Agenda item - Public Involvement

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Agenda item

Public Involvement

To consider the following matters raised by members of the public:

 

(a)          Petitions: To receive any petitions presented by members of the public;

 

(i)            Hangelton Link Road pedestrian crossing

 

(ii)          Shared Parking Scheme Steyning Road

 

(b)          Written Questions: To receive any questions submitted by the due date of 12 noon on the 22 November 2016;

 

(i)            Taxi Ranks, West Street

 

(ii)          Communal Bins, Adelaide and Palmeira Squares

 

(iii)         Open Green Spaces

 

(c)          Deputations: To receive any deputations submitted by the due date of 12 noon on the 22 November 2016.

 

(i)            Allotments

 

(ii)          Communal Bin refuse

 

Minutes:

(a)          Petitions

 

(i)            Hangelton Link Road pedestrian crossing- Robert Laing

 

43.1      The Committee considered a petition signed by 3 people requesting a crossing assessment be conducted on Hangelton link road.

 

43.2      The Chair provided the following response:

 

“A request for Hangleton Link Road crossing improvements was received by the Council and was included in the annual assessments.  At ETS Committee on the 11th October 2016 the Pedestrian Crossing Priority List was approved. Hangleton Link road was listed as number 3 on the Priority List and therefore is currently being assessed by Highway Engineers to determine the most appropriate measures that can be introduced to improve pedestrian movement and officers would be happy to discuss initial proposals with residents if required”.

 

43.3      RESOLVED- That the petition be noted.

 

(ii)          Shared Parking Scheme Steyning Road- Catherine Taylor

 

43.4      The Committee considered a petition signed by 12 people requesting a shared residents parking scheme within the existing limited waiting parking bays in Steyning Road, Rottingdean for households with no off-road parking facilities.

 

43.5      The Chair provided the following response:

 

“Thank you for your petition and it is clear that the majority of residents in that small section of the road are in favour of taking this forward.

The best way forward would be if this is considered alongside the resident parking scheme timetable and a report will be put forward next year to consider this proposal as an update to the timetable alongside any other areas that may came forward.

Officers would then be able to review this request and consider the different options that could be taken forward and any issues and any issues that might be needed to be taken into consideration.

I appreciate this request is for a small area scheme but the processes including a legal traffic order do take time and require an identification of resources. However, I’m hopeful we may be able to take this forward in the near future if a feasible scheme is identified by officers”

 

43.6      RESOLVED- That the petition be noted.

 

(b)          Written Questions

 

(i)            Taxi Ranks, West Street- John Boath

 

43.7      The questioner was not present. The Chair read out the following response:

 

“To be able to take this forward the Council would need a petition from businesses outlining the difficulties and providing evidence that this taxi rank is not used during the day.

This would then be discussed with the taxi trade before any way forward is agreed to discuss their needs and requirements”.

 

(ii)          Communal Bins, Palmeira and Adelaide Squares- Susan Hunter

 

43.8      Susan Hunter presented the following question:

 

“Re refuse bins in Palmeira & Adelaide I want to raise the issue of the  obligation of residents to maintain this heritage area re conservation requirements, and if not can be prosecuted.

The plan from the Council seems to go against existing rules, has the Council has followed these for this area? 

It was suggested the benefit will be cleaner streets, but we know these bins attract rubbish around them.  They are a health problem, an extremely unpleasant one.  Should the plan fail to make a cleaner area, will the Council be prepared to review and remove any bins?”

 

43.9      The Chair provided following response:

 

“Heritage and Conservation officers have been consulted at all stages throughout this process which has considered locations, design and maintenance. 

Previous Committee reports reflected the feedback from officers and joint site visits with Highway officers have also taken place both of which will help minimise the impact on heritage areas, where this is reasonably practicable to do so.  We will of course keep reviewing locations, just as we do in other parts of the city. 

In addition to this, we now have  contract enforcement company, whose remit includes fly tipping around communal bin areas and we now have an improved maintenance programme, properly funded, which will enable the bins to be regularly inspected and maintained so should they start featuring any defects, those can be attended to”

 

43.10   Susan Hunter asked the following supplementary question:

 

“Can the council confirm that the current recycling arrangements will continue and that we will not have recycling bins based in the Palmeira and Adelaide areas as the result of the consultation was very close at 50:50 and a survey we carried out after the consultation had finished resulted in a much stronger preference for the existing arrangement to continue, something like 70:30”

 

43.11   The Chair provided the following response:

 

“The consultation result was close on that particular area and I believe the plan is to go ahead with communal recycling and the locations of the bins will be decided in the same way as the locations for the refuse bins according to operational requirements and that is set out in the report on our agenda”

 

(iii)         Open Green Spaces- Alison Dean

 

43.12   Alison Dean asked the following question:

 

“Over recent years there has been much research into the benefits of maintaining accessible open green spaces. These benefits range widely across individual and collective health and welfare, education and play, social cohesion , environmental and wildlife and so on. Given the range and importance of these benefits, has the council undertaken a cost and benefit analysis to inform any change to the budgets planned for 2017-18 for our green and open spaces? If this has not yet been done will the council carry out such an analysis in time to inform budget setting for 2017-18?”

