Agenda and draft minutes

To confirm the minutes from the previous meeting

Following a Joint meeting of the OSC’s where a presentation on the Corporate Plan and the budget was given, the Housing & Community OSC meeting began at 9.00pm.

The minutes from the meeting held on 6 November 2019 were agreed by the members present and signed by the Chair.

To receive any apologies for absence

Apologies were received by Councillor Mahmood, Pringle, Arslan, Durrant, Oguchi and Freedman.

To receive any declarations of interest

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered -

(i)            must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent

and, if the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest, or a personal interest which is also prejudicial

(ii)           may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter (and must withdraw to the public seating area) unless they have been granted a dispensation.

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Members’ Register of Interests, or is not the subject of a pending notification, must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal and prejudicial interests are defined in Part 2 of the Code of Conduct For Members

[If a member is in any doubt as to whether they have an interest which should be declared they should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer before the start of the meeting]

There were no declarations of interest.

An opportunity for members of the public to make statements or ask questions in accordance with the rules as to public participation

There was no public participation.

None

L Roberts gave a presentation on her service area.

Councillor Hollinghurst asked what a 3G sports pitch was.

M Rawdon said it was made from plastic and can be played on in all weathers. There a 4G option but this is still in its infancy.

Councillor Hollinghurst asked about the environmental impact of these pitches.

L Roberts said this was part of the tender process. The pitch has drainage in.

Councillor Hollinghurst asked if these pitches would require less maintenance.

L Roberts said yes they would. The key is getting the surface underneath prepared correctly to allow water to drain through.

Councillor Hollinghurst asked if these pitches would give players burns if they fell over.

M Rawdon said there were small rubber balls on the surface which stops any friction burns. The previous generation was sand based. The 3G pitches do not cause burns and are not slippy.

Councillor England asked about the Armed Forces Day and what the £20k would pay for.

M Rawdon said it was principally entertainment costs and the hire of equipment such as toilets, security and marshalling.

Councillor England asked if this is normally taken from reserves but that we may receive a Ministry of Defence grant.

M Rawdon said a grant as applied in previous years but not the full amount needed and it has been up to £5k before. This offsets what we borrow from reserves.

Councillor England asked if the grant funding we receive is predictable.

L Roberts said it varies.

M Gaynor said it depends on whether you are talking about generally or a specific service area. James Deane would be able to give a full answer across the whole council.

Councillor Adeleke asked if we knew how other councils fund their celebrations.

M Rawdon said it is celebrated across the whole country. He said he was unsure how they are funded but could certainly ask. Some may charge people to attend which we have avoided in the past. Others may charge for refreshments and is something we could consider moving forward.

Councillor Imarni said she didn’t think charging people to attend would work. We could look at sponsorship from local businesses.

Councillor Adeleke mentioned lottery funding.

M Rawdon said they would have a look to see what was available.

M Gaynor gave a presentation on his service area.

Councillor Hollinghurst said he was surprised at the low figure of £50k to carry out a one off survey on trees.

M Gaynor said this survey was only for trees on HRA land which is a fraction of the total number of trees in the borough.

A Mortimer expanded and said the survey was for trees on HRA land within communal and tenant properties. There has been a case elsewhere in the country where a branch from a tree has fallen on someone and were awarded a six figure sum in compensation. The survey will help us identify what has been done and what is still to be done. This may require  ...  view the full minutes text for item 93.