Mins : Eastern Area Development Control Sub Committee on 20/01/2004

Waverley Borough Council Committee System - Committee Document

Meeting of the Eastern Area Development Control Sub Committee held on 20/01/2004
Mins

MINUTES of the MEETING of the ENVIRONMENT AND LEISURE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE held on 20th January 2004

(To be read in conjunction with the Agenda for the Meeting)

*	Mr L C Bate	*	Mrs M V M Hunt
*	Mr M J Blower	*	Mr D C Inman
*	Dr J F A Blowers	*	Mrs S R Jacobs
*	Mr M W Byham	*	Mrs P N Mitchell
*	Mr V Duckett	*	Mr J R Sandy
*	Mr R J Gates	*	Mr J M Savage
*	Mr P Haveron	*	Mrs J A Slyfield
	Mrs P Hibbert	*	Mr J A Verden
*	Mrs L S R Hodgson

* Present

58. MINUTES

The Minutes of the Meetings held on 13th and 14th January 2004 were confirmed and signed.

59. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Mrs P Hibbert.

60. DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS

The Chairman disclosed a personal interest in Agenda Item 8 as a Trustee of the John Stanley Jeffries Trust.

61. EXECUTIVE FOUR MONTH ROLLING PROGRAMME (Agenda Item 5, Appendix A)

RESOLVED that the Four-Month Rolling Programme of Key Decisions be received.

62. COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME (Agenda Item 6)

The Chairman of the Committee noted that the work of the Committee was completed for the current Council year, apart from consideration of the Community Partnership Fund in March. The Chairman requested an item on the Agenda for the March meeting to discuss the work programme for the Committee 2004/05. Officers were requested to remind Members of the Committee to submit suggestions in advance.

63. REVIEW OF FLY-TIPPING IN WAVERLEY (Agenda Item 7, Appendix B)

Following the decision of the Committee in September 2003 to perform an in-depth review of fly-tipping in Waverley, the Committee considered a report providing background information and suggesting a timetable for the review.

The Committee suggested further examples of possible organisations to be invited to the Special Meeting of the Committee on 29th March 2004, including Windsor and Maidenhead BC, Hampshire CC, the National Trust, Surrey Wildlife Trust and Envirocare. It was suggested that written submissions only be requested from some organisations.

RESOLVED that the report be noted, in particular, the special meeting to be held on 29th March 2004, and that

1. the listed organisations and officers be invited to submit written statements; and

2. a site visit to fly-tipping areas be arranged.

64. LEISURE SERVICES BEST VALUE FUNDAMENTAL SERVICE REVIEW - SPORT AND RECREATION AND PARKS AND OPEN SPACES (Agenda Item 8, Appendix C)

The Committee received a report summarising the key findings of the Leisure Services reviews into Sport and Recreation and Parks and Open Spaces. The Committee was asked to consider the report and forward any observations to the Executive. The Committee was also asked to consider the additional cost-saving options listed at Annexe 5 to the report, as the Grounds Maintenance Contract is due to be retendered in November 2005.

The Committee made the following observations:-

Annexe 1 - Grounds Maintenance Operations

Grass Cutting in Housing Amenity Areas

Although residents have requested that the grass be cut more frequently, it was pointed out by a member of the Committee that a lot of grass would not withstand being cut more regularly, and that if this was actioned it could result in the grass dying out entirely. Therefore the Committee wished to draw to the attention of the Executive the importance of a grass cutting frequency appropriate to the type of grass and its use. The Committee also mentioned a possible need for planting a different type of grass and the cost implications involved.

The Committee was also concerned at the number of different contractors used to cut different areas of grass across the Borough, including Arkeco, Surrey County Council and social landlord contractors and the Committee urges the Executive to look at ways of co-ordinating the range of grass cutting contractors working in the Borough.

Litter and Dog Mess Control in Parks and Open Spaces

The Committee was pleased to see that the responsibility for litter collection in parks was to be transferred to the Grounds Maintenance contract at re-tendering, but was concerned about the cost implications.

Horticultural Maintenance

The Committee agreed that overgrown shrubs and hedges were a problem in the Borough and recognised that elderly residents were worried by their presence. Therefore the Committee agreed with the officer suggestion to establish dedicated park staff who would perform basic maintenance of this sort.

Sports Pitch Provision and Usage

The Committee was in favour of a rolling programme of scheduled sports pitch improvements, and felt that this would be beneficial for those pitches in the Borough owned by Waverley.

Playground Provision

The Committee was very concerned at the provision of playground and youth facilities across the Borough and discussed the topic comprehensively. The Committee noted that provision for teenagers was considered under ‘playground’ and felt that such provision should be considered separately. However, the Committee was very concerned at the lack of adequate provision for teenagers and Farncombe was cited as an area in particular need. This problem had in turn led to elder children and teenagers frequenting play facilities intended for much younger children, which led to a problem of broken alcohol bottles and rubbish in play areas. The Committee urged the Executive to investigate providing for older children simple facilities, possibly by utilising existing pavilions and agreed with officers that the Environment and Leisure and Planning departments should work together to secure play provision in Section 106 agreements. The Committee concurred that the proposals to establish dedicated park staff would help to ensure that the play areas for young children remained safe at all times.

