Archived decisions
AT A MEETING of the ENVIRONMENT POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE held on Wednesday 17 April 2002 at The Castle, Winchester.
PRESENT:
Councillors: J. K. Glen (Chairman); Mrs P.G. Banks; Mrs E.M. Byrom; J.E. Coles; A.P. Collett; C.R.H. Davidovitz; Mrs P.M. Devereux; Mrs P. Dickens; A.G. Dowden; W.J. Filer; M.S. Geddes; Mrs K. Heron; K. House; P.R.C. Hutcheson; R.J. Kimber; T.G. Knight; P. Luffman; R.C. McIntosh; R.H. Price, JP; M.J. Roberts; Sir James J. Scott; Miss J.D. Wride.
Also in attendance: Councillors K.B. Estlin and J.K. West
53. MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting held on 6 March 2002 (Item 1 in the Minute Book) were confirmed by the Committee and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.
Arising thereon:
41(i) Passenger Transport
In respect of changes to local bus services, the County Surveyor confirmed that a number of service changes would come into effect as part of a programme of housekeeping measures which had taken place periodically for many years to ensure best value for money.
The Executive Member for Environment confirmed that there were no further plans for service reductions in the current financial year with the possible exception of Alton and Havant areas which were subject to a retendering exercise. He pointed out that changes would only occur on services which had very low usage and hence did not represent good value for money and that it was important to remember that commercial bus services were not under the control of the County Council. The County Council conducted its own bus surveys in addition to obtaining information from the bus operators and was confident that figures on patronage were as correct as they could be given that surveys were conducted under the process of sampling. Many new initiatives were being investigated as detailed at a seminar for all Members held on 19 March 2002 which focused on the way forward for passenger transport. The new initiatives were not yet at a stage where a report could be produced, however Members would be fully briefed at the appropriate time.
The County Treasurer confirmed that a commitment had been made at the meeting of the County Council on 28 March that there were sufficient balances available to avoid cuts in services should there be a shortfall in efficiency savings that would be sought throughout the year.
In respect of a meeting between Hampshire County Council and Fareham Borough Council held on 6 March 2002 to discuss bus services, the Executive Member for Environment reported that Fareham Borough Council had stated that they were unable to assist with funding in the current financial year. In addition, the County Surveyor offered to write to Councillor Dowden confirming the date of a meeting to be held with Test Valley Borough Council. The Executive Member for Environment confirmed to Councillor Mrs Dickens that he had been in discussion with the Leader of Winchester City Council and a meeting was anticipated for the very near future.
43. New Forest National Park : Designation Order
The County Planning Officer confirmed that the Cabinet had approved this report on 25 March 2002, with the following changes to the recommendations:-
(i)(b) supports the need for the New Forest to have a solution which gives it permanent protection; but asks that its unique qualities be recognised by the publication of a Government Circular;
(i)(c) supports the boundary of the area identified in the Designation Order as being appropriate for special measures, including the protection of the area.
The views of the County Council had been submitted to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
44. Project Connaught: Redevelopment of Aldershot Military Town - Draft Supplementary Planning Guidance
The County Planning Officer reported that the views of the County Council had been submitted to Rushmoor Borough Council but to date a response had not been received.
In respect of the Members who had expressed an interest in working with the County Planning Officer on this project, it was noted that Councillor Hutcheson would also join the group.
48. Introduction of On-Street Parking Charges in Winchester
Resolution (i) was subject to legal clarification and the Chief Executive confirmed that the Highway Agency Agreement between the County Council and Winchester City Council gave the City Council the power to make Traffic Regulation Orders under Section 45 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and prescribe any charges under Section 46 of the Act, without the approval of the County Council. Section 55(2) of the Act provides that any surplus from the parking account should be directed towards parking, highways or transportation purposes, as specified in the Agreement, with the approval of the County Council.
It was noted that in respect of the Highways Network Agency Review, agreement had been reached in principle with Winchester City Council to implement new arrangements from 1 May 2002.
The Chief Executive reported to the Committee on the items that they had recommended for decision:-
Items 42, 44, 45, 46 and 47 - decision made by the Executive Member for Environment on 12 March 2002.
Item 43 had already been reported on.
54. MINUTES
The Minutes of the special meeting held on 4 April 2002 (Item 1a in the Minute Book) were confirmed by the Committee and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.
55. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS
The Chairman requested that upon receipt of Minutes, if Members identified items under matters arising that were likely to spark a lengthy debate, it would be helpful to receive notice of this.
56. DOWN TO EARTH 2 CONFERENCE: OUTCOMES
The Committee considered the report of the County Surveyor (Item 2 in the Minute Book) in addition to receiving a very interesting presentation on the Down to Earth Conference and the action plan arising from it. Over 600 delegates had attended over 3 separate days made up of somewhere in the region of 550 different people with approximately 60 people attending on all 3 days, invitations having been sent to the widest possible audience. During the ensuing discussions, Members detailed questions were answered and a request for a report on the recycling of industrial waste was noted. The County Surveyor reported that further work was ongoing in respect of community engagement and that a report would be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee picking up on the specific points made by Members.
It was noted that the Conference had proved to be very useful and Councillor West urged Members to attend future events on sustainability.
The Chairman thanked all officers and Members who had been involved in the Conference.
