Report on the Rutland Parish Forum

Report on the Rutland Parish Forum

Held Monday 19th April 2016 at Catmose, Oakham

Financial Position

Mr Saverio Della Rocca, Assistant Director Finance, gave an update on the County’s financial position following the revised Settlement from the Government and the completion of the RCC Budget. The pressure from rural Lords and MPs, LGA and others convinced the Government, for the first time in the last 6 years, to improve the Settlement for rural authorities.

Based on the Council Tax increase of 3.99% generating about £1m against a loss of Support Grant of £1.7m the Council has been able to budget a surplus of £632k for the current financial year, however the following year the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) suggests a deficit of over £700k and by 2020 Reserves will have been reduced by £7.3m.

This is clearly not sustainable and RCC will be carrying out a zero based budgeting review over the next 9 months. Cllr Ron Simpson suggested that there should be a dialogue with Parish Councils to see how they might be involved looking at the provision of services locally but this was not met with much enthusiasm.

There was a discussion about Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) which have been set at £100 per sq m for new residential developments which generates overall about £8k per dwelling. So for Barrowden with say 15 new properties over 15 years with a Neighbourhood Plan, the CIL contribution at 25% to the Parish would be about £2k over the 15 year period, an average of £130 per year.

Revised Signs Policy

Cllr Tony Mathias gave a presentation on proposed revisions to the Road Signs Policy. Key changes would be to

• License roadside advertising on specified sites to reduce indiscriminate advertising and reduce clutter. This is particularly aimed at banner signs.
• License the use of the placement of A-boards in retail areas to ensure adequate pavement space and minimise obstructions for visually impaired pedestrians
• Review of brown Tourist Signs to define what is a tourist attraction and reduce review periods

The Policy was reviewed by the RCC Scrutiny Panel on 7th April ( No. 742016 Rutland Sign Policy and Appendices.pdf) and they were sceptical of the Policy being able to be implemented and administered effectively.

It should also be noted that the Policy (Section 9) states that Convex Mirrors are no longer permitted and therefore the request from some residents for a mirror at the junction of Seaton Road and Morcott Road at Tyler’s Farm cannot be delivered. We should include this in a future communication so that residents are aware of this new policy.

Defibrillator for Rural Communities

There was a presentation given on the support which the Karen Ball Fund provides for the provision of defibrillators. RCC committed to supporting the spread of machines across the County.

Rutland Access Group

Karen Mellor gave a presentation on the work of the Group improving access for disabled residents to get around our communities, particularly true for older residents. This is not just about access in Oakham and Uppingham, the Group is happy to come out to the rural villages to carry out an access audit and then work alongside the Parish Council to encourage statutory providers to improve access.

The Parish Briefing

The latest edition of the Briefing was issued. (This will be issued under separate cover)

Two key issues were covered. A breakdown of the key features of the Housing and Planning Bill. I asked if RCC had made a response to the Technical Consultation and they confirmed that they had but that it was not on their website. A copy of their response will be provided.

The Local Plan Review Issue and Options Consultation (Nov 2015 – Jan 2016) had generated more than 100 responses and 130 potential development sites. A summary of responses and sites will be published shortly on the RCC website. The Preferred Options Paper is still scheduled for publication in the autumn of 2016

RCC Website

RCC are planning to upgrade their website over the next 12 months moving to a Digital First approach to encourage residents to use the web as their first port of call for information and delivery of services.

GRSB

19/4/16