Agenda and minutes

Plympton Area Committee - Monday 8 March 2010 6.00 pm

Venue: St Mary's Church Hall, Plympton, Plymouth PL7 1QW

Contact: Helen Rickman, Democratic Support Officer  Email: helen.rickman@plymouth.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

51.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items on this agenda.

Minutes:

The following declarations of interest were made in accordance with the Code of Conduct in relation to items under discussion at this meeting –

 

Name

Minute No. and Subject

Reason

Interest

Councillor Mrs. Beer

54 - Policing Issues

Employee of Devon and

Cornwall Constabulary.

Personal

Mr. Street

54 - Policing Issues

56 – Plympton Library

Retired Police Officer.

Board Member of NHS Plymouth

Personal

 

52.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 315 KB

The Committee will be asked to confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 11 January 2010.

 

Please note any questions relating to these minutes can be asked under question time for members of the public.

Minutes:

Resolved that the minutes of the meeting held on 11 January 2010, be confirmed as a correct record.

 

53.

CHAIR'S URGENT BUSINESS

To receive reports on business which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

Minutes:

There were no items of Chair’s Urgent Business.

54.

POLICING ISSUES

A representative from the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary will report on any relevant issues.

Minutes:

Inspector Fitzpatrick was in attendance to report on behalf of the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary. 

 

The Committee was advised that –

 

(i)

an individual arrested for the recent burglary of the Conservative Club had completed 49 hours of community service and was due to start probationary services in Plympton;

 

(ii)

crime figures for Plympton overall had decreased from 1021 incidents last year to 876 incidents this year;

 

(iii)

crime figures for Plympton St Maurice had decreased by 20%;

 

(iv)

crime figures for Woodford had increased to 13%;

 

(v)

crime figures for Yealmpstone had remained the same;

 

(vi)

crime figures for Chaddlewood had decreased by 22%;

 

(vii)

crime figures for Colebrook and Newnham had decreased by 26%;

 

(viii)

crime detection rates throughout Plympton had increased to over 30%;

 

(ix)

anti social behaviour statistics for Plympton overall had dropped by 7%, however statistics for Chaddlewood had increased by 21%; albeit the number of incidents were low and many were parking related;

 

(x)

school speed watches had taken place at Old Priory School and Yealmpstone School in order raise awareness of the effects of speeding; this initiative enabled several school children to ask drivers questions and aided the police in giving drivers advice upon speeding;

 

(xi)

traffic units and speed detection units were regularly deployed in Plympton in order to focus upon speed enforcement;

 

(xii)

two positive drug warrants were conducted in Plympton recently;

 

(xiii)

Police officers had caught two young men responsible for the numerous thefts of lead from garages in Downfield Walk and Downfield Way;

 

(xix)

the mobile police surgery would be held in Plympton library on the third Wednesday of every month;

 

(xx)

PACT (Partnerships and Communities Together) meetings were due to be held on 19 March 2010 at 7pm in Yealmpstone School; others would be realigned to take place in June;

 

(xxi)

a bicycle security marking session was due to held on Saturday 20 March 2010 at the Co-op Ridgeway;


In response to questions raised it was reported that –

 

(xxii)

criminal damage was the most common offence in Plympton;

 

(xxiii)

assault was one of the most serious crimes in Plympton, however Inspector Fitzpatrick informed the Committee that violent crime was down;

 

(xxiv)

drugs dogs were currently being used to go into a number of pubs unannounced in order to seek out illegal substances;

 

(xxv)

three break-ins in the Co-op Ridgeway Plympton which had similar modes of illegal entry were under investigation;

 

(xxiv)

Police officers were only able to deal with parking obstructions;  nuisances regarding parking on yellow lines should be reported to parking attendants as this issue had been de-criminalised;

 

Resolved that Devon and Cornwall Police be thanked for their attendance at area committee meetings and congratulated for their work on tackling anti social behaviour in Chaddlewood.

