(time limit 30 minutes)
Motion 1
Councillor Al-Hamdani to MOVE and Councillor H Gloster to SECOND:
Preventing modern slums in Oldham Borough
This Council notes that:
This Council resolves to:
Motion 2
Councillor Harkness to MOVE and Councillor Williamson to SECOND:
Tackling clothing poverty and waste
This Council notes that:
· The culture of ‘fast fashion’ which prevails in the UK and elsewhere leads to the over-production and over-consumption of clothing.
· Over-production represents the excessive depletion of precious natural resources and the financial exploitation of workers in the clothing industry. This exploitation is often close to home.
· Over-consumption can lead to clothing being worn once or never at all.
· In contrast, many residents of Oldham Borough living on a low-income struggle to afford to buy much-needed clothing for themselves, and for those in their family.
· This is an environmental disaster and a waste. It is the underutilisation of good clothing that could go to other people in need.
· Whilst there are charitable providers of free clothing in Oldham Borough to those in need, not every district is well served and there is a lack of awareness of provision.
· In parts of the UK, innovative schemes exist such as ‘community clothing exchanges’, where at regular events participants can swap clothes; ‘community clothes banks’, where clothing racks are sited in prominent locations in the community to enable unwanted clothing to be left for others; and ‘community sewing clubs’, where attendees repair and alter clothing to make better use of what they have.
Council resolves to:
· Work to end clothing poverty and waste, and the exploitation of clothing workers as part of our collective effort to tackle social deprivation and make this Borough carbon-neutral.
· Map and promote the current provision of free clothing available to those in need and identify where and how to address any shortfall in this provision.
· Identify innovative schemes which can be replicated in this Borough and establish a timetable and plan to do so.
· Identify how the Council and its partners can best support workers in the garment sector at risk of exploitation.
· Consult the voluntary sector, local clothing manufacturers and retailers, trades unions in the clothing sector, and the campaigning groups Wrap, Labour Behind the Label, and Home Workers World Wide on these issues.
· Bring a report back to full Council with findings and recommendations by July 2021.
Motion 3
Councillor Murphy to MOVE and Councillor C Gloster to SECOND:
The Local Electricity Bill
This Council notes:
· Local authorities play a central role in creating sustainable communities, particularly through the provision of locally generated, renewable electricity.
· The very large setup and running costs associated with selling locally generated renewable electricity to local customers prevent local renewable electricity generators from doing so.
· Making these financial costs proportionate to the scale of a renewable electricity supplier’s operation would create significant opportunities for councils to supply locally generated renewable electricity directly to local people and businesses.
· Revenues received by councils from the sale of local renewable electricity can be used to help fund measures to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions and to help fund local services and facilities.
· The recent reintroduction of the Local Electricity Bill under the Ten-Minute Rule. If enacted the new law would make the setup and running costs of selling renewable electricity to local customers proportionate by establishing a Right to Local Supply.
· This Bill has received the support of 151 Members of Parliament.
· We should make every attempt to build a sustainable Britain after the Coronavirus crisis has passed. Our support for the Bill and this motion helps us achieve that.
Council resolves to:
· Write to the relevant Government Minister asking them to enact this legislation as soon as possible.
· Ask our local Members of Parliament to support the Bill.
· Write to the campaign promoting the Bill, Power for People, (at 8, Delancey Passage, Camden, London, NW1 7NN) expressing the Council’s support for the campaign and the Local Electricity Bill.
Minutes:
Motion 1 – Preventing modern slums in Oldham Borough
Councillor Al-Hamdani MOVED and Councillor H. Gloster SECONDED the following MOTION:
“This Council notes that:
· In 2019, 15 oppressive flats got the go ahead in Watford through a planning loophole. These dwellings were below the government’s advisory space guidelines for homes, and some had no access to natural light.
· Homes without natural light are inhumane for people to dwell in. This is not an acceptable standard for people to live by in Oldham Borough nor anywhere for that matter.
· The Government minimum recommended size for dwellings built or renovated is 37 square metres. However, this is not a legal requirement.
· The current legislation allows offices and warehouses to be converted to flats without planning permission. This is how the inhumane dwellings in Watford got around the council’s humanitarian objections.
· We live in a time where it is decent and common practice that farm animals get to see sunlight as part of their daily living conditions.
· A government review of these regulations is underway.
