Aylesbury Vale District Council
Briefing note for Wendover Local Area Forum
January 2014 ______
1. Budget setting and parish precepts 2. Planning update 3. Grants 4. Bucks Home Choice Review of Housing Allocations Policy 5. Housing and Homelessness Strategy 6. Draft improvement plan for Aylesbury town centre
1. Budget setting and parish precepts
The council is now actively reviewing its priorities with a view to setting its budget in February. Yet again the main focus will be on the expected reductions in Government grant. Government Grant has historically paid for more than half of the council’s net cost of services but with public sector spending cut backs this funding has been reducing rapidly since 2010/11. Best predictions are that grant will continue to decrease until potentially it disappears altogether before the end of the decade. This will have massive implications for the services the council provides. Inevitably some services wont survive others will be rationalised and for some we will need to charges more or introduce charges. Potentially, it may also lead to a range of new services, if these are valued by residents and can be provided at a cost of less than the income they generate.
The Government’s grant reductions will also impact on many precepting parish councils this year. The changes to Council Tax Benefit last year reduced each council’s Taxbase resulting in less Council Tax being collectable. The Government compensated these councils by giving Aylesbury Vale District Council a grant to share amongst those parishes. This grant is subject to the same reductions as all other Government Grants and is expected to quickly disappear altogether. In a one off move AVDC took the decision to protect all parishes last year by paying a top up grant. However, as it said last year, it could not afford to keep doing this and this year the grant to parishes will be reduced in line with Government Grant reductions. The impact of the reduction in grant in 2014/2015 will be offset for many, by changes made by AVDC to empty property discounts but this is unlikely to be repeated. Parishes should expect to lose this grant entirely over the next two years.
The budget development process can be followed via this link to the council’s website http://committees.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/committees/committees.aspx
Contact: Andrew Small, Director [email protected]
2. Planning update
Vale of Aylesbury Plan (VAP) - The first hearing sessions in the Examination of the Vale of Aylesbury Plan took place on 10, 12 and 13 December. These looked at whether the council has complied with the Duty to Co-operate and the overall provision for housing and jobs. This hearing process is very different from a public inquiry and takes the form of a discussion, led by the Inspector, on a series of question which he has identified. The hearings are open to the public but participation is only by invite from the Inspector. Those invited to participate will have been selected based on their objections to VAP at the formal publicity stage. The Inspector will give an initial conclusion on these first hearing sessions before further sessions to deal with other matters which are scheduled for February 2014. The link below takes you to the relevant page on AVDC’s website: http://www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/planning-policy/emerging-local-plan-vale-of-aylesbury- plan/
It should be noted that there is a separate Examination web site managed by the independent Programme Officer which contains all the relevant documentation and written submissions made to the Inspector on the Hearings. This independent website can also be accessed via the above link.
Local Development Order – The Secretary of State has advised that he did not wish to intervene and the Order has now come into effect. It will allow those proposing some basic house extensions to get through the planning process more quickly, provided they meet the design and functional requirements set out in the Order. This process will also help keep the council’s operating costs down. One of the requirements for cases following the LDO route is that the person proposing the extension is responsible for advising their neighbours of the proposals. Details of the process and the Order itself can be found on the following link; http://www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/planning---building/planning-and-building-control- applications/step-1-do-i-need-permission/householder-extensions-local-development-order
Follow-up on review of delegated powers – About 6 months ago the changes to the council’s scheme of delegation which covers which planning applications have to be reported to Development Control Committee, rather than being determined by officers, came into effect. When the changes were agreed by council it was also asked that a follow-up be done at this stage to review how the new arrangements have been working. That consultation has now ended and to help parish/town Councils make an informed response we have provided some analysis of the application that there have been in each council’s area and how these have been taken through the planning process. The results of this consultation will be considered and inform any review of the previously made changes that we need to make. The General Purposes Committee and the Council will receive reports on this in February
Contact: John Byrne, Head of Planning [email protected]
3. Grant funding
The council continues to provide grant funding through the Community Chest (in partnership with the Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust).
The next deadline for project grant applications (up to £25,000) will not be until April 2014 but Microgrants up to £1,000 continue to be reviewed monthly.
The Community Chest annual report for 2012/13 can now be downloaded from the Community Chest webpage ( www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/communitygrants) and provides information about all grants awarded during that year.
If you have any queries or would like advice on the scheme please contact the Grants officer Sarah Rothwell on 01296 585634 [email protected]
A Funding Fair providing advice and information about a range of funding sources will be held at the Gateway conference centre on 27th February 2014.
For information about the fair, or advice about any grant funding query please contact: Lynne Maddocks - AVDC – 01296 585364 email [email protected] or Bucks Community Foundation - 01296 330134 email: [email protected] or Community Impact Bucks - 0845 3890389 or email: [email protected]
New Homes Bonus Funding Scheme
On 19 November AVDC’s Cabinet considered the recommendations of the Advisory Grants Panel for the allocation of the New Homes Bones grant fund.
The Advisory Grants Panel considered applications from 6 parish and town councils on Wednesday 6 November, after sixteen Expressions of Interest were received. Cabinet have agreed the following grants:
• Winslow Town Council - £200,000 to purchase land in the centre of the town upon which to build a new community centre and provide a town park. • Buckingham Town Council - £30,555 to install a multi-use games area at Bourton Park and £2,608 towards a Trim Trail. • Waddesdon Parish Council - £90,000 for a pedestrian controlled crossing on the A41 at Goss Avenue • Aylesbury Town Council - £50,000 for a new community festival celebrating the town's Paralympic legacy. • An application from Wingrave with Rowsham Parish Council for a cycle path was not approved, as the project plan was not well enough developed.