55.

TRANSPORT ISSUES

The Director for Development and Regeneration will report on any transport issues affecting the Plympton Wards.

Minutes:

There were no transport issues to report upon.

56.

PLYMPTON LIBRARY

The Committee will receive an update on progress.

Minutes:

Councillor Jordan provided an update on Plympton Library and informed the Committee that the Primary Care Trust (PCT) was unable to commit finances to the Plympton Library Scheme at the present time due to the current economic climate.

 

In response to questions raised it was reported that –

 

(i)

due to the lack of finances from the PCT, future plans for the library would need to be adapted however commercial sensitivity prevented specific options being commented upon;

 

(ii)

scheduled timings for the new library build would have to be revised;

 

(iii)

the current lease for the current library could be extended to allow for the lack of funding from the PCT;

 

(iv)

rent for the current library would be taken from the leisure budget;

 

(v)

Councillor Jordan was unaware of the rumour that the site for the current library was up for sale, however informed the Committee that the Council had a contract to lease the current site for 8-9 years;

 

(vi)

the building where the current library was situated was thought not to be listed;

 

(vii)

the current library was in a good position in the heart of Plympton that could support local business; the suggestion of buying this site would be reported back;

 

(viii)

it was still hoped that the new library would be of considerable size.

 

Resolved that the update be noted and that thanks be extended to Councillor Lock and Mr Street for their hard work and dedication in trying to deliver Plympton Library.    

 

57.

REES YOUTH CENTRE

The Committee will be provided with a verbal update on the Rees Youth Centre.

Minutes:

Councillor Mrs Beer provided the Committee with an update on Rees Youth Centre as the representative from the Centre was unable to attend.

 

The Committee was informed that the Rees Youth Centre –

 

(i)

was very active within the local community and was also working further afield by inviting young people from other areas of Plymouth to join them;

 

(ii)

had a music suite and voice training teachers which encouraged young people to form their own bands and start to sing;

 

(iii)

had a sexual health clinic with trained advisors to give advise to young people on sexual health and contraception; it was hoped that this would assist in combating underage pregnancy rates across the city;

 

(iv)

had a graffiti wall where young people could apply for funding to graffiti in a controlled environment;

 

(v)

ran clubs for young people during holiday time;

 

(vi)

was promoted in senior and primary schools in Plymouth and was due to open for longer hours to suit the needs of young people.

 

Resolved that Councillor Mrs Beer be thanked for providing the Committee with an update and that the update be noted.

58.

COMMUNITY EVENTS AND ROAD CLOSURES pdf icon PDF 162 KB

The Assistant Director for Transport will provide the Committee with a briefing note on Community Events and Road Closures.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a written report regarding community events and road closures and registered their disappointment that a representative from AMEY was unable to attend.

 

Questions were raised regarding the current policy, the need for community hosts to take out insurance, health and safety checks and possible costs incurred.

 

Recommended Plympton Area Committee request that the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board consider an appropriate panel to scrutinise the current Community Events and Road Closure Policy, specifically with regards to the cost of closing roads for charitable events.

59.

LANGAGE POWER STATION

A representative from the Environment Agency will provide the Committee with an update on Langage Power Station.

Minutes:

A representative from the Environment Agency attended the meeting and informed the Committee that –

 

(i)

the Environment Agency granted an environmental permit to Centrica in order to ensure that Langage Power Station operated safely and effectively;

 

(ii)

pollutants were monitored by probes in the chimney stack of the power station and worked to a high degree of accuracy; this was confirmed by an Independent audit;

 

(iii)

the incident that occurred at Langage Power Station between 11-18 September 2009  when the ‘first firing’ took place was due to the vapourisation of the insulation in the boilers; this resulted in a cloud of vapour being emitted from the chimney stacks. Officers from the Environment Agency attended the site on 11 September 2009 and undertook their own investigations;

 