· Oldham Borough Council must prevent modern slums from slipping through the planning net locally. An oppressive environment would have a serious impact upon the health of future occupiers.
This Council resolves to:
· Write to the Secretary of State urging that the General Permitted Development Order be changed so that council can have the final say on dwellings and that those proposals with no natural light be rejected on humanitarian grounds.
· Write to Mayor Andy Burnham to request that the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework notes the inhumane nature of this policy when assessing the use of brownfield sites.
· That proposed dwellings with no natural light will not be built in Oldham Borough as an oppressive living environment would have a serious negative impact upon physical and mental health.
· The Council has a commitment to providing homes that are of an acceptable modern standard.”
AMENDMENT
Councillor Roberts MOVED and Councillor S. Bashforth SECONDED the following AMENDMENT:
“This Council notes bullet point 1
Delete: through a planning loophole
Insert: using permitted development rights expanded by the Coalition Government in 2015 and widened further by later Conservative Governments.
Bullet point 6
Add at end; with the intention of restricting further a local Council’s right to grant or refuse planning permission.
Bullet point 7
Insert between must and prevent: take all possible steps to
This Council resolves
After urging that begin number points and insert 1. Before the General Permitted Development Order; then insert: 2015 and subsequent amendments
Delete: have the final say on dwellings
Insert: make locally accountable planning decisions and apply locally agreed policies and standards.
Delete and that those proposals with no natural light be rejected on humanitarian grounds
Insert: 2. the Government’s minimum required space standard be made mandatory
3. all homes be required to have adequate natural light
Delete bullet point 2:
Replace with: Write to Mayor Andy Burnham to confirm that minimum space standards have been applied when assessing housing numbers on brownfield sites for the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework
Bullet point 3; delete: proposed dwellings; insert homes
Delete built; insert; given planning permission
Bullet point 4: delete this Council and insert confirm it and add at end: and will take steps to include as many safeguards as practicable in the revised Local Plan”
Revised motion to read;
“This Council notes that:
· In 2019,15 oppressive flats got the go ahead in Watford using permitted development rights expanded by the Coalition Government in 2015 and widened further by later Conservative Governments. These dwellings were below the government’s advisory space guidelines for homes, and some had no access to natural light.
· Homes without natural light are inhumane for people to dwell in. This is not an acceptable standard for people to live by in Oldham Borough, nor anywhere for that matter.
· The Government minimum recommended size for dwellings built or renovated is 37 square metres. However, this is not a legal requirement.
· The current legislation allows offices and warehouses to be converted to flats without planning permission. This is how the inhumane dwellings in Watford got around the council’s humanitarian objections.
· We live in a time where it is decent and common practice that farm animals get to see sunlight as part of their daily living conditions.
· A government review of these regulations is underway with the intention of restricting further a local Council’s right to grant or refuse planning permission.
· Oldham Borough Council must take all possible steps to prevent modern slums from slipping through the planning net locally. An oppressive environment would have a serious impact upon the health of future occupiers.
This Council resolves to:
· Write to the Secretary of State urging that
1 the General Permitted Development Order 2015 and subsequent amendments be changed so that councils can make locally accountable planning decisions and apply locally agreed policies and standards.
2. the Government’s minimum required space standard be made mandatory
3. all homes be required to have adequate natural light
· Write to Mayor Andy Burnham to confirm that minimum space standards have been applied when assessing housing numbers on brownfield sites for the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework
· That homes with no natural light will not be given planning permission in Oldham Borough as an oppressive living environment would have a serious negative impact upon physical and mental health.
· confirm it has a commitment to providing homes that are of an acceptable modern standard and will take steps to include as many safeguards as practicable in the revised Local Plan”
Councillor Harkness spoke against the Amendment.
Councillor Brownridge spoke in support of the Amendment.
Councillor Al-Hamdani exercised his right of reply.
Councillor Roberts exercised her right of reply.
A vote was then taken on the AMENDMENT.
On being put to the vote, 44 votes were cast in FAVOUR of the AMENDMENT and 0 votes were cast AGAINST with 9 ABSTENTIONS. The AMENDMENT was therefore CARRIED.
Councillor Al-Hamdani did not exercise his right of reply.
On being put to the vote, the SUBSTANTIVE MOTION was CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
RESOLVED that:
1. The Secretary of State be written to urging that:
1. The General Permitted Development Order 2015 and subsequent amendments be changed so that councils can make locally accountable planning decisions and apply locally agreed policies and standards.
