Agenda item

To determine whether there are any questions for the relevant Lead Members and what support the Overview and Scrutiny Committee can give to work contained within the Plan.

51.1           Attention was drawn to the Executive Committee Forward Plan, circulated at Pages No. 11-15.  Members were asked to determine whether there were any questions for the relevant Lead Members and what support the Overview and Scrutiny Committee could give to the work contained within the plan.

51.2           A Member wished to acknowledge the visit to the modular housing factory in Nuneaton which had initially been held for Executive Committee Members and subsequently for Planning Committee Members.  He had found it extremely interesting and felt that it had a lot of potential for the future.  Another Member expressed a desire to visit the factory and the Head of Development Services indicated that others had also expressed an interest; she was sure that another visit would take place in the future and Members would be informed once any arrangements had been made.  A brief discussion ensued around the merits of modular housing and several other Members expressed the view that this was an exciting new concept which should be embraced.  The Chief Executive confirmed that the Council, and one or two registered social landlords including Severn Vale Housing Society, were all potentially interested; however, it was important to keep in mind that this was not the only product available.  The Council was currently in the process of engaging the former Deputy Chief Executive of the Homes and Communities Agency at a strategic level to take forward the work on Junction 9 of the M5 and to gain advice on the range of products and construction methods for modular homes.  There would inevitably be more information to come and Members would be kept up to date as and when there was anything further to report.

51.3           A Member noted that a ‘Tewkesbury Borough Plan Consultation’ report was due to be taken to the Executive Committee meeting on 3 January 2018 and he sought assurance that work had progressed sufficiently to achieve this date.  The Head of Development Services advised that a very productive meeting of the Tewkesbury Borough Plan Working Group had taken place earlier that day and, whilst there were a lot of detailed issues to work through, it was still the intention to go out to consultation early in the New Year. 

51.4           A Member raised concern that the Spring Gardens/Oldbury Road Regeneration item had been removed from the Agenda for the meeting on 22 November 2017 due to the need for additional resources to be brought in; she questioned what additional resources were required and when they would be introduced.  In response, the Head of Finance and Asset Management explained that the level of skill required for the detailed and complex transactions to deliver what the Council wanted for the site were not available within the authority so it would be necessary to bring in those skills.  One of the main difficulties this year was that multiple projects were being run across the Council so capacity was limited.  Discussions had taken place about the aspirations for the site, and therefore the specification that needed to be put together, and it was hoped to bring in the additional resources for the New Year with a view to moving the project forward in the spring.

51.5           It was

RESOLVED          That the Executive Committee Forward Plan be NOTED.