To deal with any questions on notice from Members of the Council, in the order in which they have been received.
A period of up to 15 minutes is allocated for the asking and answering of questions. This may be extended at the discretion of the Chairman with the agreement of the majority of those present.
Minutes:
Question submitted by Councillor M. Thompson
“In late 2018 representatives of BDC met with BDHT to discuss the Burcot Lane site and the council’s housing company. Please can the Leader tell us:
Who attended the meeting on behalf of BDC?
What were the objectives and outcomes of the meeting?
Particularly, given BDHT’s experience, what BDHT thought of the council’s venture into housing development?”
The Leader responded to Councillor Thompson’s question and advised that senior officers from the Council and BDHT had met on 18th December 2018 – Council officers present were the Deputy Chief Executive, the Housing Strategy Manage and the Housing strategy and Enabling Team Leader and BDHT officers were the Chief Executive, Director of Housing and Communities and the Director of Asset Management and Development.
The Purpose of the meeting had been to provide an update to BDHT on the current position regarding proposals for the Burcot Lane development which had been endorsed by Council and specifically the position regarding ongoing dialogue with Homes England in respect of the Accelerated Growth bid funding, the proposed timelines for scheme development. It had also included confirmation that the Council had commissioned external support, an overview of the basis of affordable housing on site and BDHT’s views were also sought around potential future regeneration opportunities working with the Council on a partnership basis.
In addition there were a number of operational issues raised and actions agreed, and also an overview provided on the current partnership arrangements in place regarding community safety in Bromsgrove and North Worcestershire. The Leader confirmed that there was no view given by BDHT at this meeting regarding thoughts as to the Councils venture into housing development.
The Leader thanked Councillor Thompson for raising to Council’s attention the ongoing positive collaborative partnership arrangements which existed with BDHT. Members were advised that officers met regularly with colleagues at BDHT and that it was vitally important that there was ongoing shared dialogue given the current ownership and interests at the Burctot site, not least of which BDHT’s major stakeholder status as housing provider on site and the shared access arrangements and current hostel provision.
The Leader confirmed that as there were no formally recorded notes from the meeting in December, the contents of this response had been shared with all officers present at the meeting who had endorsed that this was a true and accurate reflection of the issues discussed.
Question submitted by Councillor S. Colella
“Does the Leader agree with me and other members of this Council whose wards are likely to see cuts in essential Public Library Services and Public bus services that we cannot stand by and watch WCC cut these services without this Council stepping in with both financial support in its Medium Term Financial Plan and without stepping in to look at what options exist for this district council to take responsibility for the statutory control of these services away from WCC who obviously see them as burdens on its role and responsibilities.”
The Leader responded that the Council would do all it could to ensure retention of its libraries and the services they provided, as they were a vital community facility. The Council was looking at all avenues as to how it could work smarter with all partners and would continue to talk about libraries at every opportunity as its residents would expect.
Question submitted by Councillor Kate Van der Plank
“Please could the leader explain the current process and suggest what improvements can be made to improve communications and planning around scheduled maintenance?
BDC planned to close the car park at the polling station for resurfacing on the day of the Alvechurch referendum. Furthermore, it seems that notices of works are not sent out to Parish councils so this was only picked up (and able to be stopped) at last minute and by chance.”
The Leader thanked Councillor Van der Plank for her question which raised an interesting prospect if the Council had not managed to avert the problem. He confirmed that all events were fed into a central data base and officers were reviewing procedures to avoid a clash of events in the future.