Agenda item

To receive the following notices of motion under standing order 11.

(1)  Motion to be proposed by Councillor Mike Badcock, seconder to be notified:

That Council requests officers to convene a special Council meeting no later than the date of the annual Council meeting in May 2016 in order to grant the freedom of the Vale of White Horse district to 3 Regiment Royal Logistics Corps, 4 Regiment Royal Logistics Corps and 7 Rifles in recognition of their contribution to the service of the country and the residents of the Vale.

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(2)  Motion to be proposed by Councillor Roger Cox, seconded by Councillor Mike Murray:

This Council commends the Government’s efforts to support people in having the security and stability of owning a home of their own.

This Council welcomes the Government’s Housing and Planning Bill which will help to create a million new homeowners by 2020. The Council endorses the Bill:

·         Turning Generation Rent into Generation Buy. First-time buyers will benefit from the provision of 200,000 Starter Homes which will be available at a 20 per cent discount to first-time buyers under 40.

·         Making planning permission simpler and protecting the greenbelt. The Bill reforms complex planning legislation and grants automatic planning permission in principle on brownfield sites.

·         Selling high-value vacant council assets. Councils should make the best use of their assets, as high value council homes become empty they should be sold to fund new affordable house building in the same area. 

·         Extending Right to Buy to housing association tenants. Ending the unfairness of Right to Buy only being available to council house tenants, this will be extended to 1.3 million housing associations tenants. Homes that are sold to tenants will be replaced with new affordable homes on a one-for-one basis.

·         Giving local people more of a voice through neighbourhood planning and local plans. Shifting power from Whitehall to local people, so communities will have more of a say in planning in their local areas and where homes and businesses should be built.

This Council supports the Housing and Planning Bill, which will allow people who want to work hard to save and aspire to buy their own home achieve their dream.

(3)  Motion to be proposed by Councillor Gervase Duffield, seconded by Councillor Reg Waite:

This Council welcomes the recent announcements of the second Vale Enterprise Zone and the Garden Town initiative and calls on all parts of the Council to have regard to protecting and respecting as far as possible the rural character of the villages affected and to work to avoid an urbanised ‘greater Didcot’.

Council considered the following motions submitted under standing order 11.

(1)  Motion proposed by Councillor Mike Badcock, seconded by notified:

That Council requests officers to convene a special Council meeting no later than the date of the annual Council meeting in May 2016 in order to grant the freedom of the Vale of White Horse district to 3 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, 4 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps and 7 Rifles in recognition of their contribution to the service of the country and the residents of the Vale.

RESOLVED:

That Council requests officers to convene a special Council meeting no later than the date of the annual Council meeting in May 2016 in order to grant the freedom of the Vale of White Horse district to 3 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, 4 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps and 7 Rifles in recognition of their contribution to the service of the country and the residents of the Vale.

(2)  Motion proposed by Councillor Roger Cox, seconded by Councillor Mike Murray:

This Council commends the Government’s efforts to support people in having the security and stability of owning a home of their own.

This Council welcomes the Government’s Housing and Planning Bill which will help to create a million new homeowners by 2020. The Council endorses the Bill:

·         Turning Generation Rent into Generation Buy. First-time buyers will benefit from the provision of 200,000 Starter Homes which will be available at a 20 per cent discount to first-time buyers under 40.

·         Making planning permission simpler and protecting the greenbelt. The Bill reforms complex planning legislation and grants automatic planning permission in principle on brownfield sites.

·         Selling high-value vacant council assets. Councils should make the best use of their assets, as high value council homes become empty they should be sold to fund new affordable house building in the same area.

·         Extending Right to Buy to housing association tenants. Ending the unfairness of Right to Buy only being available to council house tenants, this will be extended to 1.3 million housing associations tenants. Homes that are sold to tenants will be replaced with new affordable homes on a one-for-one basis.

·         Giving local people more of a voice through neighbourhood planning and local plans. Shifting power from Whitehall to local people, so communities will have more of a say in planning in their local areas and where homes and businesses should be built.

This Council supports the Housing and Planning Bill, which will allow people who want to work hard to save and aspire to buy their own home achieve their dream.

Those councillors in support of the motion welcomed the initiatives to build starter homes to address the lack of affordable housing for first time buyers and to extend the right to buy programme to meet the aspirations of people to own their own home.   

A number of councillors spoke against the motion. The new starter homes would be smaller and constructed to a lower standard. Housing associations had borrowed against their housing stock and the extension of the right to buy programme would force them to sell their assets below market value and impact on their ability to borrow against their assets in the future. There was no requirement to replace the housing stock sold or to increase the rental sector. More houses were required to address the housing shortage and address the affordability issue. The Bill had missed an opportunity to build the houses required.

The chairman called for a recorded vote on the motion which was carried with the voting recorded as follows:

RESOLVED:

That Council commends the Government’s efforts to support people in having the security and stability of owning a home of their own.

This Council welcomes the Government’s Housing and Planning Bill which will help to create a million new homeowners by 2020. The Council endorses the Bill:

·         Turning Generation Rent into Generation Buy. First-time buyers will benefit from the provision of 200,000 Starter Homes which will be available at a 20 per cent discount to first-time buyers under 40.

·         Making planning permission simpler and protecting the greenbelt. The Bill reforms complex planning legislation and grants automatic planning permission in principle on brownfield sites.

·         Selling high-value vacant council assets. Councils should make the best use of their assets, as high value council homes become empty they should be sold to fund new affordable house building in the same area.

·         Extending Right to Buy to housing association tenants. Ending the unfairness of Right to Buy only being available to council house tenants, this will be extended to 1.3 million housing associations tenants. Homes that are sold to tenants will be replaced with new affordable homes on a one-for-one basis.

·         Giving local people more of a voice through neighbourhood planning and local plans. Shifting power from Whitehall to local people, so communities will have more of a say in planning in their local areas and where homes and businesses should be built.

This Council supports the Housing and Planning Bill, which will allow people who want to work hard to save and aspire to buy their own home achieve their dream.

(3)  Motion proposed by Councillor Gervase Duffield, seconded by Councillor Reg Waite:

This Council welcomes the recent announcements of the second Vale Enterprise Zone and the Garden Town initiative and calls on all parts of the Council to have regard to protecting and respecting as far as possible the rural character of the villages affected and to work to avoid an urbanised ‘greater Didcot’.

In supporting the motion a number of councillors welcomed both the second Vale Enterprise Zone and the Garden Town initiative which would secure the long term future for local communities within the district. However, it was important that these initiatives did not impact on the historical character and rural nature of the district’s villages.  Recent planning applications were, due to the density of housing proposed, threatening the traditional image of a number of villages around Didcot and the existing green space between those villages and Didcot. Measures were required to protect green spaces and prevent the coalescence of Didcot and the village settlements and to protect the rural character of the villages.

RESOLVED:

That this Council welcomes the recent announcements of the second Vale Enterprise Zone and the Garden Town initiative and calls on all parts of the Council to have regard to protecting and respecting as far as possible the rural character of the villages affected and to work to avoid an urbanised ‘greater Didcot’.