Agenda and minutes

Question 1 – Is the Schools capital improvements linked to the ring-fenced budget?

Answer - The Capital programme is separate from the revenue budget.

Question 2 – Is the CIL funding accounted for in the revenue budget?

Answer – No.  The CIL funding is linked to development.  The Council will not commit to spending money before it has been received.

Question 3 – How is Capital expenditure identified?

Answer – These funds are raised in a number of ways including borrowing, capital receipts from the sale of property/land and Section 106/CIL monies.

Question 4 – Is the Council obligated to selling high value assets?  

Answer – No.  The Government is proposing a new Housing Bill that relates to right to buy.  The Council is waiting to hear further information about the implications of the Bill.  The Council does not hold any social housing, only a small number of private dwellings.

Question 5 – Why is the Council setting up its own property company?

Answer – It is the most tax efficient way.  The Council will sell its assets to the property company.  The Council has always had a large commercial estate so this is not something new.  It is the largest landlord in the city of Bath.

Questions 6 – Will the Council own property in North Quays?

Answer – The Council will own the freehold.

Question 7 – Is the Bath Quay Bridge already paid for?

Answer – yes

Question 8 – Has the Heritage Lottery grant for the Archway project been confirmed?

Answer – No. The Council is awaiting a decision on the application. 

Question 9 – Is there a limit on how much the Council can borrow?

Answer – Yes.  The Council has set the capital borrowing limit of £220 million.  Current borrowing is at the value of £150 million.

Question 10 – Will the Council enter into a PFI agreement?

Answer – No. The Council will ensure it gets the best possible deal on its borrowing. 

Question 11 – The old King Edwards School building on Broad Street has remained vacant for many years.  Are there any planned to redevelop this site?

Answer – The building is in private ownership.  It is not currently top of the property list for Compulsory Purchasing Order (CPO). 

Question 12 – How will the Council seek to a make CCTV commercial?

Answer – The Council will allow organisations to buy into its operations.  An example given was Network Rail have CCTV in its stations and the platforms.  These cameras could be linked to the Council’s CCTV control room which are monitored 24 hours.  The Council would charge for this service, thereby reducing its own operation costs.

Question 13 – How does the Council manage its budgets from Adult and Social Care and the NHS?

Answer – The Council has pooled and aligned budgets so there is better integration between the delivery of health and social care services and the commissioning of services.  There is also a focus on prevention in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.

Question 1 – Why have we joined in with the other three local authorities?

Answer – The Localism Bill 2012 ensured all councils had a duty to co-operate.  The area has close links with Bristol and the Council is part of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).  The Council is also talking to Wiltshire and Mendip to ensure there is an agreed strategic approach to development. 

Question 2 – Will the Strategy take account of new innovative technologies such as self-drive cars?

Answer – Yes the Joint Spatial Plan brings together transport, housing and employment and they will be looking at new technologies and innovation as part of the process.

Question 3 – It is important that there is a meaningful transport plan to avoid ‘small thinking’ as there is a major inefficiency in our infrastructure (lack of Bristol ring road).

Answer – It is important to be strategic, be innovative and response to the population growth.

Question 4 – The option to retain the Greenbelt will expose areas in our district such as Somer Valley and villages like Timsbury. 

Answer – This option is not sustainable as it does not have sufficient transport links.  This is a choice that could be made.  This is only one of a number of possible options. 

Question 5 – How do we protect some of the villages from further development?

Answer – Currently the Core Strategy sets out the housing development allocations.  If villages have already achieved their housing allocations there would be a reason for refusal. 

Question 6 – Could the Green Belt allocation be changed? 

Answer – Yes.  There will be a review of the green belt as part of the JSP.  The Council has just completed a review of its green belt.  If it was decided to change the green belt there would have to be a justification and land would have to be allocated elsewhere.  At this point in the consultation everything is an option for consideration.

Question 7 – Clutton has just completed their Neighbourhood Plan.  One of the options includes more development in Clutton is this correct and how will their Neighbourhood Plan be affected by these changes?

Answer – The options presented are not agreed they provide an example of where development could be allocated. The JSP over-rides everything.  It is a strategic level document, the allocations will be made through the Core Strategy.

Question 8 – Will the JSP ensure the build quality? 

Answer – The quality of the build is part of the planning process.  The government has put a lot of standards into planning.  The planning authority does its best to ensure it obtains the best quality housing.  However the development needs to be economically viable and therefore it is sometimes difficult to get the best quality.