Agenda item

Carried Motions on Notice - Predecessor Councils

The Committee to consider the carried motions from the predecessor councils of the West Northamptonshire area for the previous six years.

Minutes:

Members considered the Carried Motions on Notice from the Predecessor Councils and agreed the motions to be adopted on the work programme for West Northants Council’s (WNC) Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

 

·       To encourage developments in which NBC is directly involved to consider having accessible toilets that meet the standards set by the “Changing Places” campaign.

 

·       To strongly object 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. To express concern at sites in East Wootton and South East Northampton being put forward for development in SNC’s Local Plan. To call on SNC to take account of views from Natural England and other wildlife organisations in developing its Local Plan.

 

·       To continue and increase SNC’s effort to ensure planning permission for the Towcester ‘relief road’ meets Highways England’s standard for adoption and lobby government to ensure Towcester gets an adopted bypass, and lobby government to have the A5 de-trunked through the town at the earliest possible date.

 

·       To continue a review of sprinkler systems in 10 Northampton Partnership Homes buildings. To undertake an urgent review of the planning policy with regard to residential developments and provisions for sprinkler systems in all new residential buildings of 5 storeys or above. To review the possible need for two separate stair cases to exit tower blocks. To ask NPH to provide tenants of tower blocks with fire safety training.

 

·       To agree to take specified actions to reduce the risk from housing developments that established management companies to manage open spaces and amenities below the standard for adoption and with no democratic oversight or accountability.

 

·       To recognise that there are significant concerns regarding the establishment of Managed Agencies on new developments. To urge our MPs raise this matter with the Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government to work towards regulating Managed Agencies.

 

It was recognised that a number of inherited motions on notice would be reviewed by the Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee as plans and policies were developed or were included on the WNC 2021/2022 work programme:

 

Climate Change Plan

·       To agree to implement any recommendations from the current Scrutiny Review concerning Air Quality in The Drapery. To note that the Administration is working with partners to address the abuse by motorists of the Traffic Regulation Orders applying to The Drapery and are pursuing other measures to enable improved vehicle flows.

 

·       To establish a Scrutiny and Improvement task panel to investigate whether DDC is doing all that it can to minimise its impact upon the environment and examine how DDC, through its actions, can provide leadership to local communities in seeking ways of reducing harmful emissions.

 

·       To agree to declare a Climate Emergency in Northampton and commit to making it carbon neutral by 2030. To request a report at the start of 2020 setting out action taken and how the aim has been included in the start-up plans for West Northamptonshire Council.

 

·       To declare a Climate Emergency in Northamptonshire and commit to a target of making Northamptonshire carbon neutral by 2030. This Council further commits to work with partners to deliver that goal. This Council calls upon its successor councils to continue this work once they come into existence.

 

·       To call on NBC to work with public transport operators, NCC and the government to improve air quality by taking specified actions to reduce the use of diesel powered buses and coaches in the area, reduce cars idling, and establish car-free zones around schools where possible.

 

·       To establish a scrutiny working group to assess the existing carbon footprint of the district and review potential actions and associated cost estimates this Council could take to limit the effects of climate change in South Northamptonshire. To call upon its successor West Northamptonshire Council to continue this work once it comes in existence.

 

·       To commit to searching for best ways to encourage and work with local organisations, residents and businesses across the borough to see how they can make a difference to the environment through all relevant technologies, including options to switch to green energy companies.

 

Tree Policy and Strategy

·       To call for a transformation of underused urban spaces across Northampton. To develop a tree planting strategy that will replace the number of trees that are being felled or have died. To increase the number of trees in the town to create a cleaner, greener Northampton.

 

·       To call for a transformation of underused urban spaces across our county, to be planted with new trees to help the future generations enjoy what many of us have taken for granted. To request the initial work to form a joint plan for wider scale reinstatement of street trees as part of the move to Unitary.

 

·       To call on NBC to develop an up to date Tree Policy.

 

Road Safety

·       To agree to work closely with developers, academies and trusts to make sure, where possible, schools that are being built in the county don’t build-in the traffic problems that are such a feature of many existing schools. To promote some of the excellent best practice examples already established in many schools across the county to help alleviate issues around drop off time in both existing and new schools.

 

Spatial Options

·       To require that all further development sites, not currently included within the West Northamptonshire Joint Core Strategy, but attributed to the growth of Northampton, are concentrated in the vicinity of the proposed Northern Orbital Road so that they can contribute to the delivery of this much needed infrastructure and secure its early delivery.

 

Re-cycling and Waste Contract Review

·       To investigate and recommend innovative models for the recycling of cans and bottles that can be available in locations across the borough. The model recommended should educate, entertain and encourage the process of recycling.

 

·       To agree to take specified actions to enable Northampton to lead an eco-friendly Britain relating to plastic waste and recycling, environmental education, a reward scheme to encourage recycling, and use of the planning process to encourage developers to consider low carbon developments.

 

Social Value Policy

·       To agree to promote membership of the “Making It” and “Made in Britain” campaigns to local companies; to continue to encourage potential manufacturers to site within Northampton; and to use local suppliers wherever possible and cost effective to support the local economy.

Resolved that: the condensed list of motions, taken from the ‘Carried Motions on Notice from the Predecessor Councils’, be incorporated in the work programme for West Northants Council’s (WNC) Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

 

Supporting documents: