Issue - meetings

To debate the following motions which have been submitted with advance notice, in accordance with the Constitution (to be debated in the order submitted).

Please note that the deadline to submit motions has passed. The deadline for Members to submit amendments to motions is noon on Thursday 18 February 2021. No amendments will be permitted after this deadline.

Any amendments submitted will be published as a supplement to the agenda on the afternoon of Friday 19 February 2021. Amendments for motions will be dealt with in the order submitted. 

Resolved

(1)          That the following motion be adopted:

“Last year Cherwell District Council consumed 1.4million sheets of paper.  A third of this was sent to elected members in the form of committee papers, reports and general communications.  There is obviously a considerable financial cost associated with this, including the cost of the paper, officer time, printing and distribution. Equally importantly, there is also a very considerable environmental cost that we must address if we are to meet our zero carbon by 2030 commitment. 

Over the last 9 months this authority has shown enormous resilience and resourcefulness:  Our dispersed workforce is successfully operating from home, we are developing an agile model of working that will ensure we capture the best practice of operating during the pandemic and, of course, members are now successfully fulfilling their democratic responsibilities remotely, mastering Teams and tech in a way we could have barely imagined at the beginning of the year. 

This motion draws on this innovation and asks members to deploy the same resourcefulness to embrace a “paper-lite” culture and calls on this council to:

·         Recognise that continuing to have printed media as the default position for this council is unsustainable

·         To resolve that from 7 May 2021 the default position will be “paper-lite” and members will have to opt into hardcopy print and that it will remain an option for those that need it.

·         To ensure that adequate training and support will be provided to all members who require it to make the transition.”

(2)          That the following motion be adopted:

“This Council notes :

1. The recent endorsement of the "Twenty is Plenty" campaign by Oxfordshire County Council in its role as Highways Authority which means all new residential roads will have a 20 mph speed limit, unless there is compelling evidence for a higher limit.

2. The evidence that introduction of 20mph limits even without formal enforcement results in much safer speed profiles and this is particularly beneficial in the vicinity of schools, community hubs and care facilities.

This Council believes that as the Local Planning Authority we should support the County Council as Local Highway Authority in securing 20 MPH speed limits (instead of 30 MPH) in new developments in the interest of securing a more usable and more attractive environment for those not travelling by motor vehicle.

The Council further believes that there may be a role for a "best practice guide" produced by OCC and would ask the county council to consider how it might best advise Parish Councils to help them facilitate 20mph limits where there is local demand.”

(3)          That the following motion be adopted:

“This Council fully recognises the value of the much-loved Horton General Hospital to the residents of Banbury and its surrounding catchment area, which uniquely covers four counties.

Local efforts to retain acute services at the Horton have been welcomed by Councils at all tiers in recent months and by community groups and residents alike. This Council’s position has always been  that the  ...  view the full decision text for item 76

The Chairman advised that three motions had been submitted.  No amendments to any of the motions had been submitted and, in line with the Constitution, no amendments to the motion were now permitted.

The Chairman reminded Members of the revised speaking limits on motions: five minutes for proposers of motions and three minutes for all other speakers.

Paper Lite

It was proposed by Councillor Corkin and seconded by McHugh that the following motion be adopted:

“Last year Cherwell District Council consumed 1.4million sheets of paper.  A third of this was sent to elected members in the form of committee papers, reports and general communications.  There is obviously a considerable financial cost associated with this, including the cost of the paper, officer time, printing and distribution. Equally importantly, there is also a very considerable environmental cost that we must address if we are to meet our zero carbon by 2030 commitment. 

Over the last 9 months this authority has shown enormous resilience and resourcefulness:  Our dispersed workforce is successfully operating from home, we are developing an agile model of working that will ensure we capture the best practice of operating during the pandemic and, of course, members are now successfully fulfilling their democratic responsibilities remotely, mastering Teams and tech in a way we could have barely imagined at the beginning of the year. 

This motion draws on this innovation and asks members to deploy the same resourcefulness to embrace a “paper-lite” culture and calls on this council to:

·         Recognise that continuing to have printed media as the default position for this council is unsustainable

·         To resolve that from 7 May 2021 the default position will be “paper-lite” and members will have to opt into hardcopy print and that it will remain an option for those that need it.

·         To ensure that adequate training and support will be provided to all members who require it to make the transition.”

No amendments to the motion having been proposed, the motion was debated as submitted. On being put to the vote the motion was carried.

Twenty is Plenty

It was proposed by Councillor Sames and seconded by Councillor Sibley that the following motion be adopted:

“This Council notes :

1. The recent endorsement of the "Twenty is Plenty" campaign by Oxfordshire County Council in its role as Highways Authority which means all new residential roads will have a 20 mph speed limit, unless there is compelling evidence for a higher limit.

2. The evidence that introduction of 20mph limits even without formal enforcement results in much safer speed profiles and this is particularly beneficial in the vicinity of schools, community hubs and care facilities.

This Council believes that as the Local Planning Authority we should support the County Council as Local Highway Authority in securing 20 MPH speed limits (instead of 30 MPH) in new developments in the interest of securing a more usable and more attractive environment for those not travelling by motor vehicle.

The Council further believes that there may be a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 76