Minutes:
(A) Mr
Bill asked the following question of the Leader or his nominee:-
“At the County Council Cabinet meeting held
on 9th March it was agreed to “welcome the Strategic Growth Plan as
a key, long term strategy for the future development and prosperity of
Leicester and Leicestershire.
As there is now considerable concern being
expressed by District and Parish Councils in the south of the County, both in
relation to the Strategic Growth Plan itself and to other emerging plans being
promoted by the private sector such as the Hinckley Rail Freight depot and
other developments will steps now be taken to reflect these concerns in order
to ensure that the quality of life and the environment is protected in the
south of the County?”
Mr Rushton replied as follows:-
“The Strategic Growth Plan for Leicester and
Leicestershire is a key document that will, in my opinion,
help protect the quality of life and the environment across the county.
Local planning authorities are required to
meet objectively assessed housing needs, and are under a duty to co-operate
with each other and with the County Council across the housing market area to
meet those needs. Failure to do this
will only lead to key decisions about future housing provision being made by
Government inspectors or by developers rather than by democratically
accountable councils.
The approach proposed in the draft SGP,
including focusing future housing provision along key strategic infrastructure
corridors (in particular along the proposed new A46 expressway), is beneficial
for a number of reasons:
· It will maximise the chances of securing funding which will ensure the
new housing is provided as part of sustainable communities well-served by a
range of infrastructure and facilities;
· It will minimise the provision of new homes in and adjacent to existing
villages and small towns, and thereby protect the quality of life and
environment of the residents of these areas;
· It will facilitate future economic growth to the benefit of the county’s
businesses and residents.
I should perhaps remind Mr Bill that the
Scrutiny Commission of which he is a member also recognised the benefits of the
Draft SGP stating, and I quote, that it ‘welcomed
the principle of the Strategic Growth Plan, to prevent unplanned growth which
damaged the character of local areas and lacked infrastructure. The proposals in the Plan were generally felt
to be sensible and it was felt that a long term strategic vision would benefit
the area and provide a framework for the development of future Local Plans at
District Council level.’
I am, however, aware that a substantial
number of comments have been made on the Plan during the consultation period
which ended last week. Some of these
comments are very supportive but others raise important matters including in
relation to quality of life and the environment in the south of the county and
elsewhere. These will be looked at carefully by the Cabinet when it considers
approving the final Plan later this year and I am sure both the Member Advisory
Group and the Scrutiny Commission will do likewise.”
(B) Mr
Sheahan asked the following question of the Leader or his nominee:-
“What are the County Council’s plans regarding Sarah’s Wood in Moira?”
Mr Rhodes
replied as follows:-
“The County Council’s current and ongoing
plans are to continue to maintain Sarah’s Wood for public access and
enjoyment. This site is currently managed by Countryside Services, within
Operational Property and Facilities Management Services. Day to day
operations are delivered by a Community Ranger
supported by a number of local volunteer groups.
There are plans in place to replace the
children’s play area, which was completely destroyed by fire, with a new children’s
sculpture trail, which was referred to at a previous meeting officers held with
Mr Sheahan and the Ashby Woulds Town Clerk.
Consideration is also being given how best to
maintain the toilet block which has been subject to on-going vandalism.
Discussions have started with the National
Forest regarding any opportunities for joint working/funding. Further opportunities for community
involvement on the site will also be explored.”
Mr Sheahan asked
the following supplementary question:-
“With respect to the last statement there, ‘further opportunities for
community involvement on the site will also be explored’, I think it would be
helpful if you could to talk to officers about the timescale for the
replacement children’s play area and the toilet block project and also try and
ensure that there is more regular consultation on these issues with the parish
council and myself as local member.
Mr Rhodes
replied as follows:-
“I think Mr Sheahan raises a very good point. Clearly we need to do quite a bit more at
Sarah’s Wood to improve facilities there and in particular the toilet
block. What I can tell him is that
yesterday two of our senior officers visited the site and had a look at the
situation. As a result there will be
some work done there pretty soon to bring it back into operation. That will make much better use of the
site. As far as the co-operation goes
with local people that’s still got to be developed but I take note of what he
says about parish councils.”
(C) Mr
Bray asked the following question of the Leader or his nominee:-
“Could the Leader please update on the latest position with regard to
providing a much-needed crossing on Lancaster Road and when he expects this now
to be complete?”
Mr Pain replied
as follows:-
“A zebra crossing was due to be installed on
Lancaster Road at its junction with Station Road in March 2018. Due to
unforeseen issues with buried services this crossing could not be safely
constructed.
We remain committed to the provision of the
crossing and are therefore looking at an alternative location approximately 30
metres west of the junction. This would mean that the crossing would be
situated centrally between the junctions of George Street and Station Road.
