Richard Ivory
Council: Fareham
Committees:
Activity Timeline
Meetings Attended Note this may include planned future meetings.
57 meetings · Page 1 of 12
Council - Thursday, 9th October, 2025 6.00 pm
38 attendees, 13 documents, 0 media files
Decisions from Meetings
97 decisions · Page 16 of 20
The Fareham Housing Repairs and Maintenance Policy - Adoption
From: Executive - Tuesday, 3rd December, 2024 6.00 pm - December 03, 2024
To seek Executive approval of the draft Fareham Housing Repairs and Maintenance policy for adoption. The Housing Act 1985 (as amended) places a number of obligations on landlords regarding the maintenance of their properties. All social housing tenants also have the ‘right to repair’ and for these to be conducted within a specific timeframe. Legislative changes and the new consumer standards introduced by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) have imposed further requirements around repairs. Maintenance and planned improvements. The Repairs and Maintenance policy is primarily a consolidating document, bringing together the various process and policies and updating them in line with these new requirements, and provides comprehensive information regarding the Repairs’ Service responsibilities, processes, background and relevant legislation. At its meeting on 11 July 2024, the Housing Scrutiny Panel approved the document to go to the Executive. Following Executive agreement on 3 September 2024, the draft Repairs and Maintenance policy was circulated for public consultation from 16 September to 28 October 2024. The report summarises the outcome of the consultation and details the changes made in response.
Recommendations Approved
Bird Aware Solent Partnership - Revised Strategy
From: Executive - Tuesday, 3rd December, 2024 6.00 pm - December 03, 2024
Fareham Borough Council is a member of the Bird Aware Solent Partnership. The purpose of this report is to seek the Executive’s approval of the Bird Aware Partnership’s Revised Strategy. The Solent Coastline contains large numbers of important bird assemblages which resulted in it being designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the EU Birds Directive and subsequently transported into the UK Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (the Habitats Regulations). The Solent SPA bird species are particularly vulnerable to the effects of recreational disturbance arising from new housebuilding in the area. The Solent Recreation Mitigation Partnership (SRMP) was formed, of which Fareham Borough Council (FBC) is a member, to develop a strategy that would allow local authorities to permit new residential development whilst ensuring protection and mitigation of The Solent SPAs. The Solent Recreation Mitigation Strategy, later renamed the Bird Aware Strategy, was produced and adopted in April 2018. The current Strategy sets out the approach to mitigate the impact upon SPA birds up to 2034. It proposes a series of management measures which actively encourage all coastal visitors to enjoy their visits in a responsible manner rather than restricting access to the coast or preventing activities that take place. On 30 September 2024, the Partnership for South Hampshire (PfSH) approved a Revised Bird Aware Strategy, which incorporates several main changes from the existing strategy: · The duration of the strategy has been extended from 2034 to 2050. · The Strategy has been extended to also address the effects upon summer breeding birds. · The core team of dedicated staff will be increased from 10 to 19. · Increased resources will be allocated to the dog initiative ‘Coast and Country Canines’, communications and engagement workstreams and monitoring. Payment of the Bird Aware contribution contributes towards the necessary mitigation to protect the SPAs in line with the advice of Natural England, the Government’s statutory advisor on nature conservation. If applicants decide not to make the contribution, they will need to undertake their own Habitat Regulations Assessment to assess and mitigate the impact that their development may have on an SPA, as required by the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (the Habitats Regulations).
Recommendations Approved
Hill Head to Portsmouth Harbour Beach Management Plan
From: Executive - Monday, 4th November, 2024 6.00 pm - November 04, 2024
The report seeks approval for project delivery of the Hill Head to Portsmouth Harbour Beach Management Plan. The proposed works involve beach renourishment along the coastal frontage between Hill Head and Portsmouth Harbour Entrance. The approval for project delivery includes draw down of project funding, licensing and consents, procurement, and construction under the beach management plan. The report seeks approval to implement the Hill Head to Portsmouth Harbour Beach Management Plan (BMP) 2024-2034, with construction works identified for financial year 2025/26 and 2026/27. The BMP is derived from the adopted River Hamble to Portchester Strategy (2015) which recommended Beach Management as the preferred option to reduce coastal flooding and erosion risk to the communities between Hill Head and Portsmouth Harbour Entrance, whilst enhancing the environment and amenity value of the coastline over the next 10 years. The BMP also aligns with the adopted North Solent Shoreline Management Plan (2010) which recommends a policy of ‘Hold the Line’ for the entire frontage. The BMP works will provide up to 10 years’ worth of benefits. These will be undertaken at different locations in priority order, up to the project funding available, depending on the assets at risk behind the beach. These will be categorised by considering the risk to property, key infrastructure, existing ‘hard’ defences (e.g seawalls), and the amenity value. The BMP has been developed from extensive coastal modelling and technical analysis to develop the beach recycling parameters. This will continue post works, to monitor performance and plan any further works. While the geographical extent of the NMP crosses the local authority boundaries of both Gosport Borough Council (GBC) and Fareham Borough Council (FBC), each authority will take responsibility for its own works delivery and consenting. These projects will be managed by Coastal Partners via an existing shared service agreement to ensure the overall BMP objectives are met. Funding for the project has been allocated through the Environment Agency’s Flood Defence Grant in Aid and Other Government Department funding and will be approved should the Outline Business case be successful. The project will seek additional funding where this can increase the outputs delivered under the project.