(iv)

an eruption of noise occurred when the power station was ‘fired up’ for the first time on 11 September 2009, this was due to the steam being released into the atmosphere. When commissioning procedures took place;

 

(v)

Centrica had resolved not to burn fuel oil for the foreseeable future , an agreement would have to be obtained from the Environment Agency before this could be changed;

 

In response to questions raised it was reported that –

 

(vi)

the monitoring of air quality in the vicinity of Langage Power Station was the responsibility of the local authority within their own boundaries;

 

(vii)

nitrogen dioxide monitors were already in place at Sparkwood Village Hall and Cornwood;

 

(viii)

some  waste companies  had voluntarily loaded  real time data onto the internet  and the Environment Agency may be able to influence Centrica to do the same;

 

(ix)

once the power station was fully operational, it was expected that visible emissions would no longer occur as natural gasses were a very clean fuel. It was highlighted that if a smoky residue was witnessed being emitted from the site, then the Environment Agency should be called on free-phone 0800 80 70 60.

 

Resolved that the representative from the Environment Agency be thanked for his attendance.

60.

LOCALITY WORKING: NEXT STEPS pdf icon PDF 155 KB

The Committee will be provided with a report upon locality working.

Minutes:

The Head of Policy, Performance and Partnerships and a Policy and Performance Officer attended the Committee to provide an update on Locality Working following its approval at City Council on 1 February, 2010.

 

The Committee was informed that –

 

(i)

Locality Working aimed to improve public engagement and the way in which service providers worked together;

 

(ii)

a cross agency team of senior officers would take responsibility for each locality;

 

(iii)

locality teams would be put in place by 1 June 2010;

 

In response to questions raised it was reported that –

 

(iv)

future working arrangements would take place at a neighbourhood level, in Plympton it was expected that PACT (Partners and Communities Together) meetings would be joined together with Locality Working to identify priorities for individual neighbourhoods;

 

(v)

Locality Working neighbourhoods were already in place across the city and were not invented for this scheme;

 

(vi)

there would be locality teams for each of the six localities across Plymouth which would include a representative from the Council, the Police and the Health Service;

 

(vii)

the Fire Service had agreed to dedicate officer resources to locality working;

 

(viii)

Locality Working would be advertised in libraries, on the Plymouth City Council website and in public places; PCSO officers would also continue to play a role in communicating on behalf of all sectors with their work in the community;

 

(ix)

Locality Working would be reviewed after 12 months of operation.

 

Resolved that the update be noted.

 

61.

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

The Committee and Officers will respond to questions from members of the public attending the Committee. Any question not answered shall be the subject of a written response within ten working days.

Minutes:

The Committee considered questions from members of the public on the following matters –

 

(i)

parking in Steer Park Road near the Chaddlewood Inn;

 

(ii)

the recent planning application for three families to reside in Hatfield Close and if Park Stone Lane would be used as an entrance;

 

Responses were provided as follows –

 

(a)

with regard to (i) above, Councillor Jordan informed the Committee that this issue had been investigated previously however a gap was left in the road near the Chaddlewood Inn to attempt to slow down traffic;

 

(b)

with regard to (ii) above, the Committee was informed that it was understood that there would be no transportation in Park Stone Lane;

 

Councillor Lock provided the Committee with an update on improvements to signage at Cott Hill and stated that he had enlisted the help of the Police in the aim of supporting his efforts to get the current signage changed.

 

Under this agenda item, the Chair took the opportunity to thank the Committee’s six co-opted representatives as well as members of the public for their contribution and participation over the past few years. It was highlighted that the minutes for the last Area Committee meeting would be sent to 26 April 2010 City Council meeting for approval. The Chair directed members of the public to the Council’s website (www.plymouth.gov.uk) for information on Locality Working and to contact local ward Councillors for any ward concerns.

 

62.

EXEMPT BUSINESS

To consider passing a resolution under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that it (they) involve(s) the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph(s).. of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  

Minutes:

There were no items of exempt business.