Agenda item

i)             Councillor Beardsworth to propose and Councillor Meredith to second:

 

“The public continue to express concern about the facilities provided for travellers using the Victoria Street Coach Terminus.

 

Council is concerned that the administration's plans for coach facilities linked to the proposed Greyfriars's Development will fail to provide the, user friendly and convenient, modern facilities coach travellers arriving in town expect and deserve.

 

We call on the Council to carry out consultation with coach users, operators and the general public to ensure that coach facilities on offer in Northampton in the future are a credit to the town rather than an indictment of this council”.

 

ii)            Councillor B Markham to propose and Councillor Beardsworth to second:

 

“Councillors from all parties have spoken recently about the crisis in social housing and there is a belief that we need to start building council houses again.

 

With this in mind, we ask the Administration to explain why the proposal from Northampton Partnership Homes to build upwards of 1, 000  council houses over the next 10 years , which they have had since September 2016 , has yet to be evaluated”.

 

iii)           Councillor Flavell to propose and Councillor Larratt to second:

 

“This Council is extremely proud of the National Leather Collection (NLC) based in Northampton - the heart of the UK’s leather and footwear industry, and congratulates the NLC Trust on establishing their new home in The Grosvenor Centre. The Collection’s history, education and heritage is of a tremendous importance to our town, and we very much look forward to it becoming accessible to the public.

 

This motion confirms this Council’s continued support for the NLC Trust in their work. Northampton Borough Council and Councillors will continue to work collaboratively with the Trust to ensure its ongoing short and long term success in town”.

 

iv)           Councillor Nunn to propose and Councillor Larratt to second:

 

“This Council notes that South Northamptonshire Council (SNC) has completed Part 2A Issues and Options stages of its Local Plan, and is now preparing the Draft Plan for consultation.

 

To address the 5 year housing land supply shortfall in the Northampton Related Development Area (NRDA), SNC has resolved to allocate a reserve development site in its Local Plan Part 2.  Two sites have been submitted to SNC’s Local Plan Call for Sites at the Issues and Options stages.  The two sites are:

 

• East Wootton – About 1,200 houses
• Land at South East Northampton – About 1,000 houses

 

This Council strongly objects to any further development to the South and South East of Northampton due to the impact it will have on local services, the lack of road infrastructure improvements and the impact on the A45 and local road network without adequate mitigation. 

 

The Upper Nene Valley Gravel Pits were approved as a Special Protection Area (SPA) in April 2011, due to the range of habitat and the varied topography of the lagoons providing valuable resting and feeding conditions for major concentrations of wintering water birds, especially ducks and waders.  The area was also designated a Ramsar site, as it regularly supports 20,000 or more water birds and regularly supports 1% of the bird individuals of Mute Swan and Gadwall.  Some species also spend time feeding and roosting on surrounding agricultural land outside the SPA.

 

Therefore, this Council also expresses concerns regarding the two sites being put forward for development as they have been identified as optimal and sub-optimal sites for Golden Plover and / or Lapwing activity.

 

This motion calls for SNC to take fully into account the views of Natural England – a statutory committee – and other relevant wildlife organisations, in developing and preparing its Local Plan, especially with regard to sites in the NRDA”.

 

v)            Councillor Haque to propose and Councillor Birch to second:

 

“This Council notes there is a growing recognition of the detrimental impact of air pollution on human health.

 

This Council believes it must be proactive in reducing air pollution where it is practical to do so.

 

In order to educate young people in our town this Council asks Cabinet to purchase air quality testing kits for each secondary school within the Borough.

 

This can help children understand the level of air pollution in their area and will provide useful data for the Borough Council to take action”.

 

vi)           Councillor Smith to propose and Councillor Ashraf to second:

 

“This Council recognises the benefits of having a “Young Mayor” and of having a youth representative to the UK Youth Parliament.

 

The benefits of a Young Mayor.

• Power and influence

• Getting youth voices heard

• Understanding and development

• New skills

 

We will work with the youth forum to develop this role.

 

The benefits of having a UK Youth Parliament representative

 

The UK Youth parliament provides opportunities for 11-18 year olds to use their elected voice to bring about social change through meaningful representation and campaigning.

 

The UK Youth Parliament, has chosen ‘votes for 16 and 17 year olds in all public elections and referenda’ as its national campaign for 2017. A ‘curriculum for life; was also chosen as the UK Youth Parliament’s priority campaign for England for a second time.

