Agenda and minutes

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest received at this point in the meeting.

The Chair welcomed attendees to the meeting and provided an outline of how the call-in would proceed.

The Chair confirmed that the subject of the call-in was the decision made by the Executive on 24 November 2020 – ‘Nunthorpe Grange Farm: Disposal – Church Lane’.

The following were in attendance at the meeting to explain the reasons and rationale behind the report, and the decision that was made:

• The Executive Member for Finance and Governance (Councillor C Hobson);
• The Executive Member for Regeneration (Councillor Waters);
• The Mayor (A Preston);
• The Director of Finance (I Wright); and
• The Director of Regeneration and Culture (R Horniman).

The proposer of the call-in, Councillor Rathmell, together with the supporting Members, Councillors Hill, Hubbard, Polano and Wilson, were in attendance to explain why the decision had been called-in and what should be reviewed.

In terms of the procedure to be followed at the meeting, a copy was shown at Appendix 3 of the submitted report.  The Councillor proposing the call-in (Councillor Rathmell) would be afforded 15 minutes to present his case, which would include any statements from witnesses.  At the end of the presentation, the Executive Members would have the opportunity to question the proposing Councillor for five minutes, which could include input from officers from the relevant service area.

The Executive Members / service area would then have 15 minutes to provide the reasons for the decision, after which the proposing Councillor would have the opportunity to question the Executive Members / service area for five minutes.

Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Board (OSB) would then be given the opportunity to ask the proposing Councillor and the Executive Member / service area questions.  Following questioning, both parties would each be given five minutes to present a closing submission.

Following debate by the OSB Members, a vote would be undertaken as to whether OSB Members felt that the decision should be referred back to the Executive for reconsideration.

The Chair invited Councillor Rathmell to present his case to OSB, and explain why the decision had been called-in.

Councillor Rathmell made the following comments as part of his presentation:

• The primary focus was that there had been no / inadequate consultation with regards to the whole disposal of this site, and the future use for it.  The report stated that it did fall outside of the Local Plan and the Local Development Plan Policy, but the report appeared to omit considered and other potential uses for the site, as well as details regarding which policy document the Council was choosing to rely upon in order to identify the best possible use, and future use, for the land.
• The sale did not go through a tendering process and it appeared that no other options were considered for the use / retention / further disposal of the land.  The approach to purchase the land was made by the purchaser and all discussions had been held behind closed doors.  Consequently, Members could not be assured that best value  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20/59