Agenda item

Council will consider a motion, notice of which has been given pursuant to the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 12, by Councillor Everett.

Earlier on in the meeting, as detailed under Minute 24 above, Councillor Fairley had declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and a Non-Registerable Interest in this item. Councillor Fairley had also informed Council that she had been granted a Dispensation by the Monitoring Officer in order to allow her to take part in the debate on this item and to vote thereon.

Council had before it the following motion, notice of which had been given by Councillor Richard Everett pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 12:-

“This Council –

(a)   is aware that the District of Tendring has seen a series of proposals come forward to transport Green Energy from where it is being produced to where it will be needed. The first proposal, East Anglia Green, which is being led by National Grid, held its non-statutory consultation last year and is seeking to provide the necessary and vital infrastructure to process and transport this energy; two further schemes, the Five Estuary and the North Falls will be reliant on the provision of this to progress their individual projects;

(b)   is also aware that North Falls is currently consulting on a £2bn proposal to link the offshore windfarms to a national grid substation located between Ardleigh and Little Bromley. Should the East Anglia Green project linking Norwich to London be approved by the Secretary of State, the North Falls project will entail substantial construction effort, over 3 to 4 years, affecting much of the Tendring Council area. The principle of gaining a community benefit from this project for the areas effected has not been given any consideration in the consultation. The North Falls consultation finishes on 14th July 2023;

(c)   believes that, if the Secretary of State is mindful to approve National Grid’s East Anglia Green proposal, the North Falls transport proposals will be inadequate;

(d)   therefore notes that the North Falls Project proposes building a temporary haul road around Thorpe-le-Soken, Little Bromley and Ardleigh, for elements of the works traffic, whilst all of the heavy equipment will still need to be transported through the villages;

(e)   further notes that there has been a long-standing argument for a Thorpe-le-Soken bypass and supports a permanent road as part of the project that will not only remove any heavy equipment from the village but also be a worthy long-term legacy of this important project; and

(f)    therefore calls upon the Leader of the Council to write to the North Falls Project, the Government, and Essex County Council to include this permanent road within the Scheme, as well as asking them to develop plans to provide cheaper electricity to all the villages along the route; to develop a compensation scheme to all landowners and farmers involved; and to set up a compensatory fund to be used by Essex Highways for the eventual reinstatement of any highways asset damaged and overused during construction.”

Councillor Everett formally moved the motion and Councillor Turner formally seconded the motion.

Pursuant to the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 16.6, Councillor Everett, with the consent of his seconder (Councillor Turner), then formally altered the wording of his motion so that it read as follows:-

“This Council –

(a)    is aware that the District of Tendring has seen a series of proposals come forward to transport Green Energy from where it is being produced to where it will be needed. The first proposal, National Grid’s Great Grid Upgrade Norwich to Tilbury formerly known as East Anglia Green, held its non-statutory consultation last year and is seeking to provide the necessary and vital infrastructure to process and transport this energy; three further schemes, the Tarchon Interconnector, Five Estuaries and North Falls will be reliant on the provision of this to progress their individual projects;

(b)    requests officers to invite and host North Falls, Five Estuaries, Torchon Interconnector and National Grid to a briefing for Tendring District Councillors on the collective impact of their projects; and

(c)    is also aware that North Falls is currently consulting on a £2bn proposal to link the offshore windfarms to a national grid substation located between Ardleigh and Little Bromley. Should National Grid’s Norwich to Tilbury project be approved by the Secretary of State, the North Falls project, together with the Five Estuaries and Tarchon Interconnector, will entail substantial construction effort, over 3 to 4 years, affecting much of the Tendring Council area. The principle of gaining a community benefit from this project for the areas effected has not been given any consideration in the consultation. The North Falls consultation finishes on 14^th July 2023;

(d)    believes that, if the Secretary of State is mindful to approve National Grid’s Norwich to Tilbury proposal, the North Falls transport proposals will be inadequate;

(e)    therefore notes that the North Falls and Five Estuaries Projects propose building a temporary haul road around Thorpe-le-Soken, Little Bromley and Ardleigh, for elements of the works traffic, whilst all of the heavy equipment will still need to be transported through the villages;

(f)     further notes that there has been a long-standing argument for a Thorpe-le-Soken bypass and supports the exploration of a permanent road as part of the project that will not only remove any heavy equipment from the village but also be a worthy long-term legacy of this important project; and

(g)    therefore calls upon the Leader of the Council to write to the North Falls and Five Estuaries Projects, the Government, and Essex County Council to include this permanent road within the Scheme, as well as asking them to develop plans to provide cheaper electricity to all the villages along the route; to develop a compensation scheme to all landowners and farmers involved; and to set up a compensatory fund to be used by Essex Highways for the eventual reinstatement of any highways asset damaged and overused during construction.”

In accordance with the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 12.6 Councillor Everett then explained the purpose of the Motion, as altered, and Council proceeded to debate it.

Councillors Bray, Land, Guglielmi, Fairley, Platt, Bush, Baker, Talbot, Turner, Everett and M E Stephenson spoke during the debate on the motion, as altered.

Pursuant to the provisions of Council Procedure Rule, Councillor Everett, supported by 8 other Members present, demanded a recorded vote on his motion, as altered.

The vote resulted as follows:-

Councillor Everett’s motion, as altered, was thereupon declared LOST.

Council thereupon proceeded to debate Councillor Everett’s original motion as contained within the Council Book.

Councillors Land, Guglielmi, Turner, M A Cossens, Calver, I J Henderson, Bray, Everett and M E Stephenson spoke during this debate on the original motion.

Pursuant to the provisions of Council Procedure Rule, Councillor Guglielmi, supported by 8 other Members present, demanded a recorded vote on Councillor Everett’s original motion.

That vote resulted as follows:-

Councillor Everett’s original motion was thereupon declared LOST.