Conservation Areas Advisory Committees (CAACs)
Constitution
The Kingston and North Kingston Neighbourhood Conservation Areas Advisory Committee Constitution, January 2024
1. Introduction
Since 2004 the Royal Borough of Kingston-Upon-Thames (RBK) has operated a system of three Conservation Areas Advisory Committees (CAACs), namely: Kingston and North Kingston Neighbourhood CAAC (KNKCAAC), Maldens & Coombe CAAC & Surbiton CAAC. While these CAACs have no statutory underpin they serve an important public interest as advisers to RBK councillors & officers on conservation strategy & policies in general & planning applications in local Conservation Areas (CAs) in particular.
2. Geographical Coverage
The KNKCAAC currently covers the following RBK CAs:
- CA1 – Kingston Town, KT1
- CA5 - Liverpool Road, KT2
- CA6 – Fairfield/ Knights Park, KT1
- CA7 – Grove Crescent, KT1
- CA13 – Richmond Road, KT2
- CA15 – Park Road, KT2
- CA25 – Riverside North, KT2.
3. Objectives
To provide a local focus & local knowledge in respect of conservation & heritage matters.
To comment on planning & listed building consent applications.
To comment on proposals within CAs for public works (excluding general maintenance) to the highway, public open spaces & other Council-managed space.
To recommend buildings for statutory listing by contacting Historic England, assist in reviews of local listed buildings of merit & comment on draft CA character appraisals & other draft planning policies.
4. Membership
The membership of KNKCAAC is intended to reflect the variety of organisations & interests active in the area. It is independent of the Council and any local resident with an interest in heritage can request membership from the Chair.
The current membership is a cross-section of local people & comprises eight individuals including: Four representing local residents associations (Canbury & Riverside, 'Tricorn', Spring Grove), one local resident & representative of the North Kingston Forum, one local resident & representative of the Kingston Society.
See full list of current membership in attached appendix.
5. Membership Guidelines
Membership of KNKCAAC shall not exceed twenty nor fall below three members.
The names & addresses of CAAC members shall be held by the Council for reference.
Members shall be appointed to serve for an unspecified term & are not remunerated.
From time to time KNKCAAC may co-opt subject-matter experts onto the Committee with or without voting rights.
Members may be voted off KNKCAAC by simple majority eg if their attendance record is poor (such as missing three consecutive meetings without apologies) or if they refuse to comply with this Constitution or if they bring KNKCAAC into disrepute.
In the event of resignation of a member a replacement may be appointed by KNKCAAC.
A Chair, Deputy Chair, Treasurer, Secretary & any other officers deemed appropriate shall be elected by KNKCAAC. The name of the Chair shall be included on the CAAC webpage on the RBK website.
A quorum shall comprise at least two members.
Members are expected to know their allocated areas, to understand the character & appearance of a CA that KNKCAAC is aiming to conserve, & to be familiar with eg the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) & RBK Core Plan.
It is the responsibility of each member to keep track of the progress of each application in their allocated areas & to follow up problems, updating KNKCAAC as appropriate.
To ensure objectivity, any member with a personal interest in a planning application shall declare it & recuse themselves from any decision on it.
6. Meeting Procedures
KNKCAAC shall meet monthly on the second Wednesday of each month at 19.00 hours. These meetings shall take place in Guildhall at no charge to KNKCAAC.
Because CAACs are not statutory bodies their meetings are not automatically open to the public & media. But in order to ensure transparency, KNKCAAC meetings shall be open to the public by prior agreement for observation only, with no right to speak or vote. Applicants & other parties may attend meetings by invitation, in order to clarify their proposals, but shall have no automatic right to speak & no vote.
All planning applications shall be received from RBK promptly by KNKCAAC & KNKCAAC appraisals of them shall be emailed directly each month to development.management@kingston.gov.uk
Where KNKCAAC objects to a particular application it must clearly identify the reasons why the proposal is harmful to the character & appearance of the relevant CA & why it is not in accordance with the Council’s Core Plan or planning guidance.
It must also make clear any request to 'call-in' an application, so that it is heard by the relevant planning committee rather than delegated to officers. Such request must be made within 21 days of the application's validation date.
The KNKCAAC Chair or other member shall have the right to speak at the relevant planning committee meeting. Note these meetings typically occur bi-monthly or quarterly & agendas plus case officer reports, including CAAC comments on planning applications in CAs are published one week in advance.
See also Standing Orders of KNKCAAC in the attached appendix.
7. Finance
KNKCAAC may raise funds eg by obtaining grants from RBK. All monies raised by KNKCAAC shall be applied to further its objectives.
All funds shall be kept in a bank account opened in the name of KNKCAAC.
The Chair, Deputy Chair, Treasurer & Secretary shall be signatories on the account & all payments shall require two of these signatures.
Accounts will be kept by the Treasurer & available for inspection at any time.
All expenditure shall be agreed & controlled by the CAAC. Receipts will be required.
8. Changes to Constitution
Any changes to this Constitution must be agreed by at least two thirds of KNKCAAC members.
9. Dissolution
KNKCAAC may be wound up at any time if agreed by two thirds of its members. Any surplus assets shall be donated to the Kingston Society or similar local body as determined by two thirds of KNKCAAC’s members.
APPENDIX
Current Membership of KNKCAAC
Toby Hiscock, Chair, Canbury & Riverside Residents Association Rep, Liverpool Road. Park Road & Riverside North CA's.
Julian Butler, Deputy Chair, Kingston Old Town & Fairfield/Knights Park CAs.
Keith Payne, IT support.
Joan McConn, Spring Grove Residents Association Rep, Grove Cresent CA.
Diane Watling, North Kingston Forum Rep, Richmond Road CA.
Stephen Coates, Kingston Society Rep, all CAs.
Martin & Mary Bates, 'Tricorn' Residents Association Rep, all CAs.
Standing Orders of KNKCAAC
Decisions will be agreed by simple majority of members present except as specified elsewhere in this Constitution. The Chair shall have a casting vote in the event of a tie.
Any offensive behaviour, including racist, ageist, sexist or inflammatory remarks by members will not be tolerated.
Agendas will be published on-line at least two business days before a meeting, where possible. Agenda items shall be forwarded by members to the Chair or other nominated officer at least five business days before a meeting, where possible.
Minutes of meetings shall be published on-line to members within seven business days of a meeting, where possible, but are not available to the wider public.