Decisions

Members noted progress against outcome targets identified in the Environment Business Plan, linked to Corporate Plan priorities and objectives and were provided with an update as to the latest key performance indicators therein.

Members considered the Work Programme and agreed that a representative be invited to provide information on the need for the Council as an organisation being net carbon neutral by 2027.

RESOLVED that the Work Programme, as amended, be approved.

On 19 November 2018 members approved the implementation of the Clean and Green initiative.  The initiative identified a number of on-going activities which supported the Council’s Key Priority to ensure that the environment in Broxtowe was protected and enhanced for future generations. 

Members noted an update with regards to the activities undertaken as part of the Clean and Green initiative since the last Committee in June 2109.

Within the scope of the Clean and Green initiative there was a budget allocation of £15,500 to provide free bulky waste collections through Waste Day events.

Members considered a number of options for the provision of a free bulky waste service and on deliberation showed a preference for Option 3 within the report.

This option would entail the provision of a free collection week during the winter months and additional Waste Day events on a Saturday to support the free service. Up to additional 18 Waste Day events could be provided with the existing funds.

RESOLVED that Option 3 contained within the report be implemented.

The Committee was updated on the Council’s vehicle and plant fleet and reviewed opportunities to introduce greener options when renewing or replacing vehicles and plant. It was queried as to whether the impact of moving to a greener fleet would be monitored, members were informed the Green Future Project Board had been implemented which would identify the carbon footprint of the Council and reports would be returned to this Committee in due course.  

Members noted the progress on the schemes in the 2019/20 capital programme as part of the Pride in Parks initiative and were informed that funding had been allocated to undertake improvements to the Borough owned play areas that had been identified as high priority sites in the Play Strategy and to the Town and Parish Councils that maintained their own parks and outdoor recreational facilities to enable improvement and renovation works to be undertaken at those sites.

Members noted the Terms of Reference for the Committee which were agreed at the Council meeting held on 17 July 2019.

The Committee added an Update on HMO Policies, information on Job Fairs in the Borough and the Broxtowe Business Start-up Grant Scheme to the Work Programme.

RESOLVED that the Work Programme, as amended, be approved.

The progress made in achieving the Business Plan for Business Growth and the current Key Performance Indicators for 2018/19 was noted.

On 6 June 2019 HS2 launched a consultation on a number of proposed amendments to theHigh Speed 2 railway route as published in the Working Draft Environmental Statement (WDES) which was consulted upon in the autumn of 2018. The new consultation includes an amendment to the route at Trowell which moves the proposed railway line east to avoid the need to permanently move the M1 Motorway; the consultation will close on 6 September 2019. Responses to this consultation will inform on-going design and environmental assessments in advance of the formal deposit of the hybrid Bill.

Members received an update on the published HS2 Phase 2b Design Refinement considered a response to this consultation. The following comments were amongst those noted:

·         The report was disappointing as the previous report should have been part of the response.

·         The purpose of the consultation was to provide a detailed response.

·         It was necessary and reasonable to request HS2 to prepare a report on tunnelling and to respond to issues of feasibility.

·         The whole of the previous report would need to be added as the Council’s response. The current comments would not replace previous comments that had been submitted.

·         The Council should have submitted more a more detailed response through using further officer comments.

·         The officers would respond in the proper manner and there was a duty to pass on comments from members of the public.

RESOLVED that:

1.         To respond to the consultation, having regard to the points contained in this report and the appendix;

2.         To request that HS2 Ltd prepares a report on the environmental, social and economic advantages and disadvantages of tunnelling the route through Broxtowe.

Government policy with regard to the National Planning Policy Framework necessitated Local Plans (including Core Strategies) be reviewed every five years. Memenbers noted that work had been commissioned which confirmed that Greater Nottingham remained a functional housing market area and a review had also been concluded into all Greater Nottingham Council’s Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessments and found them to be prepared in a robust manner.

Members noted an update on the occupancy rates of key employment sites, including Beeston, Eastwood, Kimberley and Stapleford Town Centres. It was queried as to the reason for reduced footfall in Beeston was due to a reduction in the numbers of supermarket users. It was suggested that the data would reveal more in further years as it matures. It was further suggested that the Council should engage with businesses and site owners to produce detailed information, additionally councillors were in a position to provide information on employment sites in their own wards.