Recommendations Approved
Partnership for South Hampshire - Local Nutrient Mitigation Fund Projects Inter Authority Agreement
From: Executive - Monday, 4th November, 2024 6.00 pm - November 04, 2024
To seek approval from the Executive to enter an Inter Authority Agreement to deliver Local Nutrient Mitigation Fund projects. The Inter Authority Agreement will help facilitate sustainable growth within the Borough, by enabling developers to purchase the mitigation required to achieve nutrient neutrality and, at a later point in time, Biodiversity Net Gain units. The Agreement is designed to mitigate the risk to the Lead Authority and provide a fair mechanism to cover the benefits and liabilities arising from the funds across the PfSH and catchment areas. In 2019, Natural England issued advice to Fareham Borough Council (along with most other authorities in South Hampshire), in respect of all new overnight accommodation (e.g houses, hotels, care homes). The advice highlighted the detrimental impacts of increased levels of nutrients derived from development upon Special Protection Areas, Special Areas of Conservation and RAMSAR sites within The Solent (often referred to as Habitat Sites) and the need to mitigate these impacts. Following this advice during 2019 and 2020, whilst the Council was seeking to identify a solution, the Council was only able to issue very few planning permissions for developments containing overnight accommodation as when deciding planning applications, the Council has a legal duty to consider whether any impacts from new development are likely to have a significant effect upon Habitat Sites. Where the is no evidence that an impact can be mitigated, a permission cannot be issued. The agreed solution found was based on an offsetting approach. It was agreed that where proposals could demonstrate that an equivalent amount of nutrients could be prevented from the entering Habitats Sites elsewhere, then a development could be approved subject to a planning condition requiring the developer to demonstrate how the mitigation measure has been identified and agreed. This approach has resulted in a system of mitigation in the form of ‘credits’. The corresponding number of credits, equivalent to the impact of the development, are purchased from a third-party supplier prior to the occupation of the development. Such third-party mitigation schemes take the form of land being removed from agricultural use, and the land being used for alternative uses that limit nitrates entering the ground, including re-wilding and tree planting. This Council has presently identified three such schemes, (two on the Isle of Wight and one in the Winchester District) which can be used to mitigate the impact of nutrients arising from developments in Fareham. The Natural England advice affects local authorities in the Partnership for South Hampshire (PfSH) area. In May 2023 Fareham Borough Council on behalf of PfSH provided an expression of interest to government for funding to provide local authority led nutrient mitigation solutions across The Solent. Funding of £9.6 million, was awarded from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) in January 2024 to facilitate the delivery of nutrient mitigation across the Solent sub-region, this funding being referred to as the Local Nutrient Mitigation Fund (LNMF). Fareham Borough Council was identified as the Lead Authority in respect of the fund and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) associated with the requirements of the funding. To manage the relationship between the Lead Authority and the projects being delivered by the LNMF, an inter Authority Agreement (IAA) has been created to facilitate the partnership approach, manage and mitigate risks and ensure that shared benefits and responsibilities are able to be realised by authorities party to the agreement. To be able to benefit from the LNMF projects, PfSH authorities are required to enter the Inter Authority Agreement. This report explains the principles and responsibilities stipulated by the IAA and seeks authority from the Executive to enter it on behalf of the Council.
Recommendations Approved
General Fund Revenue Monitoring 2024/25
From: Executive - Monday, 4th November, 2024 6.00 pm - November 04, 2024
The report provides comparative information on the Council’s revenue expenditure for the period for the first half of the financial year. Members are invited to consider the financial performance and any corrective action that may be deemed appropriate. The report provides summary information on the overall spending position against the revenue budgets in the current year, as set out in the following tables:- General Fund Budget 2024/25 Budget to 30 Sept 24 Actual to 30 Sept 24 Variation £000s £000s £000s £000s Service Budgets 16,096 1,532 904 -628 Non-Service Budgets -2,803 -33 -33 0 Net Budgets 13,293 1,499 871 -628 Revenue spending plans are currently showing a net underspend for the first half of the financial year. Any underspending achieved by the end of the year will reduce the need to call on the Council’s reserves for 2024/25 which was originally expected to be in the region of £404,200 when the base budget was agreed. There are a number of areas where spend is in excess of the budget and some areas are likely to continue to be overspent through to the end of the financial year. However, current forecasts against the base budget are predicting that the half-way position overall will continue to the end of the year. It therefore remains appropriate to continue to monitor financial performance closely over the remainder of the financial year to ensure that any slippage does not change this position or adversely affect the services provided to residents and customers. Commentary on the most significant variations is set out in the briefing paper accompanying the report.
Recommendations Approved
Summary
Meetings Attended: 57
Average per Month: 2.5
Decisions Recorded: 97