The Best Guide for the NN12 Area

As is normal from anything written by Towcester Lib Dems it is wrong. Whether it is deliberately false or they don’t understand I will leave others to judge.

New Homes Bonus is paid with the house is built and taken onto the council tax register. The houses referred to in Belle Baulk are not built yet.

SNC have not had a single penny from this development.
The money received from New Homes Bonus that has been received has been for houses built, mainly in villages, under the Interim Rural Housing Policy.

So even if you agree with the logic that if an area has the pain it should have the gain – Towcester has not lost out as this money was generated elsewhere. Therefore their position is illogical and driven by a sole desire to have a go whether it is true or not.

I made it clear yesterday that a policy on how the money would be allocated will be produced in due course, stating off in the Conservative Group.

The Conservative Group agreed to fund an acceleration in the review of conservation areas so we are getting 17 per year not 5 as planned. The review of the Towcester conservation area has happened and to the best of my knowledge is not published. These extra resources will speed that up and so it is untrue to say that Towcester is missing out. Towcester will benefit.

The other item that SNC Conservatives agreed to fund was Neighbourhood Planning. This is to meet new statutory duties that extend across the district and not just within the 30mph signs of Towcester. Having had a Towcester Masterplan additional planning document produced for Towcester again it is clear SNC are putting Towcester ahead of other places. Do the Lib Dems think it fair to give Towcester strengthened planning policy and omit other areas in the district?

Finally, the Lib Dems voted against these proposals, but did not offer any other alternative. There was no amendment from them to fund something else instead. Had their suggestion been followed the money would have sat in the bank.

Dear Mr McCord,

Can you clarify where the money that SNC expect to receive from the Belle Baulk development, and from the Southern Extension of Towcester, is expected to be used.

Have any plans been put in place should the money come in to the council?

If so, will that money be used to re-open the public toilets in Towcester?

As for the money that has already been received from New Homes Bonuses for developments in the outlying villages, how much of that money has been spent within those specific villages? A simple percentage will do.

And hopefully you will make it to our next wildlife trust working party. You failed to answer the request last time, choosing to publicly say you would consider it but fail to follow up on your word. They are on the 3rd Saturday of each month, put it in your diary.

Nick Holder

Nick
Good to hear from you

I do love your willingness to criticise me and then defend those who are telling blatant untruths but such is the way with Lib Dems (or in your case just their loyal mate - you are not a Lib Dem I know that)

As for your other questions, no commitments have been made, as I said there will be a policy developed in due course.

There is a need to have Neighbourhood plans developed and Towcester Town Council could benefit if they want to prepare one. It was surprising that this was voted against - all in favour except 2 - the Lib Dems.

Ian McCord

Ian,

I only criticised you for not coming to the working party that you said you would consider publicly, but failed to doing anything about privately. And that is a fact.

The rest of my comments related specifically to a request for information about the New Homes Bonus.

I haven't supported anybody, just trying to get the facts on public record on here. If Chris is wrong, then here is your chance to shoot him down with facts. But you haven't claified the facts in your comments.

Fancy another go at actually answering my questions?

Nick

I have answered the questions - no specific commitments on spending, or not, the New Homes Bonus have been made beyond funding additional resource for Conservation Area Reviews and Neighbourhood Planning.

A policy is in development to consider many of the issues you raise.

My comments on the Wildlife were to put it my diary and try to attend. Apologies if you took that to mean a firm pledge to attend. My diary is cluttered with many meetings that could go to. As it turned out I had family commitments to attend to.

In this the Lib Dems are trying to suggest that Towcester is being disadvantaged. It is not the case.

They put forward their view that if a house is build in one place the cash should be used there. Then simultaneously complain that although the houses were not built in Belle Balke the money should be spent there.

SNC will report to government on the change in its Council Tax base in Oct / Nov. The difference from one year to the next will be the amount of bonus due on housing delivery. That will be payable in the following financial year commencing 1 April.

However, there are many questions about this as the government says it will be funded for 6 years - beyond the life of the government and beyond the life of the Comprehensive Spending Review. I could not support any long term spending commitment on the back of a temporary unpredictable income stream.

There will be many changes to Local Government finance in the next 12 months, these need careful consideration as to their impact and making any spending plans could prove unwise so I shall remain cautious by not budgeting for its use other than as one off funding.

And the money already received from the New Homes Bonus payments, received for outlying developments that have been completed.

Is that money remaining in the villages, or is it being used to fund more general plans?

What is the approximate spending split between within the village/outside the village spending of these payments?

Nick,
No commitments have been made. Policy is in the early stages of development to work out the answers to the issues you raise and many more.

Ian

So just to clarify, there are no firm plans in place for the spending of New Homes Bonus money that is received.

So what was the vote about, that is discussed in the article?

I presume you were voting on a proposal of some kind. If, as the article suggests, the vote was to decide on a policy of where this money is to be spent, can you state what the outcome of that vote was and the decision taken please?

Nick