AT A MEETING of the ENVIRONMENT POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE held on 8 September 2005 at The Castle, Winchester.

PRESENT:

Councillors: P. R. C. Hutcheson (In the Chair); J. V. Bryant; Mrs E. M. Byrom;

A. S. Carew; N. R.G. Clarke; M. G. Cooper; Mrs P. M. Devereux; Anne Edwards;

Mrs K. Heron; G. M. Hockley; K. House; R. C. McIntosh; Sam Payne; D. E. Simpson and S. D. T. Woodward.

Also in attendance: Councillors T. G. Knight and J. K. Glen.

28. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should normally at the time of the debate declare their interest, and having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed.

29. MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 22 July 2005 (Item 2 in the Minute

Book) were confirmed by the Committee and signed by the Chairman.

Matters arising:

(a) South East Plan - Consultation on Draft District Level Housing Figures.

On Minute 23, the Director of Environment advised that an updated version

of the Briefing Note had been circulated at the subsequent Cabinet meeting.

30. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

(a) Reported that the proposed County Council response to the Southampton

Airport Master Plan Consultation will be on the Agenda for the Environment

Policy Review Committee on 6 October. The decision on the response is now

due to be taken by the Executive Member for Environment : South Hampshire

and Resource Management at his Decision Day on 11 October. In order to

further inform the Policy Review Committee's consideration of this important

issue, a short presentation by British Airports Authority (BAA) will be made to

Members at the start of the meeting. All County Councillors will be invited to

attend for this initial presentation.

(b) Reported that Members will be aware of the very tight timescale for

finalising the Local Transport Plan (LTP) for submission next March. Not all

of the work will be done in order to fully report emerging conclusions to the

next round of Transport Strategy Panels in the next few weeks. In order to

maximise the input from all County Council Members and district colleagues

serving on the Transport Strategy Panels (TSP) a LTP2 workshop will be held

on the afternoon of 8 December and further details will be sent to all County

Councillors and TSP Members.

(c) Reported that the public consultation exercise on the options for the South

East Plan District Housing Allocation is now underway with a closing date

for responses of 21 October. The technical document `where shall we live'

jointly published by Hampshire County Council and Partnership for Urban

South Hampshire (PUSH) has been widely distributed to stakeholders and

interested parties and a special edition of Hampshire Now will be distributed

later in September and early October. There are also some stakeholder events

taking place, organised by the County Council and PUSH and these will be

supplemented by District Council organised events in some areas. The first

HCC/PUSH event takes place this afternoon, with a briefing for the Hampshire

Association of Town and Parish Councils in Winchester Guildhall at 5pm and

will be followed by a presentation/briefing for social and environmental

partners on 19 September and a series of business breakfasts for economic

partners in each sub regional area.

31. MEMBERS QUESTIONS

No questions to the Executive Member for Environment : North Hampshire

and Spatial Strategy and the Executive Member for Environment : South

Hampshire and Resource Management had been received.

32. DEPUTATIONS

No requests to make a deputation had been received.

33. EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY PERFORMANCE REPORT

The Committee received a presentation and considered a report of the

Director of Human Resources (item 6 in the Minute Book) on the Equality and

Diversity Performance Report.

Members noted that the report was the outcome of the Best Value Review of

Equality and Diversity, the review of the Race Equality Scheme and the annual

assessment of the County Council's performance against the Equality Standard

for Local Government.

The report advised of the actions required to achieve continued improvement to

ensure the County Council met its statutory requirements on human rights,

race, age, sexual orientation, gender, disability and religion and continued

progress towards level 3 of the Equality Standard.

RESOLVED:

(a) That Members of the Committee are fully aware of their role to support the

implementation of the Equality Plan and Race Scheme.

(b) That Members understand their role in monitoring the requirement for

reports to show the outcome of Race and Equality Impact Assessment.

34. 2005/2006 ENVIRONMENT CAPITAL PROGRAMME PROGRESS

AND REVISIONS

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Environment (item 7 in

the Minute Book) considering the progress and revisions to the 2005/2006

Environment Capital Programme, to be considered by the Executive Member

for Environment : South Hampshire and Resource Management as a key

decision at his meeting on 13 September 2005.

