Agenda item

A period of up to one hour is allocated to consider the motions on notice.  This may only be extended with the agreement of the Council.

 

The Chairman reported that four Motions on Notice had been submitted for this meeting. However, the third Motion, submitted by Councillor Whittaker, had been withdrawn. 

 

With the agreement of all group leaders, Councillor Nicholl’s Motion, which featured in the agenda of the last Council meeting, but which was not debated then, had been postponed for consideration at the next Council meeting in January 2024.  This would ensure that he could be present for the debate on his own Motion.

 

Publicity Campaign for Dog Welfare

 

The Council considered the following Motion on Notice from Councillor H Jones:

 

After hearing the devastating news, that two innocent, healthy puppies had been killed and dumped within our district, I call upon this council to commit to prioritise the promotion to support a publicity campaign to reminding dog owners and breeders of their responsibilities, in the hope we can stop anymore uncalled-for deaths of an animal. Within this campaign we also need to remind residents that they should only buy animals from a reputable source and the steps they should take to ensure the animals they buy are healthy and have been well cared for. The campaign should also emphasise the need for the public to report any situations they identify where people may be breeding dogs illegally, or in circumstances that put the health of animals in jeopardy. WRS has “dog related issues” as one of its key priorities and, whilst they do their best to proactively identify illegal breeders and sales, more help from the public would not go amiss.

 

In proposing the Motion, Councillor Jones referred to advice offered to dog owners by Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) such as temporary kennelling and support for when people could no longer keep an animal. She suggested that a targeted campaign could prevent animals from abuse, suffering or death.  The pre-Christmas period would be an ideal time for a publicity campaign to remind people only to purchase a dog from a reputable dealer and also where to go to for help if they were struggling with caring for a pet. 

 

The Motion was seconded by Councillor K Taylor, who referred to the financial and other commitments that should be considered before acquiring a dog.

 

Members spoke in support of the motion and of the benefits of owning a dog.  They also referred to recent incidents which highlighted the need to promote responsible dog ownership and the support available when circumstances changed.  It was noted that WRS would lead on a publicity campaign and the Council’s communications team might also be able to assist.

 

RESOLVED that

 

After hearing the devastating news, that two innocent, healthy puppies had been killed and dumped within our district, this council commits to prioritise the promotion to support a publicity campaign to reminding dog owners and breeders of their responsibilities, in the hope we can stop anymore uncalled-for deaths of an animal. Within this campaign we also need to remind residents that they should only buy animals from a reputable source and the steps they should take to ensure the animals they buy are healthy and have been well cared for. The campaign should also emphasise the need for the public to report any situations they identify where people may be breeding dogs illegally, or in circumstances that put the health of animals in jeopardy. WRS has “dog related issues” as one of its key priorities and, whilst they do their best to proactively identify illegal breeders and sales, more help from the public would not go amiss.

 

Connectivity from Bromsgrove Train Station

 

The Council considered the following Motion on Notice from Councillor S Evans:

 

This Council supports improving connectivity for rail users travelling from Bromsgrove Train Station so that they can travel to destinations such as Cheltenham, Bristol and Cardiff with ease.

 

This Council therefore resolves to support the campaign for greater connectivity from Bromsgrove Train Station, as campaigned for by organisations such as BARRUP, and calls on the Leader of the Council to write to Cross Country Trains to request that their service, which currently runs between Nottingham and Cardiff, stops at Bromsgrove train station to improve connectivity between our area and popular destinations, putting Bromsgrove on the map and increasing tourism to our town whilst allowing residents to travel with ease.

 

In introducing the Motion, Councillor Evans referred to the current hourly service between Cardiff and Nottingham which did not stop at Bromsgrove station.  If it did, it would enable passengers to alight at Worcestershire Parkway, Cheltenham and Bristol.  He suggested that including Bromsgrove in the route would bring social, economic and environmental benefits to the District.  He acknowledged the efforts of groups such as the Bromsgrove and Redditch Rail Users Partnership (BARRUP) to improve the connectivity from Bromsgrove train station.

 

The Motion was seconded by Councillor S. Robinson.

 

Councillor H.D.N. Rone-Clarke detailed an amendment he wished to propose, as follows:

 

In the second paragraph of the motion to insert the words ‘as well as Network Rail’ after ‘calls on the Leader to write to cross Country Trains…..and to insert the words ‘and/or Barnt Green’ following ‘stops at Bromsgrove….’

