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Council Meeting

20 March 2024

Local Plan Review Adoption – Briefing Note

The focus of this briefing note is on procedure to guide members during the meeting.

1.  Questions

There will be questions, and each question can have a supplementary.

Questions from the public for up to an hour

-          1 Question has been submitted.

Questions from Members for up to half an hour

-          2 Questions have been submitted

2.  Statements

There will be statements from the public and parishes on the Local Plan Review Adoption.  Two statements from the public and three from parish councils.

The public have up to 3 minutes each to address the meeting (up to a maximum of 12 minutes in total that will not be reached tonight).

Parishes have up to 3 minutes each to address the meeting.

Please note that if Councillors wish to respond to points raised in statements they cannot do so directly, but can do so as part of their allocated time to speak during the course of the debate.

3.  Rules of Debate

Normal procedures and debating rules apply.  The mover of a motion from Cabinet or a Committee has the right to speak for 5 minutes. Each other member will be able to speak once on the item for up to 3 minutes. 

In the event that amendments are moved, members may speak for up to another 3 minutes to address the amendment.

The mover of a motion has the right of reply at the end of a debate on the motion.  The mover of an amendment has the right of reply at the end of debate on their amendment.

Members should approach the debate with an open mind and consider all evidence and debate presented at the meeting.

The full rules of debate are set out in rule 15 of Part C1 of the Constitution (starting at p134).

A recorded vote can be requested under 18.3, Part C1.  This requires at least 5 members present at the meeting to request that the vote be recorded.  This is normally achieved by five or more members standing to request the vote and must be done prior to the vote being taken.

4.  Scope of Amendments

The matter in front of Members is about what to do with the plan, including main modifications, in front of Council.  The plan has been found sound by an inspector subject to those modifications.  Therefore, amendments cannot be about changing the content of the plan (the main modifications are the Inspector’s) as those would essentially be negating the proposal in front of members which is to adopt this sound plan or not.

This does not rule out all amendments to the wording recommended by Cabinet to Council which needs to follow the rules set out in Rule 15.6 in Part C1.

C1, 15.6 - An amendment to a motion must be relevant to the motion and will either be:

(a) to refer the matter to an appropriate body or individual for consideration or reconsideration;

(b) to leave out words;

(c) to leave out words and insert or add others; or

(d) to insert or add words as long as the effect of (b) to (d) is not to negate the motion.

5.  Officer Advice at Council Meetings

Officer advice to Council is normally limited to direct requests for advice from the Mayor.  Therefore, if a Member requires advice on a technical matter, the request will need to be made to the Mayor who will consider the request and call an officer to give advice to Council if required.