The Committee was informed that was a key objective of the Council to work to secure the benefits of economic growth from the HS2 project for areas in the North of Broxtowe including Kimberley and Eastwood and the A610 corridor.

Stakeholder meetings had taken place with various partners including: Nottingham City Council, East Midlands Councils, Amber Valley District Council, the D2N2 local enterprise partnership, the Light rail transport association, and British Land in order to discuss how to advance the objective and build cross-party consensus about the desirability of the project, which would require public funding to implement. Members considered the report and the following comments were amongst those made:

·         The benefits of HS2 were eagerly awaited but the report did not contain enough detail. The tram was losing money and other transport priorities were taking precedence. There should be a wider, more integrated, system to the north of the Borough.

·         The tram should be part of a fully integrated transport system and there should be public consultation on the matter.

·         Regeneration was necessary regardless of the outcome of HS2.

·         This was the wrong time to spend money on carrying out a consultation. It should be deferred until the outcome of HS2 was known.

·         The feasibility study will begin the preparative work for the future.

·         Broader aspects of the system should be considered.

·         The report was not specific about the amount of finance needed for the cost of the projects.

A recorded vote was proposed by Councillor S J Carr and seconded by Councillor R I Jackson. The voting was as follows:

RECOMMENDED to the Finance and Resources Committee that the following projects be funded using ITPS funding for the North of Broxtowe:

a)     The commissioning of an engineering study demonstrating how a tram extension from the Toton HS2 hub station to Langley Mill and Kimberley could be reliably delivered.

b)     The commissioning of a report to demonstrate the economic, social and environmental benefits of such a proposal, in order to produce a compelling case to justify the investment required.

Members noted a report which outlined details of the Broxtowe Business Start-Up Grant scheme in relation to the geography of the grants awarded. It was suggested that future reports should contain a breakdown of jobs and turnover figures.

Members were informed of an Expression of Interest (EOI) to submit a bid for D2N2 LEP funding. Following the EOI, a full business case submission may be invited by LEP. Within that business case, there needed to be written confirmation that the project would be supported by the Council and that a capital co-funding amount has been approved by the relevant committee.

RESOLVED unanimously that support for the EOI bid submission (and any subsequent bids) funding towards four new industrial buildings on Mushroom Farm Court in Eastwood, and support progressing the scheme in principle, be approved.

Members noted a report on key sites and were informed that in order to meet the housing targets within the Aligned Core Strategy housing delivery needed to increase. The Regeneration Manager had met with various landowners and developers in order to try to facilitate development on various sites across Broxtowe.

The Committee NOTED the report.

RESOLVED that the Work Programme, as amended, be approved.

RESOLVED that the Chair of the Community Safety Committee be authorised to sign the Hate Crime Pledge on behalf of Broxtowe Borough Council.

RESOLVED that the Serious Organised Crime Strategy be approved.

RESOLVED that the Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement 2018/19 be approved.

RECOMMENDED to the Finance and Resources Committee that signage be provided in parks and open spaces where none currently exists and that signage be replaced as necessary.

Part 6 of the Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB), Crime and Policing Act 2014 came into force on 13 May 2014. The Act contains provisions which give victims of persistent ASB the ability to demand a formal case review where the locally defined threshold is met. In Broxtowe, this has been set at the statutory maximum of three qualifying complaints of ASB in a six-month period.

Inspector Simon Riley gave an update on local policing issues and members considered the updated Policy in respect of ASB case reviews which was requested under the provisions of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

It was queried whether online ASB should be included within the Policy. Officers responded that the Policy had been compiled and agreed by a number of stakeholder groups. The Council was in a position to signpost victims of online ASB to the relevant specialist groups.

Councillor E Kerry proposed an amendment to the recommendation, which was seconded by Councillor L Fletcher, that the following be added: ‘that further work be undertaken to ascertain whether to include online ASB in the Policy at a later date.’

On being put to the meeting, the amendment was lost.

            RESOLVED that the Anti-Social Behaviour Case Review Policy be approved.