Agenda item

i)                 Councillor Stone to propose and Councillor Ashraf to second:

“Covid-19 has thrown into relief the need for more, for bigger, for better community hubs.

The pandemic has made already vulnerable households ever more vulnerable. Community groups like Revolution Zero CiC, and Zimwomen with the United African Association, have worked really hard to keep marginalised households fed.

Their success has brought its own pressures. Both organisations need food storage spaces as well as distribution points.

Socially isolated older people need safe spaces where they can engage with each other and carry out activities safely. We need general day centres and specialist day centres, like an African Centre, where the needs of all our communities can be safely met.

Young people need safe spaces where they can engage with each other and carry out activities safely. The need for a youth centre has never been greater.

We need to rethink our relationship with the voluntary sector.  We need to see them as the warp and weft of our communities. These are the organisations and the people that are keeping our communities going. They all need premises. We call on the council to work with all these agencies to create a community hub with shared storage and safe meeting spaces.”

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

“We are alarmed at the Government’s proposal to give additional development rights to developers. The proposal will bypass the planning system and lead to development that is neither strategic nor of good quality.

The housing crisis and the climate emergency means we need affordable, good quality, energy efficient homes.

We therefore call on the Council to write to Government expressing our concern at their proposal for deregulation.

We further call on the council to take all necessary steps to ensure that where housing is developed on commercial sites under the new regulations, that 35% of the housing is affordable and all are of a quality consistent with our aspiration to provide the best we can.”

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

“Council notes:

1.     The publication by Government of the White Paper, ‘Planning for the Future’ on 6 August 2020, which sets out proposals on reforms to the planning process for the future.

2.     That the vast majority of planning applications are given the go ahead by local authority planning committees, with permission granted to around 9 out of 10 applications.

3.     That research by the Local Government Association has said that there are existing planning permissions for more than one million homes that have not yet been started.

 Council is concerned that the proposals seek to:

1.     Reduce or remove the right of residents to have their say on applications in their communities.

2.     Grant automatic rights for developers to build on land identified as ‘for growth’.

3.     Remove section 106 payments for infrastructure and their replacement with a national levy.

This Council Further Notes:

1.     The Royal Institute for British Architects called the proposals ‘shameful and which will do almost nothing to guarantee delivery of affordable, well-designed and sustainable homes’. RIBA also said that proposals could lead to the next generation of slum housing.

2.     The reforms are opposed by the all-party Local Government Association,

We therefore ask the Chief Executive to write to the Minister of State for Housing & Planning and to our local Members of Parliament expressing our concerns.”

iv)             Councillor Hill to propose and Councillor King to second:

“This council supports the Government’s ‘Kickstarter scheme’, helping create jobs for young people in Northampton, putting them at the heart of the town’s economic revival from the Covid-19 pandemic.  We call upon local businesses to sign up to providing quality, 6-month, subsidised work placements for those aged 16-24 on Universal Credit, helping give them on the job training and experience to launch them into a career. We cannot allow young people to be left behind as a result of the pandemic, and schemes like this will be vital for creating jobs and giving young people the skills to access them.  We encourage local employers to sign up today.”

i)                 Councillor Stone proposed and Councillor Ashraf seconded:

“Covid-19 has thrown into relief the need for more, for bigger, for better community hubs.

The pandemic has made already vulnerable households ever more vulnerable. Community groups like Revolution Zero CiC, and Zimwomen with the United African Association, have worked really hard to keep marginalised households fed.

Their success has brought its own pressures. Both organisations need food storage spaces as well as distribution points.

Socially isolated older people need safe spaces where they can engage with each other and carry out activities safely. We need general day centres and specialist day centres, like an African Centre, where the needs of all our communities can be safely met.

Young people need safe spaces where they can engage with each other and carry out activities safely. The need for a youth centre has never been greater.

We need to rethink our relationship with the voluntary sector.  We need to see them as the warp and weft of our communities. These are the organisations and the people that are keeping our communities going. They all need premises. We call on the council to work with all these agencies to create a community hub with shared storage and safe meeting spaces.”

Council debated the motion.

Upon a vote, the motion was lost.

ii)               Councillor Haque accepted an alteration to the original motion as published on the agenda. The altered motion was seconded by Councillor Birch.

“We are alarmed at the Government’s proposal to give additional development rights to developers. The proposal risks a will bypass of the planning system and potentially leading to development that is neither strategic nor of good quality.

The housing crisis and the climate emergency means we need affordable, good quality, energy efficient homes.

We therefore call on the Council to write to Government expressing our concern at their proposal for deregulation.

We further call on the council to take all necessary steps to ensure that where housing is developed on commercial sites under the new regulations, that 35% of the housing is affordable and all are of a quality consistent with our aspiration to provide the best we can.

We note the cross-Party support from this Council to the substance of this motion and that of the detail in Motion III, and in addition, that the Local Government Association have also raised concerns regarding how it may restrict the decision making that local authorities have in future planning applications and developments.”

Council debated the motion.

Upon a vote, the motion was carried.

iii)              Councillor B Markham accepted an alteration to the original motion as published on the agenda. The altered motion was seconded by Councillor Beardsworth.

Council notes:

1.     The publication by Government of the White Paper, ‘Planning for the Future’ on 6 August 2020, which sets out proposals on reforms to the planning process for the future.

2.     That the vast majority of planning applications are given the go ahead by local authority planning committees, with permission granted to around 9 out of 10 applications.

3.     That research by the Local Government Association has said that there are existing planning permissions for more than one million homes that have not yet been started.

Council is concerned that the proposals seek to:

1.     Reduce or remove the right of residents to have their say on applications in their communities.

2.     Grant automatic rights for developers to build on land identified as ‘for growth’.

3.     Remove section 106 payments for infrastructure and their replacement with a national levy.

This Council Further notes:

1.     The Royal Institute for British Architects called the proposals ‘shameful and which will do almost nothing to guarantee delivery of affordable, well-designed and sustainable homes’. RIBA also said that proposals could lead to the next generation of slum housing.

2.     The reforms are opposed by the all-party Local Government Association.

We note the cross-Party support from this Council to the substance of this motion and that of the detail in Motion II, and in addition, that the Local Government Association have also raised concerns regarding how it may restrict the decision making that local authorities have in future planning applications and developments.

We therefore ask the Chief Executive to write to the Minister of State for Housing & Planning and to our local Members of Parliament expressing our concerns.”

Council debated the motion.

Upon a vote, the motion was carried.

iv)             Councillor Hill proposed and Councillor King seconded:

“This council supports the Government’s ‘Kickstarter scheme’, helping create jobs for young people in Northampton, putting them at the heart of the town’s economic revival from the Covid-19 pandemic.  We call upon local businesses to sign up to providing quality, 6-month, subsidised work placements for those aged 16-24 on Universal Credit, helping give them on the job training and experience to launch them into a career. We cannot allow young people to be left behind as a result of the pandemic, and schemes like this will be vital for creating jobs and giving young people the skills to access them.  We encourage local employers to sign up today.”

Council debated the motion.

Upon a vote, the motion was carried.