Issue - meetings

At its meeting on 6 April 2016 the Executive Committee considered a report which detailed the updated Council Plan and RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that the Council Plan be ADOPTED.

80.1           At its meeting on 6 April 2016 the Executive Committee had considered the 2016-2020 Council Plan and had recommended it to the Council for adoption.

80.2           The report that had been considered by the Executive Committee had been circulated with the Agenda for the current meeting at Pages No.40-58.

80.3           The recommendation from the Executive Committee was proposed and seconded by the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Committee.

80.4           A Member indicated that, at the Council Plan workshop which had been held for Members, he had raised concerns that the Plan did not give sufficient prominence to the environment with it seeming to bring the economy to the fore at the expense of environmental issues. He felt that climate change was of particular importance to everyone and, in his view, the new Council Plan did not do anything to address the issues surrounding this extremely important issue. He proposed, and it was seconded, that a statement be included in the Council Plan that the Council would ‘deliver houses that are carbon neutral’. The Member indicated that a third of carbon emissions came from housing stock and, in order to address this situation, the Council had to start with new dwellings being carbon neutral. In response to a query as to the Member’s definition of ‘carbon neutral’ he indicated that there had been many definitions through the years, however, a starting point was the level six sustainable homes definition. There were other definitions about developments offsetting carbon and he was happy to accommodate those in his proposal if Members so wished. A number of Members felt that this was not really something for the Council Plan as it was a national issue. It was suggested that, whilst carbon neutral homes would be a nice aspiration, it was not something that could be insisted upon. Another Member felt that the Council Plan as drafted was an excellent document and he endorsed the focus on economic development. He also drew attention to the fact that the document referred to the building of ‘sustainable communities’ which he considered covered the point made previously. 

80.5           The proposer of the amendment indicated that one of the biggest mistakes made was in thinking that the economy and the environment were exclusive which, in his opinion, they were not. He felt that the Borough should not have homes which would result in high energy prices for occupants and it had been demonstrated by Cardiff University that the costs to developers in building carbon neutral homes did not have to be higher than the cost of normal affordable properties. Upon being put to the vote the amendment was lost. Accordingly, the recommendation from the Executive Committee, which had been duly proposed and seconded, was voted upon and it was

                  RESOLVED          That the Council Plan be ADOPTED.

To recommend the Council Plan to Council for adoption.

That it be RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that the Council Plan be ADOPTED.   

95.1           The report of the Corporate Services Group Manager, circulated at Pages No. 116-134, set out the proposed Council Plan for 2016-20. Members were asked to recommend the Council Plan to the Council for adoption.

95.2           The Committee was advised that the proposed Council Plan for 2016-20 had been developed in partnership with Members over a number of months. The new priorities, set out at Paragraph 2.2 of the report, were Finance and Resources; Economic Development; Housing; and Customer Focused Services. Page No. 5 of the Council Plan set out the objectives under each of those priorities and the actions to meet those objectives were contained at Page No. 6 of the Council Plan onwards. The Corporate Services Group Manager believed that the new Plan had a real sense of ambition, particularly around its digital strategy, commercialism and growth. Delivery of the Plan would be monitored by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

95.3           The Corporate Services Group Manager explained that the Council Plan had been presented to all Members on 9 March 2016 and the feedback had generally been supportive with one Member suggesting that a priority on ‘clean and green’ should be included. Some actions around the presentation of the Plan had also been suggested and those were included in the Plan which was before Members. A list of the comments made by Members at the presentation on 9 March was attached to the report at Appendix 2 for information.

95.4           During the discussion which ensued, a Member expressed the view that his aim was to get new housing built with minimal delays and, whilst he was sometimes forceful in trying to achieve that aim, he did feel that everyone was now working together to achieve those aspirations for which he was grateful. The Chief Executive explained that he had met with the Member previously and his proposals to amend the actions relating to housing had been made which he felt made the priority clearer. One Member questioned why the wording had been amended when the point of the priority was to meet a defined need which had been imposed upon the Council by the government. In response, the Deputy Chief Executive explained that the Council Plan set out the Council’s overarching objectives for its communities. The Council wanted to provide adequate housing to meet the needs of its residents and it was felt that the simplified wording encapsulated that aim better; however, it could be changed if alternative wording was preferred. Referring to the economic development areas of the document, a Member was pleased that this was a dominant feature of the Council Plan. He indicated that, with all the new housing planned and new people coming into the Borough, economic growth for businesses was needed. 

95.5           Accordingly, it was