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Full Council

Full Council

SHREWSBURY TOWN COUNCIL
Riggs Hall
The Library
Castle Gates
Shrewsbury
SY1 2AS

To All Members of the Council

Dear Councillors

You are hereby summoned to attend the meeting of the Shrewsbury Town Council scheduled to take place at Theatre Severn on Monday 21 March 2022 at 6pm, in order to transact the following business

Helen Ball
Town Clerk

Meeting Agenda Items

  • 1WELCOME FROM THE MAYOR

  • 2ROLL CALL

  • 3APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

  • 4DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CODE OF CONDUCT

  • 5MINUTES OF COUNCIL

    To approve the Minutes of the Town Council Meeting held on 24 January 2022 

    Attachments:

  • 6MATTERS ARISING

  • 7ANNOUNCEMENTS

    (i)   To receive any announcements from the Mayor & Deputy Mayor’s recent engagements 

    (ii)  To receive any announcements from the Mayor and Town Clerk 

    Attachments:

  • 8PUBLIC QUESTIONS/COMMENTS

    To receive any questions from Members of the Public, notice of which has been given in accordance with the Town Council’s Standing Orders. 

  • 9QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS

    To receive any questions from Members, notice of which has been given in accordance with the Town Council’s Standing Orders. 

  • 10MOTIONS

    (i)   Pets as Prizes Motion – Presented by Councillor Rob Wilson 

    This Council:  

    • is concerned about the number of cases reported to the RSPCA each year, regarding pets given as prizes via fairgrounds, social media and other channels in England – and notes the issue predominantly concerns goldfish  
    • is concerned for the welfare of those animals that are being given as prizes  
    • recognises that many cases of pets being as prizes may go unreported each year  
    • supports a move to ban the giving of live animals as prizes, in any form, on Shrewsbury Town Council land. 
    • notes that Shropshire Council cabinet agreed to progress such measures on Shropshire Council land on Wednesday 19th January 2022. (Date (shropshire.gov.uk)) 

      

    The Council agrees to:  

    • support the RSPCA campaign 
    • ban outright the giving of live animals as prizes, in any form, on Shrewsbury Town Council land.  
    • write to the UK Government, urging an outright ban on the giving of live animals as prizes on both public and private land. 
    • carry out a review of the current policies and the terms and conditions of the licences and hire of Council owned land and premises to ensure that they reflect the Council’s position as regards giving of live animals (e.g., Goldfish, etc) as prizes 

     

     

    (ii)  Hybrid Council Meetings – As Recommended by the National Association of Local Councils 

     

    This Council supports the petition launched by ADSO and LLG on 5 January with regard to remote and hybrid meetings. We agree to write to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities calling on the Government to change the law to allow councils the flexibility to hold such meetings when they deem appropriate within agreed rules and procedures. 

     

    (iii)  Ban Both Sky Lantern and Balloon Releases from Council Property – Presented by Councillor Wilson

    This Council notes:

    • For many years the Marine Conservation Society has run a campaign to make sky lantern and balloon releases illegal by classifying this activity as ‘littering’. The Society has not been successful.
    • The Society has also encouraged Local Authorities to ban these activities from property that the Authorities own.
    • Shropshire’s neighbouring Council of Worcestershire has banned both sky lantern and balloon releases.
    • Hereford has banned sky lantern releases.
    • Over the past 5 years, on average 3 balloons per 100m have been found during the Great British Beach Clean.
    • Balloons marketed as ‘biodegradable’ can last up to four years ie as litter
    • Animals, including livestock, can be injured through ingestion, entanglement and entrapment.
    • Marine turtles are particularly vulnerable. The digestive tract of a juvenile green turtle, washed up dead near Blackpool in 2001, was completely blocked by marine litter including a large fragment of blue latex balloon.
    • Animals get tangled up in balloon ribbons and string, restricting their movement and the ability to eat.
    • Sky lanterns also pose a fire hazard to crops and to thatched roof properties.
    • Shropshire Council resolved on 24th February 2022 to ban sky lantern and balloon releases from all Shropshire Council property (Agenda item – Motions — Shropshire Council)

     

    This Council resolves:

    • All Sky Lantern and Balloon releases are to be banned from all Shrewsbury Town Council property.
    • Request the Government to classify all such releases as littering, and thus they should be made illegal.
    • Run a social media campaign to discourage all such releases within the County.

