Councillor M A Hassall to move –
This Council notes:
The cost-of-living crisis, food shortages, global conflicts, climate change and ongoing pandemic recovery efforts significantly impact food security. It is imperative that our residents have access to an adequate supply of fresh food for their daily needs. This motion is in line with the Joint Administration’s aim to ‘Do, Enable and Facilitate’ within our local communities. It also aligns with, ‘Priority 1: Improving quality of life for local people’, of HDC’s Corporate Plan.
This Council acknowledges:
1. The increasing need to prioritise residents’ health and well-being in our corporate strategies.
2. The compelling evidence linking people’s health and well-being to the availability of locally produced, non-ultra-processed, fresh food.
3. The real hunger resulting from the cost-of-living crisis, emphasising the necessity of affordable, healthy food.
4. The potential for community-led food cultivation to reduce NHS and social care costs by combating loneliness and promoting well-being.
5. The existence of underutilised publicly owned land that could serve both community food growing and enhance public spaces.
This Council resolves:
a) To refer the following options to the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Environment, Community and Partnerships) and then the Cabinet for consideration -
b) To actively promote volunteering opportunities to encourage wider community involvement in cultivation.
c) To take consideration of and be consistent with any ongoing, ‘Foraging Maps’, or similar initiatives within HDC or other Huntingdonshire organisations in the outcomes resulting from this motion.
d) To write to MPs representing our Council area, urging their support for a national “right to grow” as articulated in Amendment 483 (Community Cultivation Schemes) in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
Contact:20 Minutes.
Minutes:
See Minute No. 24/48 – Members’ Interests.
Councillor M A Hassall moved, and it was duly seconded by Councillor S W Ferguson that -
‘This Council notes:
The cost-of-living crisis, food shortages, global conflicts, climate change and ongoing pandemic recovery efforts significantly impact food security. It is imperative that our residents have access to an adequate supply of fresh food for their daily needs. This motion is in line with the Joint Administration’s aim to ‘Do, Enable and Facilitate’ within our local communities. It also aligns with, ‘Priority 1: Improving quality of life for local people’, of HDC’s Corporate Plan.
This Council acknowledges:
1. The increasing need to prioritise residents’ health and well-being in our corporate strategies.
2. The compelling evidence linking people’s health and well-being to the availability of locally produced, non-ultra-processed, fresh food.
3. The real hunger resulting from the cost-of-living crisis, emphasising the necessity of affordable, healthy food.
4. The potential for community-led food cultivation to reduce NHS and social care costs by combating loneliness and promoting well-being.
5. The existence of underutilised publicly owned land that could serve both community food growing and enhance public spaces.
This Council resolves:
a) To refer the following options to the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Environment, Community and Partnerships) and then the Cabinet for consideration -
b) To actively promote volunteering opportunities to encourage wider community involvement in cultivation.
c) To take consideration of and be consistent with any ongoing, ‘Foraging Maps’, or similar initiatives within HDC or other Huntingdonshire organisations in the outcomes resulting from this motion.
d) To write to MPs representing our Council area, urging their support for a national “right to grow” as articulated in Amendment 483 (Community Cultivation Schemes) in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.’
In presenting the proposed motion, Councillor M A Hassall explained that the subject of the motion addressed the urgent need for food security in the face of the cost-of-living crisis, food shortages, global conflicts, climate change and recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and that it aligned with the Council’s Corporate Plan to improve the quality of life for local people. He also drew attention to the motion being passed at other local authorities and emphasised that its intention was to refer options to the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Environment, Communities and Partnerships) and then the Cabinet for consideration. Councillor Hassall also outlined more broader concerns regarding the need to foster a more receptive environment for member-led initiatives and the difficulties he had experienced in bringing the item to Council for discussion. He suggested that there was a need for further training for all councillors to provide guidance on the process and to ensure transparency and accountability in the decision-making process.
In seconding the motion with the caveat that it needed to be practical and affordable and did not expose the Council to undue financial and administrative burdens, Councillor S W Ferguson drew attention to the fact that not all residents had the ability or the permission to produce their own food. With reference to the planting of vegetables and flowers in community areas at Loves Farm, St Neots, he reiterated that urban agriculture needed to be a community endeavour which best served those who were least able to afford their own fresh produce.
An amendment to the motion was moved by Councillor L Davenport-Ray and duly seconded by Councillor S Wakeford that –
‘Background:
The cost-of-living crisis, food shortages, global conflicts, climate change, and ongoing pandemic recovery efforts significantly impact food security. It is imperative that our residents have access to an adequate supply of fresh food for their daily needs. This motion is in line with the Joint Administration’s aim to ‘Do, Enable and Facilitate’ within our local communities. It also aligns with, ‘Priority 1: Improving quality of life for local people’, of HDC’s Corporate Plan.
