Waverley Borough Council Committee System - Committee Document
Meeting of the Environment and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 11/09/2007
Minutes
MINUTES of the MEETING of the ENVIRONMENT AND LEISURE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE held
on 11TH SEPTEMBER 2007
(To be read in conjunction with the Agenda for the Meeting)
*
Cllr Mrs D M James (Chairman)
Cllr Ms D M-R Le Gal
*
Cllr M R Goodridge (Vice Chairman)
*
Cllr A J Lovell
*
Cllr Mrs J I Arrick
*
Cllr S J O’Grady
*
Cllr M W Byham
Cllr S L Pritchard
*
Cllr J H B Edwards
*
Cllr K Reed
*
Cllr Mrs P Ellis
*
Cllr Ms J R Thomson
Cllr R A Gordon-Smith
*
Cllr Mrs N Warner-O’Neill
Cllr N P Holder
*
Cllr C A Wilson
*
Cllr S R E Inchbald
*Present
Cllr Mrs G Beel attended as a substitute
Cllr B Ellis was also present
21.
INFORMAL PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
There were no informal public questions.
22.
MINUTES
The amended minutes of the meeting of 19th June and the minutes of 30th July were confirmed.
23.
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Apologies for absence were received from Cllr N Holder, Cllr Ms D Le Gal, Cllr S Pritchard and Cllr R A Gordon-Smith. Cllr Mrs G Beel attended as a substitute.
24.
DISCLOSURES OF INTERESTS
There were no disclosures of interest.
25.
QUESTIONS BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
There were no questions from members of the public.
26.
WASTE SEMINAR
The Chairman thanked officers for organising the Waste Seminar on 5th September and thanked Councillors for attending it. Officers confirmed they would circulate the presentations to all Members.
Councillors generally felt it had been a useful seminar, although some would have liked the session to have covered issues with more relevance to Waverley’s new Councillors’ knowledge requirements - for instance, variability of other local authorities’ systems, range of items recycled and impact of the roll-forward system i.e. Christmas and New Year arrangements.
The Chairman asked that the recycling issues set out above be pursued with regular reports back to the ELOS Committee, together with development of an ongoing training programme and a regular updating process to ELOS of proposed actions by the Portfolio Holder and Executive.
27.
ROLLING PROGRAMME AND COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME
(Agenda Item 7)
The Committee received the four-month rolling programme adopted by the Executive on 4th September, and the Work Programme for noting by the Executive.
Members discussed the recent Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak and impact on local businesses, commending the Chief Executive, Leader and staff for their efficient communication and hard work.
Cllr Lovell asked if there was going to be a review of the extent of developer contributions to local developments. Officers said that in March the Council agreed a Code of Practice on developer contributions. The Code would be applied from October with an update to the Executive in October. It was agreed there should be an update on S106 agreements at the next ELOS meeting.
The Clean Neighbourhood & Environment Act item was discussed and it was agreed the issue should be moved to the November meeting.
Cllr Lovell raised the issue of the South East Plan (Item 4) and asked that ‘infrastructure implications’ be added to the rolling programme.
Cllr Reed said there was a need to look at options for extending recycling, and was concerned about the lack of information that the Committee received. Other Councillors felt that it was important to maintain momentum from the recent seminar. It was agreed that recycling should be discussed further under the in-depth review item and that the Environment Portfolio Holder be invited to attend the next meeting to present a status report on the WBC waste management strategy.
RESOLVED: That the Committee receive and note the rolling and work programme with the following observations:
·
Thank the Chief Executive, Leader and other staff involved for their excellent and immediate response to the Foot and Mouth Disease;
·
On recycling, to:
o
Invite the Portfolio Holder to the next meeting to discuss progress on recycling
o
Send a message to the Executive requesting regular ELOS recycling updates/input on any further improvements the service before the point of decision making;
o
Ask that the Executive give the Committee regular updates;
o
Reconvene the Waste SIG as a matter of priority; and
o
Forward the above comments to the Executive.
·
Add an update item on Planning S106 agreements to the next meeting’s agenda;
·
Add an update item on Clean Neighbourhood and Environment Act to the next meeting’s agenda; and
·
Add ‘infrastructure implications’ to the Executive’s South East Plan item on the rolling programme.
28.
IN-DEPTH REVIEWS
(Agenda Item 8)
Members noted the suggestions for topics for in-depth reviews in 2007/8 including two items from the 2006/7 list - Haslemere Museum and The Olympics 2012 & Waverley (reserve). Councillors discussed the topics and were asked to choose two main topics and one reserve. There was a range of opinion about the proposed topics so the Chairman took a vote.
RESOLVED: That the Committee choose the following reviews for 2007/8:
1. A range of
Recycling issues
(Including addition of other plastics, cardboard and food waste, conserving resources, additional village based Bring Sites and the environmental aspects of recycling). Officers were asked to report on how to schedule the review and the issue of resources.
2. Land Drainage
(including Climate Change, Emergency Planning and preceded by a training seminar for all Members).
Reserve –
Transport issues
(including lorries on unsuitable roads and highway provision for new developments and services. In the meantime Councillors be encouraged to use the Surrey Local Committee to raise these issues and officers be asked to arrange a briefing for all Councillors, to be conducted by Surrey Highways).
