Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the proceedings of the Meeting of the Council held on 25^th February 2005 (to be circulated at the meeting) .

The minutes of the proceedings of the meeting of the Council held on 25 February 2005, copies of which were circulated, were signed by the Mayor.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Allen, I Markham and Miah.

The Mayor announced that there would be three matters of urgency one of which would be taken immediately after this item.  The others would be taken as usual under item 10.

The Mayor referred to his announcement about the Northampton Sea Cadets Unit at the last Council meeting and advised that they had been awarded the Canada Trophy for the best annual performance of Sea Cadets out of over 400 Sea Cadet Corps in the Country.  This was a magnificent achievement and he advised that he intended to have a reception in the Guildhall for them in the near future.

The Mayor then referred to the matter of urgency and called upon Councillor Michelle Hoare to make a personal statement.

Councillor M Hoare then read out a personal statement which essentially advised that she would in future be representing the Delapre Ward as a Conservative Councillor rather than a Liberal Democrat Councillor.

RESOLVED: That Mr Swinn, Mr Marsh and Mr Winder be permitted to address the Council in respect of the Notices of Motion 7(a) and (b) regarding the tenants participation panel and that Mrs Howard, Mrs Allinson and Mr Ansell be permitted to address the Council in respect of the Notice of Motion under item 7(c) on the agenda regarding Abington Park toilets.

At this juncture Councillor Barron moved and Councillor Hadland seconded that Procedural Rules be suspended to vary the order of business to enable the Notices of Motion to be considered as the next item in view of the fact that members of the Public were present with regard to these items.

NB  Councillor Hope declared an interest in respect of the Notices of Motion under 7(a) and (b) and withdrew from the meeting whilst the issues were under discussion.

(A)   The following motion ti be moved by Councillor Palethorpe and seconded by Councillor Hadland;-

“This Council supports the investigation and future development of a tenant management organisation as a continuation of housing policy to ensure that whatever the housing option appraisal chosen Northampton Borough Council housing tenants will be formally involvedas participants in the future delivery of the housing service.

In supporting this motion the Council recognises and thanks those individual tenants and leaseholders contribution through the customer panel focus groups to the improvement in the housing service recently recognised by the Audit Commission.”

(B)   The following motion to be moved by Councillor Beardsworth and seconded by Councillor Crake;-

 “This Council appreciates the past work of members of the tenants participation panel, and thanks all members for the work they have done in support of all housing tenants.

This Council regrets the suspension of the panel during the critical period of the housing options appraisal.

 This Council requests the formation of a new tenants participation panel at the earliest opportunity. The panel should be on a properly constituted basis that is representative of and fully accountable to our tenants.

This Council requests a report to overview and scrutiny committee 6 on the circumstances of the suspension of the panel and that committee is given the opportunity to overview proposals to reform the panel before they are agreed by the executive.

© The following motion to be moved by Councillor B.Hoare and seconded by Councillor Hollis;-

“This Council recognises that it does not have a statutory duty to provide public toilets in its parks and open spaces. However to promote wide public use of the parks and open spaces and to encourage healthy living consideration of the needs in individual parks has to be given.

Abington Park is the Premier Park in Northampton with a wide range of sporting facilities as well as high usage for family outings and as a tourist attraction. This Council resolves that the provision of toilets in this park is essential.

This Council deplores the current lack  of operational toilets in Abington Park and requests that the executive takes action to ensure that public toilet provision is available in the park by Easter this yeat.

This Council requests a full review of public toilet provision within the Council’s parks to ensure that there is a planned availability of clean and vandal free toilets.”

(C)   The following motion to be moved by Councillor Barron and seconded by Councillor Marriot;-

 “This Council deplores the proposal to convert the Northampton Crown Post Office in St.Giles Street to a franchise operation from August 2005 This franchise could see the loss of a Crown Post Office in Northampton if in the future the private operator decides to cease trading.

This Council believes that the recent Post Office Urban Network Reinvention Programme has already had a detrimental effect on local communities and is alarmed to hear that independent research published recently acknowledges that privatised offices offer worse customer services.