In total £373,163 has been awarded and £117,837 will be carried over into the next funding round.
If a parish or town council has a project that they would like to be considered for funding in 2014/2015, it is important to first complete an Expression of Interest form, available online at www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/newhomesbonusEOI . These can be submitted at any time, but we advise as early as possible in your project planning. The completed form will ensure an initial discussion with the Grants Officer to identify whether projects meet the criteria, to discuss other possible funding sources (including S106) and avoid any abortive work. If invited to submit a full application it must include, or be accompanied by, a business case which as a minimum would demonstrate:
• the impact of growth on the relevant area • the need and community support for the proposed investment • a clear budget and funding details • a delivery plan.
The application form will set out the information that you need to provide and a list of the supporting documentation required. We would expect a feasibility study to have been carried out and Planning permission to have been granted (or to have been applied for), where appropriate.
The deadline for completed applications is Monday 30 September 2014 For more information about submitting an application visit our website at www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/newhomesbonus or contact our Grants Officer, Jan Roffe, by phone 01296 585186 or by email [email protected]
4. Bucks Home Choice Review of Housing Allocations Policy
The proposed changes to the Housing Allocations Policy have now been agreed by AVDC’s council.
Proposed changes
The Bucks Home Choice Partnership proposes to make a number of changes to the Housing Register, taking advantages of the freedoms afforded to local authorities by the Localism Act 2011. In particular it wants to focus more time and effort on those in most housing need and adjust to the recent Welfare Benefit reforms.
Who will qualify to join the Housing Register?
We plan to restrict the Housing Register only to those who have a demonstrable housing need and have a strong connection to Buckinghamshire. Existing proposals set out that only the following groups will qualify to join the housing register;
• Those who have lived or worked in Buckinghamshire for at least 2 years. • Those who have some demonstrable level of housing need (eg, homeless, not enough bedrooms, sharing facilities, medical or welfare issues etc) • Those who do not have a history of serious anti social behaviour or who owe serious rent arrears
This does not mean that all existing Band D applicants will be removed from the register. Many current band D applicants have a bedroom available, but have to share facilities with family or friends. These applicants will continue to qualify in a new Band D, for those in lower housing need. Only homeowners or tenants with the right amount of bedrooms and no other demonstrable need will cease to qualify.
Please note that no restrictions will apply to applicants aged 55+ who are seeking older persons accommodation.
Other changes
The partnership also plan to make some other changes about how Bucks Home Choice works. These include;
• Changing the size of homes applicants are eligible for, to match the Social Sector Size criteria for Housing Benefit. • Applicants only being eligible for rehousing in the Buckinghamshire District they have a local connection to. • Homeless applicants who have become ‘intentionally homeless’ will be a lower priority than other homeless applicants.
Aylesbury Vale
Aylesbury Vale will be split into four geographical sub groups (North, Greater Aylesbury, South East & South West) and some properties will be protected and offered firstly, to applicants with a connection to that sub group. This will be the case in;
• 50% of new build properties • 25% of relets
This means that for protected properties, only applicants with a connection to the appropriate sub group will be prioritised (in Band order A-D). Only if no suitable applicants with a connection to the sub group can be found will the property be offered to other housing register applicants
Next Steps
Members at Aylesbury Vale DC have approved these changes, and other partners hope to do the same by the end of 2013. All existing applicants will be required to re register to assess whether they qualify for the new scheme. We estimate that around 30% of existing applicants will cease to qualify.
We will keep the details of those who do not qualify so they can be offered other Housing Options. This means that if an applicant’s circumstances change then we should already have a lot of their details. We hope to have a new policy in place by May 2014.
Contact: Peter Brown, Senior Housing Options Officer: 01296 585650 [email protected]
5. Housing and homelessness strategy
We are in the process of re-writing our new Housing and Homelessness strategy to replace the previous strategy (2008-2013). A draft version of the strategy has been completed and was presented to the Environment and Living Scrutiny Committee in early November and this document has also been published for public consultation. A consultation event was also held on Tuesday 9 July at the Council’s Gateway offices with representatives from various organisations, including parish councils attending. Following the public consultation the final strategy will be presented to both Cabinet and Council.
Contact: Khyati Vaughan, Housing Partnership and Strategy Officer: 01296 585881 [email protected]
6. Update on the draft improvement plan for Aylesbury Town Centre
Consultation on the draft plan ended mid-October. Over 15 presentations were given to a variety of organisations across the Vale. Overall feedback has been positive with much support for the Vision and the Guiding Principles. The public were also asked to comment on the suggested action plans for different areas of the town centre. A variety of changes/additions have been put forward.
An officer Steering Group with membership from AVDC, BCC and Aylesbury Town Council has been set up and a number of themed project groups will be formed to help take implementation of the Plan forward. The first tasks of each project group will be to review the feedback from the consultation and recommend to the Steering Group amendments to the draft Plan.
The overall aim of the Plan is to continue the improvement and redevelopment of the town centre in a cohesive and managed way so as to encourage more people to work, visit and invest in Aylesbury. In particular, we want to encourage more residents from Vale villages to use the town centre. Membership of the project groups is not, therefore, restricted to Aylesbury based organisations so if you are interested in finding out more about the next steps, please contact Teresa Lane on 01296 585006 [email protected]
The draft Plan can be found on http://www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/about-aylesbury- vale/aylesbury