Members noted in relation to the proposed pedestrian crossing for the

A27 Southampton Road, Lower Church Road the programme value was

incorrect and should have read £210,000 rather than £150,000 with the

forecast expenditure £110,000 rather than £50,000. The tables were correct.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the revised Environment Capital Programme and revisions as set out

in the report and appendices be approved.

35. LOCAL TRANSPORT PLAN - FUNDING CONSULTATION

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Environment (Item 9 in

the Minute Book) providing an update on the funding mechanism for the full

Local Transport Plan (LTP) and seeking agreement to a proposed response to

Government consultation.

Members agreed that the Government had given Local Authorities insufficient

time to respond to the consultation paper which had been received in August. It

was felt that representations should be made to the Office of the Deputy Prime

Minister with a request that Local Authorities be given adequate periods of

consultation time on important issues.

RESOLVED:

That the report having been presented, Members offered comments on the

suggested response which were noted by the Executive Member for

Environment : South Hampshire and Resources Management.

36. REVENUE BUDGET MONITORING 2005/06

The Committee considered a report of the County Treasurer and the Director of

Environment (Item 8 in the Minute Book) presenting the outcome of the first

budget monitoring review for 2005/06 for the Environment Services, to be

considered by the Executive Member for Environment : South Hampshire and

Resource Management at his meeting on 13 September 2005.

During the course of the ensuing discussion, Members noted that the main

pressures for the revenue budget related to Bus Subsidies, Management and

Support Services and SHRT project development costs.

RESOLVED:

That the actions being taken to manage the cash limit before the budget is

revised later in the year be noted.

37. LOCAL TRANSPORT PLAN - ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT 2005

The Committee received and noted a report of the Director of Environment

(item 10 in the Minute Book) introducing the 2005 Local Transport Plan (LTP)

Annual Progress Report (APR) submitted to the Government on 29 July 2005.

Members noted that revenue subsidies were directed at those bus services

which were not commercially viable while there was a need to make capital

investment in quality bus routes where there were significant passenger

numbers and the potential for growth. Members commented on the importance

of punctuality in achieving a quality service.

There was a discussion about the national decline in cycling usage and

whether there was a need to encourage more cycling or whether the County

Council should be more pragmatic in its approach.

38. STREET LIGHTING CONTRACT PERFORMANCE

(ANNUAL REPORT)

The Committee received and noted a report of the Director of Environment

(item 11 in the Minute Book) detailing the performance of the street lighting

maintenance contract and outlining the early results of co-locating client staff

with the contractor. Members were pleased to note that performance was

improving as shown by the performance indicators.

39. HAMPSHIRE MINERALS AND WASTE DEVELOPMENT

FRAMEWORK - STATEMENT OF COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Environment (item 12 in

the Minute Book) detailing the Statement of Community Involvement, part of

the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework, to be considered

by the Executive Member for Environment : North Hampshire and Spatial

Strategy at his meeting on 13 September 2005.

Members agreed that consultation with residents and keeping Local Members

better informed was needed throughout the process of community involvement.

Members proposed that paragraphs 4.1 and 4.2 of the report relating to

neighbour notification of planning applications and the length of consultation

needed further consideration particularly in respect of how they related to the

current practices of local planning authorities. The Executive Member for

Environment : North Hampshire and Spatial Strategy agreed to re examine the

proposals in 4.1 and 4.2 of the report, with a view to considering revised

proposals for presentation to the County Council on 29 September 2005,

following further consultation with interested Policy Review Committee

Members.

RESOLVED:

That the report having been presented, Members offered comments on the

suggested response which were noted by the Executive Member for

Environment : North Hampshire and Spatial Strategy.

40. GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION PAPER : PLANNING FOR

HOUSING PROVISION

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Environment item 13 in

the Minute Book) considering the County Council's response to the

Consultation Paper `Planning for Housing Provision'.

RESOLVED :

That the report having been presented, Members offered comments

on the suggested response which were noted by the Executive Member for

Environment : Spatial Strategy

41. ENVIRONMENT POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE -

FORWARD PLAN

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Executive and Director of

Environment (Item 14 in the Minute Book) setting out issues for future

consideration, subject to the amendment of Speed Management Review.

RESOLVED:

That with the amendment listed above, the Forward Plan be noted.