 

43.13   The Chair provided the following response:

 

“As you correctly point out, there are many cost as well as non-cost benefits to having well maintained parks and open spaces and there has been a lot of research already to support this view. 

Our ‘Big Conversation’ has used much of this research and will help inform how the Open Space Strategy takes shape and how best to utilise the budget we have available to spend on our parks and open spaces, what else we can do to make our resources go further and consider new ways of working to ensure that our parks and open spaces continue to be well maintained in the future. 

It is worth reminding ourselves that despite large cuts to the Councils budget already that impact on all areas across the Council, we have 7 Parks that are worthy holders of Green Flag status and the Rockery Garden park has recently been shortlisted for a Fields in Trust park of the year award and that is a testament to all the volunteers, Friends of Groups that give their time to achieve that standard as well as our own staff. We are committed to maintaining parks into the future which is why we carried out the consultation to get feedback from people to help guide us in that”

 

43.14   Alison Dean asked the following supplementary question:

 

“What further opportunity will be given to residents for a two way conversation to explore the detail further?”

 

43.15   The Chair provided the following response:

 

“That conversation and the consultation was to gather views on how valued the parks were and people do, I believe feel they are our most highly valued asset but also to look at ideas that people have for how we can continue the maintenance with a shrinking budget. As I said, this is going to form a much more detailed piece of work that I hope will give you the detail you require which will be the Parks and Open Spaces Strategy and then, where we are bringing forward individual proposals, and it won’t be one-size fits all as there are so many different open spaces and parks in the City, we will then be going out to people to seek their views on any individual proposals for those”

 

(iv)         Open Spaces- Cliff Munn

 

43.16   Cliff Munn asked the following question:

 

“Having read with interest the recent Brighton & Hove public consultation questionnaire on the future of our parks and green spaces. I am very concerned it is setting the scene for a managed decline in their investment and upkeep. Bearing in mind the importance of these spaces to our city’s environment and resident’s health and wellbeing; what steps are the Council taking to secure the budget and resources necessary to arrest any possible decline?”

 

43.17   The Chair provided the following response:

 

“There have been over 3500 people take part in the consultation, which will help shape the Open Space Strategy document officers are working on and will bring back to this Committee in the New Year. 

Rather than setting the scene for a managed decline as you suggest, we have in fact been proactive and are asking our residents to share their views on their priorities and what we can perhaps do differently from what we are doing now. 

Budgets are being reduced and we do need take a different approach in order to protect and enhance our parks and open spaces. The Council will not be able to continue to do it all and we will have to look to our partners to help deliver the service.

Despite the difficult financial situation the Council faces, there is still much to celebrate and am proud of the 7 parks we have that are of Green Flag standard and I’m delighted that the Rockery Garden park has been nominated for a Fields in Trust park of the year award”

 

43.18   Cliff Munn asked the following supplementary question:

 

Will the council be sourcing alternative methods of funding to ensure the relatively small parks budget is maintained? Examples include health promotion funds, ring-fenced car parking, charging for events, and even charging business that use our open spaces as their workplace.

 

43.19   The Chair provided the following response:

 

“We certainly will be. We are also learning from lots of other authorities who are in exactly the same position as we are. I think there are 72,000 parks and open spaces in the UK that are facing this problem and we are looking at other authorities to see what they are doing and learning from them. As for going to the NHS for funding, I think the NHS is in as worse if not even worse situation that the council finds itself in. I can assure you that every avenue and opportunity is being looked at to lever in external funding.”

 

(v)          Open Strategies Consultation: Robert Stephenson

 

43.20   Robert Stephenson asked the following question:

 

"I gather that over 3500 people responded to the consultation on the future of green spaces in the city, I also understand that officers are busy identifying ways of further reducing the spend on green spaces.  How will the observations, ideas and suggestions held within the consultation responses be reflected in the final budget decisions when they are not due to be published until January or February?"

 

43.21   The Chair provided the following response:

 

“You are correct in saying that our “big conversation” has been hugely responded to by our residents and I’m tremendously pleased that over 3500 residents have shared their views on their priorities for our parks and open spaces. 

The results of the consultation will help shape our Open Space Strategy document that will have funding implications and that will be brought back to this Committee for consideration in the New Year prior to Budget Council in February”

 

43.22   Robert Stephenson asked the following supplementary question:

 

“Officers are working right now on changes- are they all reversible if the analysis of the document gives a clear view from public?”

 

43.23   The Chair provided the following response:

 

“Officers are working right now on collating all of those responses and putting them into a document that will be the Open Spaces Strategy that will be presented to this committee for decision in January. Just prior to that there will be a full briefing for all of the Members of the Committee so that they can see the responses. We will all have a chance to look at those responses identify priorities and examine a way forward that will include opportunities for levering in additional resources”

 

(vi)         The Big Conversation consultation- Linda Austin

 

43.24   Linda Austin asked the following question:

 

“Can you explain what arrangements were made as part of the "Big Conversation" consultation exercise about the future of Parks and Open Spaces, to involve park and open space users (1) with disabilities;(2) special needs; and (3) those less able to access the internet; and their representatives?”