Furthermore this  ...  view the full agenda text for item 7.

At this juncture Messrs Swinn, Marsh, Winder and Adams addressed the Council with regard to the notices of motion under 7(a) and (b) commenting on the tenants panel and the fact that they considered that a tenant management organisation was a way forward but it needed to stressed that this should be led by tenants.

(A)  Councillor Palethorpe moved and Councillor Hadland seconded that procedural rules be suspended to enable the following motion to be debated.

The motion was carried.

Councillor Palethorpe then moved and Councillor Hadland seconded the motion as set out under item 7(a) on the agenda as follows:-

“This Council supports the investigation and future development of a Tenant Management Organisation as a continuation of housing policy to ensure that whatever the housing option appraisal chosen, Northampton Borough Council tenants will be formally involved as participants in the future delivery of the housing service.

In supporting this motion the Council recognises and thanks those individual tenants and leaseholders contribution through the customer panel focus groups to the improvement in the housing service recently recognised by the Audit Commission”.

Councillor Barron then moved and Councillor Roy seconded an amendment to the motion by the addition of the following at the end of the first paragraph:-

“And in accordance with Standing Order 6.6.1 this matter stands referred to Overview and Scrutiny Committee 6 for its consideration into the Investigation and Development of policy around Tenant Management Organisations”.

Councillor Palethorpe duly accepted the amendment.

The amendment was then voted upon and carried to become the substantive motion.

A vote was then taken upon the substantive motion and carried.

(B)  Councillor Beardsworth then moved and Councillor Crake seconded the following motion as printed under item 7(b) on the agenda:-

“This council appreciates the past work of members of the Tenants participation panel, and thanks all members for the work they have done in support of all housing tenants.

This council regrets the suspension of the panel during the critical period of the Housing Options Appraisal.

This Council requests the formation of a new tenants participation panel at the earliest opportunity.  The panel should be on a properly constituted basis that is representative of and fully accountable to our tenants.

This council requests a report to Overview and Scrutiny Committee 6 on the circumstances of the suspension of the panel, and that committee is given the opportunity to overview proposals to reform the panel before they are agreed by the executive.”

The motion was carried.

(C )  At this juncture Mr Ansell the proprietor of the Abington Park Café and Mrs J Allinson Acting Secretary of Friends of Abington Park and Mrs Howard addressed the Council all in support of the motion under item 7(c ) regarding Abington Park Toilets and requesting that the toilet facilities in Abington Park be made operational as soon as possible.

Councillor B Hoare then moved and Councillor Hollis seconded the motion as set out under item 7(c ) on the agenda:-

“This Council recognises that it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To receive the Minutes of the Executive and Committees contained in the booklet herewith.

(a)  OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEES.

The meetings of the following Overview and Scrutiny Committees – Planning, Transportation and Regeneration held on 2 December 2004, Community Safety and E-Government held on 4 January, Financial Strategy and Performance held on 6 January and Health and Environmental held on 12 January 2005 were moved on en-bloc and duly adopted.

Councillor Mason then proposed and Councillor Patterson seconded that Procedural Rule 4.4.3 be suspended to enable a motion of future policys to be considered.

The motion was carried.

Councillor Mason then moved and Councillor Patterson seconded:-

“This Council appreciates the need for a skateboard park in Northampton East and following extensive consultation and scrutiny of the proposal will ensure that the building of the Skateboard Park is completed by the end of June 2005 in time for the summer holidays

.”

It was clarified by the proposer that following extensive consultation  the site should be that referred to as 2A

The motion was voted upon and carried.

b)  LICENSING COMMITTEE held on 25 January 2005.  A motion that the minutes as presented be adopted was carried.

(c )  EXECUTIVE held on 10 January and 31 January 2005.It was moved that the recommended items of the 31 January minutes with regard to the Service Delivery Budget-item 6(a) and the Treasury Management Policy and Strategy Statements - item 6 (c) as presented be adopted.  A motion that the minutes as presented be adopted was carried.

(d)  TREE PANEL held on 12 January 2005.  A motion that the minutes as presented be adopted was carried.

