To receive announcements and business brought forward by the Mayor, Leader, and Members of the Cabinet or the Chief Executive.
4.1 By the Mayor:
4.2 By the Chief Executive:
4.3 By the Group Leaders: Any apologies for absence
4.4 Council Leader and Members of the Cabinet:
Councillor Williams Leader of the Council
Councillor Banks Community and Regulatory Services
Councillor G Sutton Planning and Infrastructure
Councillor Elliot Finance and Resources
Councillor Griffiths Housing
Councillor Williams Corporate and Contracted Services
Councillor Anderson Environmental Services
Decision:
4.1 By
the Mayor:
None.
4.2 By
the Chief Executive:
None.
4.3 By
the Group Leaders:
Councillor Williams gave apologies on behalf of Councillors Imarni
and Oguchi.
Councillor Tindall gave apologies on behalf of Councillor Link.
4.4 Council Leader and Members of the Cabinet:
(Full details are in the minutes under Announcements of the Leader and Cabinet).
Minutes:
4.1 By the Mayor:
None.
4.2 By the Chief Executive:
None.
4.3 By the Group
Leaders:
Councillor Williams gave apologies on behalf of Councillors Imarni
and Oguchi.
Councillor Tindall gave apologies on behalf of Councillor Link.
4.4 Council Leader and Members of the Cabinet:
Councillor Williams, Leader of the Council
The Leader presented his update as follows:
Since the last meeting in November I think national news has been dominated by two particular items; one obviously being Covid, being primarily the one that’s on most people’s minds and prior to the start of the new year to cut the country’s position and negotiations around Brexit.
Locally there has been discussion around the local plan but I think it’s being covered in other parts of this evenings agendas so I wanted to take this opportunity to update members and colleagues on some of the actions the councils taking in relation to dealing with issues in the last few weeks as the Covid situation has worsened both locally and nationally. My report was drafted a couple of days ago but up to then we had a total of 5854 cases of confirmed Covid within Dacorum with 703 on those occurring in the last seven days between 1st and 7th January. Because it takes time for tests to be processed the figures for the more recent days are provisional, the indication is that the test figures are proving to be relatively high. We know both locally and nationally that some of the significant areas of infection are schools and supermarkets, and locally we’ve had a significant outbreak at The Mount prison which have been recorded and Hertfordshire Public Health have been carrying out testing there in order to determine the number of people who are actually infected there and to help the prison service with isolating and dealing with those issues. More locally I just want to run through some of the aspects of the council’s response and our involvement with assisting other colleagues in dealing with issues as they arise. The council is fully involved with our IMT (incident management team) in dealing with issues locally. We are represented on various tactical meetings across the county so we are aware of issues as they’re arising. The councils track and trace service is due to be up and running by the 18th January and we have recruited two of the three staff members required to run this service locally. Colleagues won’t be surprised to hear that one of the main areas of pressure within the council is on our Environmental Health staff who have been taking on and dealing with a significant workload in relation to enforcing various Covid restrictions, visiting supermarkets and other outlets to ensure that we are Covid compliant of mask wearing and rules are being enforced. I’m pleased to say the results to date have been encouraging with higher levels of compliance, and there will be a rolling programme of enforcement visits to supermarkets which I know have attracted some comments about issues around people wearing masks and social distancing etc.
We have managed to and continue to run a complete waste collection service over the Christmas and New Year period with Covid secure arrangements in place and I am pleased to say we’ve not had any issues with the service there.
We worked closely with the Police and County Council to support the serving of a closure notice under the Covid regulations on Bovingdon Market and I’m pleased to say that the market has confirmed they will not be reopening their operations while lockdown is in place and as such, HCC has no need to continue with its weekly order.
We have received government funding through HCC to employ six Covid advisors to support our Environmental Health officers. These employees will be out and about in the borough checking supermarkets and public spaces and speaking to members of the public. HCC Covid Marshalls were also deployed in parts of the borough over Christmas.
Following the national lockdown announcement and the continuing call to work from home, we have further reduced the presence of staff in the office to essential workers only. We adopted a more flexible approach to those working at home to help them manage the balance between work and childcare arrangements.
We continue to provide a comprehensive communications programme across all channels working with external and internal stakeholders. From November last year we’ve increased the digital Digest which has around 11,000 subscribers from a monthly to a weekly publication, alongside the day to day national and county wide campaigns.
We’re as you would expect committed to supporting our staff for their health and wellbeing during these challenging times. We have conducted two organisation wide health and wellbeing surveys over the last five months, with the results informing our approach and programme of staff health and wellbeing support. The support content includes our employment assistance programme and the comprehensive support package for occupational health providers which provides staff with free webinars, videos, support and guidance on a wide variety of topics. We’re also looking in these challenging times to see if we can free up capacity to support our NHS colleagues as they roll out vaccination centres across Hertfordshire. Although of course you wouldn’t expect us to have medically trained staff, we may be able to offer administration support.
Finally on the Covid situation, we have entered into a supply chain arrangement with local hotels as a backup should we need to rehouse significant numbers of residents in a Covid secure environment following any particular incidents or significant outbreaks within the borough.
