Minutes:
a) Question from Councillor Gowland to Councillor Upton
“As you know, the local planning authority may at any time prepare a revision of an LDO. Is the Council planning to revisit the Ratcliffe on Soar LDO given that HS2 will no longer be coming to East Midlands Parkway?”
Councillor Upton responded by stating that in his opinion the Local Development Order (LDO) was not predicated on HS2 coming to East Midlands Parkway, as when it was first discussed HS2 was coming to Toton.
b) Question from Councillor Birch to the Leader, Councillor Clarke
Was an offer made by the Conservative-led Rushcliffe Borough Council administration in 2019 to take the proposed Butt Field car park site from Bingham Town Council by either a land swap, or by accepting a land transfer from Bingham Town Council?
The Leader responded by advising that no formal offer was made, such a proposal would have to be agreed by Cabinet, with a full business case and options appraisal including financial and legal advice, and it would clearly also have to be agreed by Bingham Town Council.
The Mayor asked if Councillor Birch had a supplementary question.
Councillor Birch asked if this Council would please write and publish an open letter to the residents of Bingham and the surrounding villages that it served explaining precisely what the Rushcliffe Borough Council Conservative administration has done to attempt to fix the car parking problems in Bingham from 2011 to the present day?
The Leader advised that the supplementary question did not relate to the original question; however, he did confirm that the issue was being considered by the Borough Council’s Car Parking Strategy Group and its findings would be made known in due course.
c) Question from Councillor Plant to Councillor J Wheeler
“One of this council's Corporate Parenting commitments recently published in Councillors' Connection is " working closely with our Leisure contractors to offer free access to leisure services for care leavers”. Do we know how many care leavers have taken up the offer?”
Councillor J Wheeler responded by stating that this commitment was very important and had been discussed at the last Council meeting during the debate on the care leavers motion and he confirmed that to date 20 identified care leavers had benefitted from the scheme.
The Mayor asked if Councillor Plant had a supplementary question.
Councillor Plant stated that it was her understanding that care leavers living in Rushcliffe were exempt from Council Tax payments up to the age of 25 and asked if that was correct.
Councillor J Wheeler advised that the Council did have a Council Tax reduction schemein place for care leavers and so far 46 had received that, which totalled over £100k and in respect of the exemption, Councillor Wheeler confirmed that he would supply those details as he did not have them to hand.
d) Question from Councillor Chewings to the Leader, Councillor Clarke
The Leader responded by advising that the Borough Council would not be submitting a corporate response as the whole point of the consultation was to allow individual responses, and emphasised that anyone could respond, not just those in receipt of a concession.
The Mayor asked if Councillor Chewings had a supplementary question.
Councillor Chewings stated that given the significant implications that this might impose on the community, would Councillor Clarke join him in urging Nottinghamshire County Council to extend the consultation deadline to the end of January 2024, and to proactively engage with concessionary pass holders, by writing to them directly about the consultation and how they might engage with it.
The Leader reiterated his previous comments that the consultation was for individuals to respond to, it was open to anyone, and he felt that to write to concessionary holders would discriminate against anyone else. The Leader confirmed that it was for the County Council to decide if it wished to extend the deadline.