DISTRICT COUNCIL

MEETING OF PARISH FORUM KING CHARLES ROOM, TOWN HALL, THURSDAY, 1 st April 2004 (7.15 P.M.)

PRESENT:

WYRE FOREST DISTRICT COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES

Councillors: Mrs P V Hayward, K R Robertson and S J Williams, Officers: Mrs D. Glendenning, Committee Officer

WORCESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES

Maggie Bryant, Area Democracy Officer Michele C Jones, Malvern Hills Rural Transport Partnership Officer

TOWN AND PARISH REPRESENTATIVES

Churchill and Parish Council – R Gurney and M Thomas Stone Parish Council – R Hobson

Rock Parish Council – Mr E Batten

Bewdley Town Council – Mrs E M Davies

Upper Arley Parish Council – T Whatmore

Chaddesley Parish Council – M D Gibbs

Broome Parish Council – D. Pheysey

Worcestershire County Association of Local Councils – Nigel Knowles

WYRE FOREST COMMUNITY HOUSING REPRESENTATIVE

Mr R Pritchard

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors : Mrs H E Dyke, A H Greenfield, H J Martin, Christine Martin. Beverley Woodcock, Clerk.

2. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES & MATTERS ARISING

The minutes of the meeting held on the 16 th October 2003, were confirmed as a correct record subject to the addition of Councillor Knowles’ name being added to the list of those present.

3. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION

The Chairman of Worcestershire County Association of Local Councils – Nigel Knowles, chaired the meeting and asked members to introduce themselves.

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4. WYRE FOREST COMMUNITY HOUSING – LETTINGS PROCEDURE

Mr R Pritchard, Head of Housing, Wyre Forest Community Housing attended the meeting to outline the current lettings procedure used by Wyre Forest Community Housing.

Mr Pritchard outlined the changes that had occurred in recent years. He commented that the number of people on the waiting list had grown to 2,000 and the number of properties available had decreased following the ‘Right to Buy Scheme.’ When the Housing Company was formed there were 9,000 properties. However there were now 6,000 properties as 3,000 had been purchased under the ‘Right to Buy Scheme.’ It was estimated that approximately 600 names were added to the waiting list annually.

In March 2000 the Council decided, due to Government constraints on housing, that the strategic way forward was to sell the housing stock and use the money from the sale to reinvest in providing additional homes. The Council consulted its tenants and the tenants voted for a stock transfer. Thus Wyre Forest Community Housing was formed and it agreed to manage the stock.

The makeup of the Wyre Forest Community Housing Board comprised 6 tenant representatives, 6 District Councillors and 6 independent people.

At the stock transfer the Council agreed that the housing statutory function on homeless was to keep this with Wyre Forest Community Housing. The agreement at stock transfer was that the District Council would have nomination rights to choose tenants for 75% of stock and the Housing Company 25% of stock. The Housing Corporation is the governing body. A points scheme has been developed with waiting lists.

Points Scheme

Mr Pritchard outlined the way that the points scheme worked. He commented that the scheme was reviewed every 3 to 4 years. However he thought it broadly stood the test of time.

Lettings

Mr Pritchard outlined the way lettings were made. He bore in mind concerns that had previously been expressed by members concerning the way they perceived that lettings were made and he dispelled any associated misunderstanding.

Choice based lettings was a revolutionary new system that had been suggested by the government. The general idea of choice based lettings was that if people had a choice in where they lived they would be more satisfied.

The Chairman thanked Mr Pritchard for his informative presentation.

5. FLEXI-TRANSPORT SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS

Michelle Jones, Rural Transport Officer from attended for this item in place of Mr Peter Roberts, Network Co-Ordinator of Flexilink who was unable to attend.

Ms Jones gave a detailed presentation on the Flexi-Transport System. The system was set up following the demise of local bus services in rural areas. The funding for the scheme came from a rural challenge bid to central government. District Council secured funding for the first flexitransport link at . 2 3

If members could identify a need for a flexilink service they were encouraged to contact Mr Peter Roberts at County Hall, direct to discuss their needs further. (Tel. 01562-763763).

The Chairman thanked Ms Jones for her very detailed presentation and for stepping in at the last minute as substitute for Mr Peter Roberts.

6. BUSINESS AIRPORT – UPDATE

The Committee Officer, gave a verbal update on the current position with regard to Wolverhampton Business Airport.

Wyre Forest District Council had submitted objections to South Council’s Local Plan concerning the proposal of the Airport to extend its services to include commercial services. Wyre Forest District Council did not agree with the proposal to extend the airport in view of the airport’s location and environmental constraints.

The Committee Officer read an extract from the Government White Paper – The Future of Air Transport. The paper was published by the Department of Transport on the 16 th December 2003 and set out a strategic framework for airport capacity development in the United Kingdome for the next thirty years.

With regard to Wolverhampton Business Airport, the white paper concluded that the development of Wolverhampton Business Airport and any civil use of RAF Cosford were matters for local determination. It made the following statement about Wolverhampton Business Airport:-

“Wolverhampton Business Airport should continue its role of serving business and general aviation. The airport could be capable of delivering commercial services on a limited scale, but should so only in line with regional planning and transport priorities and the scale of development at the site must take account of the constraints imposed by the lack of strategic road access. Therefore any such development should be a matter for decision locally.”

7. UPDATE OF PARISH CHARTER

The Executive Officer had submitted a report that outlined the current position with regard to the Parish Charter. The new draft had been consulted on in a county wide consultation exercise during 2002/2003. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister considered it in June 2003. A three tier officer working group would consider it further during November 2003. It was hoped that there would be cross county agreement for signing up to the Charter in Spring 2004. The Committee Officer confirmed that the District Council would be formally considering the draft at a meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee (Corporate Life and Community Issues) on the 25 th May 2004.

The Executive Officer had submitted a brief report in her absence and this was read out at the meeting. It was agreed that this would be circulated to all Parish Clerks following the meeting.

8. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

There was no other business.

3 4 9. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

It was agreed that the next meeting of the Parish Forum would be held on Thursday 14 th October at 7 pm in the Town Hall, Kidderminster.

Note: It was agreed that the start time of the meeting should be 7 pm rather than 7.15 pm as in previous years.

J/Committee/ParishForum/Minutes/2004/01.04.04

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