Live broadcast to start at 7pm and available for repeat viewing.

Apologies were received from Cllrs Sankey and Wagland. 

Cllr Hossack declared that he was on the employees pay panel and declared this in relation to the Pay Award report.

The Mayor spoke on the recent passing of Council employee Darren Laver, Chairman of Royal British Legion Brentwood Branch Syd Bryer, former Councillor Karen Chilvers, Council employee Amanda Julian, Mayor of Chelmsford Cllr John Galley and Her Majesty the Queen.

Members paid tribute to those passed to convey their condolence. A minutes silence took place in their memory.

The Ordinary Council meeting held on 27th July 2022 were APPROVED subject to the inclusion of Cllr Wiles as present as a true record. The minutes contain a summary of the meeting, to view the full meeting, please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21IdFA-fcXc

No public questions were received. 

No memorials or petitions were received.

The Mayor MOVED to vary the order of the agenda and was SECONDED by Cllr Hossack to take Item 7 of the agenda – Chairs reports and Members questions after Item 11 – Pay Award.

To follow

The Baytree Shopping Centre is a 135,470 sq ft multi-let shopping centre with 36 tenancies producing £1,157,327 gross rental income p.a. and a guaranteed initial net operating income of £675,000 p.a. until February 2023. This asset was acquired in March 2021 for £10.8m plus acquisition costs. As part of this deal there was a net operating income guarantee of £675,000 for two years after which the net operating income will drop to £402,437.

Baytree is a strategic regeneration opportunity that would enable major re-shaping of Brentwood’s town centre. This will include an enhanced mix of uses including, leisure, residential, food and retail combined with potential community uses which would create a relevant and vibrant future heart for the town.

By undertaking a proactive approach to re-generation within Brentwood the council is uniquely placed to prevent the further decline of in town services and help shape the future of the town centre.

The report set out proposals for the Council to re-develop the first phase of the Baytree Shopping Centre. The proposed redevelopment is to create a Cinema with leisure and additional retail units, residential units and new open air public space.

The total costs of the proposed re-development are forecast to be £23.340m (excluding financing costs) with a development time period of 18 months once the contractor has been appointed. This cost is split £21.898m on capital forecasts and £1.442m on revenue costs. The asset is currently leased to Seven Arches Investments Limited (SAIL) and as part of this arrangement have developed the regeneration plan. It is anticipated that Seven Arches Investments Limited will select the development partner during planning permission process and manage the redevelopment.

There are currently 36 tenants, generating a gross rental income of £1,157,327 per annum. This development would increase this to 30 tenants and a gross rental income of £1,780,000 per annum. Producing an additional £447,406 net revenue to the council per annum.

Officers and SAIL have completed an intensive feasibility study due diligence on the proposal and considered appropriate risk management implications. A detailed feasibility study on the development is set out in Appendix A of the report (exempt).

Cllr Mynott declared a non pecuniary interest due to his involvement with Brentwood Community Transport who are based at the Baytree Centre.

Cllr Hossack MOVED and Cllr Russell SECONDED that the recommendations within the report.

Cllr Aspinell MOVED to DEFER this item and Cllr Lewis SECONDED the deferral. Cllr Hossack who had moved the original motion did not accept the motion to defer.

Cllr Hossack MOVED an AMENDMENT and Cllr Poppy SECONDED for Recommendation 2 to read: That delegated authority is given to the Chief Executive, Monitoring Officer and Section 151 Officer in consultation with the Leader to take all the steps necessary, including entering into any legal agreements required to complete the development proposed at Baytree Shopping Centre, Brentwood.

A recorded vote was requested by Cllr White with 5 councillors in agreement by show of hands.

Members voted on the amendment:

FOR: Cllrs Francois,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 219.

To follow

The report set out proposals for the Council to develop 6.66 acres of development land for open storage employment land at Childerditch Industrial Park, Brentwood, CM13 3HD.

Childerditch Industrial Park is a 42.75 acres mixed use industrial park strategically located adjacent to the A127 dual carriageway (within the South Brentwood Growth Corridor), which links to Junction 29 of the M25, less than two miles west of the property. This makes it within close proximity to the planned Lower Thames Crossing route, providing for wider links in future and solidifying the site as a successful industrial location.

The property provides industrial and warehouse accommodation totalling 173,386 sq ft, in addition to extensive areas of secure open storage, totalling 16.6 acres. This represents a very low ‘site density’ of 12.5% (built area). The total net lettable area is 24.25 acres, plus a ‘development site’ of 4.66 acres (subject to Planning), which is being extended to 6.6 aces to facilitate the relocation of the Warley Depot. The whole site was acquired in February 2021 for £59m (apportioned £54.5m for the ‘income’ and £4.5m for the development land of 4.66 acres in size).

