Issue - meetings

Questions on Notice

Meeting: 16/09/2020 - Council (Item 22)

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:

The Chairman advised Members that due to the exceptional circumstances under which everyone found themselves, the Leader had again agreed to allow one supplementary question in respect of each question asked. He would also allow the time spent on questions to be extended as it had been agreed that the Motions on Notice attached to the agenda for this meeting would not be debated.

Question Submitted by Councillor K. Van der Plank

“A number of trees have been cut down, in Alvechurch and around the District, over recent months which is extremely concerning when we are facing a climate emergency and should be protecting trees and planting more, not removing them.

Why have these trees been removed? What checks are in place to ensure that trees are only cut down where absolutely necessary and how is this being monitored and reported? What plans are in place to ensure new trees are planted to replace any that are removed”

Councillor A Kent responded that after checking with the officers they had come back and stated that they were not aware of any of the trees to which Councillor Van der Plank had referred. However, Councillor Kent advised that he believed that Councillor Van der Plank had raised an important point about trees and their impact on the environment and feeling of well-being within Bromsgrove. He therefore hoped that she would be delighted with the proposal by Worcestershire County Council to plant 150,000 trees throughout Worcestershire.

Councillor Kent further commented that, he could not recall whether Councillor Van der Plank had attended the Strategic Planning Steering Group where Members had discussed the new planning consultation paper; but within that was a proposal to ensure that all the streets are lined with trees on new developments.

Councillor Kent apologised for not being able to answer Councillor Van der Plank’s question in more detail but if she were able to evidence the trees concerned he would ask the officers to look into the matter in more detail.

Question submitted by Councillor C Hotham

“Now that the Bird Box is complete, please could the cabinet member responsible inform council of the final build cost? Thank you”

The Leader thanked Councillor Hotham for his questions and confirmed that the total capital spend was £210K in line with the budget, £100k of which had come from Hintons.

Councillor Hotham’s supplementary question was whether, if the Birdbox was seen as a success, the Council would consider it remaining in situ as opposed to the original plan of it being in place for approximately 18 months, until a more permanent use was found for the site.

The Leader responded that due to the current circumstances, all options were being considered before a final decision was made and that those options would come before this Council in due course.

Question Submitted by Councillor J King

Protecting our Green Belt from Government planning reforms

“Are you concerned about the analysis from Lichfields planning consultants which indicates that the number of ... view the full minutes text for item 22