Agenda item

(A) The following Motion to be moved by Councillor Malpas and seconded by Councillor Palethorpe:-

That Northampton Borough Council take note of the history of Little Billing Village and request that the Cabinet instructs officers of the Council:-

1. To make application for the open space in the heart of Little Billing Village which is in the Council’s ownership to be registered  as a Village Green.

2. To enter into meaningful discussions with a view to a legally binding partnership agreement with Billing Parish Council which will ensure the future maintenance of the Village Green.

3. That in future Ward Councillors,Parish Councillors and Residents Groups are to be informed in writing at least 28 days before any land disposals by this Council in areas that they represent are publicly advertised.

(B) The following Motion to be moved by  Councillor Paul Varnsverry  and seconded by Councillor R.Conroy;-

“This Council notes Northamptonshire County Council’s decision to release a further £1.5million into the highways maintenance budget.

This Council expresses concern at the disparity in highways maintenance expenditure. The average spend per head of population on roads across the county is £22.96 but in Northampton the spend is only £7.81 per head of population.

This Council draws Northamptonshire County Council’s attention to the poor state of repair,faded road markings and deteriorating condition of many roads and cycleways in Northampton,which represent an immediate danger to road users,particularly cyclists and motorcyclists and the extremely poor condition of many pavements and footpaths which are a hazard to pedestrians.

This Council requests that Northamptonshire County Council prioritises highway and footpath repairs in Northampton and allocates the highest proportion of funding to a long overdue,comprehensive repairs and renewals programme within the Borough.”

(C) The following motion to be moved by Councillor Palethorpe and seconded by Councillor Davies:-

“Public concern exists over the doubt surrounding the continuing provision offered by the Northampton Door to Door Service with the organisation having to vacate their current premises later this year and the likelihood of the service being discontinued if they cannot find appropriate accommodation.There is also a serious concern over the sustainability of the service under the current funding structure which prevents long term planning regarding the provision of vehicles.

In order to provide for a sustainable service this Council requests Cabinet to consider as a matter of urgency implementing the following actions.

        1. To enter into an appropriate 5 year Service Level Agreement with the Northampton Door to Door Service to secure both the provision of the service and agree the appropriate level of funding.

        2. Remove the Northampton Door to Door Service from the current voluntary sector funding arrangements.

        3. To transfer and ring fence the agreed level of funding for the Northampton Door to Door Service to the General Fund.

(A)  Councillor Malpas moved and Councillor Palethorpe seconded the Notice of Motion as printed under 11(A) on the agenda:-

: “That Northampton Borough Council take note of the history of Little Billing Village and request that the Cabinet instructs Officers of the Council:

1.      To make application for the open space in the heart of Little Billing Village, which is in the Council’s ownership,to be registered as a Village Green.

2.      To enter into meaningful discussions with a view to a legally binding partnership agreement with Billing Parish Council, which will ensure the future maintenance of the Village Green.

3.      That in future Ward Councillors, Parish Councillors and Residents Groups are to be informed in writing at least twenty eight days before any land disposals by this Council in areas that they represent are publicly advertised.”

         Mr Bonham then addressed the Council speaking in support of the motion stating that the village green had originally been constructed by residents of Little Billing and had been used for many village social and fundraising events over the years.  He stated that the village wished to see the green protected and asked that the Council support this motion.

        Mr Adams then addressed the Council asking for success on this motion.

         Councillor P Varnsverry then moved an amendment to the motion, which was seconded by Councillor Collins as follows: that amendment that Northampton Borough Council take note of the history of Little Billing village and would welcome an approach from Billing Parish Council with proposals for the long term future of Little Billing village green.  The words that the Cabinet instructs Officers of the Council and the remainder of the wording of the original motion would be deleted.

         The amendment was then duly discussed.

        Upon the requisition for a roll call it was recorded that there

       Voted for the amendment:- Councillors Beardsworth, S Chaudhury, Church, Collins, J Conroy, R Conroy, Crake, D’Cruz, Garlick, Glynane, Hawkins, B Hoare, Hollis, B Markham, Matthews, Meredith, Mildren, Perkins, Simpson, Pam Varnsverry, Paul Varnsvery, Woods and Yates (23).