 

43.25   The Chair provided the following response:

 

“The Open Spaces Strategy will be required like all council documents to complete an Equalities Impact Assessment.  This will form part of the final document which is due to be completed in January 2017.

However, leading up to the launch of the ‘Big Conversation’ consultation, we worked with ‘Community Works’ who membership covers 450 third sector groups including: disability groups, those with special needs, and those less able to access the internet.

In partnership with Community Works we attended several public meetings promoting the Open Spaces Strategy work, learning from the audience about their issues and concerns. Community Works have subsequently provided a formal response of their member’s views as part of the consultation.

We also visited Whitehawk library and health hub and spoke with a disability specialist group to complete a response in depth with their service users about their use of parks.

Flyers were sent to every school in the city and over 6000 additional leaflets were distributed by ‘Friends of Parks’ and community groups. Two hundred A2 posters were located at our main parks. Cityparks officers visited areas to the east of the city where responses were a bit lower than the other locations, and 3000 additional postcards were sent out to residential addresses.

Working with our equalities officer, we are now seeking to ensure that equalities are appropriately reflected in the final strategy document, as we recognise that parks and open spaces have the potential to engage the widest possible audience and of course should be welcoming for those with disabilities. 

In addition, we have contacted specialist organisations: Southdown Recovery Services, Possibility People and Age Concern to create a focus group looking at the emerging Open Spaces Strategy document and consultation in the coming weeks”

 

(c)          Deputations

 

(i)           Allotments- Jim Mayor

 

43.26   The Committee considered a deputation regarding Brighton & Hove Allotment Federations response to identifying ways to make the allotment service cost neutral and other general matters relating to allotment service provision.

 

43.27   The Chair provided the following response:

 

“Thank you for your deputation and for the time and effort that members of the Allotment Federation have put into looking at and considering the options for delivering budget savings.

I am really open to suggestions from you on the best way to deliver budget savings.  You have very recently set out a number of interesting proposals with regard administration charges, age based concessions and phasing of rental increases for example – again I am grateful for your suggestions and we are keen to find a way of testing some of the suggestions you made in your previous letter to us and I will discuss with officers how this is best delivered.

I note your comments on the allotment water systems which I understand are old and probably do leak. We used specialist contractors to ‘gas test’ Roedale Valley allotments water system this year and intend to use the same process at Weald allotments next year. If we find big leaks that can be repaired this will save money however if we find that the water systems need replacing we will need to discuss finding ways to fund these repairs. 

I would certainly like to ensure that those least able to pay are cushioned from any rent increases and support the Federation’s recent proposal of confining rent increase above inflation to non-concession holders but I am concerned about the practicality of the allotment service doing the assessing whether allotment holders should qualify as coming from a low income household as currently there is just not the resource available within this service to do this. I agree with the principle but believe further work is required to examine the practicalities of that.   

In your deputation you state that you have serious concerns about the way that allotment volunteers are treated. I am well aware of how dependant we are upon the site representatives so have asked the Head of Cityclean and Cityparks to look into this further and would be grateful if you could supply him with examples of this poor treatment”

 

43.28   RESOLVED- That the deputation be noted.

 

(ii)          Communal bin refuse- Ian Chaplin

 

43.29   The Committee considered a deputation regarding the council’s approach with residents and the Friends of Brunswick Square & Terrace (FBST) during the recent consultation on the introduction of communal refuse and recycling.

 

43.30   The Chair provided the following response:

 

“Advice has been taken from our Health and Safety team throughout this process. 

This process goes back to 2015 and before when the risk assessments were used as the basis for the report brought before this Committee in March 2016. 

The Councils Health & Safety Manager spoke at length at this Committee meeting and answered a number of questions that enabled Members to reach the decisions made. 

The consultation period was extended to 6 weeks and I believe this was fair and reasonable and so too were the 4 drop in sessions that were attended by over 100 residents and enabled all voices to be heard, including those living in basement flats. 

Responses have been provided as to what the style of build out could look like – but it is difficult to provide a fully accurate picture whilst still consulting on locations as build outs may not have been required and I hope you can see that point. 

The FOI’s were responded to with the information that could be provided within the restrictions of FOI process but as I say, Health & Safety considerations were discussed at the March Committee meeting. 

I am satisfied that with over 2500 postal questionnaires, the 4 drop in sessions and a 6 week consultation period, all voices have had the opportunity to be heard.

I can confirm risk assessments have been provided to Members of this Committee. 

Black bags are not the preferred option from residents and the report outlines previous attempts to use so-called seagull proof bags. 

We now have a robust Enforcement service in place and our street cleansing operatives provide daily patrols of all communal bin areas.  Communal refuse bins are emptied each day, 7 days a week.  We have two additional street cleansing staff over and above our normal staffing levels in this area and funded from a charitable donation. 

The consultation outcome is very clear about the locations for communal bins in Brunswick Square & Terrace and these proposed locations can be sent to you again as part of the ongoing implementation process subject to the committee decision today”

 

43.31   RESOLVED- That the deputation be noted.

Supporting documents:

 


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