Issue - meetings

Consideration was given to report of the Corporate Director Regeneration & Community Services.

The Executive Member Regeneration & Economic Development presented the report which outlined the key principles and requirements of the guidance from Welsh Government in preparing a Local Housing Strategy, and also highlighted the potential opportunity for collaborative working with other Local Authorities on a regional basis.

The Local Housing Strategy set out the Council’s long term housing vision in terms of the type of housing we are looking to build over the next 5 years.  He said housing was currently at the top of the political agenda, impacting across all Portfolios, and the Local Housing Strategy was a very important document for the Council. Looking at the longer term there was opportunity to pursue a more regional approach and section 2.12 of the report outlined the opportunities for collaborative working.  However, in moving towards a collaborative approach, the Executive Member stressed the importance of ensuring local needs are met.

The Executive Member concluded that the Scrutiny Committee had considered the report and endorsed the preferred Option 2.

RESOLVED that the report be accepted and the Executive endorse BGCBC to work collaboratively with Gwent wide Local Authorities to investigate the possibility of producing a Regional Housing Strategy and local (Blaenau Gwent) action plan (Option 2).