Minutes:
Leader of the Council
“Thank you Chair, I do have a brief update for Members. First in Place Enhancement, the Discover Ashfield, which everybody I hope is recognising, the private sector led Board for the District continues to work proactively for the good of the area. We are recruiting Discover Ashfield Ambassadors from businesses, the community and/or the visitor sectors who will promote the District.
Where we lead, others are now following. The Discover Ashfield Action Plan has been reviewed and a delivery group has been set up to deliver the plan.
The new branding has been successfully used on an empty shop unit in Central Walk in Hucknall Town Centre and will be rolled out to partners in February.
I’m delighted to report that Kirkby is getting its town clock back. The clock is currently being restored and will be put near to the Nags Head with a celebration and unveiling due to take place by the end of March.
With economic growth we are pleased to announce the following new business units that have been approved recently which will continue to grow the local economy. We’ve approved three new units at Castlewood off the A38, measuring approximately 23,000 square metres, 19,000 square metres and 7,000 square metres respectively.
Five new units at Aerial Way, Hucknall measuring 155 square metres, 230 square metres, 240 square metres, 590 square metres and 740 square metres. Therefore, Madam Chairman that is a total of 8 new units with total approximate floor space of 51,000 square metres of industrial and warehousing floor space new to this District.
I continue to work with potential inward investment and investors whose interests necessarily must remain confidential, but I am pleased to see that the Byron Cinema in Hucknall has now been bought by a private sector cinema operator who intends to bring it back into use as a four-screen cinema. We’ve held early discussions with the company whose intentions are to blend commercialism with heritage and I hope they are able to open by the end of 2019. I wish them every success in their venture, it’s a piece of great news for Hucknall Town Centre.
While we are talking about town centres the Future High Street’s fund; officers are currently pulling together a list of potential projects that might benefit from the Future High Street’s funding. As a District we are only permitted to submit one bid, we will therefore focus this time on Sutton Town Centre in order to improve the local economy and make it a destination for retail, leisure and residential.
In pulling together a bid we have been helped greatly by the positive support of the Discover Ashfield Board, in particular the private and voluntary sector members.
Town Centres and Markets - Working in partnership with the town teams we will be running regular promotions in the town centres to support local retailers in order to increase awareness and footfall. In April and May, Café Culture Week will be running across our three town centres and there will be several “Love Your Market” and “Shop Local” weeks throughout the year. “Micro Pub” week and “Ashfield Ale Trail” are now planned for August with crafting in October, followed of course by our ever popular shop window competitions at Christmas.
Idlewells Indoor Market is now….well actually Madam Chairman, my report says that 78% were occupied as at the end of January. I can confirm today we’ve taken on another stall in the indoor market and we are miles ahead of our funder’s target which was 75% occupancy by the end of March this year. Members will know that the indoor market is now going from strength to strength.
With the Planning portfolio, we published our new Local Development Scheme in November, which sets out the timeline for producing the new Local Plan. Our next step was to issue a call for landowners to put forward sites that they wish to be considered for inclusion in the new plan. This took place throughout January with a mid-March deadline. Officers are working up a detailed timetable to work with Members to develop the new vision and options for future development and build a revised evidence base for the new Plan.
The new design guide for conversion of retail premises into residential was approved at Cabinet in January and we now start work with proprietors of long-term vacant properties in our more unpopular or secondary retail areas.
The Hucknall Town Centre Conservation Area consultation closed on the 7th January and will be reported through Cabinet in March.
We launched the Sutton Spatial Master Plan in January to great enthusiasm within the business community and we will bring the results back to the Cabinet in March. This Master Plan once approved will provide a lasting blue-print for the future of Sutton as a 21st Century Town Centre, offering a wide range of goods and services, employment and residential.
We continue to work hard to influence how HS2 responds to concerns of those Ashfield residents who are likely to be impacted by the development, and also to help Ashfield capitalise on the available economic opportunities.
