Agenda and minutes

To agree the minutes of the previous meeting.

Cllr Anderson asked if anyone had any corrections for the last three sets of minutes before signing.  Cllr Matthews said that he sent his apologies for the meeting on 4^th December which had not been recorded. Cllr Anderson asked for any comments and Cllr Timmis said that there are a number of acronyms used in the minutes which are not explained to those who may not be familiar for what they stand for so she would like them explained in the first instance. 

AP – S. Burr

The minutes of the Strategic Planning and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on December 4th 2018 were agreed and signed, as were the minutes for the 20^th November 2018 and the 23^rd October 2018.

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were apologies from Cllr Sutton, Cllr Bateman, Cllr Fisher and Cllr Ransley (Cllr Tindall substituting) and Cllr Hicks who is unwell.  Cllr Howard who is also unwell and Cllr Riddick due to weather

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

There was no public participation.

None.

To provide an update on the ISO 14001 accreditation

Report to follow

Cllr Anderson said that he would like to confirm – Nigel Howcutt is the Assistant Director for Finance and Resources, not our Environmental Sustainability Officer but he will be presenting the item.

N. Howcutt introduced the report to members, and confirmed he would send the slides to S. Burr to distribute. He also confirmed that at present he is acting and the Environmental Sustainability Officer as well as his Assistant Director role. Nigel explained that he would be going through a review of what the Environmental Management System is, and how it is audited.

N Howcutt said that he would go through what the Environmental Management System is, what ISO 14001, some feedback on the audits that took place in 2018 and what we are looking to achieve over the next three years in accreditation with ISO 14001 then the final point will be an open discussion regarding the future.

AP – N Howcutt, S Burr.

N Howcutt explained that ISO 14001 is an international standard which organisations can sign up to if they choose to and it allows external viewpoints on whether your controls and mitigations are what they consider up to standard. It is not a statutory requirement and Dacorum are one of the smallest Local Authorities signed up to this. Because you are publicly setting some objectives you put yourself forward to say that you can and will achieve those objectives.

There was a discussion regarding Access to Documents which is the one field that we received a non-compliance notice.  The documents were there but they were not as easy to access as first thought, so a new system is being implemented so that whether you are in the Forum or not you can get in touch with these folders to get access to that information.

Cllr Birnie asked if it was just staff access or the public and N Howcutt confirmed it was only staff access.

Cllr Timmis asked why a mobile phone could not be used and N Howcutt explained that a mobile cannot access our local drives.

Cllr Anderson confirmed that this was all to do with accreditation for Security of Information.

There was a discussion as to whether there was a liaison with planning when they construct new dwellings and if they are contributing to what was trying to be achieved.

N Howcutt explained that there were 2 aspects to that and that they liaise with planning on the operational sides, so the cemeteries, the playgrounds, Cupid and The Forum. The Energy Efficiency Team which sits in housing liaises with planning on all new housing developments from a DBC perspective.  Equally planners will liaise with external developers.

It was then asked whether there was any ability to enforce regarding types of construction etc.,

N Howcutt replied that would be something J Doe could answer.

Cllr Hearn said that he could not see any reference to Commercial Waste on the slide and N Howcutt explained that it is outside Environmental Management Service.

Cllr  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Report to follow.

Cllr Anderson said that he had received an email from the Committee Clerk the afternoon before, which said the James Doe would be unable to present reports at the meeting.  Cllr Anderson added that because of this his intention had been to cancel the two items concerned, but Cllr Timmis as a member of the airport consultative committee has some information for the meeting on the subject.

Cllr Timmis explained that she had not been able to prepare anything but as she had been at a meeting on Monday, a lot of what had been discussed was fresh in her mind.  She said that Luton Airport are looking to expand hugely at the moment they have approximately 18 million passengers a year and they are planning to have 36 million by 2040 at the latest. She explained that there is a lot of money going into expanding the facilities on the airport, including ‘The Dart’ which is a people transporter. They are also building a new multi-storey car park.  A huge section of land behind the airport, previously a park has been bought and more development is being planned on that land, although some of the land will be utilised as a new park. Cllr Timmis went on to say that the reason she is on Committees, including the Consultative Committee is that her ward will be significantly affected by the changes. 70 percent of flights using a narrow pathway between Flamstead and Markyate.when taking off. Cllr Timmis said that they were hoping to achieve more of a shared take-off by aircraft taking off at a steeper trajectory and respite routes, these are alternative routes that can be used from time to time so different areas are impacted. This will be subject to the Airspace Modernisation Strategy. It is hoped that some of the present restrictions preventing planes taking off steeply will be removed. There is also a government consultation on aviation which is on the government website and that expires April 11^th 2019.  Cllr Timmis said that she would be attending a meeting of the St Albans Air Traffic Working Group the following week, to which James Doe is also invited, this meeting incorporates Herts County Council and many other representatives. Cllr Timmis said that she feels there is not enough support from Dacorum. Luton is the only airport owned by the Borough Council – Luton Borough Council own the airport but do not run it.

Cllr Anderson explained that Luton is the only airport in the country that is not governed by national legislation.

Cllr Hearne asked whether there had been a discussion about the use of larger aircraft requiring a longer runway. Cllr Timmis replied that they (Luton Airport) have said that they can use the existing runway efficiently and would not be looking to build a second one.  She added that she does not think much larger aircraft have been suggested as most of their flights are short haul which do not use the bigger  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

There is a budget meeting on 5^th February 2019 and then the 12^th March is the last meeting of the year for this Committee and there are 8 items on the Agenda.

Cllr Anderson proposed that with the Committee’s approval he wanted to make both the Assistant Directors aware that if a report is not produced before the meeting, then that item will not be taken at the meeting. It would have to be received on the Friday before the meeting. He added that there would be times when just a presentation was sufficient but if there is a report to look at they would like to see that information prior, including any slides.

Cllr Marshall suggested that an item may be able to be brought forward from the March Agenda.

AP -SB – James Doe and Dave Austin to be invited to include a report.

The Committee agreed.

The meeting finished at 20:55