 

In January a total of 276 Members of Youth Parliament aged 11-18 took part in the debates, the subjects for which were voted for by 978,216 young people across the UK.

 

This Council recognizes it will be a benefit to have Northampton represented in the Youth Parliament”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

i)             Councillor Beardsworth proposed and Councillor Meredith seconded.

 

“The public continue to express concern about the facilities provided for travellers using the Victoria Street Coach Terminus.

 

Council is concerned that the administration's plans for coach facilities linked to the proposed Greyfriars's Development will fail to provide the, user friendly and convenient, modern facilities coach travellers arriving in town expect and deserve.

 

We call on the Council to carry out consultation with coach users, operators and the general public to ensure that coach facilities on offer in Northampton in the future are a credit to the town rather than an indictment of this council”.

 

Councillor Hadland proposed and Councillor Larratt seconded an amendment.

Amended motion read:

 

“The public continue to express concern about the facilities provided for travellers using the Victoria Street Coach Terminus.

 

This Council notes that the developer of the Greyfriars site has been fully informed about the need to provide a user friendly, convenient, modern coach facility and the Council will seek the provision of nothing less than what Northampton expects and deserves.

  

The Council will carry out consultation with coach users and operators, taxi providers and the general public to ensure that coach facilities on offer in Northampton in the future are a credit to our town”.

 

Council debated the amendment.

 

Upon a vote, the amendment was carried and became the substantive motion.

 

Council debated the substantive motion.

 

Upon a vote the motion was carried.

 

ii)            Councillor B Markham proposed and Councillor Beardsworth seconded.

 

“Councillors from all parties have spoken recently about the crisis in social housing and there is a belief that we need to start building council houses again.

 

With this in mind, we ask the Administration to explain why the proposal from Northampton Partnership Homes to build upwards of 1, 000  council houses over the next 10 years , which they have had since September 2016 , has yet to be evaluated”.

 

Councillor Hibbert proposed and Councillor Nunn seconded an amendment.

Amended motion read:

 

“Councillors from all parties have spoken recently about the crisis in social housing and there is a belief that we need to start building council houses again.

 

With this in mind, a New Housing Board, which involvesofficers of both Northampton Borough Council (NBC) and Northampton Partnership Homes (NPH), is working on a number of projects and programmes to help increase the amount of new affordable housing within Northampton.

 

NPH has progressed the regeneration of Little Cross Street with 34 units under construction. An application has also been submitted to build 45 flats for older people at Lakeview House. In the last two years the Council has acquired 15 buy-backs and spot purchases and the Council is acquiring a further 6 properties on the same basis as part of a development by a social housing provider.

 

Since 2011, the Administration has seen over 900 affordable homes completed. While some of the planned developmentshave had to be temporarily put on hold, the Council continues to work with DCLG on the possible use of Local Growth Fund borrowing to deliver further development of new homesover an extended period.

 

This Council, therefore, recognises and understandsthe need for housing on Northampton and affirms its commitment to build more council houses”. 

 

Council debated the amendment.

 

Upon a vote, the amendment was carried and became the substantive motion.

 

Council debated the substantive motion.

 

Upon a vote the motion was carried.

 

iii)           Councillor Flavell proposed and Councillor Larratt seconded.

 

“This Council is extremely proud of the National Leather Collection (NLC) based in Northampton - the heart of the UK’s leather and footwear industry, and congratulates the NLC Trust on establishing their new home in The Grosvenor Centre. The Collection’s history, education and heritage is of a tremendous importance to our town, and we very much look forward to it becoming accessible to the public.

 

This motion confirms this Council’s continued support for the NLC Trust in their work. Northampton Borough Council and Councillors will continue to work collaboratively with the Trust to ensure its ongoing short and long term success in town”.

 

Council debated the motion.

 

Upon a vote, the motion was carried.

 

iv)           Councillor Nunn proposed and Councillor Larratt seconded.

 

“This Council notes that South Northamptonshire Council (SNC) has completed Part 2A Issues and Options stages of its Local Plan, and is now preparing the Draft Plan for consultation.

 

To address the 5 year housing land supply shortfall in the Northampton Related Development Area (NRDA), SNC has resolved to allocate a reserve development site in its Local Plan Part 2.  Two sites have been submitted to SNC’s Local Plan Call for Sites at the Issues and Options stages.  The two sites are:

• East Wootton – About 1,200 houses
• Land at South East Northampton – About 1,000 houses

 

 

This Council strongly objects to any further development to the South and South East of Northampton due to the impact it will have on local services, the lack of road infrastructure improvements and the impact on the A45 and local road network without adequate mitigation. 