         There voted against the amendment:- Councillors Capstick, Caswell, I Chowdray, Clarke, Davis, Edwards, Flavell, Hadland, Hill, M Hoare, Lane, Larratt, C Lill, J Lill, Malpas, Palethorpe, Scott and Tavener (18).

         Abstained, the Mayor.

         The amendment was duly carried to become the substantive motion.

         The substantive motion was then duly discussed, voted upon and carried.

At this juncture Councillor ClarkeMoved and Councillor Davies seconded that the Procedural Rules be suspended to weight the 9:30 pm guillotine ending for the ending of the Council meeting.

The motion was carried.

(B)  Councillor Paul Varnsverry moved and Councillor Conroy seconded the following motion,

 “This Council notes Northamptonshire County Council’s decision to release a further £1.5m into the Highways Maintenance Budget.

         This Council expresses concern at the disparity in Highways Maintenance expenditure.  The average spend per head of population on roads across the County is £22.96 but in Northampton the spend is only £7.81 per head of population.

         This Council draws Northamptonshire County Council’s attention to the poor state of repair, faded road markings and deteriorating condition of many roads and cycleways in Northampton which represent an immediate danger to road users, particularly cyclist and motor cyclists and the extremely poor condition of many pavements and footpaths which are a hazard to pedestrians.

         This Council requests that Northamptonshire County Council prioritises highway and footpath repairs in Northampton and allocates the highest proportion of funding to a long overdue comprehensive repairs and renewals programme within the Borough.” 

         Mr Daniel Jwanczuk then addressed the Council as Chair of Pleydell Road Residents Association and Friars Avenue Residents Association.  He expressed concern over the state of the roads and pavements in Friars Avenue stating that they were dangerous and caused problems for disabled and elderly people.  He commented that the state of the roads needed to be high on the list of priorities and that the Council Tax payers were not receiving fair and equal treatment from Northamptonshire County Council.

       The motion was then duly debated voted upon and carried. 

(C)  Councillor Palethorpe moved and Councillor Davies seconded the following motion,

 “Public concern exists over the doubt surrounding the continuing provision offered by the Northampton Door-to-Door Service with the organisation having to vacate their current premises later this year and the likelihood of the service being discontinued if they cannot find appropriate accommodation.  There is also a serious concern over the sustainability of the service under the current funding structure, which prevents long term planning regarding the provision of vehicles. 

         In order to provide for a sustainable service this Council requests Cabinet to consider as a matter of urgency implementing the following actions:

1.      To enter into an appropriate five year service level agreement with the Northampton Door-to-Door Service to secure both the provision of the service and agree the appropriate level of funding.

2.      Remove the Northampton Door-to-Door Service from the current voluntary sector funding arrangements.

3.      To transfer and ring fence the agreed level of funding from the Northampton Door-to-Door Service to the general fund.”

         Mr Grethe then addressed the Council in his capacity as the Co-Chair of the Disabled Peoples Forum.  He stated that he would be very disappointed if this motion were to be rejected and urged the Council to fully support the motion as tabled.  He stressed this service was for house bound people who relied upon it.

         Councillor J Conroy then proposed and Councillor Simpson seconded an amendment to the motion leaving the first paragraph  unchanged but deleting  the rest of the original motion and replacing it with the following  “In order to provide for a sustainable service this Council requests Overview & Scrutiny 1 to establish a Task & Finish Group to conduct an urgent enquiry into commissioning of services from the voluntary and community sector. This enquiry should look at, inter alia, the requirements of Service Level Agreements, appropriate length of contracts, performance measures and funding. 

         Further it requests the Cabinet to consider arrangements to protect and retain NDDS until a commissioning based approach is developed.”

         Followingsome discussion over the amendment it was subsequently withdrawn by Councillor Simpson.

         A vote was then taken upon the motion as set out on the agenda and carried and would be considered by Cabinet at its September meeting.