Agenda and draft minutes

The meeting was opened and adjourned until 10.05 a.m. when a quorum was reached.

Councillors James Davies, Carys Guy and Bob Murray together with Councillor David Smith, Lead Member for Public Realm

Members to declare any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at this meeting.

Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 5 – Findings of the Traffic and Parking Review, because he had a shop in Ruthin.

Notice of items which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972.

No urgent matters had been raised.

To receive the minutes of the Communities Scrutiny Committee held on 4 December 2014 (copy attached).

9.35 a.m. – 9.40 a.m.

The minutes of the committee’s meeting held on 4 December 2014 were submitted.

Matters Arising – Page 7, Item 3 Urgent Matters: Councillor Rhys Hughes confirmed he had been contacted by the Development Manager (Planning and Public Protection) following concerns he had raised at the last meeting regarding the lack of consultation over a planning matter relating to the ‘Blue Lake’ at a quarry on the Horseshoe Pass.  As the planning certificate had already been issued there was no recourse.  To prevent a similar situation arising in future members sought assurances that local members and neighbouring members (as well as neighbouring town/city/community councils) would be fully consulted on such future proposals/applications which would have wide ranging and far reaching implications for their own and neighbouring communities.  It was agreed that the Scrutiny Coordinator take the matter up directly with Planning Officers and report back to the committee thereon.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2014 be received and approved as a correct record.

To consider a report by the Traffic, Parking and Road Safety Manager (copy attached) to consider the findings of the review undertaken on traffic and parking in ten of the County’s towns and villages.

9.40 a.m. – 10.30 a.m.

The Head of Highways and Environmental Services introduced a report (previously circulated) detailing the findings of the Traffic and Parking review and recommended actions being proposed as a result.  The review had been restricted to the ten main retail town centres in the county and explored what traffic and parking related interventions the Council could implement to benefit town centre retail in terms of increased footfall and trade.

The report contained two separate elements recommending members support –

(1)       the development of the recommended actions for submission to the relevant Member Area Groups (MAGs) for local consideration, and

(2)       further work being undertaken as part of the freedoms and flexibilities budget process to examine the potential of varying parking charges between towns.

The Traffic, Parking and Road Safety Manager provided some context to the report and elaborated upon the review methodology and proposed measures to address key findings.  Members discussed the review report with officers and the following points were raised –

·        responses to the residents and business community questionnaires issued as part of the review had been encouraging, with a higher than average return rate.  The majority of concerns highlighted in the responses related to vehicles occupying on-street parking spaces for longer than the allocated time.  This had a detrimental effect as it deterred others from stopping/visiting local towns and therefore the local economy suffered

·        there was a need for sufficient short stay parking spaces across the county in order to increase town centre footfall

·        sufficient on-street parking was also required to encourage passing trade and improve the health of the local economy and MAGs would be best placed to determine an appropriate time limit for their particular areas

·        to reap economic benefits an element of incentivising residents/visitors to visit local shops, cafes etc. was needed to entice them into town centres; this in turn should pay dividends

·        enforcement work required to be better managed, avoiding regular patrol patterns in towns.  Enforcement staff also patrol different towns around the county to avoid over familiarity with public/business people which could potentially lead to less rigorous enforcement

·        an appropriate balance should be drawn between rigorous enforcement action, applying a common-sense approach on a case by case basis whilst at all times being courteous and showing respect towards all concerned; the introduction of body worn cameras would positively influence future behaviours

·        there was a need for clear and correct signage in all of the county’s public car parks and also on approaching roads into the towns to ensure traffic was guided into appropriate car parks – particularly in tourist areas such as Llangollen, where tourists could be directed to use outlying car parks to free-up town centre car parks for shoppers

·        a number of members were keen that once the MAGs had discussed and agreed the appropriate actions for their areas, that the respective town/city/community councils be informed of the decisions

·        discussion needed to take place on the advantages and disadvantages of a county-wide standard parking charges scheme or a variable scheme which would suit individual towns’ own needs.  Discussion on future car parking charges would form part of a forthcoming budget workshop session in preparation for the 2016/17 budget

·        any future parking strategy and/or charging policy would need to be sustainable and whilst members were keen for a focus on regeneration rather than income generation officers advised it would have to balance the needs of the local economy against the need for the Council to raise income as part of its general drive to reduce budgetary demand

·        members raised a number of points relating to parking problems within their local areas  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To consider a report by the Head of Highways and Environmental Services (copy attached) to outline the take-up to date of the new green waste service, the anticipated income generated by the service and the consequential impact on the service, its budget and budget savings target.

10.45 a.m. – 11.30 a.m.

The Waste and Transport Manager submitted a report (previously circulated) detailing progress on the level of customer take up of the new chargeable green waste scheme together with associated service and budget implications.  He was pleased to report upon the latest customer take up figures and explained in more detail the mechanics of the scheme as follows –

·        the take up target was between 10,000 – 15,000 properties and as of 29 January (two months ahead of the scheme’s commencement) 8,308 properties had signed up for the service, this exceeded the estimated figure at this point in time; this positive trend was expected to continue with a tranche of customers towards the end of March

·        the deadline for the ‘early bird’ discount for those who registered for the scheme had been extended from 31 January to 14 February 2015

·        the on-line registration process had proved extremely effective and easy to use with two thirds having registered on-line

·        the scheme had been introduced as an efficiency saving measure and its take up directly affected the amount of staff required to undertake the work – as it was expected that some individuals would not register for the scheme until the growing season had started it was difficult to confirm at this point how many staff would be made redundant as a consequence of the scheme’s introduction

·        a number of expressions of interest in taking voluntary redundancy had been made across Highways and Environmental Services and it was anticipated that those expressions of interest, coupled with ‘natural wastage’, should be sufficient to cover any redundancies required following the introduction of the new chargeable green waste scheme

·        whilst Denbighshire was the first council in North Wales to introduce charges for collecting and disposal of green waste, six councils in South Wales were already charging for the service.