Annexe 2 – Action Plan

The Committee generally supported the proposed action plan, but suggested that the proposed information boards should include a range of telephone contact numbers for Waverley.

Annexe 3

Passport for Leisure Scheme

The Committee agreed that the profile of this scheme needed to be raised, and observed that it is difficult for teenagers to book leisure facilities without the help of an adult as often credit/debit card payment is required at the time of booking.

Annexe 5

Observations on Cost Saving Options for Grounds Maintenance Specification

The Committee felt that it was difficult to suggest ways to improve the service (Annexes 1-4) and simultaneously find ways to save money (Annexe 5) in the body of a single report; and wished to point out to the Executive that Annexe 5 was at variance to the rest of the report, and not in the spirit of Best Value reviews which should focus on continuous service improvement.

Hedge Maintenance

As noted above the Committee did not feel that it would be safe to cut hedges less frequently and felt that reduced frequency could increase people’s fear of crime.

Playground Inspections

The Committee agreed that it was not necessary to inspect every playground every other day, but rather the inspections should be prioritised on a risk basis and key sites should be inspected daily, whereas quieter sites could be inspected every 1-2 weeks. The Committee also felt that the painting of playground equipment should take place on an ad hoc basis rather than timetabled specifically as once every three or four years. A system of prioritisation could be developed in co-operation with the inspection timetable.

Closed Churchyards

Some members of the Committee felt that this was not the correct course of action as many residents complained about overgrown churchyards, whereas other members felt that closed churchyards should be made as east to maintain as possible, with curb stones removed for ease of mowing. In some areas the grass was not cut until the wildflowers have seeded, a notice to this effect is displayed. And relatives visiting graves accepted the reasons for this.

Tennis Courts

The Committee was in favour of converting the grass courts to all weather hard courts, in principle, however, it considered the initial outlay of Ł240,000 for all Waverley courts a high capital cost in order to save Ł10,500 per annum in maintenance charges. Therefore the Committee did not consider this work should be carried out at this time.

Grass-Cutting

The Committee reinforced the comment made above on the best value review and stressed the need for a programme of cutting which was appropriate t to the use of the area.

65. BEST VALUE PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (Agenda Item 9, Appendix D)

The Committee considered a report detailing the BVPIs and LOLEs for the first six months (for the services within its remit). Officers responded to questions from members.

The Committee made the following observations.

Environmental Service

BVPI

82a Officers explained to Members that the figure for the 3rd quarter was 18.8%, and that this figure did not include the latest rounds. Officers therefore felt that the target of 24% would be met by the end of the year.

89 Members questioned why the target of 72% was not met in customer satisfaction with cleanliness standards. Officers explained that the contract had been re-let to allow it to time with other environmental contracts, however, due to the short period of time only the incumbent contractor submitted a tender and increased their prices. Officers also pointed out that this was not a measure of cleanliness, but of satisfaction with cleanliness. Members noted that the street cleaning regime had been reduced significantly and agreed the 72% target should be met.

90a Members asked why this figure was 10% below the target of 84%, officers responded that this was due to the survey being carried out in the summer, and had therefore missed 16,000 properties. Members agreed that the higher target should be retained.

91 Officers informed Members of an updated figure for the 3rd quarter of 98% and confirmed that the target would therefore be met.

LOLE

Officers informed Members that all LOLE targets had been met.

Planning

BVPI

109b The Director of Planning and Development explained that the government was planning to identify low service providers and that this service needed to improve drastically and reach 50% in twelve months in order to avoid being ‘named and shamed’. Members required clarification of ‘minor applications’ and were informed that any development of up to 10 dwelling was so classified.

109c The Director again explained that this score was improving, and was in part low due to major restructuring of the Planning department last year, coupled with the introduction of two new computer systems and staffing problems. It was anticipated that the staffing problems were now resolved and 109c would improve.

Members questioned whether a LOLE should be established measuring the number of appeals dismissed, however, apparently there had been one that had been withdrawn. Members congratulated officers on targets that had been maintained or improved.

Cultural Services

BVPI

170c Officers explained that this target would not be met as the turnover of staff had led to a reduction in school groups.

LOLE

15 Officers explained that this target would not be met as Sport England had withdrawn all funding.

9 a-c Officers explained that it was unlikely that this target would be met as the definitions of LAP LEAP and NEAP had been changed.

Members felt that some targets should be increased in order to improve services, but did not specify further.

The meeting concluded at 9.29 pm.

Chairman

comms/o&s3/2003-04/058