Three Notices of Motion had been included in the agenda but before the meeting Members had been advised that the Motion submitted by Cllr Hirst had been withdrawn by officers since it was considered that additional information provided by officers had addressed the matter to which it related.

Cllr Hirst believed this course of action to have been improper and submitted a letter to the Mayor which called for an Extraordinary meeting of the Council and which had been signed by the requisite number of Members.  The Monitoring Officer agreed to advise Group leaders regarding the content of the letter.

Cllr Russell had given notice of a Motion as follows:

"Members of Brentwood Borough Council believe that membership of the cross party William Hunter Way Working Group should have representation from all elected parties and not just those in the Administration. We agree that in the name of openness, transparency, scrutiny and democracy, the Conservatives should be included proportionate to the number of Council seats held. This will ensure fairness all round.”

Cllr Kerslake SECONDED the Motion and following a debate, Cllr Quirk MOVED and Cllr Sapwell SECONDED an AMENDMENT which was agreed by Cllrs Russell and Kerslake and it was RESOLVED as follows:

"Members of Brentwood Borough Council believe that membership of the cross party William Hunter Way Working Group should have representation from all elected parties and not just those in the Administration. We agree that in the name of openness, transparency, scrutiny and democracy, the Conservatives should be included proportionate to the number of Council seats held in the Town Centre. This will ensure fairness all round.”

Following the resolution being made, in accordance with Rule 8.4.2 of the Council’s Procedure Rules,  the Mayor requested and it was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY that Cllr Faragher should leave the meeting.

Cllr Mrs McKinlay had given notice of a Motion as follows:

“Part 1

"That, as members of Brentwood Borough Council believe that Crossrail is a major project for the Borough, planning application BRW/14/01016/CROSS stands referred to the Planning and Development Control Committee for consideration and to make a recommendation only and that Council shall itself determine that application, notwithstanding any scheme of delegation."

Part 2:

"That, should the timetable of scheduled meetings of the Planning and Development Control Committee and/or the Council be likely to adversely impact on the legally stipulated timeframe for the determination of planning application BRW/14/01016/CROSS, the Council shall submit a written request to the applicant to consent to an extension of time for determination and that delegated power be granted to the Acting Chief Executive, in consultation with the Chair of the Crossrail Working Group, the Leader of the Council and the Leader of the Opposition Group, to submit such a request and to call if required such extraordinary meeting or meetings of the Planning and Development Control Committee and the Council as may be necessary."

Cllr Hirst SECONDED  the Motion and a discussion followed.

Members were advised that under the Crossrail Act 2008 only limited local issues could be influenced by the Council.

A vote was taken on a show of hands and the MOTION was LOST.