In response to members’ questions officers –

·        confirmed that the charging policy for the service was fully in-line with the Welsh Government’s Collections Blueprint guidance; it was also similar to what a number of councils in England did with respect to green waste

·        advised that they did not foresee the number of flytipping incidents of green waste increasing greatly following the introduction of the charge.  Responding to reports which indicated that Denbighshire was the worst performing authority in Wales with respect to flytipping statistics, officers advised that this was due to the robust recording practices in the county and the national ‘Flycapture’ data system’s capacity to reflect this and the county’s performance in removing flytipping waste.  This issue had been debated by scrutiny in the last twelve months

·        whilst around 38,000 properties currently had been issued with green bins not all of them used the service and a number composted the waste themselves.  Those who composted were not counted in the county’s recycling figures

·        currently around 4k tonnes of green waste was collected annually in the county and whilst it was assumed that those registered for the scheme would put out more green waste, savings had been calculated based on the number of routes and manpower required to operate the scheme as opposed to the amount of green waste collected

·        it was envisaged that the withdrawal of the free service would result in the Council losing its place at the top of the Welsh recycling league, probably registering a reduction of around 4%.  However, it should still be among one of the highest recyclers and not incur penalties as a result of the reduction in its recycling rate

·        once the new scheme was operational, during the last week in March 2015, it would then be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider a report by the Scrutiny Coordinator (copy attached) seeking a review of the committee’s forward work programme and updating members on relevant issues.

11.30 a.m. – 11.45 a.m.

The Scrutiny Coordinator submitted a report (previously circulated) seeking members’ review of the committee’s work programme and providing an update on relevant issues.

During consideration of the work programme members –

·        discussed which representatives would be best placed to fill the vacancies on the Service Challenge Groups and be appointed to the Scrutiny Task and Finish Group currently being set up to evaluate the impact of the budget cuts.  The Scrutiny Chairs and Vice Chairs Group would confirm the membership of the Group in due course

·        reaffirmed that a report on the review of varying parking charges be added to the work programme as agreed earlier in the meeting

·        agreed that the April meeting be restricted to two main business items to ensure sufficient time was dedicated to scrutinise the report on  Language Categorisation of the County’s Schools

·        agreed not to invite the Lead Member for Public Realm to attend the committee’s next meeting given the technical nature of the business items, and

·        noted the information report on Community Endowment Fund which had been included within the committee’s information brief.

The Scrutiny Coordinator referred to an action arising from the last committee meeting (under the Draft Caravan Sites Strategy item) to arrange a meeting between the Development Manager and the owner of one of the county’s largest caravan sites.  Members asked that this meeting take place ahead of their next committee meeting in March in order to inform debate when progress with the Caravan Site Strategy was being discussed.

RESOLVED that –

(a)       subject to the above, the forward work programme as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report be approved;

(b)       Councillors Huw Hilditch-Roberts and Rhys Hughes expressed an interest in being appointed the committee’s representatives  on the Scrutiny Task and Finish Group to evaluate the impact of the budget cuts with Councillors Win Mullen-James and Joe Welch expressing an interest in being appointed substitute representatives, and

(c)        the following committee representatives and substitute representatives be appointed to the Service Challenge Groups –

            Highways – Councillors Rhys Hughes and Cefyn Williams (substitute)

            Planning – Councillor Win Mullen-James and Cefyn Williams (substitute)

            Finance & Assets – Councillor Peter Evans (to replace Councillor Rhys Hughes, to take effect from the next round of Service Challenges).

To receive any updates from Committee representatives on various Council Boards and Groups.

11.45 a.m. – 11.50 a.m.

Committee representatives reported upon their attendance at meetings as follows –

Councillor Win Mullen-James was a member of the Corporate Parenting Forum and reported upon a useful meeting held the previous week with foster parents during which a number of points were raised which would lead to service improvements for both foster parents and looked after children.

Councillor Joe Welch referred to his attendance at the recent School Standards Monitoring Group and reported upon the new format which focused on discussion.  There had been positive outcomes for each of the three schools discussed – Rhyl High School, Ysgol Plas Cefndy, Rhyl and Ysgol Penmorfa, Prestatyn.

Councillor Cefyn Williams reported upon a meeting of the Affordable Housing Working Group and the comprehensive review being undertaken which would likely lead to significant changes.  One more meeting of the Working Group would be held before a report was brought before members for consideration.

The Chair reported upon the following –

·        Cadwyn Clwyd (Rural Development Agency) had not met for some time and appeared to be winding down with European funding unlikely to become available until September 2015

·        Coleg Cambria was also facing budget cuts which were becoming more of a struggle to manage

·        the next meeting of the Taith Board would discuss its future with all six North Wales local authorities putting forward a plan to the Transport Minister

·        during a meeting of the Economic and Community Ambitions Board he had challenged the targets and how they would be achieved and more work was being undertaken in that regard

·        he was a member of the Strategic Investment Group and the outcome of their work was reported through Cabinet and Council.

RESOLVED that the verbal reports from members attending meetings be noted.

The meeting concluded at 12.35 p.m.