The proposed development is to clear of shrubs and weeds the 4.6 acres site known as the development site together with the additional 2 acres of land to the southwest of the site let to Essex County Council and to create 3 market standard open storage yards, two (sites A1 and A2) of which will be let on the open market and yard B will be reserved to house the Councils depot at nil rent.

The total costs of the development are forecast to be £6.103 m split between a capital forecast of £5.460m and revenue forecast of £643k with a projected peak cash flow of £3,000,000 with a development time period of 24 weeks once the contractor has been appointed. It is anticipated that Seven Arches Investments Limited will select the development partner during planning permission process in consultation with Council Officers. There are currently 25 tenants, generating a gross rental income of £2,804,882 per annum. This development would increase this to 27 tenants and a gross rental income of £3,363,632 per annum. Producing an additional £180k net revenue to the council per annum.

This additional open market open storage space is projected to increase the in Borough employment opportunities within Class E (formally B1), B2 and B8 employment uses and storage yards and increase the number employed at the park from approximately 700-800 people by approximately 50 people.

Officers and SAIL have completed an intensive feasibility study due diligence on the proposal and considered appropriate risk management implications. A detailed feasibility study on the development is set out in Appendix A of the report. 

Cllr Naylor MOVED that discussion be taken in private session to discuss the exempt appendix and was SECONDED by Cllr Laplain. This session of the meeting, the press and public was excluded.

Following the discussion, Cllr Hossack MOVED and Cllr Bridge SECONDED to move back  ...  view the full minutes text for item 220.

To follow.

Cumulative Impact Assessments (CIAs) were introduced as a tool for licensing authorities to limit the growth of licensed premises in an area.

Cumulative impact occurs when the saturation of licensed premises (on-license alone, off-license alone or both combined) in an area is identified as causing a concern about one or more of the licensing objectives, which is then supported by an evidence base which proves that a policy is required to more effectively manage and control the supply and consumption of alcohol in that area.

The report considered the process that would need to be followed to determine if there is sufficient evidence to support the introduction of a CIA under the Licensing Act 2003.

Cllr Hirst requested that the results should be publicised for the public when it is complete.

Cllr White requested that the findings are circulated to all Members.

Cllr Hossack MOVED and Cllr Poppy SECONDED that the recommendations within the report. A vote was taken by a show of hands and was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY.

Members are asked to:

R1. Agree for officers to work with partners including Essex Police, and the Community Safety Partnership to undertake a review of the Nighttime Economy and to consider evidence available to support a Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA).

R2. To report findings to a future Licensing Committee for further consideration.

Reasons for Recommendation

To consider the evidence available and establish whether it is sufficient enough to support the introduction of a CIA in Brentwood Town Centre.

To follow

This report explains the national position on the local government pay offer for 2022/23 and the implications and risks if the Council was to continue with the budgeted 2% pay award within the 2022/23 budget.

Cllr Barrett a member of Unite and Cllr Dr Barrett a member of Unison abstained from the vote. 

Cllr Hossack MOVED and Cllr Poppy SECONDED that the recommendations within the report. A vote was taken by a show of hands and was RESOLVED.

Members are asked to:

R1. Approve the proposed National Joint Council (NJC) pay offer for 2022/23, as set out in paragraph 9 of this report, is adopted for Brentwood employees, subject to the final negotiations.

R2. Approve the proposed Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) pay offer for 2022/23, as set out in paragraph 12 of this report, is adopted for Brentwood employees, subject to the final negotiations.

R3. Delegated authority is given to the Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service to amend Brentwood’s Pay Policy statement to reflect the revised pay scales for 2022/23.

Reasons for Recommendation

To ensure Brentwood’s pay scales create parity and across Local government sector, neighbouring authorities and meet statutory National Living Wage requirements. 

Members can ask up to two questions to two different Chairs.

Any Member may ask a Chair a written or oral question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties or which affects the Council’s area and which falls within the area of responsibility of the Chair’s committee.

The period allowed for written and oral questions and answers will not exceed 60 minutes without leave of the Mayor.

Cllr Davies put a question to the Chair of Housing.

