Minutes:
Councillor Meekins reported that there had been no questions submitted under Procedure Rule 8.6. Under Procedure Rule 8.4, Councillor Booth asked the following questions as Leader of the Opposition:
· Given the cost-of-living crisis and increasing costs associated with private rented accommodation, there is greater need for more affordable housing within the district. Given the viability issues experienced locally and the impact on provision of affordable social housing, will you commit to seeing how Fenland District Council can work with all partners to overcome these issues and explore the potential for more exception sites for people with local connections in the rural areas? Councillor Boden congratulated Councillor Booth on his appointment as Leader of the main opposition group and responded that a lack of housing overall, not just social housing, is a national problem of which all politicians are aware and say they want more homes built. However, he finds it hypocritical that at a local level around the country all too frequently all parties fight elections to stop houses being built in their area. Having said that, Fenland has quite a good record of what is potentially available as far as affordable housing is concerned. We have seven schemes coming to fruition in 2023/24, when 326 affordable new homes should be made available locally, and we currently have a further nine sites in the pipeline with 486 affordable units scheduled to be completed after 31st March 2024. Councillor Boden added that there is a need to look at all forms of affordable housing, not just affordable social housing but there is difficulty in achieving this in the form of exception sites as mentioned by Councillor Booth. However, he will invite Councillor Booth to have a discussion with himself, the Portfolio Holders for Planning and Housing together with officers to look at these issues. One major area where we can make a difference will be with the Local Plan. Councillor Boden said he sympathised with the concept of rural exception sites but one of the difficulties with that is that we do not want to have housing for people who do not have the resources for cars in areas where there is no bus service, but he will endeavour to ensure that discussion takes place before the next meeting of Full Council. Councillor Booth welcomed the commitment from Councillor Boden and said it would be remiss of him not to congratulate him on his election as Leader and the appointment of the Chairman. He added that he raised this issue because it has become more prevalent in the area; people in his ward are struggling to find alternative accommodation and the threat of homelessness hangs over them. He takes on board the point Councillor Boden made about poor bus connections, but people want to live in the communities they have grown up in and where their friends and families are.
· Following the recent announcement that FDC are purchasing the old Barclays Bank site as part of the March Regeneration Project, could Councillor Boden confirm where the decision was taken to purchase this site and the governance regarding that decision and given that it involved the purchase of a commercial building, could he confirm it was a confidential item. Councillor Boden confirmed that the decision was made as a confidential item at the Cabinet meeting on 5th September, where authorisation was given for the spend to take place. Councillor Boden added that we have an anomalous situation in that once a resolution is passed in exempt session it stays confidential until it is de-exempted, even if there is no reason for it to remain exempt. The reason that it was exempt back then was because it was commercially confidential, but now that it is not, he can advise that the amount paid was £750k. Councillor Booth thanked Councillor Boden and said there has been criticism about the purchase of this site and more broadly on the work being undertaken by the March High Street project and he believes this indicates that FDC has not adequately consulted and taken on board the views of residents, so how can we ensure that we properly consult on further changes? Councillor Booth added that as a Council, we need to bring people with us, and we have not achieved that and there is a perception that FDC is not listening to what people want. Councillor Cornwell made the point at the last meeting that we were not following our own consultation strategy, which Overview & Scrutiny has agreed needs to be revisited. Councillor Boden responded that the Council did not get the consultation quite correct, but it is not a case of asking people what they want and then delivering it as there are limitations to what can be done in a consultation. Regarding the March High Street project, the issue was not so much about the road layout, which was determined by Cambridgeshire Council, but for everything associated with that. However, clearly we still did not get that right and there are lessons to learn. In respect of the Barclays Bank site, there was no consultation because the timing and commercial confidentiality was such that there was no opportunity for that. We still do not have a purpose for it, it is a strategic site with several possibilities and no decision has been made regarding it just yet. Councillor Boden added that he regretted the way in which the issue and the timing of it was caught up in party politics in the run up to the local elections; this was not helpful in the decision-making process. He will be asking, although it may not be possible so is not making any promises, whether there is time and resources available to look again at the precise siting of the fountain in March. It may be that there is no flexibility to change that decision, and it may depend on what English Heritage says or there may be other considerations that the County Council may have but he is willing to make a start in asking officers to look at this again and getting the views from shopkeepers regarding a suitable alternative location. It would mean having to go back to Planning Committee and there would be some additional cost, but it would be worthwhile to at least ask if it is possible to do that. His understanding is that the fountain will not be relocated for at least another 12 months so there is time to look at that; we must be humble enough to accept we did not get it right, learn lessons where we need to and rectify what we can where we can if necessary. Councillor Booth said he welcomed the commitment and response from Councillor Boden and that it should provide some comfort to the people of March and the wider area that this will be looked at again.
· Finally, could we look again at the Constitution and the process for appointments to outside bodies to try and simplify the process. Some years ago, we introduced the step of asking Cabinet to approve the appointments following a review by Overview & Scrutiny, but he is not sure it is delivering what was intended at the time, which was to improve engagement with people on outside bodies. Councillor Booth suggested that the Leaders nominate once proportionality has been agreed, and then ensure a matter of bookkeeping that we have people on those bodies. He also suggested that where more spaces are allocated to an outside body than we have district councillors for that area, we look at filling those spaces with town or parish councillors as they will have better local knowledge than district councillors from another area. Councillor Boden thanked Councillor Booth and said he was correct that the process for appointments to outside bodies was agreed in 2012 and agreed it is time for that to be looked at again and he would hope that the Chairman of Overview & Scrutiny will take this up. He also agreed that the current system is overly bureaucratic and should be simplified. There is no opportunity or time to change the constitution this year before decisions have to be made but he welcomed the suggestion by Councillor Booth and is willing to look at anything that makes the running of this Council smoother and more efficient.