    (iv)   North West Relief Road – Presented by Councillor Dartnall

     

    Given the council’s policy to strongly oppose the NWRR has been decided on at least two occasions in the last year, this motion requests a letter to be sent to Rt. Hon. Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Transport and to Baroness Vere, Transport Minister in the light of recent press reports about a potential government reset on new road funding projects. The letter should clearly communicate the town council’s opposition to the construction of the NWRR in Shrewsbury as follows.

     

    Shrewsbury Town Council does not accept the case for the NWRR has been made, instead the council sees the proposed road as damaging to the town and its residents. The only beneficiaries, should this project go ahead, will be the developers involved in building the road and the many new homes that will fill the area subsequently.

     

    Building a new road is an out-dated, financially risky response to the transport problems Shrewsbury faces. The most urgent transport need for our town is to reduce motor traffic volume and this can only be achieved via a modal shift: removing cars from the roads by improving public transport and creating safe walking and cycling routes, all of which will contribute to a modern, healthier, cleaner and more pleasant environment in our town. Shrewsbury Town Council wishes to move forward and does not want this damaging road forced on the town.

     

    • Shropshire Council has yet to publish the Full Business Case for the NWRR. The latest estimate is for this to happen in December 2022. The current planning application relies on an out-of-date OBC from 2017, since when construction costs have escalated and the Climate Emergency has worsened
    • As we face the Climate Emergency, the NWRR project is claimed to be part of a decarbonising strategy. Comparing projected operational savings of 359 tones/CO2 each year with 48,000 tonnes/CO2 in construction means the road will take 120 years or more to show any net emission reduction. This is not a viable decarbonisation strategy. Continuing with the new road will hamper Shrewsbury’s aims for Net Zero Carbon.
    • Construction of the NWRR will increase road use overall in the medium term due to ‘induced traffic’ which is now well-understood. Shropshire Council’s own modelling shows very worrying traffic volume increases between the north and centre of Shrewsbury even in the period immediately following the road’s opening. The so-called NW Relief Road is not expected even by those who advocate for it, to relieve traffic pressure in Shrewsbury.
    • Aside from the disastrous environmental case the NWRR will cause irredeemable damage to wildlife in several SSSI, compromise biodiversity on the west margin of Shrewsbury and change the local environment beyond recognition. The Environment Agency and Natural England have expressed disquiet for many aspects of the natural environment in the area of the road including grave concerns about potential contamination of the local water supply.
    • The NWRR’s planning application has received a record 4,500 public objections from Shropshire residents

    (v)   Development of Land at Churchcote – Presented by Councillor Lemon

     

    We are appalled to see the destruction of reedbeds during the nesting season associated with the development of land at Churncote off Welshpool Road, Bicton Heath. We call on Shropshire Council to use its full enforcement powers to prevent further unnecessary damage to the valuable ecology in the area.

     

     

     

     

    Attachments:

  • 11FINANCE & GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE – (MINUTES ENCLOSED)

    To receive and adopt the Minutes of the informal Finance & General Purposes Committee Meeting held on 7 February 2022 (Informal Notes). 

    Attachments:

  • 12RECREATION & LEISURE COMMITTEE – (MINUTES ENCLOSED)

    To receive and adopt the Minutes of the informal Recreation & Leisure Committee Meeting held on 9 March 2022. 

    Attachments:

  • 13PLANNING COMMITTEE – (MINUTES ENCLOSED)

    To receive and adopt the Minutes of the informal Planning Committee Meetings held on: 

     

    (i)    1 February 2022 (Informal Notes) 

    (ii)   22 February 2022 (Informal Notes) 

    (iii)  15 March 2022(Informal Notes) 

    Attachments:

  • 14COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE

    To receive and adopt the Minutes of the informal External Complaints Committee Meeting held on 15 March 2022. 

    Attachments:

  • 15WORKING GROUPS – (MINUTES ENCLOSED)

    To receive and adopt the Minutes of the recent Working Group Meetings held on: 

     

    (i)    Civics Working Group – 27 January 2022 chaired by Councillor Julian Dean 

     

    (ii)   Active Travel Working Group – 3 February 2022 & 3 March 2022 chaired by Councillor Rob Wilson 

     

    (iii)  City of Sanctuary Working Group – 25 January 2022 chaired by Councillor Kate Halliday 

    Attachments:

  • 16EXECUTIVE DECISIONS

    To receive and adopt the list of Executive Decisions made between 15 January 2022 – 14 March 2022 in accordance with Minute 74/20 of Finance & General Purposes Committee of the 12 April 2021. 

    Attachments:

  • 17SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE

    To authorise the allocation of £25k to support the Ukrainian efforts as recommended by the Leaders of the four political groups