(e)  PLANNING COMMITTEE held on 5 January and 2 February 2005.  A motion that the minutes as presented be adopted was carried.

Councillor Hollis asked Councillor J Lill as the Portfolio holder whether she could clarify the black bag collections on Boughton Green Road.  Councillor J Lill advised that there had been a problem with some dwellings in Boughton Green Road not receiving regular collections which because of access limitations were still black bag collections.  Collections in the area predominately were made using the wheeled bin system and these properties had been missed.  The dwellings had been added to the hard to access collection round and would be monitored to ensure the service was received by the householders concerned.

Councillor Simpson asked a number of questions of Councillor J Lill as the relevant Portfolio holder with regard to new changing facilities on the Racecourse.  The questions were whether the Portfolio holder was satisfied that adequate consultation had taken place with Park users and Local Councillors regarding proposed plans for a new building on the Racecourse, whether she could explain what the Council would do with the existing changing rooms and the remaining derelict and underused buildings on the parks such as the central depot, whether she would accept the input of Borough Councillors from the 3 wards surrounding the Racecourse to ensure that the development was workable and solved the problems on the Racecourse and whether she could say what had happened regarding the proposed five year plan for the Racecourse which was passed as a policy of this Council in October 2003.  Councillor J Lill responded by advising that she was satisfied that adequate consultation had taken place and elaborated upon that consultation accordingly.  With regard to the existing changing rooms and remaining derelict and underused buildings she advised that it was proposed that the lower level of the existing pavilion was to be developed as a Community facility and potential learning centre.  Friends of the Racecourse had proposed that the central depot currently used for storage should be demolished and a new café type facility built on that location.  The other smaller building fronting the Pavilion was currently used by the ranger service and there were no plans to alter these buildings at present.  She confirmed that she and Officers would welcome any input from the surrounding Ward Councillors to ensure that the facility could be developed to its full potential and in terms of the five year plan she confirmed that Officers had been working with the Friends of the Racecourse in developing the park.  She elaborated further upon this stressing that there had been liaison with Friends of Racecourse to actively encourage more community involvement and that it was now becoming a true community led facility in partnership with the Council.

Councillor Wire then asked a question of Councillor J Lill as the relevant Portfolio holder.  He asked whether some measures could be put in place to stop vehicles using a bridge on land between Briar Hill and St James.  He stated that over the two years some hundred stolen vehicles had been recovered from this land many  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Council received a report, copies of which were circulated at the meeting, detailing the progress on recent notices of motion.  Councillor Pritchard referred to the fair trade issue commenting that currently it was the middle of the fair trade fortnight.  She asked whether Borough events such as the Balloon Festival could be used to promote Northampton as a Fair Trade town.

Councillor Wire asked whether in future the names of the proposers and seconders of the motions could be included in the details on the report.

Councillor Roy referred to the motion on the closure of the housing sector for 16 weeks commenting that it was not about the closure but about the governance issues.

This item was deferred.

(a)  APPOINTMENT OF MONITORING OFFICER.

Consideration was given to a report, copies of which were circulated at the meeting, recommending the appointment of Francis Fernandes Chief Solicitor as the Council’s Monitoring Officer during the period of transitional authority.  Some members expressed concern that as the report had been circulated at the meeting they had not had sufficient time to consider it properly.

RESOLVED: That a further report be submitted to the next meeting of the Council to enable it to receive due consideration but that in the interim until the next Council meeting Francis Fernandes Chief Solicitor be appointed as the Council’s Monitoring Officer.

(b)  Consideration was given to a report, copies of which were circulated at the meeting, recommending as an urgent temporary measure the further adjustment of the existing delegations to Officers to formally validate their exercise by the new Directors and/or the relevant current Section Manager in respect of those functions for which they are responsible.  Again concerns were expressed by some members that they had not had sufficient time to consider this report.

RESOLVED:That a further report on delegations to Officers be submitted to the next meeting of the Council and that in the interim until the next Council meeting approval be given to the further adjustment of the existing delegations to Officers to formally validate their exercise by the new Directors and/or the relevant current section manager in respect of those functions for which they are responsible.