Agenda item

1.

Question from Councillor P McLain to Cabinet Member Corporate Services, Councillor Colin Hay

What were the staffing numbers (actual and fte) at CBC for the last three financial years and proposed staffing numbers for the 2012/13 financial year?

Response from Cabinet Member Corporate Services

2009/10 – 614.9 ftes     675 total staff as at 1/4/09

2010/11 – 598.0 ftes     641 total staff as at 1/4/10

2011/12 – 524.9 ftes     603 total staff as at 1/4/11

2012/13 – 359.2 ftes     428 estimated total staff as at 1/4/12

2.

Question from Councillor P McLain to Cabinet Member Corporate Services, Councillor Colin Hay

What proportion of CBC’s total budget (actual and %) was spent on staffing costs for the last three financial years and proposed for the 2012/13 financial year?

Response from Cabinet Member Corporate Services

2009/10 - £16.657m    18% of gross revenue expenditure

2010/11 - £17.545m    17.5% of gross revenue expenditure

2011/12 - £16.565m    18% of gross revenue expenditure

2012/13 - £11.582m    13% of gross revenue expenditure

3.

Question from Councillor P McLain to Cabinet Member Corporate Services, Councillor Colin Hay

What proportion of CBC’s total budget was spent on pension contributions for the last three financial years and proposed for the 2012/13 financial year?

Response from Cabinet Member Corporate Services

2009/10 - 3% of gross revenue expenditure

2010/11 - 3% of gross revenue expenditure

2011/12 - 3.6% of gross revenue expenditure

2012/13 - 3.7% of gross revenue expenditure

4.

Question from Councillor Regan to Cabinet Member Sustainability, Councillor Roger Whyborn

Weavers Field is a well known local beauty spot in Warden Hill and is much loved by local residents.  Does the Cabinet Member for Sustainability recognise the strong opposition by local residents and users of this site to the plans to turn it into 88 allotment plots and a car park.

1. Will he acknowledge that the plot holders will have uninterrupted views into the back gardens and bedrooms of all the houses surrounding this area and will he acknowledge the loss of privacy this will bring to those householders?

2. Will the member confirm who will manage this site.  If it is passed to the local Parish Council can the Cabinet Member confirm how much financial support will be given to the Parish by the Borough Council?

3. Will the member confirm that all other sites have been investigated and acknowledge that there are already 4 other allotment sites in the nearby vicinity.  Will the member therefore disband his proposals for this site, support local residents and seek other alternatives?

Response from Cabinet Member Sustainability

The Cabinet member recognises the benefits of being able to enjoy walking on Weavers Field, and people will still be able to walk into and around the area in the future. However the Council must also balance this against the many benefits of allotments to people in urban areas – and specifically with the need to provide 290 allotment sites within reasonable distance of the plotholders’ homes, mostly in the south of Cheltenham –as described in the allotment strategy.

At the present time waiting lists on surrounding sites are: Alma Road – 276, Hatherley Road – 166, Reddings – 115, Warden Hill (existing site) – 129, many of whom have been waiting for several years.

QA. The question of people being overlooked is one which officers are looking into, and in so far as it is a new problem will clearly be addressed sympathetically. Initial indications from the development manager are that consultations on the proposal would be carried out and opinions of the local residents will be taken into account when the recommendation on any such application is made.

QB. The current favoured option is for CBC to provide and manage non-statutory allotments on Weavers Field, though CBC would look favourably at proposals by the Parish council and others to manage the site: By providing so-called “temporary” allotments would mean that the statutory provisions under the Local Government Act 1972 on use of the allotments by people outside of the council’s areas would not apply. Therefore they could (and would) be used by residents in either CBC’s or the PC’s area.

The site would generate income from allotment rents and this would be used to fund the running of the site.

QC. Yes we have considered other sites and are still considering other sites i.e other land owned by the council, possible land nearby that might become available through housing development, and/or through land swaps with others. At this present time CBC is not yet in a position to bring other sites forward. However there will be formal consultations, as well as a forum at the Parish council which is to be undertaken before any decision will be taken to move forward with allotments at Weavers Field. Any decision would not be rushed.

In a supplementary question Councillor Regan asked the Cabinet Member to explain what detailed criteria was used to decide on Weavers Field as an allotment site and who had been involved in assessing the site. In response the Cabinet member explained that the assessment had been carried out by officers, details of which would be passed to Cllr Regan. He explained that a number of sites had been examined and Weavers Field was the only site to be deemed appropriate. He emphasised that a statutory consultation and a thorough assessment would be undertaken before any definitive decisions were taken.