Agenda and minutes

Ham and St Budeaux Area Committee - Wednesday 13 January 2010 6.00 pm

Venue: St Budeaux Library, The Square, Victoria Road, St Budeaux, Plymouth, PL5 1RQ

Contact: Ross Johnston, Democratic Support Officer Email: ross.johnston@plymouth.gov.uk

Items

No.

Item

41.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest made by Members in accordance with the code of conduct.

42.

MINUTES PDF 28 KB

The Committee will be asked to confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 4 November 2009.

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 4 November 2009, be confirmed as a correct record.

43.

CHAIR'S URGENT BUSINESS

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

Minutes:

With the permission of the Chair, Councillor Bowie informed the Committee that Tamarside Community College was to become a Marine Academy in September 2010.

Members of the public were advised –

(i)

that a consultation exercise was underway in the local community;

(ii)

to have their say on the matter by filling out consultation forms, which were available from the library or any major community venue;

44.

POLICING ISSUES PDF 1 MB

Representatives from the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary will report on any relevant local issues.

Minutes:

Representatives of the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary were in attendance and gave an update on anti-social behaviour, crime statistics and dispersal orders. The Committee were informed that –

(i)	a dispersal order had been in operation in Ham and had been very positive. There had been a 41% reduction in anti-social behaviour (ASB) for the past three months, in comparison to the same period as last year;
(ii)	the neighbourhood team in Ham had confirmed that the multi-agency response to the dispersal order was working well;
(iii)	the dispersal order that had been in operation in St Budeaux was having a very positive impact with ASB reduced by 26% for the past three months, in comparison to the same period as last year;
(iv)	the dispersal orders had given extra powers to the police to be able to disperse youths and this was believed to be one of the reasons behind the high reductions in crime;
(v)	overall crime levels had been reduced in St Budeaux by 35% in the last three months, in comparison to the same period as last year;
(vi)	there had been little change in crime levels in Barne Barton over the past year; however, during this period last year Barne Barton had a dispersal order which had then been very effective. This showed that the dispersal order was still having positive effects even after it had ended;
(vii)	the neighbourhood team’s had implemented some important and high profile ASBO’s over the past year, with the most recent order making front page news in the local media;
(viii)	the position within the Police, recently vacated by Inspector Chudley due to retirement, was soon to be advertised.

The committee thanked the Police for their attendance.

Resolved that –

(1)

PCSO Carr be thanked for all his work at Sunnymede, this had been very much appreciated by the community;

(2)

ward councillors would be consulted on the police newsletters that would soon be distributed to the community.

45.

COUNCIL PRIORITIES REVIEW

The Committee will receive an interactive presentation on the council priorities review.

Minutes:

The Head of Performance, Policy and Partnerships gave a presentation on the review of Council priorities. Members of the Committee were informed that –

(i)

the purpose of the presentation was to remind Area Committees and customers of the council’s Corporate Improvement Priorities (CIPs);

(ii)

the CIPs were due to be revisited and the council was endeavouring to get views from all Area Committees to inform next year’s priorities;

(iii)

the comments and opinions taken from this Area Committee would be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board when scrutinising the budget and priorities for 2010/11;

Members of the Committee and members of the public were then asked to indicate, via a show of hands, if the council should “do more”, “keep it up” or “do less” within nine key areas identified by the council which it believed were most relevant to customers. The result was as follows –

(Q.1)	I want you to provide better and more affordable housing?
	A. Do more	3
	B. Keep it up	0
	C. Do less	0
(Q.2)	I want you to provide more culture and leisure facilities?
	A. Do more	8
	B. Keep it up	0
	C. Do less	0
(Q.3)	I want you to tackle Anti-Social Behaviour?
	A. Do more	5
	B. Keep it up	0
	C. Do less	0
(Q.4)	I want you to keep me informed and involved in local issues?
	A. Do more	3
	B. Keep it up	4
	C. Do less	0
(Q.5)	I want you to work on providing better value for money?
	A. Do more	7
	B. Keep it up	0
	C. Do less	0
(Q.6)	I want you to help older people live independently?
	A. Do more	6
	B. Keep it up	1
	C. Do less	0
(Q.7)	We want cleaner streets?
	A. Do more	9
	B. Keep it up	0
	C. Do less	0
(Q.8)	I want you to raise achievement in our schools and colleges?
	A. Do more	7
	B. Keep it up	1
	C. Do less	0
(Q.9)	I want you to make it easier to get around Plymouth?
	A. Do more	8
	B. Keep it up	1
	C. Do less	0

(iv)	during question two members of the public commented that -
	?	there should be more cultural and leisure activities available in both the Ham and St Budeaux wards;
	?	there should have been a specific question about the provision of leisure and cultural activities for young people;
(v)	it was commented, during question three, that some partners could do more, particularly in the area of ASB;
(vi)	a member of the public felt that the questions were vague, particularly when using words such as achievement in schools or colleges, as this was viewed to be too subjective;
(vii)	there were no questions specific to parking; this was a serious issue specifically for residents of St Budeaux.

Other comments made during the Priorities discussion were, as follows –

(viii)

the council’s Capital Programme had ... view the full minutes text for item 45.

46.

LOCAL ENVIRONMENT FUND PDF 28 KB

The Committee will be provided with a report on the Local Environment Fund.

Minutes:

The Committee received a report on the Local Environment Fund (LEF) and noted that –

(i)

additional money was now available to the Committee and this needed to be spent by March 2010;

(ii)

if members had a request to spend the LEF monies then they would need to fill out an authorisation form;

Members commented that the funding request for the alleygates on Tresluggan Road had been successful and works to install them would be going ahead.

Resolved to request that the Democratic Support Officer set up a meeting with all Ham and St Budeaux ward councillors and the Fleet and Garage Manager to discuss spending arrangements for the LEF within the next two weeks.

47.

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

The Committee will consider requests from individual Committee Members for future agenda items and identify items that are still outstanding from previous meetings.

Minutes:

Resolved that a request be sent to the Assistant Director for Regeneration and Development (Planning Services) for an Officer to attend and a report be submitted, on Section 106 spending arrangements for Ham and St Budeaux, to a future meeting of the Committee.

48.

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC PDF 9 KB

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.

Additional documents:

Written responses appendix , item 48. PDF 57 KB

Minutes:

Members of the public put forward questions, to which the following responses were provided;

(i)

regarding the question on the council not enforcing parking on double yellow lines at the rear of Pemros Road, this would be picked up by the ward councillors;

(ii)

regarding the question on the lack of enforcement at the taxi rank on St Budeaux Square, Councillor Bowie would take this matter further with the Licensing Department.

As a result of the response to the question on the St Budeaux Square area Controlled Parking Zone asked at the previous meeting, it was resolved that –

(1)

a letter be sent to the Cabinet Member for Transport, on behalf of the Committee, asking him to respond to the Committee as to why he had not made a decision on this subject yet and also a request for him to attend the next meeting of the Committee;

(2)

a request be sent to the Cabinet Member for Transport and the Assistant Director for Regeneration and Development (Transport) for them to advise members of the Committee as to when the CPZ report will be finalised;

(3)

a request be sent to the Assistant Director for Regeneration and Development (Transport) asking for a full account including a complete timetable of events and monies spent on the CPZ area in St Budeaux from 2002/03 to present day to be forwarded on to all ward councillors.

49.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of the Committee would take place at 6pm on 31 March 2010 at the Halcyon Centre, North Prospect.

Minutes:

The Committee were informed that the next meeting would take place at 6pm on 31 March 2010 at the Halcyon Centre, North Prospect.

50.

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.