We continue to work to ensure that empty buildings are safe and secure and owners are being actively encouraged to bring buildings back into use. Where owners refuse to work with us we have begun to issue the appropriate legal notices to enforce co-operation.
As I regularly say, we would much rather work with owners on a voluntary basis, however we will not hesitate to take enforcement action where buildings are in a dilapidated or dangerous state. Thank you Madam Chairman.”
Cabinet Member (Outward)
“Thank you Madam Chairman. I’d just like to give you a few bits of information on my portfolio, the Housing and Asset success stories of February 2019.
Over the last quarter Housing’s Money, Advice and Tenancy Sustainment Teams have secured nearly £75,000 of additional income for tenants. The Team have also supported 126 new tenants to sustain their tenancy beyond the crucial first six months’ point.
Members of our Tenants Gateway have successfully attended a TEPAS Training Course on complaints handling, which will enable them to adjudicate pre-ombudsman enquiries. This demonstrates Ashfield’s commitment to housing co-regulation and forms a critical part in the Housing Team’s compliance with the regulatory standards.
The Strategic Housing Section, along with Mansfield District Council, have been successful in securing sufficient funding from the Government to fund the provision of a winter shelter for homeless people open seven nights a week, through to the end of March. This is an incredible improvement on last year’s provision which was open for five days a week until the end of February.
Our apprentice joiner, Jeremiah Reed, has been selected via an interview process to take part in a two-week educational work place visit to Estonia, whilst the plumbing apprentice Keaton Pearce has been nominated for the Efficiency East Midlands Apprentice of the Year award, which will be held on the 15th of February.
The Private Sector Enforcement Team have successfully prosecuted a rogue landlord in Hucknall who failed to deal with multiple hazards, including inadequate fire protection equipment in the home he was renting out to a young family. The landlord was fined a total of £10,000 and demonstrates this Council is not prepared to tolerate the renting out of poor quality housing in our District.
The Private Sector Enforcement Team have also been undertaking an awareness campaign of the new “House in Multiple Occupation” rules which came into force at the end of 2018. The new rules mean a number of additional properties will require licenses to continue to operate as rental properties.
In addition to Cabinet approving the provisional go-ahead for 26 new social housing units in Sutton, the Housing Department has also utilised a proportion of right-to-buy receipts to purchase and negotiate eleven additional units for the housing stock this year and hopes to negotiate on a twelfth and final property before the financial year ends.
Following completion of the Insulation Project in Hucknall, we are pleased to announce that all non-traditionally built properties within this Council stock now benefit from solid wall installation, which significantly increases the thermal insulation of the properties.
The completion of the Meden Bank Gas Infrastructure and Central Heating Project means that now all Council homes have access to a gas supply and gas heating. Recent projects in George Street, Hucknall, and Meden Bank, Stanton Hill, have seen the installation of free gas infrastructure with £350,000 benefiting both the Council and privately owned properties. Thank you Chairman.”
Deputy Leader of the Council (Inward Focus)
“Thank you Chair. Just a couple of brief announcements. I’d just like to confirm that the Selston Leisure Centre transfer now is fully complete to the Two Counties Trust and not to overshadow that one in any way, on the 22nd of January, Cabinet agreed the new site of the Festival Hall for the new Leisure Centre, along with a Leisure mix, a four-lane 25 metre swimming pool and leisure water space.
A press briefing took place involving Ollie Hynd the Paralympian and artist impressions on Facebook have now been seen 11,500 times by members of the public in Ashfield. I think all Members in the Council will agree that this is a fantastic project, one that includes the pool for Kirkby the residents have been promised for a long time.”
Deputy Leader of the Council (Outward Focus)
“Thank you Madam Chairman, just a few announcements. On Green Space Improvements, good progress continues to be made on developing and implementing a wide range of improvement projects. An opening event to celebrate the new play area at Brierley Forest Park incorporating the raising of the green flag and launch of the new café took place in January.
The outdoor gym at Friezeland Recreation Ground, Underwood, has been installed, with a scooter park due to be completed by the end of May.
