Agenda and minutes

Compton and Peverell Area Committee - Monday 16 November 2009 7.00 pm

Venue: Trinity Church, Torr Lane, Plymouth PL3 3NY

Contact: Judith Shore, Team Leader  Email: judith.shore@plymouth.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

26.

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 discussions at this meeting –

 

Name

Minute & Subject

Reason

Interest

Councillor David Stark

 

 

Minute. 35

Question Time for Members of the Public.

Director of Plymouth Citybus Limited

Personal

Councillor Martin Leaves

 

Minute. 35

Question Time for Members of the Public.

Taxi driver

Personal

 

27.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 38 KB

The Committee will be asked to confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 28 September 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 the meeting held on 28 September 2009 is approved as a correct record.

CHAIR'S URGENT BUSINESS

28.

Planning applications

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

Minutes:

The Chair explained that the following Planning Applications had recently been rejected –

 

(i)

 

change of use from a restaurant/café to hot food takeaway at 72 Hyde Park Road Plymouth;

 

(ii)

 

change of use and alteration to hot food takeaway at 1 Weston Park Road.

 

(In accordance with Section 100(B)(4)(b) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the Chair brought forward the above items for consideration because of the need to inform members.)

29.

POLICING ISSUES AND PARTNERSHIPS AND COMMUNITY TOGETHER (PACT) PRIORITIES pdf icon PDF 2 KB

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

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary representative for Compton, Hartley and Mannamead.

 

Members were advised that the PACT priorities for Compton, Hartley and Mannamead had remained the same as was explained at the last meeting of the Compton and Peverell Area Committee.

 

A Police representative for Peverell addressed the Committee in regard to policing issues and PACT priorities. It was explained that –

 

(i)

 

the PACT priorities for Peverell had remained the same;

 

(ii)

 

there had been a reduction in crime recorded in the Peverell neighbourhood, compared to statistics collated from the same period last year;

 

(iii)

 

although, there had been an overall reduction in crime, other statistics for the Peverell neighbourhood revealed an increase in criminal activity, compared to statistics collated from the same period last year, as follows –

 

 

?

increase in shoplifting offences, however, this still equated to less than one incident of shoplifting per week;

 

 

?

increase in criminal damage.

 

Members were also informed that –

 

(iv)

 

PC Fry and PC Fryer had left their positions within the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary and that two new officers would be starting in these posts shortly;

 

(v)

 

Inspector Paul Chudleigh, would be retiring from his current position within the West Sector Team in the near future.

 

Following questions from the Committee it was explained that Police Community Support Officers were bringing continuity to the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary.

30.

COUNCIL PRIORITIES REVIEW

The Head of Policy, Performance and Partnerships will give a presentation on the review of Council priorities.

Minutes:

The Assistant Director for Safer Communities gave an interactive presentation on the review of Council priorities. Members of the Committee were informed that –

 

(i)

the purpose of the presentation was to help establish the priorities for the Council over the forthcoming financial year;

 

(ii)

at present Plymouth City Council had over 300 different services and that most of these operated well, however, there are other areas that need some direction to improve their service. These areas were called Corporate Improvement Priorities (CIP’s) and were contained within the Corporate Plan;

 

(iii)

 

the CIP’s were changed on an annual basis and were formed from feedback gathered throughout the year via surveys, customer comments and complaints and information gathering in forums such as Area Committees.

 

Members of the Committee and members of the public were then asked to indicate, via an interactive voting system, if the Council should do more, keep it up or do the less within nine key areas identified by the Council which it believes are most relevant to customers. The result was as follows –

 

(1)

I want you to provide better and more affordable housing?

 

A. Do more

8

 

B. Keep it up

9

 

C. Do less

 

0

(2)

I want you to provide more culture and leisure facilities?

 

A. Do more

6

 

B. Keep it up

10

 

C. Do less

 

2

(3)

I want you to tackle Anti-Social Behaviour?

 

A. Do more

14

 

B. Keep it up

4

 

C. Do less

0

 

(4)

I want you to keep me informed and involved in local issues?

 

A. Do more

6

 

B. Keep it up

11

 

C. Do less

1

 

(5)

I want you to work on providing better value for money?

 

A. Do more

12

 

B. Keep it up

6

 

C. Do less

0

 

(6)

I want you to help older people live independently?

 

A. Do more

13

 

B. Keep it up

5

 

C. Do less

0

 

(7)

We want cleaner streets?

 

A. Do more

8

 

B. Keep it up

9

 

C. Do less

0

 

(8)

I want you to raise achievement in our schools and colleges?

 

A. Do more

10

 

B. Keep it up

8

 

C. Do less

0

 

(9)

I want you to make it easier to get around Plymouth?

 

A. Do more

13

 

B. Keep it up

3

 

C. Do less

1

 

The following comments were made -

 

(iv)

it would have been a more relevant exercise if the questions were revealed before the presentation, allowing people to prioritise their answers in order to reflect which services they believe need more work rather than to vote “Do more” for every question;

 

(v)

the questions should be more specific and presented with statistics and evidence to enable people to give a more informed choice, as everyone wants the Council to do more in all departments.

