Can a resolution be rescinded if it was felt that enough information hadn't been given at the time?

Question

We have a local resident who has purchased an old dilapidated building and in order to do work on the building requires access over a piece of Council land. An initial request was put to the council who were largely favourable. The building use will be a mix of a residential home with a community space that will the owners business.

There is an alternative for the resident to gain the building access through the front of the building but this will require a road blockage and it is in close proximity to a local Primary School so not an ideal solution.

All agenda items and minutes have been detailed as Fields - temporary access

The Clerk informed the Council that they were going to speak to a Solicitor to understand the best way of achieving a way forward.  The Solicitor came back with a commercial rate that the council were informed they had to accept as we couldn't take the advice of a professional and not adhere to it. This rate is significant and over a 12-18 months period could cost the resident over £18,000. We are a Parish Council and all planning application go through a Borough council. Having looked into how the Borough council would treat similar requests they are far less commercial and so by living in our Parish this resident is a victim of a Post code lottery.

Alternative more flexible and community led concerns have not been considered and I have been told that it would need to go to the Secretary of State to rescind the decision or gain the votes of 6 Councillors to rescind this. We have an extremely low number of Councillors and as some have declared interest in this case, gaining 6 votes will be almost impossible.

I am a relatively new and therefore inexperienced Councillor trying to do the best I can for this resident who has made complaints to the Council in the way they feel they have been treated and I am trying to see if there is a way I can word a motion to get this back on the agenda to be discussed fairly.

Answer 1

Your standing orders will include provisions for revisiting and/or amendeing a previous resolution of the council. The norm would be not to revisit within six months, but this can be set aside in exceptional circumstances.

On the face of it, if it's your land, you can do what you like with it, but you will need to ensure that adequate safeguards are included to return it to its original condition afterwards.

Comments

I would also ensure that the developer has the appropriate insurances in place so that the council are not liable for any problems related to the works.

---

Yes, that's good advice and if the developer is a limited company, you might also seek a personal guarantee, as that is more enforceable.