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 informed members of the position with regards to the proposed resettlement of Syrian refugees.  Members were aware of the government scheme committing to house 16,000 refugees in the United Kingdom over the next four years, and councils had been invited to help in any way they could, such as facilitating and providing accommodation , and working with Leicestershire County Council and other partners to help the refugees become part of the community.  He acknowledged that this was a very emotive issue and he believed that Syrian refugees should be welcomed to the district.  He requested a report to Cabinet in May setting our proposal to facilitate accommodation for Syrian refugees for the next four years.

Councillor R Blunt gave an update on the current position in respect of the River Mease Special Area of Conservation and advised that, because of the application for 605 new homes at Money Hill which had been won on appeal, the developer contribution scheme had now finished.  He added that the Council was working with the Environment Agency and Natural England on this issue and he believed that new consents would be able to be issued later on in the year. 

Councillor R Blunt outlined progress made in respect of the Coalville Project.  He advised that Royal Oak Court was now complete and the opening ceremony would be taking place on Thursday, 24 March.  In respect of the shop fronts scheme, he stated that he was pleased with the progress made, but it was not fast enough, and with that in mind he would like to increase the grants by up to 90% to ensure the scheme was successful.  He advised that the same pot of money would be available for the scheme but this would improve the offer.  With regards to the South East Coalville and Bardon Grange Site, he advised that the legal agreement would be signed imminently and he was hoping that work would have commenced by the next meeting of Council.  He added that developer contributions in respect of highways improvements for Coalville amounted to £21 million, which would be spent in conjunction with Leicestershire County Council on improving the road network.  He made reference to the work in progress on the new Amazon building on Beveridge Lane, which would bring 500 new jobs to the district, and concluded that people could see you can start to see something different and something better happening in Coalville.

Councillor J Cotterill entered the meeting at 6.41pm.

Councillor J Legrys asked if the funding increase in respect of the shop fronts scheme would mean a reduction in the number of shops that could participate or would this incur additional expenditure.  He welcomed additional funding for the scheme but questioned where this would come from if this was the case as it was not included in the budget.  He commented that the amount in respect of Coalville infrastructure was clearly not enough and double that amount would be required to move forward.

Councillor R Blunt advised that, in respect of the shop fronts scheme, a certain amount had been allocated in the budget to be spent on the scheme, however the amount available to each property was flexible.  He added that it had always been his intention to extend the scheme further and apply it to other parts of the town.  With regards to Coalville infrastructure, he commented that £21 million was a serious amount of money which would start to make a difference if spent correctly.

Councillor N Clarke expressed full support for the Leader’s stance on the Syrian refugees and felt that it was right that the district council should contribute.