 

The Assistant Director for Safer Communities was thanked for his attendance.

31.

LOCALITY WORKING pdf icon PDF 10 KB

The Director for Community Services will submit a report on locality working.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director for Community Services presented a report on Locality Working and informed the Committee that –

 

(i)

the locality boundaries were agreed by the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) Executive and endorsed by the LSP Board in September 2008;

 

(ii)

the locality boundaries had been adopted by a number of services with localities being recognised as a more effective way of delivering services such as the police and Children’s Services;

 

(iii)

 

consultation was ongoing as to how locality boundaries might affect Area Committees, but as yet no decision had been made;

 

(iv)

 

the issue was currently being considered through a task and finish group organised by the Customers and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel;

 

(v)

 

for any changes to occur within Plymouth City Council, as a result of the locality boundaries, a decision would need to be made that would have to go through the democratic process.

 

The Director for Community Services was thanked for her attendance.

32.

MANNAMEAD ROAD - PEDESTRIAN REFUGE ISLANDS pdf icon PDF 18 KB

The Director for Development and Regeneration will submit a report summarising the results gathered from advertising the Traffic Regulation Order for a scheme on Mannamead Road.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report on Mannamead Road – Pedestrian Improvements and considered the comments received during the advertisement period as detailed in the report.

 

The Committee made the following comments –

 

(i)

they did not want to see these improvements slip from the 2009/10 programme as had previously happened from the 2008/09 programme;

 

(ii)

they welcomed these changes and looked forward to seeing the pedestrian islands implemented once the waiting restrictions were enforced.

 

Recommended to the Cabinet Member for Transport to implement the waiting restrictions on Mannamead Road as advertised.

33.

POUNDS HOUSE UPDATE pdf icon PDF 9 KB

The Director for Corporate Support will submit a report outlining the future use of Pounds House.

Minutes:

The Head of Corporate Property presented a report on Pounds House and informed the Committee that –

 

(i)

Pounds House was a Grade II listed 19th Century country house that undertook a full refurbishment approximately 20 years ago following a major fire;

 

(ii)

currently the building was being utilised by the Life Centre Project Management Team and had been a successful base for their work ensuring that the Project Management Team would continue to work from Pounds House until the completion of the Life Centre at the end of 2011;

 

(iii)

 

the Council’s longer term plan for the house post 2011 is to relocate the Register Office from its current base in Lockyer Street;

 

(iv)

 

the plan to relocate the Register Office was seen as an appropriate long term use that would safeguard the future of the building as well as bring advantages to the services that the Register Office provide;

 

(v)

 

in order to facilitate the relocation of the Register Office, its current location Lockyer Street, would need to be sold off to raise the finances to carry out some minor refurbishment work that would be required.

 

In response to questions raised it was reported that –

 

(1)

the limitations to having the Register Office relocated to Pounds House were access and parking but this could be overcome by demolishing redundant stores and removing trees and bushes that were not subject to a tree preservation order;

 

(2)

the Capital and Assets department would work closely with the Transport department to ensure that access to Pounds House and the junctions on Outland Road would be improved;

 

(3)

 

other options with regard to parking and access would be looked into including the possible use of the Park and Ride car park.

 

The Head of Corporate Property was thanked for his attendance.

34.

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:

The Committee considered requests from Members about possible future agenda items.

 

Resolved that the Committee request reports on –

 

(1)

local highway issues from AMEY;

 

(2)

Anti-Social Behaviour problems in Compton Vale;

 

(3)

future changes to local educational facilities.

 

35.

QUESTION TIME FOR 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 raised by members of the public on the following matters –

 

(i)

implementing yellow lines on Revel Road;

 

(ii)

implementing School Keep Clear markings outside of Kings School, Hartley Road;

 

(iii)

 

PlymouthCitybus;

(iv)

 

litter bins;

(v)

 

recycling bins;

(vi)

waste collections in Higher Compton.

 

Councillors responded as follows –

 

(vii)

with regard to (iii) above, there had been no decision made by the Council as yet to sell Plymouth Citybus.

 

It was resolved that –

 

(1)

with regard to (i), (ii) and (iv) above, the Democratic Support Officer would seek to obtain a response from the relevant departments and report back to the Committee;

 

(2)

 

with regard to (v) and (vi) above, the Democratic Support Officer would take up these matters and obtain a response for the members of public.

 

(Councillors Stark and Martin Leaves declared personal interests with regard to item (iii).)

36.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will be held at 7pm on Monday 25 January 2010 at Devonport High School for Girls, Lyndhurst Road, Peverell, Plymouth.

Minutes:

Resolved that the next meeting of the Committee will be held at 7pm on Monday 25 January 2010, at Devonport High School for Girls, Lyndhurst Road, Peverell, Plymouth.