In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No 9.2 to allow Members to ask questions about Council activities. The replies to any such questions will be given by the Chair of the Council or relevant Committee or the appropriate Cabinet Member. Questions must be received in writing or by email to the Monitoring Officer by 12 pm (noon) twelve clear working days before the meeting.
The following question(s) have been submitted:-
Question ‘A’ – Councillor K Gillott to Councillor N Barker, Leader of the Council
On the 20 October residents of the Windermere Road area of Clay Cross suffered catastrophic flooding of their homes as a result of Storm Babet. Many now face the prospect of being unable to live in their homes for several months, along with huge financial costs and emotional trauma. Can the Leader of the Council tell Members what action this Authority took to help residents to deal with the crisis?
Question ‘B’ – Councillor M Foster to Councillor N Barker, Leader of the Council
Following the Leader’s commitment at the last Full Council meeting, can he confirm when and how will the minutes or notes of the council’s working group meeting on the Local plan be made available to all members and the public?
Question ‘C’ – Councillor C Cupit to Councillor N Barker, Leader of the Council
Would the Leader of the Council outline his administration's views regarding untidy and unfinished plots of land in the District?
Question ‘D’ – Councillor A Dale to Councillor N Barker, Leader of the Council
Will the Leader of the Council please confirm the administration’s current intentions with regard to the paused Parking Strategy and what is to happen with the HRA budget allocation of £280k pa to support parking improvements in estates where the Council is the principle and primary owner of properties?
Minutes:
The Chairman of the Council confirmed that four questions had been received.
Question A – Councillor K Gillott to Councillor N Barker, Leader of the Council
A question had been submitted by Councillor K Gillott to Councillor N Barker, Leader of the Council on what action the Authority has taken to help residents deal with the catastrophic flooding of their homes as a result of Storm Babet. The full text of the question from Councillor K Gillott, marked as Question ‘A’, was set out in the agenda for the meeting.
The Leader of the Council reiterated his sadness over the loss of life as well as the impact which the flooding had on people and property in the District. Councillor N Barker went on to explain that the District had received an unprecedented amount of rainfall with the Meteorological Office recording that the three day period was the wettest on record for the region. 185 homes and 10 businesses had been flooded in the District with Clay Cross, Shirland, Wingerworth, Eckington and Renishaw all being badly affected.
Council was informed that the depot at Eckington had been flooded leading to damage to the building and equipment. Councillor N Barker gave thanks to staff that worked over the weekend to clear the depot and ensure that the Street Scene were able to complete their rounds on Monday.
The Leader explained the partnership working which had taken place across Derbyshire to help people and communities affected by the floods. As part of this, he highlighted how the Council had supported residents by offering practical help by distributing sandbags and signposting to those other agencies that could offer assistance.
Council learned that after the weekend, senior officers visited the worst affected areas and the contact centre made over 100 welfare calls to residents. Staff and vehicles were also made available for the Derbyshire wide recovery effort and engineers carried out inspections on the worst affected areas in order to identify any immediate work required. The Council had also issued £44,000 in grants and offered council tax relief to over 100 households.
Councillor K Gillott gave thanks to the Managing Director and all staff that had worked on the recovery effort. He asked the Leader what measures would be put in place to ensure that this does not happen again and will he ensure that the Authority takes a leading role in the investigation that will take place following the incident.
Councillor N Barker responded that the Council would be reviewing all of the emergency planning incident responses, that they would be working alongside the flood authority as well as other partners across the County to launch a flood prevention scheme. In this context, the Leader explained that the Managing Director had written to County Council to ask that consideration be given to the creation of a north Derbyshire prevention group.
Question B – Councillor M Foster to Councillor N Barker, Leader of the Council
A question had been submitted by Councillor M Foster to Councillor N Barker, Leader of the Council on whether the minutes or notes of the Council’s working group meeting on the Local Plan will be made available to all members and the public. The full text of the question from Councillor M Foster, marked as Question ‘B’, was set out in the agenda for the meeting.
Councillor N Barker explained that the Local Plan Working Group was not a Committee of the Council and was not legally required to produce and publish minutes. However, notes of the meetings would be produced, which would form part of quarterly reports to Cabinet and the relevant Scrutiny Committees on the work of the Group. These reports would be published ahead of the scheduled meetings and would be in the public domain.
Councillor M Foster asked as a supplementary question whether the political groups would be allowed to choose their own representatives on the working group.
Councillor N Barker felt that the representation on the Group agreed by Council was appropriate and should remain in place.
Question C – Councillor C Cupit to Councillor N Barker, Leader of the Council
A question had been submitted by Councillor C Cupit to Councillor N Barker, the Leader of the Council on his administration’s views regarding untidy and unfinished plots of land in the District. The full text of the question from Councillor C Cupit, marked as Question ‘C’, was set out in the agenda for the meeting.
Councillor N Barker responded the Council would be reviewing all of their plots of land as part of the asset management and housing strategy. The review would ensure that a strategic approach was taken to selling plots. The Leader reminded Members that the Council was not responsible for maintaining privately owned land but that they could take enforcement action against plots which attracted fly tipping or rodents.
The Leader of the Council queried if Councillor C Cupit was referring to land at Priestley Avenue, Mickley. He explained what action had been taken on this.
Councillor C Cupit thanked those Officers for their work on this. She asked the Leader of the Council to commit to completing demolition work on the Green Homes grant fund demolition site in Mickley.
Councillor N Barker agreed to look into this issue and respond to Councillor C Cupit as soon as possible.
Question D – Councillor A Dale to Councillor N Barker, Leader of the Council
A question had been submitted by Councillor A Dale to Councillor N Barker, the Leader of the Council on the Administration’s intentions with regards to the paused Parking Strategy. The full text of the question from Councillor A Dale, marked as Question ‘D’, was set out in the agenda for the meeting.
Councillor N Barker explained that the funding for Strategy remained, but that a review of the Strategy was required.
Councillor A Dale asked what the Leader would say to the residents of Wingerworth, Killamarsh, Eckington, Cutthorpe and various other areas who were expecting parking intervention and would now be left in uncertainty.
Councillor N Barker reiterated that the funds were still available in the budget and that a review needed to place to ensure that the right Strategy was put in place.