 

The proposer and seconder of the Motion accepted the changes as suggested and the motion as amended was debated by the Council.  The main points raised were:

 

·       The Council was committed to making the District as accessible as possible and the Leader was supportive of the action proposed by the Motion

·       A member raised that there were currently only two trains per hour which called at Alvechurch and it was suggested that the letter from the Leader should be expanded to request an increase in service to this station too.  It was argued that to add further destinations into the current motion would dilute its impact 

·       Efforts should be made to improve connectivity across the District and the wider West Midlands as a whole

·       Current arrangements for travelling to the south meant that passengers had to travel via Birmingham, which damaged productivity

 

RESOLVED that

 

This Council supports improving connectivity for rail users travelling from Bromsgrove Train Station so that they can travel to destinations such as Cheltenham, Bristol and Cardiff with ease.

 

This Council therefore resolves to support the campaign for greater connectivity from Bromsgrove Train Station, as campaigned for by organisations such as BARRUP, and calls on the Leader of the Council to write to Cross Country Trains as well as Network Rail to request that their service, which currently runs between Nottingham and Cardiff, stops at Bromsgrove and/or Barnt Green train station to improve connectivity between our area and popular destinations, putting Bromsgrove on the map and increasing tourism to our town whilst allowing residents to travel with ease.

 

Introduction of ‘Live Time’ on Bus Shelters

 

The Council considered the following Motion on Notice from Councillor P McDonald:

 

We call upon the Cabinet to modernise bus shelters by introducing 'Live Time'. The new system will tell waiting passengers exactly when the next bus is due by monitoring and reporting on its progress in real-time. It helps make services more efficient, which means a better service.

In proposing the Motion, Councillor McDonald referred to arrangements where real time information was displayed on bus shelters.  He considered this encouraged ‘casual’ users to use the services and an opportunity to do this was being missed. 

 

Councillor McDonald noted that a sum had been allocated to bus shelters in the budget which should be spent, and he suggested that they could be used for advertisements which could bring in revenue to the Council.  Replacing car journeys with bus travel would also have environmental benefits by reducing CO2 emissions.

 

The Motion was seconded by Councillor D Hopkins, who referred to recent changes to bus timetables and the confusion this caused.  Real time information would help to give the public more confidence in bus services and support them in planning their time and their journeys.  There was a parallel with the system used at the train stations and this should be universally applied to bus routes.

 

Councillor P Whittaker gave details of an amendment he wished to propose, which was accepted by the proposer and seconder of the motion.  This changed the motion as follows and it became the substantive motion:

 

We call upon Worcestershire County Council to work with the Cabinet at Bromsgrove District Council (delete the words ‘to work’) to modernise the (delete ‘our’) bus shelters within Bromsgrove District by introducing 'Live Time'. The remainder of the motion was unchanged.

 

In presenting the amended wording, Councillor Whittaker referred to the shared responsibility between the County and District Councils for bus shelters.

 

Councillor J Robinson proposed an amendment that the words ‘That the Cabinet member for finance brings forward proposals for a budget for bus shelter improvements to replace the funds not used in previous years as part of the 2024/25 budget’ were added to the end of the motion.  The Monitoring Officer advised that this was not an admissible amendment as it had budgetary implications; the substantive motion enabled financial implications to be considered by Cabinet.

 

During debate on the substantive motion the following were the main points raised

 

·       Live time information was necessary to reassure passengers that a service was running, albeit if there were delays

·       Whether the bus stops at the train station would be included in the motion as there was confusion about which organisation was responsible for them

·       There was a mixture of ownership of bus shelters across the District, including some Parish Councils, and all involved should work together to make this universally available

·       Not all people had access to mobile phone technology so live time at bus shelters would make the services more accessible

·       There was a need to better maintain bus shelters across the District, regardless of ownership; funds allocated in the budget had not yet been spent on improvements and the motion should be a catalyst to improvements being made

·       It was unlikely that real time information could be used for demand responsive transport

·       How the technology would work in more rural areas.  Reference was made to the technology being used in rural parts of a neighbouring county

·       The Council asked for details of bus services from the County Council before upgrading bus shelters which had led to delays in some maintenance work.

 

RESOLVED that

 

We call upon Worcestershire County Council to work with the Cabinet at Bromsgrove District Council to modernise the bus shelters within Bromsgrove District by introducing 'Live Time'. The new system will tell waiting passengers exactly when the next bus is due by monitoring and reporting on its progress in real-time. It helps make services more efficient, which means a better service.