 

The Upper Nene Valley Gravel Pits were approved as a Special Protection Area (SPA) in April 2011, due to the range of habitat and the varied topography of the lagoons providing valuable resting and feeding conditions for major concentrations of wintering water birds, especially ducks and waders.  The area was also designated a Ramsar site, as it regularly supports 20,000 or more water birds and regularly supports 1% of the bird individuals of Mute Swan and Gadwall.  Some species also spend time feeding and roosting on surrounding agricultural land outside the SPA.

 

 

Therefore, this Council also expresses concerns regarding the two sites being put forward for development as they have been identified as optimal and sub-optimal sites for Golden Plover and / or Lapwing activity.

 

 

This motion calls for SNC to take fully into account the views of Natural England – a statutory committee – and other relevant wildlife organisations, in developing and preparing its Local Plan, especially with regard to sites in the NRDA”.

 

Council debated the motion.

 

Upon a vote, the motion was carried.

 

v)            Councillor Haque proposed and Councillor Birch seconded.

 

“This Council notes there is a growing recognition of the detrimental impact of air pollution on human health.

 

This Council believes it must be proactive in reducing air pollution where it is practical to do so.

 

In order to educate young people in our town this Council asks Cabinet to purchase air quality testing kits for each secondary school within the Borough.

 

This can help children understand the level of air pollution in their area and will provide useful data for the Borough Council to take action”.

 

Council debated the motion.

 

Upon a vote, the motion was lost.

 

vi)           Councillor Smith proposed and Councillor Ashraf seconded.

 

“This Council recognises the benefits of having a “Young Mayor” and of having a youth representative to the UK Youth Parliament.

 

The benefits of a Young Mayor.

• Power and influence

• Getting youth voices heard

• Understanding and development

• New skills

 

We will work with the youth forum to develop this role.

 

The benefits of having a UK Youth Parliament representative

 

The UK Youth parliament provides opportunities for 11-18 year olds to use their elected voice to bring about social change through meaningful representation and campaigning.

 

The UK Youth Parliament, has chosen ‘votes for 16 and 17 year olds in all public elections and referenda’ as its national campaign for 2017. A ‘curriculum for life; was also chosen as the UK Youth Parliament’s priority campaign for England for a second time.

 

In January a total of 276 Members of Youth Parliament aged 11-18 took part in the debates, the subjects for which were voted for by 978,216 young people across the UK.

 

This Council recognizes it will be a benefit to have Northampton represented in the Youth Parliament”.

 

Councillor King proposed and Councillor Golby seconded an amendment.

 

Amended motion read:

“The Northampton Borough Council (NBC) recognises the great importance of involving young people in current affairs in our town. We, therefore, have a very active and involved youth forum in Northampton and have been working with them on a large number of issues.

 

Members supported Happy Day at the racecourse, gathering feedback specifically around mental health and well-being, which has been identified by the forum as a key priority for young people. They also provided support to the Guildhall with the Heritage Tours at capacity of 120 people, the opening event of the Hate Crime Week with more than 60 people attending and the Holocaust Memorial Event. The forum has been working on several ongoing projects, including the Oral history project encouraging the crucial intergenerational integration and Hate Crime work.

Furthermore, the youth forum are holding international youth day on the 12th August and cake and debate for UK Parliament Week on 17th November.

 

The NBC, therefore, believes that having a youth mayor would undermine the youth forum chair’s position.

 

The Council, however, also recognises the calls for electing a youth representative to the UK Youth Parliament.

 

The UK Youth parliament provides opportunities for 11-18 year olds to use their elected voice to bring about social change through meaningful representation and campaigning.

 

The UK Youth Parliament, has chosen ‘votes for 16 and 17 year olds in all public elections and referenda’ as its national campaign for 2017. A ‘curriculum for life; was also chosen as the UK Youth Parliament’s priority campaign for England for a second time.

 

In January a total of 276 Members of Youth Parliament aged 11-18 took part in the debates, the subjects for which were voted for by 978,216 young people across the UK.

 

This Council confirms that it will work further with Northamptonshire County Council, who previously held the UK Youth Parliament seat, to explore the option of having Northampton represented in the Youth Parliament again”.

 

Council debated the amendment.

 

Upon a vote, the amendment was carried and became the substantive motion.

 

Council debated the substantive motion.

 

Upon a vote the motion was carried.