Minutes:
Councillor Martin Christopher to Councillor Joshua Wells
Question
Could the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth provide details on the total amount of Section 106 monies requested by planning teams vs what was actually received, for the last five years?
Answer
The total amount of section 106 monies requested by the Planning Authority between 2019-2024 for development subsequently approved was £2,594,542. £1,339,044 had been secured via section 106 agreements typically following a viability process.
Of those developments that had been built or had reached trigger points in that time, we had received £547,009. Other approved developments had either not been carried out or of those that were currently under construction, had not yet met the required trigger point in the development to pay the section 106.
There had been three applications since 2019 that had successfully demonstrated there was no viability to provide s106 monies. Only one of these applications was granted planning permission and in that case, it still had a s106 agreement, to require the ability to re-visit the viability at the end of the build. Any increase in viability would be captured as a commuted sum towards the full s106 request.
The proposal at 18-20 Kingsway and the recent Lindum Terrace applications had S.106 requests, and both successfully demonstrated that there was no viability to provide s106 contributions. Both applications were refused on this basis.
Councillor James Brown to Councillor Bob Bushell
Question
Could the portfolio holder list the sources and amounts of funding used to create the play area built in 2020 now occupying the site of the former St Giles Youth Centre on Swift Gardens?
Answer
The play area was funded using £60,200 of Section 106 funding and the existing multi-use games area was adopted from Lincolnshire County Council (LCC), with LCC providing £14,000 towards the cost of the refurbishment.
Additionally, the County Council had contributed a commuted sum of £74,250 to support the play area inspection and grounds maintenance for a period of 15 years.
This information was available in a report to the Executive dated 30 August 2017.
Councillor Clare Smalley to Cllr Donald Nannestad
Question
The Council set out great aspirations in our Vision 2025 document (which was very close to ending now). One measure of success was that the “Net number of council homes in the city has increased” could the portfolio holder provide figures to show this increase please.
Answer
During his time as Portfolio Holder for Quality Housing which began in 2018, the Council had added 442 properties to its stock.
Very sadly, during the same period, the Council had lost 278 family homes due to the Right To Buy Scheme. Over the period this was a net gain of 164 homes.
This was a remarkable achievement given the two years lost to Covid-19, as well as the downturn in the economy, that had seen material and labour costs increase exponentially and the cost of borrowing driven up by a significant increase in national interest rates.
The Council was expecting a further eleven new family homes to be added to its stock in October 2024 as a result of its Hermit Street development.
Alongside this, again in the same period, the private sector and Registered Providers had built 176 affordable homes in the City.
Supplementary question
Does the Portfolio Holder consider this to be an aspirational figure?
Answer
Compared to other local authorities the Council was performing excellently. However, right to buy continued to be an issue and the Council continued to lose properties to it.
Councillor Natasha Chapman to Councillor Naomi Tweddle
Question
Given the recent change in national government and the possibility of increased funding for local government, if the Leader of the Council expects this increase to occur, what would their main priorities be?
Answer
The Leader of the Council advised that there had been a new dawn since the last meeting of the Council. The Council was continuing to work on Vision 2030, which would set the strategic vision for the Council and City over the coming five years. The Council continued to be ambitious and had an excellent track record in delivery of projects. The Council would continue to look to reduce inequality across the City; climate change continued to be a priority for the Council, along with addressing the housing crisis the City faced.
Supplementary Question
Would the Leader of the Council commit to freezing rents?
Answer
As set out above, the Executive was in the process of developing the Vision 2030 and its priorities and therefore the Leader would not commit to any specific issue.