From

To

Subject

1

Councillor Rennie

Councillor Penberthy

With increasing evictions by private landlords, what action was Plymouth taking to provide homes?

Was he aware of the successful initiative at Mount Gould where the former social club was being developed for social housing following discussions with the community?

Response:  He was concerned at the behaviour of private sector landlords and more homes were needed.  Sites were being released for homes and a good mix was required to cater for families, couples and singles.

He congratulated Councillor Rennie on the initiative at Mount Gould which reflected local community needs.

2

Councillor  Jordan

Councillor Lowry

Why had the sale of green spaces proceeded in the light of pressures on local schools and doctors’ surgeries and without consultation with the local community and ward councillors?

Why was a community park with a football pitch (not regulation size) sold?

Response: Surplus property declarations were sent to all councillors to give them the opportunity to respond. They are then presented to Councillor Lowry prior to public consultation.  20 plots of land had been released predominantly on brown field sites (four had been on green field sites). Councillors were reminded that they had all supported the Plan for Homes.

3

Councillor Ball

Councillor Evans

Would Councillor Evans retract the comments he made in the Herald about the use of the camera car?

Response: No.

4

Councillor Foster

Councillor Vincent

Would he investigate the complaints procedure relating to bin collections as it was not working?

Response:  All complaints made were investigated.

5

Councillor Bowyer

Councillor Evans

Was the earlier reference made by the Leader to people being snobs, appropriate?

Would he withdraw the comment and apologise to residents?

Response:  The reference during the discussion on school places, related to members of the opposition, not residents.

6

Councillor Dr Mahony

Councillor Peter Smith

Would he guarantee that ice skating provision would continue at the Pavilions until alternative arrangements were in place and what was the proposed timescale for the replacement of the facilities?

Response:  Yes, ice skating provision would continue at the Pavilions until alternative arrangements were in place.  The timescale was not known as discussions with the developer were ongoing.

7

Councillor Casey

Councillor Evans

What was he doing to achieve openness and transparency? Will he stop councillors tweeting during meetings?  

Response:  Meetings were webcast. The Council was committed to openness and transparency and had published its record on Freedom of Information requests.  The public were able to attend meetings and to tweet. 

The Acting Monitoring Officer indicated that it was inappropriate to discuss this matter as a complaint had been made to him on this issue.

8

Councillor Mrs Bowyer

Councillors Penberthy /Peter Smith 

Why were the minutes of the Have Your Say meeting not posted on the Council’s website?

She had drafted the minutes herself.  What plans were there to improve the process?

Response: He would ensure that they were posted on the website and delays had been due to a lack of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21