RESOLVED:
That the Committee:-
(i) notes a successful conference report; and
(ii) endorses the Action Plan
57. PROJECT INTEGRA BUSINESS PLAN INCORPORATING THE JOINT MUNCIPAL WASTE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY UPDATE
The Committee considered the report of the County Surveyor (Item 3 in the Minute Book) in addition to receiving a very interesting presentation, at the request of Members, detailing the background to Project Integra of which a summary would be distributed. The County Surveyor reported that Hampshire had achieved a target set by the Government of recycling 25% of all domestic waste and a further target of 40% had been set to be achieved by 2005. Hampshire would be equal, if not better than many areas of Europe within the next few years. However, challenges lay ahead and continuous improvement was required in order the achieve the tough targets set by Government.
The problem of community engagement had been discussed earlier in the meeting's proceedings (Minute 56 refers), however the County Surveyor was pleased to announce that Meridian Television were running a feature on waste from Monday 15 to Wednesday 24 April, three minutes per day during the time slot of 6.00-6.15pm. The County Council had been instrumental in making this happen and it would give a boost to raising public awareness of the importance of recycling.
In respect of the Business Plan, this was the first report that had been produced by the Project Integra Board. Linked to that was the joint strategy funding bid (attached to the report as an appendix) which would be submitted to Government in due course. A number of detailed comments on the Plan were noted by officers.
RESOLVED:
That the Committee endorsed the Plan for presentation to the Executive Member for Environment, with some minor comments which would be incorporated.
58. A STRATEGY FOR THE HOUSEHOLD WASTE RECYCLING CENTRE SERVICE
The Committee considered the report of the County Surveyor (Item 4 in the Minute Book) suggesting a framework of principles, aims and objectives that would assist with the future development of the service as part of Project Integra's Household Waste Recycling Centre overall waste management strategy. A full discussion ensued during which the following points were noted:-
(i) a large number of people visit one Household Waste Recycling Centre with all their recyclable materials therefore it was felt that having specific sites for specific materials would not be popular;
(ii) could Household Waste Recycling Centres be opened up to small contractors such as those working on individual residential houses, wishing to deposit commercial waste which could potentially alleviate the problem of fly-tipping;
(iii) the cost of opening up new recycling Centres was a very expensive process;
(iv) Councillor West drew attention to a seminar on waste for all Members of the Environment Policy Review Committee and Regulatory Committee planned for Friday 11 October 2002. This would take the form of a presentation followed by a tour of facilities in the County.
Members considered how they would wish to participate in the review process and this was agreed as reflected in the resolutions below.
RESOLVED:
1. That the Committee notes the decision made by the Executive Member for Environment on 12 March 2002 regarding the framework of a strategy for the County Council's Household Waste Recycling Centre service.
2. That in order to progress the work to be undertaken, the Committee should provide advice and guidance on the development of objectives.
3. That a further report be submitted to the Committee on 16 October 2002.
4. That a working party be set up in respect of the review process comprising Councillors: Davidovitz, Dowden, Geddes, Kimber, Knight, Luffman, Price and Miss Wride.
5. That the County Surveyor convene a short workshop to discuss the issues and set the direction for the working group.
6. That the County Surveyor produce a briefing paper for members of the working party for use at the workshop.
59. BEST VALUE REVIEW OF THE POLICY DEVELOPMENT IN ENVIRONMENT GROUPING
The Committee considered the joint report of the County Surveyor and the County Planning Officer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) detailing the work that had been undertaken on the Best Value review of Policy Development in the Environment Grouping since September 2001. The County Planning Officer gave a summary of the report and in particular drew Members attention to the six key issues as detailed in paragraph 7.2 of the report which would be the focus of further work.
The Chairman thanked all officers and Members for their work on this review.
RESOLVED:
That the Best Value review should concentrate on preparing options for improvement in the following areas:-
(i) joined-up working and internal/external communications, including e-government;
(ii) speeding up the process of preparing policies;
(iii) community engagement, consultation methods and transparency of decision making;
(iv) monitoring and implementation of policy and monitoring of the service's performance;
(v) costs and comparison with others, which leads on to the question of the standard of the Policy Development service which the County Council wants (e.g. a leading innovating service or an adequate `follower'); and
(vi) external provision/working in partnership.
60. REQUESTS BY MEMBERS FOR ITEMS TO BE CONSIDERED AT A FUTURE MEETING OF THE POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE
Pursuant to Part 30, paragraph 1.9 of the Constitution, two requests had been received and were discussed by the Committee as follows:-
(i) Land for Housing: Current Practice and Future Options - a research paper prepared for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation
The County Planning Officer confirmed that as part of the review of the County Structure Plan, a series of task groups had been set up and would be looking at research reports, therefore the report prepared for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation would be picked up accordingly. It was agreed that this item would not be put on the agenda for the next meeting of the Committee.
(ii) Local Bus Services - Proposed Service Changes
This matter had been discussed at length earlier in the meeting's proceedings (Minute 53 refers), however it was agreed that a further debate on passenger transport would be conducted at a future meeting. The Chairman particularly emphasised the importance of focusing on the longer term future of passenger transport as a whole, including new initiatives, in order to tackle the transport problems Hampshire is faced with and to find the best solution to these problems.
61. ENVIRONMENT POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE - FORWARD PLAN
The Committee considered the joint report of the Chief Executive, County Surveyor and County Planning Officer setting out issues which the Committee might wish to discuss at future meetings.
RESOLVED:
That the Committee's forward plan be noted.
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