Agenda and minutes

5 minutes

Welcome and introduction from the Chair of the Council, Cllr Karen Walker

The Chair of Council, Cllr Karen Walker, welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies for absence had been received from:

Parish and Town Councils:

Midsomer Norton Town Council

B&NES:

Cllr Alex Beaumont

Cllr Eleanor Jackson

Cllr Hal MacFie

In the event of a fire, please await direction from venue staff who will help assist with the evacuation. 

Attendees noted the emergency evacuation procedure.

30 minutes

To include:

-  Introduction to new Head of Planning, Louise Morris

-  Local Plan Timetable

-  Empty Homes Policy Case Study

Mandy Bishop, Chief Operating Officer, Bath and North East Somerset Council advised Parish Council representatives that Bath and North East Somerset Council has agreed to sign up to the “Debate not Hate” campaign to raise public awareness of behaviour towards Councillors.

The full text of the motion can be found on the council’s democratic services webpages.

To find out more about Debate not Hate you can visit the LGA.

There will be a further update at Parish Liaison in September 2024.

Louise Morris, the new Head of Planning introduced herself and welcomed the involvement of Parish/Town Councils in the planning process.  She paid tribute to the Planning Team and invited comments/questions during the World Café session to herself and officers from Development Management, Conservation and Planning Policy.

Debbie Freeman, Empty Property Officer, B&NES advised Parish/Town Council representatives that the Council’s Empty Residential Property procedure and policy is available on the website:

She outlined a case study in a parished community to highlight the complexities of bringing an empty property back into use and advised that there was no standalone legislation in relation to empty properties.  She invited comments and questions during the World Café session.

10 minutes

Richard Maccabee, Chair of B&NES ALCA will give an update.

Richard Maccabee, Chair of BANES Avon Local Councils Association (ALCA) advised representatives about the role of ALCA in providing advice to Parish/Town Councils as well as a useful networking opportunity for Clerks/Chairs.

60 minutes

This is your opportunity to meet with Council Officers to find out more about their work and discuss queries or concerns.

There will be four tables in total – two for Planning matters; one for Housing and another for Transport Strategies linked to the Local Plan

A ‘World Café’ style session was held to give Parish/Town Councils the opportunity to meet officers.  The topics chosen were issues that ALCA and Parish representatives had requested.

Empty Properties and Housing

Debbie Freeman – Empty Property Officer, B&NES

Nick Plumley – Housing Enabling and Development Manager, B&NES

If residents have issues with rented housing, is there anything B&NES can do?  We have a Housing Standards service that those renting, either through a social housing landlord or privately, can use.

Is there any liaison with Curo and/or a Scrutiny Panel for this?  There is a quarterly meeting between B&NES Housing and Curo.

It is possible for Parishes to identify which houses are Curo’s using Parish Online.

Does the Council Tax increase for empty homes?  Yes - 200% Council Tax will be charged on properties that have been empty for between one and five years.  300% Council Tax will be charged on properties that have been empty for five years, and 400% on properties that have been empty for ten years or more.

What do we do if we are not sure that a house is empty?  Report it to the Empty Property Officer on 01225 39 64 11 or email empty_properties@bathnes.gov.uk – it can be investigated.

What if we think that the person who owns the property needs help?  Still report it to the Empty Property Officer – advice and support will be provided.

How easy is it for you to find the owner of an empty home?  We can find the majority via Council Tax records.  There is also Land Registry records and occasionally we use tracing agents.

How do you find empty homes?  They are reported to us, or we find out via Council Tax data.  We send out regular correspondence as well.  The Council Tax premium sometimes initiates engagement.

Do you deal with empty commercial property too?  Not at this time.

Do you deal with second homes?  No.

How many cases do you have?  About 280 at any one time.

Is there a geographic spread or a concentration?  There is a concentration in Bath as you would expect given that it is the most densely populated area.  There is then a general spread around the district.  Sometimes there is a high concentration in a particular community for no discernible reason.

Have you used former empty homes to help the homeless?  Yes.  We now have our own housing company - B&NES Homes - with the aim of developing new affordable housing or renovating property (eg space above shops) to create affordable housing.  We also encourage those with empty homes to bring them back into use and some have been occupied by Ukrainian refugees as well as former homeless.

Given the housing crisis, should we be lobbying the new Government on legislation to help bring empty homes back into use?  There is an Empty Homes Network which does this.  The Green Party in Bristol also recently introduced a motion on empty homes.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

5 minutes

The Chair of the Council will close the meeting.

The Chair of the Council closed the meeting and thanked everyone for attending.

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 18 September 2024 at 6.30pm in Keynsham Community Space.

The theme of the meeting will be Community Safety.

Wednesday 18 September, 6.30pm, Keynsham Community Space

The theme is Community Safety