Meeting documents

There will be an opportunity for Members to ask questions of individual Cabinet Members and Committee Chairmen.

Members had the opportunity to ask questions of individual Cabinet Members and Committee Chairmen about issues affecting their portfolios/Committee activities:-

(a)          The Future Homes Standard (Councillor Foster) – the Cabinet Member for Environment and Leisure informed Members that the Council was preparing a draft response to the Government’s current consultation on changes of the Building Regulations.

(b)          Councillor Everitt (Councillors C Adams and Lambert) – on behalf of all Members, the Members asked for congratulations to be extended to Councillor Everitt who had been elected as the Member of Parliament for Milton Keynes North at the 2019 general election.

(c)          HS2 (Councillor C Adams) – the Leader of the Council informed Members that the Council was continuing to use all means possible to lobby and pressure the Government to stop HS2.

(d)          Data Harvesting / AVDC Website (Councillor Lyons) – the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources informed Members that he would respond to the Member on this matter although he did not believe that the Council harvested or passed any information to third parties.

(e)          Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan (VALP) (Councillors Branston and Cooper) – the Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure informed Members that she believed that the Planning Policy team had sufficient Officer resource to work on the VALP.  This situation was being regularly monitored by herself and the Cabinet.

The Cabinet Member also informed Members that she was meeting regularly with the Chief Executive of the new Buckinghamshire Council, who had agreed that continuity of Officers working on the VALP pre and post 1 April 2020 was important.

(f)           Commercial Ventures (Councillor Christensen) – the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources agreed to provide Members with a summary of the financial position for the various financial ventures / activities the Council had undertaken since 2015.

(g)          Berryfields Medical Centre (Councillor Christensen) – the Cabinet Member for Planning and Enforcement was thanked for his efforts in relation to supporting a new Berryfields Medical Centre.

The Leader of the Council informed the Member that she was happy to work with him, including lobbying the Department of Health, in order for the Medical Centre to be built as soon as possible and by April 2021.

(h)          Gateway Offices Main Entrance (Councillor Monger) – the Leader of the Council informed Members that while staff, Members and visitors to the Gateway would continue to be encouraged to enter/exit the building by using the revolving door, it would not be possible to lock the main doors to limit access due to fire safety and disability access reasons.

(i)            Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan (VALP) (Councillor Monger) – the Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure informed Members that a call for an in-depth investigation into the VALP process was unnecessary.  The Cabinet Member also stated that she would ask the Corporate Planner to provide information on a number of policies within the VALP that already had weight in planning terms.

(j)            Kingsbrook Parish Council (Councillor B Chapple OBE) – the Member asked that thanks be passed to Craig Saunders and the Democratic and Electoral Services team for the excellent work, within very tight timescales, they had done on community governance and which would allow a new Kingsbrook Parish Council to be established for the May 2020 local elections.

(k)          MK Futures 2050 (Councillor Stuchbury) – the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure both informed Members that AVDC and the County Council would be issuing a joint statement rebutting the plan, as well as responding firmly and negatively to the current consultation.

(l)            Remembrance Day Ceremony 2020, Aylesbury (Councillor Lambert) – the Chairman of the Council informed Member that arrangements for this event would be made by the unitary team for Communities.  The Chairman stated she would pass on to the team that they should liaise with the Aylesbury Town Council when organising the event.

(m)        East / West Rail (Councillor Lambert) – the Leader of the Council informed Members that she would continue to press East / West Rail for information on the cumulative impact of that and other major infrastructure projects on local communities, as well as for information on the economic benefits for the communities. 

(n)          Aylesbury Vale Broadband (AVB) (Councillor Cooper) – the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources informed Members that information on the operation of AVB was contained in the BDO report that had been submitted to the Audit Committee on 12 June 2018.

(o)          Cricket grounds and facilities (Councillor Hussain) – the Cabinet Member for Environment and Leisure stated that he was happy to speak with the Member following the meeting in relation to identifying additional cricket playing pitches around Aylesbury and about modernising the changing room facilities at Alfred Rose Park.

(p)          MK Futures 2050 (Councillor Monger) – the Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure informed Members that AVDC, the County Council and the Central Bedfordshire Council had not been party to the David Lock Strategic Growth Strategy document or its conclusions, despite the document stating that AVDC had been one of the joint sponsors of it.