Agenda item

Members are reminded that under paragraph 11.1 of part 4 of the Constitution, questions can be asked of the Leader and Cabinet Members without notice about any matter contained in any address.  Questions shall be limited to five minutes in total for each announcement.

Councillor R Blunt echoed the best wishes to members as conveyed by the Deputy Chairman. 

Councillor R Blunt referred to the Pick and Shovel application, for which permission had been granted in January, and development would commence at the end of March.  He commented that the Council had provided additional funding to ensure the development went ahead.  He added that this would remove an eyesore, improve a gateway site in the town centre, and would provide 14 new good quality homes.

Councillor R Blunt highlighted the shop fronts scheme, whereby the Council would be investing in improving the shop fronts on Hotel Street.  He added that this was just the first phase, and would be a shop by shop, street by street way of improving Coalville.  He stated that the scheme would be rolled out further in Coalville and other town centres going forward.

Councillor R Blunt announced that Ruth Mulvany and Jacqui Sykes were shortlisted at the Keep Britain Tidy awards and were highly commended for their work.  He highlighted that Friends of Thringstone had won an award and he congratulated all involved.

Councillor R Blunt referred to the £20,000 for seven scheme which had provided funding for 17 community projects; 7 of which had received £20,000 and a further 10 had received £10,000.  In particular he highlighted the project for a skate park submitted by Measham Parish Council, which had received £20,000 funding and had now been ordered; and the new pavilion as Castle Donington which was scheduled to be completed in April.  He added that all schemes would have a big impact.

Councillor R D Bayliss highlighted two recently approved housing policies which would have very positive implications for the district.  In November, Cabinet approved the Council’s Tenancy Policy to continue to offer two types of tenancy – a 12 month introductory tenancy for new tenants, followed by a lifetime secure tenancy.  He stated that the Localism Act had provided the opportunity to consider offering fixed term tenancies, and this was a matter of balance and not a straightforward decision.  However he had decided to recommend to Cabinet to continue with the principle of lifetime secure tenancies as it was his view that a transient population should be avoided and tenants should not be treated as commodities.  He added that by offering lifetimes tenancies, the Council was helping to foster stable communities.

Councillor R D Bayliss advised that earlier this month, the Council had also approved an Acquisitions Policy which would allow the Council to purchase assets, be it land or housing or other buildings. This policy would see the Council buying land or existing housing to bring into use as affordable housing.  He drew attention to the fact that an additional £400,000 was proposed in next year’s budget for the provision of affordable housing, meaning that the Council would be investing over £1.3 m next year towards increasing the supply of affordable housing in the District, which would allow people in housing need on the Housing Register to be rehoused into high quality homes.

Councillor R Woodward added his congratulations to Friends of Thringstone, especially Nita Pearson who chaired the group.  He stated that the idea had originated from Councillor P Clayfield in 2005 and the group had gone from strength to strength since then, and was supported by the current ward members as well as himself and Councillor P Clayfield.  He extended thanks to the group and to Nita Pearson for what they had done for the local community.

Councillor J Legrys thanked the Leader for his kind words about two of his colleagues.  He stated that unfortunately this morning, social media had been rife with the news that Councillor D Howe had passed away.  He assured members that he had spoken with Councillor D Howe and he was very much alive and was due to be released from hospital imminently.  He also passed on best regards from Councillor R Adams.

Councillor J Legrys stated that Friends of Thringstone, in particular Nita Pearson, were out every day picking up many dozens of bags of litter.  He added that it was unfair to blame communities for litter when the likes of KFC and McDonalds made no efforts to clear up the messes they made.

As the ward member, Councillor J Legrys welcomed the Pick and Shovel initiative; however he stated that there would unfortunately be some difficulties with the construction phase.  He asked that the Coalville and Snibston ward members be involved in discussions in detail with Leicestershire County Council about minimising disruption when the works commenced.  He commented that the last thing he wanted to see was Memorial Square being turned into a works area.

Councillor J Ruff stated that any additional affordable housing was most welcome for the district as there had been a shortfall for many years.  She commented that the SHMA stated that 35% of all development should be affordable housing, and to get this action was very good news.  She also felt that it was better for tenants to have long term tenancies and felt the government was wrong to recommend a fixed term of 5 years as this was not good for tenants.

Councillor D De Lacy stated that he had had the privilege of attending the ceremony for the £20,000 for seven scheme and it had been a great experience.  He added that Labour had always believed that some of the money from home building should go back to the community, and Steve Peace had been a great advocate of that.  He congratulated the Leader for acknowledging that this spending had come from a planning windfall and was the result of an idea from the officer. 

Councillor D De Lacy commented that the SHMA states that over a third of all housing should be affordable.  He welcomed this policy but highlighted that there had been other policies which had reduced the level of affordable housing, and some developments had been permitted with 0% affordable housing.  He requested a report to the Local Plan Advisory Committee on whether the Council was anywhere near the target figure for affordable housing, as he felt this would really inform decisions on the Local Plan.

Councillor D De Lacy stated that he was surprised by the announcement on the Pick and Shovel as he was not aware that the Leader had been involved in the initiative.  He highlighted the recent comments on a Liberal Democrat leaflet on the scheme.