In accordance with the Notice of Motion received under Section 4.19 of
the Constitution, Councillor Elfed Wyn ap Elwyn will propose as follows:-
Cyngor Gwynedd believes that no house should be anything but a home
until everyone has a warm home which is fit for purpose. This is the objective of this Council. We call on the Welsh Government to enable
this Council to act in order to put the people of
Gwynedd first by creating a Property Act which will offer a statutory and local
framework to support communities, housing providers and local authorities to
respond to the current crisis.
Decision:
Cyngor Gwynedd believes that no house should be
anything but a home until everyone who has a local need has a warm home which is
fit for purpose. This is the objective of this Council. We call on the Welsh Government to enable
this Council to act for the sake of the people of Gwynedd first by implementing
a Property Act which will propose a statutory and local framework to support
communities, housing providers and local authorities to respond to the current
emergency.
Minutes:
(A)
Submitted – the following notice of motion by Councillor Elfed Wyn ap
Elwyn in accordance with Section 4.19 of the Constitution, and it was
seconded:-
Cyngor Gwynedd
believes that no house should be anything but a home until everyone has a warm
home which is fit for purpose. This is
the objective of this Council. We call
on the Welsh Government to enable this Council to act in order to put the
people of Gwynedd first by creating a Property Act which will offer a statutory
and local framework to support communities, housing providers and local
authorities to respond to the current crisis.
The member set out the context to his motion,
and noted:-
·
Thinking about the
major depopulation that had happened in the countryside over the past century
caused him concern and a sense of grief – this depopulation was continuing.
·
Cyngor Gwynedd had been
at the forefront with regard to the housing crisis, and had taken firm steps in
an attempt to solve the huge problem faced by our communities.
·
A Property Act was the
natural next step in order to solve the housing crisis, since such an act would
contain policies that would put communities first, regulate the housing market
and ensure that local people have a fair chance of living in their communities.
·
A Property Act would
also place an emphasis on investing locally and create an opportunity for
communities to have support to buy assets in the community, as was happening in
Scotland.
·
The Senedd would be
discussing housing related matters over the next few months, and it was
essential that a Property Act was accepted as part of the Government's
objectives.
Members expressed their keen support to the
motion. The following points were
noted:-
·
This was along the same
lines as the previous motion, namely, how we can ensure healthy and prosperous
communities in rural Wales.
·
A Property Act was
absolutely fundamental. Without people, there could be no communities; without
housing, we cannot get people to live in those communities, and without
communities we would not have a rural economy.
An amendment was proposed and seconded to amend the
first sentence of the motion as follows, to make the proposal more specific
geographically:-
Cyngor Gwynedd
believes that no house should be anything but a home until everyone with
a local housing need has a warm home which is fit for purpose.
Support was
expressed for the amendment on the grounds that we needed to look after our own
people.
A member
expressed his objection to the amendment as it did not define 'local people'
while the original motion included everyone.
In response, the Monitoring Officer explained that he did not believe
that the wording of the amendment was inappropriate since 'local need' was a
recognised term, and that it was essentially a request for legislation.
A vote was taken
on the amendment and it carried.
In his closing
comments, the proposer noted that his concern about
the housing situation had been one of his main reasons for becoming a
councillor, and although the discussions were difficult, it was important that
everyone worked together to find a solution for the people of Gwynedd, and also
the people of Wales.
As the amendment had been accepted, the Monitoring
Officer explained that the original motion had been amended and that a further
vote was needed with the wording of the amendment, rather than the wording of
the original. The majority voted in favour of the motion.
RESOLVED to adopt the motion, namely:-
Cyngor Gwynedd
believes that no house should be anything but a home until everyone with a
local housing need has a warm home which is fit for purpose. This is the objective of this Council. We call on the Welsh Government to enable
this Council to act in order to put the people of Gwynedd first by creating a
Property Act which will offer a statutory and local framework to support
communities, housing providers and local authorities to respond to the current
crisis.