The multi-use games area at Jacksdale Recreation Ground is due to be installed during late spring. The new children’s play area at Broomhill Park in Hucknall is currently being installed with completion due in late March including an opening event taking place during the Easter Holidays.
Design for the improvement of Wharf Road open space in Stanton Hill is now complete and the works are out to tender. Improvement works at Titchfield Park in Hucknall will be starting week commencing the 11th March and this will include new play equipment, picnic benches, a community noticeboard and tree and shrub planting. This work builds on the bulb planting which was carried out in the autumn and in support of the new café.
Feasibility work is under way on works to naturalise a section of the Titchfield Park brook. The project is a joint project between Ashfield and Nottinghamshire County Council. The memorial mosaic for Top Pit One, Hucknall Colliery, along Watnall Road, is being carefully restored by a local artist. The new panels will be installed in late March.
At the Hucknall gateway, over 10,000 bulbs were planted last autumn on the green space between the High Street and the train/tram station. The bulbs will begin to appear on mass in late spring and are set to make a spectacular entrance into the town. Work to replace old play equipment at Sutton Lawn is due to be completed by the end of March and will include inclusive play equipment.
Works to replace play equipment at Morven Park and West Park in Kirkby are due to be completed in the spring. The Council is working with the Sutton Junction Residents’ Association to complete the replacement of the play area at Roundhills Recreation ground which is due for completion by May.
£875,000 of funding has been secured from the Heritage Lottery Fund to support the Kings Mill Reservoir Heritage Project. Work has started on the project including the development of a new website and developing the delivery programme. An art project has been secured through the installation of a new bridal way bridge by Network Rail, linking Kings Mill Reservoir with the Timberland Trail. The artwork will be located on the inside of the bridge and will be based around the theme of Heritage Memories. The work is due to be completed by the end of March.
In relation to the Annesley Public Art, final proposals have been submitted by the artist. Detailed structural design is taking place as the project enters the fabrication stage, providing opportunities for the local community to take part in metal work casting workshops.
With regards to future projects we are supporting a number of community groups to submit local improvement funding bids to the County Council for around £130k, as well as preparing a funding bid to WREN for Landfill Tax funding for Titchfield Park later in the year. Existing 106 allocations have been reviewed and will be allocating £15k to Nabbs Lane Park and £35k to Portland Park for signage and access improvements to the garden area, including low level play equipment.
Tackling fly-tipping remains a priority for the Council. Our Environmental Enforcement Officer is investigating all reports of fly-tipping and working hard to gather evidence for prosecution. We urge residents to report any fly-tipping they see to environment@ashfield.gov.uk including details of vehicles or perpetrators. Our mobile CCTV cameras are in use across the District and a number of fixed penalty notices have been issued for fly-tipping offences over the last few months. Enforcement Officers continue through the Spring Clean.
Brierley Visitor Centre has a new operator and you will see the site open for traditional breakfast, a lunchtime offer, an afternoon tea offer and a new evening offer.
The Big Ashfield Spring Clean commenced in Sutton on the 11th of February, and has so far gone extremely well. We asked residents to put additional waste in black bin liners and these were picked up as part of the usual bin round. Staff followed on with flat-bed trucks to provide additional capacity.
The Kirkby and Rural areas Spring Clean will be week commencing the 18th February and Hucknall week commencing the 25th of February. We are also supplementing this with a weekend flying skip and dates and times are published on the Council’s website. Community groups are being encouraged to deliver their own clean-ups in the areas and our Community Safety Team will be out in the District ensuring residents and visitors of Ashfield support the clean-up by disposing of their litter and dog-fouling properly.
We are delighted to announce that the Kirkby Rotary Club will be joining us in Kirkby on the 18th to encourage businesses to get involved and if all this wasn’t enough, we are also offering free bulky waste collections for the three weeks of the Spring Clean. This has already been enormously successful.
