Agenda and decisions

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors George Potter and  Richard Lucas.

In accordance with the local Code of Conduct, a councillor is required to disclose at the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) that they may have in respect of any matter for consideration on this agenda.  Any councillor with a DPI must not participate in any discussion or vote regarding that matter and they must also withdraw from the meeting immediately before consideration of the matter.

If that DPI has not been registered, the councillor must notify the Monitoring Officer of the details of the DPI within 28 days of the date of the meeting.

Councillors are further invited to disclose any non-pecuniary interest which may be relevant to any matter on this agenda, in the interests of transparency, and to confirm that it will not affect their objectivity in relation to that matter.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 18 April 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 April 2024 were approved. The Chairman signed the minutes.

The Leader referred to the recently published SOLACE Reports that had set out a series of recommendations for the Council in regard to its governance, finance and landlord housing function. The Council had published its improvement plan that set out its response to those recommendations. The Leader set out a commitment to residents to implement the improvement plan in full. More information was available from the Council’s newsroom Guildford Borough Council News Room - Guildford Borough Council.

This week at the Annual Meeting Cllr Sallie Barker MBE was elected as The Mayor of Guildford and Cllr Howard Smith as Deputy Mayor. The Leader sent both best wishes for the year ahead.

The Council had announced its first ever Guildford Green Day, an initiative funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The event would take place on Sunday, 9 June 2024, from 11am to 4pm and would be a day to celebrate, learn and be part of a Greener Guildford. It would combine environmental, education and awareness activities. It was hoped as many people as possible would come along and get involved with the free activities on offer.

More information is available on the Visit Surrey website and searching for Guildford Green Day.

Last weekend the bridge beams were installed over the railway at Ash Road Bridge. Over 200 people attended to watch the work in progress.

Seventeen 24 tonne beams and two 45 tonne beams were installed over the weekend using a 750-tonne mobile crane. The good weather was an added bonus and meant that all beams were installed by 5pm on Saturday 4 May.

The Council was running consultations on two guidance documents that would help decision makers assess planning applications. The guidance covered open space and the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area. The consultations opened on 8^th May and would run to midday 12 June 2024.

Visit the Council’s newsroom or planning portal for more information.

The Leader was pleased to announce that Guildford Lido was open until 15 September. Season tickets could be purchased online from the Freedom Leisure website.

Free bandstand concerts would take place in Guildford Castle grounds between May and September. There would be free live music every Sunday from 2pm to 4pm. Visitors could take a picnic.

The full programme for the bandstand concerts was on the Visit Surrey website.

Decision:

1.       Noted the current financial position of Weyside Urban Village programme at the Spring 2024 Financial Review, as set out in the report.

2.       Noted the current forecasted eventual deficit - outlined in Exempt Appendix 1 - in 2033 (year 10 of the project delivery programme).

3.       Delegated to the Strategic Director of Place, in consultation with the Lead Councillor for Regeneration and Lead Councillor for Finance and Property, authority to enter into such other contracts and legal agreements connected with the Weyside Urban Village programme as may be necessary in compliance with Procurement Procedure Rules and within the approved budget.

4.       Recommended to Full Council meeting on 13 May 2024 the approval of the transfer of £69.548 million from the provisional capital programme to the approved capital programme for payments which the Council is obliged to make to Thames Water Utilities Limited under the Thames Water Agreement for 2024/25, for costs necessary to meet the milestones set within the Homes England Housing Infrastructure Funding agreement and construction costs of phase 2 Infrastructure, Offsite Highways and the New Council Depot.

Reason(s):

1.       To ensure that there is sufficient understanding of the projected financial forecast of the programme and outline the work underway to develop mitigation strategies to alleviate the forecast deficit.

2.       To ensure that there is sufficient funding in the approved programme to cover construction of phase 2 Infrastructure, Offsite Highways and the new Council Depot and the payments which the Council is obliged to make to Thames Water Utilities Limited under the Thames Water Agreement for 2024/25.

3.       To ensure that statutory service agreements and construction agreements can be entered into for the delivery of services and infrastructure for the development and to ensure that Homes England Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) milestones are achieved. 

4.       To support the delivery of the Council’s Corporate Plan (2021-2025) priorities, by supporting the high-quality development of a strategic site, creating employment opportunities through regeneration and facilitating affordable housing.

Other options considered and rejected by the Executive:

Option 1, not to approve the recommendations.

Details of any conflict of interest declared by the Leader or lead councillors and any dispensation granted:

None.