Agenda item - Petitions for Council Debate

19.1         The Mayor stated that the council’s petition scheme provided that where a petition secured 1,250 or more signatures it could be debated at a Council meeting.  She had been notified of one such petition which had sufficient signatures to warrant a debate and therefore would call on the lead petitioner to present their petition before opening the matter up for debate.

19.2         The Mayor also stated that as the petition was likely to form part of any public representations that would be submitted alongside a planning application, the Monitoring Officer had advised that Members of the Planning Committee should not speak or vote on this matter.

19.3         Mr. Flanagan and Ms. Moss jointly presented the petition which called on the Council to reject any applications for planning permission to build on St Aubyns playing field in Rottingdean and to confirm its designation as a Local Green Space in its City Plan.  They confirmed that the combined e and paper petition had over 1,800 signatures and noted that Rottingdean Parish Council had recently included it as a Green Space in its Neighbourhood Development Plan.

19.4         Councillor Morgan thanked Mr. Flanagan and Ms. Moss for attending the meeting and presenting the petition.  He noted that the Conservative Group had also submitted an amendment to the covering report’s recommendation and stated that he supported the amendment and felt that it would be better for the Economic Development & Culture Committee to consider the matter.

19.5         Councillor Mears formally moved the amendment on behalf of the Conservative Group, which sought to recommend to the Economic Development & Culture Committee that St Aubyns playing field be designated a Green Space at the earliest opportunity.  Councillor Mears paid tribute to the residents who had brought the petition and hoped that councillors would support it.

19.6         Councillor Bell formally seconded the amendment.

19.7         Councillor Druitt commended the work of everyone involved in bringing the petition to the council and welcomed the amendment.  He believed it was important to recognise the value of playing fields across the city and noted that the National Planning Framework enabled such sites to be protected in this way.  However, he also expressed his concern over the National Planning Framework and the risk it generated to community assets such as playing fields given the assumption for sustainable development.

19.8         The Mayor congratulated Councillor Druitt on his maiden speech on behalf of the council.

19.9         The Mayor noted that the amendment had been accepted and that Councillor Morgan had no further comments and therefore put the amendment to the vote which was carried.  She then put the recommendation as amended to the vote which was also carried.

19.10      RESOLVED: That the petition be referred to the Economic Development & Culture Committee for consideration at its next meeting, with a recommendation that St Aubyns Playing Field is designated a Local Green Space at the earliest opportunity.