Malvern Hills District Council NEWS UPDATE


AUTUMN 2012


legal officers, has obtained a counsel’s opinion from James Goudie QC which confirms that all that it did was set out the position that the courts had already arrived at through case law; the law itself cannot be said to have changed. This is an interpretation that is widely held amongst local government lawyers.”


We are also very aware that there has been a lot of angst amongst town and parish councillors regarding the new requirements on disclosable pecuniary interests and other disclosable interests. It has been suggested that the Worcestershire monitoring officers should provide some consistent advice on the interpretation of these rules. That is now in hand and we hope to issue something before the New Year.


In a spirit of co operation both parties have agreed that the Community Right to Challenge would be best operated by negotiation rather than formal challenge and as we said previously if any parish or town councils have an idea about how services could be better run locally please contact Ivor Pumfrey at the district council to talk through the options.


The new powers on Assets of Community Value seem to be something of a damp squib at this stage. CALC has indicated its full support for the district council’s policy statement which is proposed to be:


MHDC notes the new proposals for Assets of Community Value and endorses the broad principles recommended by the Worcestershire Property Partnership as follows:


1. To work with organisations to


encourage and facilitate the shared use of key sustainable community premises and land rather than formally listing premises or land for potential individual acquisition and use which may be unsustainable.


www.malvernhills.gov.uk PAGE 7


MalvernHills DistrictCouncil www.malvernhills.gov.uk


2. The need to identify key buildings which currently provide and/ or are capable of supporting wider community activities and seek to steer user needs to these locations to make them more sustainable.


3. The adoption of a common approach (and where discretion may be permitted, common discretionary criteria) across all Worcestershire councils for the benefit of community organisations working across local authority boundaries.


4. Early and active engagement with parish councils and community groups to promote the above approach, particularly focused on their own community buildings.


5. A partnership approach to issues such as building security, health and safety, etc. where issues may arise during the standstill period in any sale and benefits may be obtained through joint contracts etc.


On neighbourhood planning the district council’s position is that, as appropriate it will support parish councils, town councils and neighbourhood forums with the preparation of neighbourhood development plans, neighbourhood development


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