Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Pulk and Councillor Barnfather (observer).

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the above meeting, having been circulated, be approved as a correct record.

None.

Presentation from students of Carlton le Willows Academy.

The Leader advised that the presentation would not be taking place due to illness and that it was hoped to rearrange this for a future meeting.

Report of the Chief Executive.

The Chief Executive presented a report, which had been circulated prior to the meeting, seeking to establish a joint Economic Prosperity Committee with other Nottinghamshire Authorities.

RESOLVED to:

1)    Agree the establishment of the Economic Prosperity Committee (EPC) as a joint committee of the following local authorities: Ashfield District Council, Bassetlaw District Council, Broxtowe Borough Council, Gedling Borough Council, Mansfield District Council, Newark and Sherwood District Council, Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council and Rushcliffe Borough Council (“constituent authorities”);

2)    Agree the Constitution (Terms of Reference, Membership and procedures) of the Economic Prosperity Committee as set out at Appendix A to the report;

3)    Note that any relevant powers previously delegated by the Leader/Executive to individuals or bodies are not expressly withdrawn and will be held concurrently;

4)    Appoint Councillor John Clarke, the Leader of the Council, as the Council’s representative on the EPC and Councillor Michael Payne, the Deputy Leader, to act as substitute;

5)    Agree to Nottingham City Council hosting the Committee and providing all necessary secretarial, legal and financial support services, (including S151 and Monitoring Officer roles) and the annual costs involved (estimated to be around £30,000), to be met in equal share by the constituent authorities, until such time as that this can be recovered in part or in whole from external funding streams;

6)    Agree this Council’s annual contribution to the cost of servicing the Committee in the estimated sum of £3,300 for inclusion in the 2014/15 base budget proposals with any sums due in 2013/14 to be accommodated within the current approved budget and that any expenses for subsistence or travel in relation to the attendance of councillors at meetings on EPC business be met by the individual authorities from existing budget provision for members’ allowances;

7)    Note that, in accordance with Section 9F of the Local Government Act 2000, constituent authorities who operate executive governance will need to make formal scrutiny arrangements to review or scrutinise decisions made in connection with the exercise of functions of the EPC and that the Council’s existing scrutiny arrangements will apply; and

8)    Note that, for the reasons set out in the report, the Committee will have no powers to co-opt.

Report of the Chief Executive.

The Chief Executive presented a report, which had been circulated prior to the meeting, recommending approval of an agreement to develop collaborative working between Gedling Borough Council, Newark and Sherwood District Council and Rushcliffe Borough Council.

RESOLVED:

To approve the Collaboration Agreement with Newark and Sherwood District Council and Rushcliffe Borough Council set out at Appendix 1 to the report.

Report of Corporate Director.

Corporate Director, Mark Kimberley, presented a report, which had been circulated prior to the meeting, seeking in principle support to enter into an agreement with Broxtowe and Rushcliffe Borough Councils for the joint management of car parking across the three authorities.

RESOLVED:

1)    To give in principle support to the development of joint car parking management arrangements with Broxtowe and Rushcliffe Borough Councils;

2)    To require a further report to Cabinet highlighting the operational, staffing and budget implications of a transfer of Car Parking management to a joint arrangement; and

3)    To note that if there are staffing implications for the Council, then appropriate consultation would need to be carried out with affected employees before the final decision was made.

Report of Service Manager, Parks and Street Care.

Corporate Director, David Wakelin, presented a report, which had been circulated prior to the meeting, requesting that Cabinet endorse and refer to Council for approval, an addition to the Capital Programme to enable stage 1 works to be undertaken for Gedling Country Park.

RESOLVED:

To endorse and refer onto Council for approval an addition to the capital programme for the works to Gedling Country Park as described in the report, for the Stage 1 work, for the amount of £270,100 financed by S106 Contributions.

Report of the Service Manager, Elections and Members’ Services.

Consideration was given to a report of the Service Manager, Elections and Members’ Services, nominating representatives to the Nottinghamshire Health and Well-being Board.

RESOLVED:

To nominate Councillor Jenny Hollingsworth as Gedling Borough Council’s representative on the Nottinghamshire Health and Wellbeing Board with Councillor John Clarke to act as substitute member.

