Agenda and minutes

None

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2014 were approved and signed as a correct record.

(Moved by Councillor R Pritchard and seconded by Councillor J Oates)

To receive any declarations of Members’ interests (pecuniary and non-pecuniary) in any matters which are to be considered at this meeting.

When Members are declaring a pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest in respect of which they have dispensation, they should specify the nature of such interest.  Members should leave the room if they have a pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest in respect of which they do not have a dispensation. 

There were no Declarations of Interest.

The order of business was changed to deal with the Golf Course Re-Development Project report first.

(Moved by Councillor D Cook and seconded by Councillor R Pritchard)

To answer questions from members of the public pursuant to Executive Procedure Rule No. 13

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC                NO.1

Under Schedule 4, 13, Mr K Dolman, 7 Saint Andrews, Amington, Tamworth asked the Portfolio Holder for Economy and Education, Councillor S Claymore, the following question:-

"Given that the Local Plan was withdrawn following serious concerns made by the Plan Inspector David Vickary with regard to proposed changes and a lack of consultation (Letter to Mr A Roberts, Development Plan Manager from Inspector David Vickery 15th February 2013) is it not the case that as the Council works towards a new plan they are still in disarray and that decisions regarding potentail housing developments are being rushed in order to include them into the Local Plan?"

Councillor S Claymore gave the following response:

When the work was being carried out on the original core strategy of the then LDF (Local development framework) the guidelines at that time allowed for a much more flexible approach to producing LDF documents, the two main documents that could be produced were a core strategy and a site allocations document. However, towards the later part of our work, changes to national planning policy came into force which at the time were not clear and relatively untested in terms of external examination by the planning inspector. The submission draft of our core strategy / local plan was passed through full council where it was agreed to submit our plan in its then current format.

During the subsequent exploratory meeting and within the letter you refer to from David Vickery, the Planning Inspector, we were informed that we should specifically allocate more housing land to meet our housing needs. Our suggested modifications to allow for these changes in policy and to address the inspectors concerns would, in his words (I am concerned that these modifications might open the local plan to legal challenge.) he also went on to state that (the local plan would be very substantially and significantly different to the plan publicly consulted upon and then submitted for examination).

At no point in his letter does he refer to any lack of consultation to date. He did suggest that the most appropriate action is for the Council to withdraw the Tamworth local plan allowing us to make the modifications and to republish it for public consultation.

A report then went to full council in March last year recommending we do exactly that and this was unanimously supported. Council also established a cross party working group to oversee the revisions to the Local plan.

Our officers set out a clear work programme of what work was needed to be done and this has been kept to.

Since May last year work has been continuing to assess the potential of housing sites, which involves a technical and sustainability appraisal of each site and these sites have been sent to some 34 separate bodies for technical appraisal, including the Environment Agency, Staffordshire County Council,  Severn Trent and Natural England.

 In order to inform the long list of options for the future  ...  view the full minutes text for item 103.

(Report of the Portfolio Holder for Economy and Education)

The Report of the Portfolio Holder for Economy and Education updating members on matters relating to the implementation of the preferred future option for Tamworth Golf Course (minute 91; 23^rd January 2014) and seeking approval of recommendations relating to the implementation of the preferred option was considered.

None

None.

(Report of the Leader of the Council)

The Report of the Leader of the Council seeking approval for the Single Corporate Vision and Strategic Priorities for 2014/15, the recommended package of budget proposals and to comply with the requirement of the Council’s Treasury Management Policy in reporting to Council the proposed strategy for the forthcoming year and the Local Government Act 2003 with the reporting of the Prudential Indicators was considered.

(Report of the Leader of the Council)

The Report of the Leader of the Council providing Cabinet with a performance health-check was considered.

(Report of the Portfolio Holder for Operations and Assets)

The Report of the Portfolio Holder for Operations and Assets providing members with details of write offs from 1 April 2013 to 31 December 2013 was considered.

(Report of the Portfolio Holder for Economy and Education)

The Report of the Portfolio Holder for Economy and Education seeking approval for two grant applications was considered.

(Report of the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Waste Management)

The Report of the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Waste Management seeking Cabinet endorsement of the refreshed Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent municipal waste strategy was considered.

(Report of the Portfolio Holder for Public Housing and Vulnerable People)

The Report of the Portfolio Holder for Public Housing and Vulnerable People seeking agreement to the Councils approach to the delivery of Green Deal and the Energy Company Obligation was considered.

RESOLVED:   That members of the press and public be now excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item on the grounds that the business involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 and 3, Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

(Report of the Portfolio Holder for Public Housing and Vulnerable People)

The Report of the Portfolio Holder for Public Housing and Vulnerable People setting out the arrangements for re-designating council owned properties that have been identified as a result of implementing the Welfare Reform Act 2012 was considered.

(Report of the Leader of Council)

The Report of the Leader of the Council detailing Tamworth Borough Council’s reviewed Pay Policy Statement so that statutory guidance as set out in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 was considered.