2. The Government’s minimum required space standards be made mandatory.
3. All homes be required to have adequate natural light.
2. Mayor Andy Burnham be written to, to confirm that minimum space standards have been applied when assessing housing numbers on brownfield sites for the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework.
3. That homes with no natural light will be given planning permission in Oldham Borough as an oppressive living environment would have a serious negative impact upon physical and mental health.
4. A commitment be confirmed to providing homes that are of an acceptable modern standard and would take steps to include as many safeguards as practicable in the revised Local Plan.
2. Motion 2 – Tackling Clothing Poverty and Waste
“This Council notes that:
· The culture of ‘fast-fashion’ which prevails in the UK and elsewhere leads to the over-production and over-consumption of clothing.
· Over-production represents the excessive depletion of precious natural resources and the financial exploitation of workers in the clothing industry. This exploitation is often close to home.
· Over-consumption can lead to clothing being worn once or never at all.
· In contrast, many residents of Oldham Borough living on a low-income struggle to afford to buy much-needed clothing for themselves, and or those in their family.
· This is an environmental disaster and a waste. It is the underutilisation of good clothing that could go to other people in need.
· Whilst there are charitable providers of free clothing in Oldham Borough to those in need, not every district is well served and there is a lack of awareness of provision.
· In parts of the UK, innovative schemes exist such as ‘community clothing exchanges’, where at regular events participants can swap clothes; ‘community clothes banks’, where clothing racks are sited in prominent locations in the community to enable unwanted clothing to be left for others; and ‘community sewing clubs’, where attendees repair and alter clothing to make better use of what they have.
Council resolves to:
· Work to end clothing poverty and waste, and the exploitation of clothing workers as part of our collective effort to tackle social deprivation and make this Borough carbon-neutral.
· Map and promote the current provision of free clothing available to those in need and identify where and how to address any shortfall in this provision.
· Identify innovative schemes which can be replicated in this Borough and establish a timetable and plan to do so.
· Identify how the Council and its partners can best support workers in the garment sector at risk of exploitation.
· Consult the voluntary sector, local clothing manufacturers and retailers, trades unions in the clothing sector, and the campaigning groups Wrap, Labour Behind the Label, and Home Workers World Wide on these issues.
· Bring a report back to full Council with findings and recommendations by July 2021.
On being put to the vote, 9 votes were cast in FAVOUR of the MOTION and 44 votes were cast AGAINST with 0 ABSTENTIONS. The MOTION was therefore LOST.
Motion 3 – The Local Electricity Bill
The Mayor advised that time had expired for this item and that the motion be put to the vote.
Councillor Murphy MOVED and Councillor C. Gloster SECONDED the following MOTION:
“This Council notes:
· Local authorities play a central role in creating sustainable communities, particularly through the provision of local generated, renewable electricity.
· The very large setup and running costs associated with selling locally generated renewable electricity to local customers prevent local renewable electricity generators from doing so.
· Making these financial costs proportionate to the scale of a renewable electricity supplier’s operation would create significant opportunities for councils to supply locally generated renewable electricity directly to local people and businesses.
· Revenues received by councils from the sale of local renewable electricity can be used to help fund measures to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions and to help fund local services and facilities.
· The recent reintroduction of the Local Electricity Bill under the Ten-Minute Rule. If enacted the new law would make the setup and running costs of selling renewable electricity to local customers proportionate by establishing a Right to Local Supply.
· This Bill has received the support of 151 Members of Parliament.
· We should make every attempt to build a sustainable Britain after the Coronavirus crisis has passed. Our support for the Bill and this motion helps us achieve that.
Council resolves to:
· Write to the relevant Government Minister asking them to enact this legislation as soon as possible.
· Ask our local Members of Parliament to support the Bill.
· Write to the campaign promoting the Bill, Power for People (at 8, Delancey Passage, Camden, London, NW1 7NN) expressing the Council’s support for the campaign and the Local Electricity Bill.”
On being put to the vote, the MOTION was CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
RESOLVED that:
1. The relevant Government Minister be written to asking them to enact this legislation as soon as possible.
2. The local Members of Parliament be asked to support the Bill.
3. The campaign promoting the Bill, Power for People, (at 8, Delancey Passage, Camden, London, NW1 7NN) be written to expressing the Council’s support for the campaign and the Local Electricity Bill.