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 12pm (Noon) twelve clear working days before the meeting.
The following question(s) have been submitted:-
Question ‘A’ - Councillor A Dale to Councillor J Barry, Portfolio Holder for Growth and Assets
Cabinet has recently named the Council’s proposed redevelopment of the southern Avenue site as its “priority regeneration scheme” in relation to focusing officer time and resources and in terms of its promotion to partners. Can the Portfolio Holder please explain what this means for other regeneration projects such as the Barrow Hill Line, Clay Cross station, the Coalite site and much needed improvement to several of our town centres?
Question ‘B’ - Councillor N Baker to Councillor J Barry, Portfolio Holder for Growth and Assets
Cabinet has recently indicated its intention to pursue redevelopment of its southern Avenue site, including plans for hundreds of new houses, relocation of the street scene depot and a new road layout, in an area which has seen intense development in recent years. Can the Portfolio Holder confirm what consultation will take place with Wingerworth and other nearby residents, prior to any decisions being taken?
Minutes:
The Chair of the Council confirmed that two questions had been received.
Question ‘A’ - Councillor A Dale to Councillor J Barry, Portfolio Holder for Growth and Assets
A question had been submitted by Councillor A Dale to Councillor J Barry, the Portfolio Holder for Growth and Assets on what Cabinet’s decision to designate the Southern Avenue site as the priority regeneration scheme would mean for other regeneration projects. The full text of the question from Councillor A Dale, marked as Question ‘A’, was set out in the agenda for the meeting.
The Leader of the Council, Councillor N Barker responded to the question in Councillor J Barry’s absence. Councillor N Barker made clear that prioritising the Southern Avenue site would not adversely impact the other regeneration schemes. These would still be pursued as resources allowed. Rather, the prioritisation was intended to give a clear strategic steer to officers and external partners of the site’s strategic importance to the Council. In this context he quoted Section 4.4 from the report to Cabinet in March 2024 which stated that: “Identifying The Avenue as the priority regeneration project does not mean resources will not be used to deliver ongoing schemes such as Clay Cross Town Deal, Dronfield Masterplan, etc or any of the pipeline schemes [set out in the report].”
Councillor A Dale asked a supplementary question. He asked whether the Administration would continue to pursue the redevelopment Plan for Eckington, in the event that further Levelling-up or other funding became available. The Leader of the Council explained that specific problems had to be addressed in order to progress the Redevelopment Plan, but that the Administration remained committed to it. In this context Councillor N Barker explained that he had raised the matter with the elected Mayor of the East Midlands Combined County Authority, Clare Ward.
Question ‘B’ - Councillor N Baker to Councillor J Barry, Portfolio Holder for Growth and Assets
A question had been submitted by Councillor N Baker to Councillor J Barry, the Portfolio Holder for Growth and Assets about what consultation would take place with Wingerworth and other local residents about the redevelopment of the Southern Avenue site. The full text of the question from Councillor N Baker, marked as Question ‘B’, was set out in the agenda for the meeting.
The Leader of the Council, Councillor N Barker responded to the question in Councillor J Barry’s absence. He reminded Councillor N Baker that that the Southern Avenue had now been designated as a strategic site for development for more than twenty years. He also pointed out that extensive consultation had taken place on the site as part of the process for developing the current Local Plan. Under this Plan, it had been earmarked for housing development, some of which had already been delivered. Councillor N Barker made clear that any applications for further developments would be subject to the normal planning processes.
Councillor N Baker asked a supplementary question about whether a traffic impact assessment would be conducted before any decision was made to move forward with specific redevelopment, including the possible relocation of the Depot to Mill Lane.
Councillor N Barker made clear that traffic assessments would taken place as part of the process for drawing up up and determining on planning applications for the site. He stressed the importance of addressing the traffic problems at the junction of the A61 road with Mill Lane and the need to install traffic lights as a practical, lower cost solution, to the traffic problems at that junction. The Leader of the Council made clear that the Council was looking at options to relocate the Depot from its current site in Eckington, which was prone to flooding, but that no decision had been taken on this.