Agenda item

The cabinet member for regeneration and new homes and the cabinet member for environment and the public realm to present the theme for the meeting.

MOTION ON THE THEME – ENVIRONMENT, PUBLIC REALM AND REGENERATION(see pages 1 - 3 of the main agenda)

As the subject matter of the motion covered two portfolios both cabinet members spoke on the motion.  The cabinet member for environment and public realm, Councillor Darren Merrill, and the cabinet member for regeneration and new homes, Councillor Mark Williams, presented the motion on the themed debate.

Councillor Rosie Shimell, the majority opposition group spokesperson, responded to the cabinet members motion and proposed Amendment A.

Following debate (Councillors Barrie Hargrove, Adele Morris, Samantha Jury-Dada, David Noakes, Helen Dennis, Anood Al-Samerai, Tom Flynn, Ben Johnson, Michael Situ, Damian O’Brien and Peter John), the cabinet member for environment and public realm, Councillor Darren Merrill, and the cabinet member for regeneration and new homes, Councillor Mark Williams, responded to the debate.

Amendment A was put to the vote and declared to be lost.

The motion was put to the vote and declared to be carried.

RESOLVED:

Regeneration

1.  That council assembly recognises that Southwark is one of the most exciting boroughs in the country in terms of regeneration, with significant investment in the borough delivering new affordable homes, jobs and community benefits.

2.  That council assembly commends this administration’s approach to regeneration, which has secured the second highest level of affordable house-building in the country, with 3,760 new affordable homes built in Southwark between 2010-11 and 2014-15.

3.  That council assembly welcomes this administration’s commitment to ensuring regeneration benefits local people by delivering affordable homes to rent and for low cost home ownership, building new community facilities and creating jobs and opportunities for Southwark residents.

4.  That council assembly notes that Southwark also has the most ambitious council house building programme in the country - 11,000 new council homes built by 2043, with the first 1,500 by 2018, with every one of the new homes available to Southwark residents at council rents.

5.  That council assembly calls on other London boroughs to play their part in solving London’s housing crisis by following Southwark’s lead and building new affordable homes.

6.  That council assembly condemns the previous Liberal Democrat and Conservative Coalition government’s cut to the affordable housing grant, which has made it more difficult for local authorities to build new council homes.

7.  That council assembly also condemns the government’s proposals to limit new affordable housing and to force the sell off of council homes through the Housing and Planning Bill, which will significantly reduce council housing in Southwark, damage our ability to build much needed new homes and lead to an increase in homelessness and overcrowding.

8.  That council assembly calls on the cabinet to:

·  Work with partners across the borough to increase local employment in construction so that Southwark residents are able to take advantage of opportunities from regeneration programmes.

·  Lobby the government to reconsider it’s disastrous proposals on the forced sale of council homes.

·  Lobby the government for an exemption for local authorities on council house building programmes from ‘starter home’ quotas, which will be unaffordable for the majority of Southwark residents, to ensure new homes in the borough are genuinely affordable to households on lower incomes.

Environment and public realm

9.  That council assembly recognises the importance of ensuring development in our borough is sustainable and welcomes this administration’s commitment to the environment, including:

·  Reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill to less than 1%, with Southwark now the best recycling borough in inner city London.

·  Committing to run entirely on green energy by 2050.

·  Delivering a new energy hub that will deliver zero-carbon, affordable heat and hot water to residents and businesses across Elephant Park.

10.  That council assembly recognises that poor air quality is a significant problem for Southwark and that 28,800 children in our borough breathe poor air and approximately 110 people die in Southwark prematurely every year from poor air quality. Council assembly therefore calls on Transport for London (TfL) to take action on air quality and to extend the ultra low emissions zone to cover the whole borough and the rest of inner London.

11.  That council assembly reaffirms the council’s formal objection to TfL’s plans for the new Silvertown Tunnel due to the negative impact increased congestion will have on air pollution levels in Southwark, particularly on approaches to the Rotherhithe tunnel, and calls on TfL to address the council’s concerns and recommendations in its proposals.

12.  That council assembly welcomes this administration’s commitment to sustainable transport, to promote active journeys, minimise the environmental impact of transport and improve the public realm to make the borough a safer, cleaner and healthier place to live and work.

13.  That council assembly welcomes the 2.7 miles of quietways that have already been introduced in the borough and the commitment to deliver 21.26 more miles, as well as the introduction of the Southwark Spine, which will improve cycling in the borough and help increase the number of people choosing to cycle.

14.  That council assembly welcomes the steps being taken to improve the public realm, including at Canada Water, Peckham and the Aylesbury, to clean up the borough’s high streets, such as Rye Lane and Walworth Road, and to invest in the social infrastructure of our borough, including new libraries, a new leisure centre and new parks, such as the new Camberwell library, the new Castle leisure centre and a £6m investment in 6 parks around Elephant and Castle.

Note: This motion will be referred as a recommendation to the cabinet for consideration.