On Monday staff processed 451 bulky request jobs from phone calls. The Team have continued to process requests from resident emails and the amount of requests by lunch-time today totalling 984. Some highlights are:
• 212 mattresses;
• 203 sofas;
• 127 fridge-freezers;
• 96 fridges;
• 77 televisions.
In other news we are gearing up for seasonal demands by servicing the mowing fleet, re-procuring traffic management services and seasonal resource. Our Waste Advisor has begun working with Nottinghamshire County Council and Veolia to deliver educational sessions in Ashfield Schools as part of the wider strategy around increasing recycling and making sure materials are put in the right bins.
Lastly, our Pest Control service remains in a profitable position and has won service delivery contracts at many locations outside of the Ashfield District.
Thank you Madam Chair.”
Cabinet Member (Joint Focus)
“Apologies for my lateness of arrival. So from the Community Safety briefing, just a few things I want to bring out, obviously we now have our full complement of Community Protection Officers in post who are continuing to tackle street and public ASB.
New patrols have been planned and commenced in January to ensure good balance of School Patrols, Park Patrols, Town Centre Patrols and Estate Patrols.
The CPOs have been problem solving a wide variety of issues over the last three months:
• Horses creating havoc on roads;
• Dog-fouling remains a key issue at the moment;
• Patrolling hotspots in conjunction with the police;
• Taking action to support the removal of off-road motorbikes off our streets;
• Gathering intelligence to be used by the Police and the ASB officers, so they’ve been doing that a great service recently.
One of the things I’d particularly like to highlight is that the CPOs have been instrumental in removing seven stolen motorcycles from the Coxmoor Estate over the recent weeks and they have undertaken six weeks of proactive daily foot patrols with Police colleagues to reassure residents to tackle the offenders.
We’ve also had a situation where positive action has continued; a 19 year old man jailed after pleading guilty to charges following incidents around the Coxmoor Estate within Kirkby-in-Ashfield, on Monday 11th February 2019. This man was jailed for one year for offences and banned from driving for six months. ASB and Nuisance Officers and Caseworkers have been tireless on this issue to ensure the residents were supported and action was taken in partnership with the Police.
We’ve also taken repossession of a Council property looking at making sure that our residents are not causing problems and anti-social behaviour. The tenant was ordered to pay the rent arrears and also ordered to pay £650 in costs.
One of the main things I want to go onto is obviously our Community Safety Team who have been supporting the Big Spring Clean by contacting residents around waste issues to help the clean-up of gardens and offering wider support. Stencils are being used in hot spots to highlight issues of dog-fouling and targeted patrols are taking place to catch people littering and dog-fouling.
From Environmental Health, since early December through to February 2019 the Team has completed 28 Animal Welfare Act licensing inspections. These inspections are part of a new regulatory license regime. The inspections range from horse-riding establishments, pet shops, dog breeders, dog kennels and catteries, to home-boarding for dogs and doggy day care.
The license holders will now be part of a new star rating similar to the food hygiene premises so that consumers of these services can make informed decisions when purchasing or boarding their beloved pets.
Since January 2019 we’ve inspected eight premises that require special treatment licenses, tattoo, acupuncture, registrations and sun-bed licensing.
Looking to healthy options take-away, we’ve successfully prosecuted a hot food take-away in relation to food hygiene offences and sentencing will take place on the 15th February and also we held a healthy options day on the Thursday 31st January.
It was a wonderful success increasing awareness to our members of the public and businesses for healthy lifestyles. I was there to present a number of the hot food establishments with their certificates for their healthy menus and I was pleased to see a good range of partners and businesses at the event. That’s just a few of the things I just wanted to highlight those. Thank you for your time.”
(During the announcements, Councillors Nicolle Ndiweni and Christian Chapman entered the meeting at 7.07 p.m and 7.17 p.m. Councillors Lachlan Morrison and Cathy Mason left the room at 7.13 p.m. and 7.24 p.m. and returned to the meeting at 7.15 p.m. and 7.25 p.m. respectively.)