Council Acknowledges:
1. The increasing need to prioritise residents’ health and well-being in our corporate strategies.
2. The compelling evidence linking people’s health and well-being to the availability of locally produced, non-ultra-processed, fresh food.
3. The real hunger resulting from the cost-of-living crisis, emphasising the necessity of affordable, healthy food.
4. The potential for community-led food cultivation to reduce NHS and social care costs by combating loneliness and promoting well-being.
5. The existence of underutilised publicly owned land that could serve both community food growing and enhance public spaces.
Council Resolves to Refer the Following Information to the Overview
and Scrutiny Panel (Environment, Communities and Partnerships):
1. Council-Owned Land:
o Opportunities for town and parish councils under this council’s “Transfer of Public Open Spaces Policy” adopted in November 2023
o Opportunities for leasing or licensing small parcels of council land (less than 0.25 acres) under this Council’s Disposal of Small Land Parcels and Disposal Policy
o A reminder of this council’s recent work on the biodiversity of strategic council owned sites, including provision of species suitable for foraging
2. Facilitating Community Cultivation:
o A reminder of this council’s recent work on the biodiversity of community sites, including community orchards
3. Opportunities for Community Groups:
o This council’s commitment to engaging with communities under the Healthy Open Spaces Strategy adopted in October 2020.
o This council’s commitment to engaging with communities under the Engagement Principles adopted in 2023.
4. Allotment Provision:
o The District Council’s responsibilities and legal limitations regarding allotments.
o The responsibilities of Town and Parish councils regarding allotments.
o A reminder of this council’s commitments to protect against the loss of Open Space (including allotment space) under Local Plan Policy LP32: Protection of Open Space
o The opportunities for town and parish councils to designate Local Green Space via a Neighbourhood Plan
o The opportunities for town and parish councils to propose land to be reserved for allotments via the Local Plan Call for Sites exercise
Additional Commitments:
1. Actively promote volunteering opportunities to encourage wider community involvement in cultivation.
2. The outcomes resulting from this motion should take consideration of and be consistent with any ongoing, ‘Foraging Maps’, or similar initiatives within HDC or other Huntingdonshire organisations.
3. Write to MPs representing our Council area, urging their support for a national “right to grow” as articulated in Amendment 483 (Community Cultivation Schemes) in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill’s 2023 parliamentary debate.
4. Local members to actively share with their residents the opportunities already available for local people to promote small-scale cultivation across Huntingdonshire.’
In presenting Councillor L Davenport-Ray explained that her intention in proposing the amendment had been to draw attention to the activities which the Council already undertakes and the opportunities Huntingdonshire residents already had. Her proposal was designed to enable this information to be presented to the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Environment, Communities and Partnerships) with a view for further discussion, without being constrained to the items within the original motion. She had also sought to clarify that the legislation referred within the motion had now been enacted and emphasised her concerns regarding the absence of any mention of risk, which would be inherent within the schemes proposed.
A debate then ensued during which Councillors S L Taylor, C H Tevlin and S Wakeford indicated that they would be supporting the amendment. Whilst Councillors P Hodgson-Jones, C Lowe, R Martin, B Mickelburgh indicated they were unable to support it.
Speaking in support of the proposed amendment and the proposal to refer the information to the Overview and Scrutiny Panel, (Environment, Communities and Partnerships), Councillor S L Taylor drew attention to the work and investment which had already been undertaken by the District Council to protect and manage the natural environment, the Policy which had been adopted in November 2023 for the transfer of Open Spaces to Town and Parish Councils and the Council’s Healthy Open Space Strategy. Members were informed that the Council already had 14 Community Projects enabled within the District and Community Groups who were interested in food cultivation could contact the Parks and Open Spaces Team for a further discussion. It was also her understanding that those Authorities who had adopted the motion elsewhere had been allotment providing authorities with resources in place to extend community gardens.
In welcoming the amendment as a mechanism for refining the wording of the original motion, Councillor C H Tevlin with reference to her previous work with the Charity – ‘Garden Organic’ outlined some of the benefits associated with the enabling of community gardens and the involvement of parishes and communities in local food production. She also emphasised given the current situation with food instability, the importance of the Council discussing the matter as it was an issue affecting local residents.