Report of the Service Manager, Elections and Members’ Services.

Consideration was given to a report of the Service Manager, Elections and Members’ Services, which had been circulated prior to the meeting, detailing the Executive’s draft Forward Plan for the next four month period.

RESOLVED:

To note the report.

The Leader invited Paula Darlington, Corporate Director, to update Cabinet on the latest position regarding the Planning Inspectorate’s examination of the Council’s Aligned Core Strategy (ACS) – the Council’s response to which was required to be made before the Christmas break.

It was explained that while the overall number of dwellings proposed to be built throughout the Borough was considered to be suitable, the inspector suggested that the distribution of proposed housing between urban and rural areas needed to be considered further in an attempt to ensure that a greater number of homes were built in the urban area in order to mitigate the impact on Hucknall and on certain villages within Gedling.

The Inspector asked the Council to

a)    Consider the balance of houses proposed around the urban area and proposed in the rural area.

b)    Look at impact of proposed houses around Hucknall.

c)    Consider, given that the Colliery/Gedling Access Road and Teal Close proposals have moved on since the submission of the original ACS, whether it is possible to review numbers around Hucknall and at Calverton and Ravenshead.

Cabinet was advised of the proposed response to the Inspector which included the following revised set of figures for the construction of new homes in the Borough.

Officers had undertaken extensive investigation of the potential options available in response to the issues highlighted by the inspector, the following comments would be submitted to the Inspector on Monday in line with the following distribution of housing:

This re-distribution has been possible due to a proposed allocation at Teal Close of an additional 430 homes.

In addition, and more importantly, recent significant progress in securing funding for the Gedling Access Road has enabled 600 homes to be provisionally allocated to the former Colliery site.

The additional 1030 new houses proposed at Teal Close and the Colliery  have enabled the Council to consider proposing a reduction in the rural areas in effect reducing numbers around Hucknall by 600; Calverton by 547 and Ravenshead by 103.

RESOLVED to:

1)    Note the verbal update given by the Corporate Director regarding the approach to the re-distribution of housing numbers in the Core Strategy and support the proposals to be put forward for consideration by the Inspector; and

2)    Request that the Corporate Director informs all Members of the response to the Inspector.

Councillor Peter Barnes (Environment)

·         Congratulations to the Parks and Street Care Team who were named the Most Improved Team at the APSE National Awards.

·         Winter weather preparations were on schedule and the teams involved were confident that service would be good.

·         As members had heard in the meeting work on the Country Park was progressing well and new opportunities to involve local residents were being looked into.

Councillor Jenny Hollingsworth (Health and Wellbeing)

·         A Cold weather policy relevant to homeless people was now in operation and the council was now working with Framework in order to verify rough sleepers.

·         Safeguarding training had recently been delivered and the number of referrals had risen as a result. Thanks to staff involved.

·         An obesity Strategy for Gedling was currently being worked on and progressing well.

·         It was hoped that an ambition to start a “men in sheds” project would be realised soon.

Councillor Kathryn Fox (Community Development)

·         Staff and visitors to the civic centre were congratulated for donating one tonne of food towards the Arnold Food bank in the past year.

·         The Tracks in Time project was held recently with nearly 2000 visitors over the weekend that it ran.

·         Thanks were given to all involved in the Netherfield Christmas event held on 6 December and the Newstead event on 20 November.

Councillor Michael Payne (Public Protection and Communication)

·         A slim reduction in reported crime was recently noted

·         An overwhelming response to the customer survey included in the recent contacts magazine was pleasing with over 2,500 returns.

Councillor John Clarke (Finance and Performance)

·         A document summarising the proposed cuts by the County Council, and how they may affect the Borough, was circulated for information.

·         An update was also circulated on behalf of Councillor Henry Wheeler (Policy Advisor for Young People) who was unable to attend the meeting. This would be appended to the minutes.

·         On behalf of Councillor Pulk Councillor Clarke reported that the first 8 weeks of operation at the new Bonnington Theatre had been very successful.

·         A recent meeting with Nottingham Playhouse was very useful it was hoped more partnership working could follow in future.

None.