Thank you Councillor White for organising a review of some of the policies cross party which is very much appreciated. On the agenda in your report on

page 20 you are talking about the kitchen and bathroom Capital replacement program and there's a high level of satisfaction from tenants. Those that I have seen when I've been in the properties, I have to say the work does look very good however I am getting concerns and I'm wondering am I alone because I'm getting quite a few reports on the poor standard of Repairs

Service from Axis. Their response time is probably the biggest problem. Tenants are getting left for quite a long period of time which is unacceptable. When I have reported them back to officers they are immediately reactive and try and get things put in place but I just wondered if maybe we could have a look just from the point of view of the emergency repairs ongoing.

Cllr White, Chair of Housing responded:

Thank you Councillor Davies. First of all, if I could echo my thanks to those members that turned up for our cross party review of the policies. I think it's helpful so that that we've been able to discuss and give officers some effectively informal feedback so they can help review the housing policies before they actually arrive at committee and that was very much something that I picked up from the July meeting. It was a chance to provide input and we could all unanimously agree many of the policies that were coming forward. I hope that's the case going forward in respect of looking at the responses to emergency call outs. I'll stand corrected if I'm wrong but I believe that those are included in some of the KPIs that we have with Axis in the contract and we would expect them to be reported at the Committee - I can certainly ask that at the next committee we can have a look at those in particular but the data should be data that's being captured.

Councillor Mynott put a question to the Chair of Policy, Resources and Economic Development.

In relation to the draft parking strategy at the PRED Committee, I was able to demonstrate and I quoted a specific paragraph in the local plan the fact that the draft parking strategy was directly contradicting what was being said in the local plan. My question is where the draft parking strategy is contradicting the local plan, which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 223.

The Mayor, in line with the Constitution 8.3.11 (g), explained that the motions had to be moved or deferred without debate.

Nine Notices of Motion have been submitted in accordance with Rule 3 in Part 4.1 of the Constitution - Council Procedure Rules and are listed in order of the date received.

Motion 1 – Received on 13th October 2022 @ 18:07

Mover: Cllr Cloke                       Seconder: Cllr Laplain

Members call for the Borough Council to produce a comprehensive Cost of Living Crisis leaflet to be distributed to every home in Brentwood, signposting what support is available to Brentwood residents from the Council and various organisations offering help and advice.

Cllr Cloke and Cllr Laplain DEFERRED this motion. 

Motion 2 – Received on 13th October 2022 @ 18:07

Mover: Cllr Naylor                     Seconder: Cllr Kendall

The members of Brentwood Borough Council, call upon the Government to uprate Universal Credit and Social Security schemes, in line with inflation. This Council will write to the Secretary of State for Work & Pensions "Chloe Smith MP" and the Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State for Welfare Delivery "David Rutley MP , the Prime Minister Liz Truss and the Chancellor of the Exchequer "Jeremy Hunt". With a call from the elected representatives of Brentwood Borough Council to uplift Universal Credit and Social Security schemes, in line with the consumer price index (CPI) rate of inflation.

Without debate, a vote on the motion was taken by a show of hands and the motion was LOST. 

Motion 3 – Received on 13th October 2022 @ 18:07

Mover: Cllr Kendall                              Seconder: Cllr N Cuthbert

The Liberal Democrat Group calls upon the Council Officers in the Economic Development Department to organise a Brentwood Job Fair event in 2023 to support local businesses and help local residents find work within the Borough. This could be a standalone event or one held alongside the Business Showcase.

Cllr Kendall and Cllr N Cutbert DEFERRED this motion. 

Motion 4 – Received on 13th October 2022 @ 18:07

Mover: Cllr Mynott                     Seconder: Cllr Aspinell

The Borough Council will hold a public meeting at a suitable venue to present its Cost of Living Action Plan to local residents and will have officers and representatives from support agencies on hand to answer residents questions and listen to their concerns.

Cllr Mynott and Cllr Aspinell DEFERRED this motion. 

Motion 5 – Received on 14th October 2022 @ 14:43

Mover: Cllr Aspinell                             Seconder: Cllr Haigh

This Council resolves to investigate all avenues of available funding in order to supply and fix solar panels to our council properties, with a view to lowering energy costs borne by the Council and those Council tenants that would benefit from such an installation programme. Additionally, the Council will investigate the installation of batteries for the storage of solar panel energy to enable continual electrical use. The Liberal Democrat Group believe such a programme would make a positive contribution in addressing spiralling energy costs during this current cost of living crisis, but in future years  ...  view the full minutes text for item 224.

An item of business may only be considered where the Chair is of the opinion that, by reason of special circumstances, which shall be specified in the Minutes, the item should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business.