In indicating his own support for the proposed amendment, Councillor S Wakeford explained that many of the specific proposals within the original motion appeared costly, some were not realistically possible, whilst others appeared to conflict with other District Council policies. Having acknowledged that it was not appropriate to mandate or constrain the areas of activity undertaken by Overview and Scrutiny, Councillor Wakeford emphasised that the amendment formally provided the Panel with information that was relevant to the ideas within the original motion and would enable them to undertake further work, to work up further proposals for consideration by the Cabinet if they so wished.
Speaking against the proposed amendment, Councillor P Hodgson-Jones suggested that it did not add anything of value to the original motion. He also took the opportunity to emphasise that it was not the role of the Council to be referring matters for consideration to the Overview and Scrutiny Panels, as their work programme and the proposals they choose to refer to Cabinet should be initiated within the Panels themselves. Councillor C A Lowe also took the opportunity to reflect her surprise that the matter was being discussed at Council, given that allotments were managed by Town and Parish Councils and her concerns regarding the potential for costly duplication should this be progressed.
Councillor B Mickelburgh drew attention to the imminent review of the Council’s Commercial Investment Strategy, part of which would look at the Council’s existing land and buildings. In doing so, he indicated his preference for incorporating these suggestions into one piece of work. He also urged Members with comments regarding the Council’s Constitution and the Council’s Procedure Rules to feed this into the Constitution Review Working Group.
Councillor B S Chapman, whilst unsure whether to support the amendment at this stage, made reference to the original designs for the Loves Farm Estate in St Neots and the loss of allotment provision during the planning process. He took the opportunity to suggest that efforts were made to ensure that the importance of allotments were emphasised within the planning process and that areas of designated land were not subsequently repurposed.
Councillor R Martin concurred with the views of his other Group Members that the proposed amendment added little in terms of value to the original motion. He also outlined his concerns regarding the potential for conflict between the proposals. and the Transfer of Public Open Spaces Policy adopted in November 2023
Following the debate, a response from Councillor Hassall, the amendment on being put to the vote was declared to be LOST.
A debate then ensued on the Substantive Motion during which Councillors P Hodgson-Jones, L Davenport-Ray, J Gray, N Hunt and S Wakeford indicated that they were unable to support it.
In doing so, Councillor P Hodgson-Jones reiterated that the Council should not be mandating the work of Overview and Scrutiny and that it would have been more appropriate to have been initiated by the Panel with a then finished product brought through to Council if this was considered appropriate. He also indicated that he was unclear as to whether what was being proposed was within the power of what the Council was able to deliver.
Councillor L Davenport-Ray indicated her agreement to the comments made by Councillor P Hodgson-Jones and explained that her amendment had been proposed in an effort to seek to ensure that the work of the Council was being created in a Constitutionally correct manner. She hoped that even should the motion fail, that the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Environment, Communities and Partnerships) might still choose to investigate the topic further and identify some ideas for further consideration.
Having also acknowledged that the matter should have gone directly to Overview and Scrutiny, Councillor J A Gray also expressed his hope that the relevant Panel would select the matter for further consideration and investigation given its importance and the fact that responsibility sits across all three tiers of local authority within Cambridgeshire. He also indicated his agreement with the comments made by Councillor Mickelburgh regarding the need to consider matters relating to Council land in conjunction with the review of the Council’s Commercial Investment Strategy.
In responding to the comments made regarding Overview and Scrutiny, the Vice Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Environment, Customers and Partnerships) Councillor N Hunt outlined the work which had been ongoing to improve the Overview and Scrutiny process and procedures. In doing so, he encouraged Councillor Hassall to submit his proposal through the newly developed submission process for consideration to form part of the Committees future work programme.
This was a view echoed by the Assistant Deputy Executive Leader, Councillor S Wakeford who whilst could not support the motion encouraged Councillor Hassall to bring forward elements of it to the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Environment, Customers and Partnerships) for further consideration.
Following a response from Councillor M A Hassall who referred again to the uncertainties surrounding raising motions at Council meetings and the approval of the motion by other Councils, the motion was put to the vote. Whereupon, it was declared to be LOST.
At the conclusion of the discussion on this item, the Chief Executive took the opportunity to address the Council. In doing so, she explained that different Councils might make different decisions on similar motions for a range of reasons. These could include differing Council Constitutions, different objectives, different corporate priorities of differing points of debate There was no right or wrong decision in these cases.
The Council were also advised that support was available to all Members wishing to submit a Motion to a future meeting from the Democratic Services Team and the three Statutory Officers. Future training requirements would be considered at the next meeting of the Member Development Working Group and any requests could be raised at the next meeting.