committee RESOLVED to approve the proposed actions submitted by the Committee Chairman, with a change of the wording from “in the medium term” to “3 to 5 years”, and that actions now be pursued as approved.

To present to the Committee a draft detailed Work Programme 2021/22, to consider the detail and ordering of the Work Programme.

The Head of Democratic Services and Elections invited the Committee to review the work programme. In doing so, he reported that since publication of the agenda for the meeting a proposal had been received for a work programme item from the Leader of the Independent Group, Councillor Chapman (BEM), the request was submitted under rule 8 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules (and part 5 of the Councils Constitution).

Councillor Chapman (BEM) request was that this Committee include in the work programme a revisit of its enquiry into the Joint Use Agreements for sports centres in Harwich and Brightlinsea.

Upon being moved by Councillor Barry and seconded by Councillor Allen it was RESOLVED that the request from Councillor Chapman was appropriate for inclusion in the work programme

It was further RESOLVED the future enquiry be undertaken at an additional meeting to be held as practicable and prior to the next programmed meeting of 20 March 2023.

The Committee was reminded that its enquiry into the Joint Use Agreement on 13 December 2021 (minute 45 refers) had recommended that the then “status quo” be continued. This had not been adopted by Cabinet on 17 December 2021and instead the lapsing of the agreement had been noted, transitional support provided and an engagement group with the relevant Town Councils and Sigma Trust established. Any further enquiries by this Committee would not prevent implementation of that decision and that any recommendations from a further enquiry would not be considered by the Cabinet until 25 March 2022.

The rational for a further enquiry was stated as producing a public and transparent forum about the implementation of the Cabinets decision and what this means for users and those living in the Communities in which the two joint use centres were located. How that implementation was compliant with the Corporate Plan, Local Plan, Active Essex and Tendrings Sports Strategy would be a mater the Committee could examine and what further (mitigation) measures should be put in place.  

The Committee will undertake an enquiry into the Councils role in celebrating the areas heritage as part of the Corporate Plan theme of “A Growing and Inclusive Economy”. Within that theme the Corporate Plan identifies the importance of promoting Tendring’s tourism, culture and heritage offers.

To assist the Committee with its enquiry, the Portfolio Holder for Sport and Leisure has produced a report which sets out details of budgets over the last five years, and performance and output indicators detailed in the annex. In addition, the report set out information on the Heritage and Conservation Area Planning Guidance and its application for traditional farm buildings, conservation areas and listed buildings.

Further to the decision of Council on 13 July 2021 (Minute 53 refers), the Committee undertook an enquiry into “Celebrating the Area’s Heritage” – what was being done, how much money the Council was investing in this and what were the outcomes of that investment.

The Committee heard how Tendring had a rich history celebrated across Essex by residents and visitors alike. Its coastal location had provided it with a unique and varied heritage, from prehistoric artefacts that included the 420,000 year old ‘Clacton Spear’ fashioned before modern humans walked the earth, to medieval buildings and Victorian villas, with many nationally significant sites. The seaside resorts in Tendring made tourism a major component of its economy and gave the coastline its distinctive character and charm. There were 52 areas of ancient woodland within Tendring with a particularly important cluster along the edge of the Stour Estuary in the north east corner of the District. And at Harwich, The Mayflower heritage was still visible today, as were the 19^th century brick lighthouses, and the Leading Lights. 

The Council’s Heritage Strategy was adopted by decision of the Leader on 24 April 2020.

The report informed Members that the draft Heritage Strategy was published for a seven week period of consultation and ran from November 2019 to January 2020. Statutory bodies, national and local amenity societies, including town and parish councils were consulted. Communication included posters, social media, surveys and a drop-in exhibition on the afternoon and evening of the 3rd December 2019 at the Council offices in Weeley. It was attended by members of Tendring’s local history groups, residents and professionals. The draft Heritage Strategy for Tendring was considered by the Local Plan and Planning Policy Committee on 29th October 2019.

Members heard how the Heritage Strategy aimed to promote the protection and celebration of the area’s rich history, predominantly contained within its historic environment, and enhance the positive contribution it made to the lives of those people that lived in and visited the District. This was reflected in the vision on which the Strategy had been developed:-

‘The unique heritage of our district provides a rich, often hidden landscape that informs what it is to live here in the 21st century. This strategy identifies those historic features and aims to celebrate and enhance the heritage of Tendring’.

Members also heard how the strategy was organised into two parts:

Part One: “The Baseline explores the historic development of Tendring, and identifies existing heritage assets, sites and resources. It covers the physical heritage of Tendring in the form of the historic environment, and includes archaeology, buildings, settlements, landscapes, archives and artefacts. It also creates a comprehensive list of the people who are involved in looking after the historic environment today”.

Part Two: “Assessment and Strategy, draws on the findings of Part One to identify key issues and opportunities within Tendring. It addresses key issues facing Tendring’s heritage, and propose actions to preserve and protect it for the future”.

The report  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.