We are currently undertaking work to confirm the
feasibility of this location, including site investigations, trial holes and a
Road Safety Audit.
It is expected that this work will be
completed by the end of May 2018. We will then be in a position to review
the proposals with the Police, local elected members and Hinckley and Bosworth
Borough Council for their input ahead of wider public consultations over the
summer. These consultations will include all stakeholders and legal
advertisement of the crossing on site and in the local press.
If the crossing is supported, we would look
to construct this on site in Autumn 2018.”
Mr Bray asked the following supplementary question:-
“On both the issues I raise can I just ask
that I be kept informed of the progress?”
Mr Pain replied as follows:-
“Of course Mr Bray will be kept informed,
I’ll ask the Director.”
(D) Mr
Bray asked the following question of the Leader or his nominee:-
“Could the Leader advise what progress has been made in providing a new
crossing patrol near to St. Peter’s School in Hinckley?”
Mr Pain replied
as follows:-
“The school crossing patrol at St. Peter’s
School on London Road, Hinckley left at the end of the summer term 2017. The site meets our assessment criteria and
usual recruitment methods were followed to seek a replacement person for this
role. This has included sending three
recruitment letters for the school to send to parents and using on-street
vacancy boards at the crossing site.
Because of the relatively short times of operation (45 minutes in the
morning and 35 minutes in the afternoon) it is likely to appeal to someone with
connections to the school and/or living in close proximity to the school. As Mr Bray will be aware the service is
reliant on members of the community coming forward to fill these paid school
crossing patrol roles. The school will
be asked to send a further letter and I am sure the service would welcome
applications from any interested candidates that Mr Bray may be aware of.”
(E) Mr
Mullaney asked the following question of the Leader
or his nominee:-
"The recent Cabinet report on the Enabling Growth Plan 2018-19
highlighted the County's plan for rolling out broadband coverage in
Leicestershire, including securing funding to help deliver superfast broadband
to more properties in the county. This
included an aim for another 11,000 houses in the county to be covered by the
end of this year. Residents of the
Greens (Olympic Way) estate, off Leicester Road in Hinckley have to put up with
extremely poor levels of broadband coverage and would benefit enormously from
superfast broadband being extended to their estate. Could any future plans to include broadband
roll-out please make extending it to this estate a priority?"
Mr Rushton
replied as follows:-
“The Superfast Leicestershire Programme’s aim
is to bring high speed broadband access to as many homes and businesses as
possible. Within current funding
constraints it is unlikely that the programme will be able to reach 100% of
properties but the Council is actively seeking solutions for all residents and
businesses.
For new developments such as the Greens in
Hinckley, it is the developer’s responsibility to arrange provision of
utilities, including broadband.
Regrettably, many developers have failed to secure adequate service at
the planning stage which means it is up to commercial telecoms operators to
decide if it is financial viable to provide access. The result in this instance is that the area
has been left with poor digital connectivity.
The Council has supported district
counterparts to ensure that broadband coverage is reflected as a priority
within Local Plans so that issues such as this are not repeated.
The Council’s Broadband team is also
supporting a residents’ group representing the Greens in their attempt to
negotiate a broadband upgrade paid for by the site developer.
All those who cannot currently access decent
broadband in the area will be eligible to be targeted through the £5.7m Phase 3
of the Superfast Leicestershire programme.
The Phase 3 procurement is expected to launch in June 2018 with a
delivery partner to be appointed in the autumn and work to commence in 2019.
The areas which will benefit will not be
known until the autumn and we will continue to seek solutions to ensure
everyone across Leicestershire has access to the broadband speeds they need.”
Mr Mullaney asked the following supplementary question:-
“Obviously there are a high number of self-employed people who live on that estate so it’s particularly important that we do try and get the super fast broadband there and just obviously to say that if you could keep me informed of how things progress with the issue I would appreciate it”
Mr Rushton replied as
follows:-
“I only recently had a briefing from the Chief Executive and Niall Mullin on broadband. I appreciate that you have got a very, very difficult estate there where the developer never put the ducting in. I’d have thought broadband now was as important to go into a house as water and sewers. I’m aware of the problem and I will prioritise trying to get it in there.
While I’m on my feet Chairman, can I just make a point that we had a very, very positive letter written to us by the Government department that’s in charge of broadband, congratulating us on the work we’ve done so far and the benefit that we’ve delivered for the money we’ve put in. In particular, there’s a whole paragraph at the end praising Niall Mullin who works under Tom Purnell. For a government department to write to us, congratulating us and to single out a particular officer for the praise that he received was quite fantastic. I too want to place on record my thanks to Niall Mullin and Tom Purnell and the work they do.”