29.
BEST VALUE PERFORMANCE INDICATORS QUARTER 1
(Agenda Item 9)
Members noted that the Performance Indicators (PI) Sub Committee had met on 5th September to discuss the Quarter 1 performance indicators. The observations of the Sub Committee had been sent to the Committee for information.
Cllr Edwards, Chairman of the Sub Committee, gave a brief report. He said that the Leisure Indicators had been deferred to the next meeting, as Members felt figures were affected by seasonality. He also proposed that there should be a Performance Indicators training seminar for all Members, and that the Executive consider the benefits of combining the three Overview and Scrutiny PI Sub Committees.
There was a discussion about merging the three Sub Committees. Generally it was felt there would be some benefit to this although Cllr Reed and Cllr O’Grady did not agree, feeling the breadth of items covered would be too large. Cllr Lovell suggested the Sub Committees should focus on fewer, more relevant Performance Indicators, particularly noting those issues that were performing exceptionally well or badly.
RESOLVED: That the Committee:
·
Support Member Training on Performance Indicators, particularly for those Members of the Sub Committees;
·
Were generally in favour of the three Sub Committees merging;
·
Ask the Sub Committees to identify key indicators to concentrate on; and
·
Develop an ‘exception reporting’ system for those issues doing particularly well or badly; and
·
Defer comment on the detailed performance figures in the report until the next meeting.
30.
GYPSY AND TRAVELLER ACCOMMODATION
(Agenda Item 10)
Members discussed a report which sought views on the Gypsy and Traveller accommodation needs information required by the South East England Regional Assembly as part of the partial review of the South East Plan. The Members were told that the report focused on the development of both the Option A and Option B figures, and other details required by SEERA. Members were asked to make specific comments on the following three points - number of pitches to be provided within Waverley; SEERA’s Benchmarking Exercise, and alternative distribution of pitches within the South East.
The Committee discussed the report and asked officers questions about the timetable, which it was explained was connected to the South East Housing Plan. There was some discussion about whether the distribution of new pitches was fair in comparison to other authorities, and about the concentration of gypsy sites around the East of the Borough in relation to the Crawley and Horsham areas. It was felt that the Executive should broaden the focus and look at the wider geographical context.
Members were reminded of the comments made by the Council and this issue when responding to the South East Plan Consultation last year.
A factual question was raised regarding the existing sites in the Milford area and it was felt that the accuracy of pitch numbers across the Borough should be checked. Members also wanted more detail about the cost of each site and the contribution occupants made to the site. Officers confirmed that most sites were privately owned at present.
RESOLVED: That the Committee makes the following observations to the Executive:
·
that Waverley is contributing a disproportionate number of sites and other areas in Surrey and neighbouring West Sussex (east and south of WBC) should be looked at to accommodate new demand;
·
in considering this issue the Executive should look at a wider geographical area, to include Crawley, Horley and Horsham areas;
·
there would be an impact on the planning department workload if the recommendations were accepted and this needed to be determined as part of the submission;
·
to note that the area of the borough with no environmental constraints was larger than that of Guildford and Surrey Heath but that this should not necessarily mean Waverley had to accommodate more pitches;
·
a need to check the accuracy of pitch numbers especially in the Milford area, before figures go to the Executive;
·
a need to verify the number of unauthorised sites and pitches across Waverley and to ensure that these are clearly identified as part of the submission to the Executive and for inclusion in the subsequent submission; and
·
to remind the Executive that the east of Waverley already had the largest concentration of sites.
31.
CHIDDINGFOLD CONSERVATION AREA APPRAISAL
(Agenda Item 11)
Members noted a report which set out the content of the draft Chiddingfold Conservation Area Appraisal and explained how it had been produced. The proposals for extending the boundary of the conservation area and for enhancing the conservation area were put forward for consideration. Members also noted the additional information provided from the Highway Authority and a letter from Chiddingfold Parish Council.
The Environment and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee thanked Chiddingfold Parish Council and all those involved in the appraisal. Members asked that the Executive look closely at the proposed boundary aspects and the letter from Chiddingfold Parish Council and review what impact the proposed new housing allocation for the South East Region could have on the proposed options.
RESOLVED: That the Committee forward the above comments to the Executive.
32.
SURREY HILLS AONB – GOVERNANCE REVIEW CONSULTATION
(Agenda Item 12)
The Committee considered a consultation by the Surrey Hills Joint Advisory Committee regarding proposed changes to the governance of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Members supported the report and the proposed changes to the governance arrangements and delegation of responsibility of preparing the AONB Management Plan.
RESOLVED: That the Committee support:
·
the proposed changes to the Governance arrangements for the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; and
·
the delegation of responsibility of preparing the AONB Management Plan to the new Surrey Hill Board.
The meeting concluded at 9.28 pm
Chairman
The ELOS minutes resulting from the 11th September 2007 ELOS meeting as submitted to the Executive on 2nd October 2007 differ in content in some areas from that now authorised on 26th November 2007 as an accurate records of the meeting proceedings.
Bureau/comCllr/O&S3/2007/08.elosminutes110907.doc
