Proposer: Councillor Peter Lidstone
Seconder: TBC
“The Cabinet is requested to require Full Council to decide whether it wishes to proceed to RIBA stage 5 (the construction stage of Calverley Square).”
Minutes:
Councillor Lidstone moved, and Councillor Morton seconded, the motion:
“The Cabinet is requested to require Full Council to decide whether it wishes to proceed to RIBA stage 5 (the construction stage of Calverley Square).”
The following points were made in moving the motion:
· Previous decision of this nature had been make by Full Council.
· Such an important decision must be made by all members.
Dr Philip Whitborne had registered to speak, which included the following comments:
· The Cabinet could ignore the request, Full Council should instruct the Cabinet.
Brian Bissell had registered to speak, which included the following comments:
· Motion 1 as amended involves working collaboratively, this should continue and Full Council should take the final decision.
· Investment was needed but closing the theatre would be detrimental.
The debate on the motion included consideration of the following additional matters:
· Full Council was the voice of the people in the absence of a referendum.
· The Local Government Act 2000 gave considerable powers to the executive.
· The functions of the executive was set out in legislation and this decision could only be made by the Cabinet.
· Previous decisions of this nature which may have been made by Council would have had elements which would have been within the remit of Council.
· The Council as a whole needed to demonstrate openness and transparency to restore trust.
· The costs of stopping the project needed to be fully explored.
· The Council had invested in a number of properties and was acting as a private landlord, the Full Council should debate this policy.
· There remained unanswered questions from the recent Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting.
· No decision should be made by Cabinet until Council had given its view.
· The amendment to motion 1 on the agenda had intended to bring transparency.
· The decision making process to date had been open with plenty of opportunities to ask questions and it was right that new members should have the opportunity to influence future decisions. The Council had to do something to invest, economically and culturally and the Cabinet had set out a process to facilitate consideration of alternatives in a structured way.
· There were mixed messages from members of the Cabinet who should give assurances that the will of Council will not be ignored.
· The public had given a clear message that they did not want to continue with the Calverley Square project.
· There needed to be consideration of alternatives in order to achieve the economic and cultural aspirations of the Cultural Strategy and such a decision should be taken by the Council as a whole.
Councillor Chapelard requested a recorded vote.
Members who voted in favour of the motion: Atkins, Atwood, Bruneau, Chapelard, Ellis, Everitt, Fairweather, Funnell, Dr Hall, Hayward, Hickey, Hill, Holden, Lewis, Lidstone, Morton, Neve, Ms Palmer, Podbury, Poile, Pound, Rands, Scholes, Simmons, Mrs Soyke, Stanyer, Thomson, Warne, Williams and Willis. (30)
Members who voted against the motion: Backhouse, Bailey, Bland, Mrs Cobbold, Dawlings, Hamilton, Horwood, Mackonochie, March, McDermott, Noakes, Scott, Mrs Thomas, and Woodward. (14)
Members who abstained from voting: None.
RESOLVED – The Cabinet is requested to require Full Council to decide whether it wishes to proceed to RIBA stage 5 (the construction stage of Calverley Square).