To receive apologies for absence (to include reasons, where appropriate) from

Members/Officers

Apologies for absence were received from the members for the reasons so stated:

Councillor M Butcher – Other Council Business

Councillor E M Hughes – Other Council Business

Councillor C L Jones – Holiday

Councillor D Sage – In hospital

Community Councillor B Davies – Other Commitment

Community Councillor N Oram – Other Commitment

Community Councillor M Wilkins – Unwell.

To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest (if any) from Members/Officers in accordance with the provisions of the Members’ Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 1 September 2008

none

To receive for approval the Minutes of a meeting of the Town and Community Council Forum of 12 January 2015.

RESOLVED:                That the minutes of the Town and Community Council Forum of 12 January 2015 be approved as a true and accurate record.  

The Group Manager Housing & Regeneration reported on the demolition works undertaken by V2C and the measures they and the Council have undertaken with regard to the provision of new and affordable housing.  She stated that V2C had informed the Council they continually examine the demand and condition of their housing stock, which had resulted in a number of individual option appraisals being undertaken on properties within their estates.  In some cases properties had been demolished if it had been determined to be the last viable option for these properties.  Demolition of properties had occurred on a number of estates within V2C’s ownership and who had separately developed over 30 units of accommodation of a mixed tenure on their own land.  V2C was also developing 23 units of social housing at Porthcawl and Cornelly and secured planning consent for the development of 18 units in Maesteg.                   

The Group Manager Housing & Regeneration informed the Forum that in addition to the works undertaken by V2C, the Council had identified and supported a number of schemes for development by other Registered Social Landlords funded by Social Housing Grant provided by the Welsh Government, with 70 units of accommodation programmed for development in 2015/16 and over 110 units identified for future development. 

The Group Manager Housing & Regeneration also informed the Forum that there continued to be a high demand for affordable housing, however due to the scarcity of resources, new affordable housing would be targeted to those areas and property types where the need is greatest.  Due to the changes to the welfare system it was envisaged that there would be a considerable increase in the need for smaller or single person accommodation.  The Council would continue to negotiate new affordable housing contributions via Section 106 agreements on new development sites to meet the requirements of the adopted Local Development Plan. 

The Group Manager Housing & Regeneration informed the Forum that there was growing interest in new and innovative funding models which incorporate institutional investment to build affordable housing, which was currently being assessed.

The Chief Executive of V2C informed the Forum of the role of V2C which is to improve the condition of its housing stock and it also focused on replacing its housing stock and developing more affordable housing.  It also took advantage of the availability of Social Housing Grant but was at present undertaking a development of 116 units of mixed tenure housing known as Wood Green at Chelsea Avenue, Cefn Glas from its own resources and in partnership with Bellway Homes without the use of Social Housing Grant. 

The Forum referred to the number of properties demolished and developed by V2C which had left a shortfall of approximately 160 properties and expressed its concern that affordable was not being developed fast enough in order to meet the demand.  The Chief Executive of V2C informed the Forum that some properties were required to be demolished in order to facilitate the construction of new properties and ideally V2C aspired to have more properties.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Head of Democratic Services reported on the action plan being developed by the Diversity Champion to take forward the diversification of democracy initiated by the Expert group and set out in “On Balance: Diversifying Democracy in Local Government in Wales”.  He stated that the Expert Group analysed a survey of local Councillors in Wales and set out a plan of action to encourage a greater diversity of candidates to stand for office in 2017.  The “On Balance: Diversifying Democracy in Local Government in Wales” report outlined the actions required to increase the diversity of local Councillors in Wales in respect of age, gender, disability and ethnicity. 

The Head of Democratic Services informed the Forum that Cabinet at its meeting on 27 May 2014 appointed Councillor H Townsend as the Diversity Champion who had met Welsh Government representatives and other Diversity Champions to discuss plans for progressing the aims of the “On Balance” report.  He stated that there were several recommendations of the Expert Panel report which would require the involvement of Town and Community Councils and an initial action plan had been developed with key actions.  He requested that Town and Community Councils work with the Diversity Champion, Head of Democratic Services and Equalities and Engagement Officer to collect the relevant diversity data, assess the information as it pertained to each council and determine appropriate strategies to better reflect the make-up of constituents in their respective Councils.  Further work will be undertaken to develop the action plan and the Diversity Strategy to meet the requirements of the “On Balance” report and improve the Democratic Diversity within the County Borough. 

The Diversity Champion informed the Forum of the work she had undertaken in her role in that she had attended a number of meetings with the Welsh Government and had addressed underrepresented groups.  The Diversity Champion stated that she was seeking to share resources with Town and Community Councils and to raise awareness of the need to consider diversity whilst at the same time recognising that all Town and Community were themselves different and diverse.  The Diversity Champion informed the Forum that she was seeking to meet Town and Community Councils to ascertain their needs with regard to diversity and in the hope that they would appoint diversity champions.  The Diversity Champion informed the Forum that she was intending to collate and assess relevant data to assist in the development of the Diversity Strategy.  She stated that the profile of elected Members in the County Borough mirrored that across Wales. 

A member of the Forum commented on the importance of diversity in democracy and that administrations were formed from political parties and that political parties needed to increase their efforts to recruit new members.  The Diversity Champion commented that her role was non-political but political parties needed to play their part in recruiting new members. 

A member of the Forum stated that Bridgend Town Council had discussed Democratic Diversity at its recent meeting and is approximately 50% gender split with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Senior Democratic Services Officer - Committees presented a report on behalf of the Monitoring Officer, which informed the Forum of requests for items to be presented at future meetings. 

Members requested the inclusion of a review of the Town and Community Council Charter be considered at a subsequent meeting of the Forum

RESOLVED:            That the Forum noted the report and the items to be considered at     future meetings and requested that reports on the Town and         Community Council Fund and a Review of the Town and    Community Council Charter be presented to future meetings of the        Forum.

To consider any other item(s) of business in respect of which notice has been given in accordance with Rule 4 of the Council Procedure Rules and which the person presiding at the meeting is of the opinion should by reason of special circumstances be transacted at the meeting as a matter of urgency