With regards to Brexit, I am pleased to say that our IMT have reviewed our risk register and many of the risks have fallen away or been reduced as a result of the agreement being reached on the final day of negotiations. The effects of Brexit locally have not been significant and have been well managed.
Questions:
Councillor Hollinghurst commented that toward end of discussion about housing numbers and the Local Plan at the previous meeting, the Leader warned all Councillors that developers were taking the opportunity to put forward additional sites and went on to say we must be careful not to upset developers. The Councillor asked the leader; what exactly did you mean by that?
Councillor Williams responded that he did not recall his comments being in that vein, going on to clarify that there will be developers that put forward sites that are not in the plan, as has been the case in recent week. The Leader commented that he not know what context Councillor Holllinghurst would be suggesting the comments would be intended?
Councillor Hollinghurst responded with his gratitude for the reply and reassurance of the meaning of the comments. He then referred to a site between Berkhamsted & Boxmoor owned by Thakeham Homes and asked; can the Leader tell us, is this the same Thakeham Homes that Between May 2017 and May 2020 contributed considerable sums of money to the Conservative Group?
Councillor Williams responded that it may well be, but commented that he has no idea why that would have any relevance to Dacorum Borough Council or the Local Plan.
Councillor Tindall apologised for not having notified this question in advance and advised he would be happy to take a written response. He said the Parliaments public accounts committee has criticised the department for culture, media and sport for failing to make any meaningful progress in delivering on the promise of the full fibre broadband target rollout to 2025. Does the Leader know of any areas in Dacorum that are likely to suffer under the failure of the government to keep to their promise?
Councillor Williams responded to advise that due to the technical nature of the question he will need to take some advice to ensure he responds correctly.
The Mayor reminded Portfolio Holders that when a written response is offered, those should be provided promptly and in future those answers will be included in Council minutes.
There were no further questions.
Councillor Banks, Portfolio Holder for Community and Regulatory Services
The Portfolio Holder presented her update as follows:
Regulatory services
I agree with the Leaders opening comments, Environmental Health Team are working in close partnership with the Local Resilience Forum Partners have continued to advise businesses, inspect for COVID secure compliance and respond to residents’ queries throughout the pandemic.
And wherever possible it is business as usual, the Environmental Enforcement Team continues with pest control, animal welfare, environmental crime, fly tipping, filthy and verminous premises and more.
Turning to People and Communities Group Services
Hertfordshire Year of Culture 2020
A compilation film is being made featuring many of the Year of Culture activities that took place in Dacorum during 2020, which I hope to present at the next Council meeting. .
The main HYOC2020 Celebration Event will take place on 2nd March, which will mark the official end of the campaign. This will focus on the positive contribution of creativity during 2020, including feedback from the Health and Wellbeing Evaluation. There will also be a Reflection Event for the key partners to consider how HYOC2020 has met its aims and objectives and what the future for collective action is within Hertfordshire.
I am so proud of the way Officers here and partners delivered in light of COVID I would just like to note few highlights from the final quarter of 2020:-
Virtual Fun Palace 2020
There were over 1500 engagements on our Facebook event page during the promotion of the event, the videos and workshops had nearly 400 engagements over the Fun Palace weekend and have received further views since.
#TAG Intergenerational Community Dance Project
There were 221 Dacorum online participants from an overall total of 660
Dacorum Stories Film Project
We have maintained a good external presence in around Hemel town centre during 2020. There has been screenings of several community films on the digital screen and the on-going art exhibition in The Marlowes Centre.
This Administration will continue to build on the partnerships created and explore funding opportunities for creative and cultural projects that support both the community and the cultural sector through COVID and beyond.
Questions:
Councillor Tindall advised that he has received reports that individuals are being threatened with prosecution of fly tipping because they are leaving bags of materials at the bring sites around the Borough. Councillor Tindall commented that it would appear the bins are either not appropriate for the site or are not emptied frequently enough and asked that Regulatory Services speak to Clean, Safe & Green to find the reasons for supposed fly tipping before they try prosecuting residents who are trying to use the bring sites to responsibly recycle.
The Portfolio Holder responded that she agrees the bring sites have been used beyond their capacity and reminded Councillors that the bins have a pull down hatch in which to put items, to keep out rats and bad weather. Each bring site is clearly labelled and signed that if you leave bags outside those bins they will be considered as fly tipped. Once those abandoned clothes have got damp, wet or spoiled they are no longer suitable for recycling. It is an endless cycle of all good intentions being badly received if items cannot be recycled due to damage.
Councillor Tindall responded that he recognises those comments but asked the Portfolio Holder to consider that the failure of the sites to be in a usable state is not necessarily a cause for prosecution and if a regulatory authority see this is happening they should investigate why.
Councillor Banks accepted the point that Councillor Tindall raised.
Councillor Pringle thanked the Portfolio Holder and referenced the proposal to use private contractors to enforce public space notices, meaning they will be able to issue fixed penalty notices against our residents and retain the income from those notices. Does the Portfolio Holder foresee an increase in the issue of these notices due to overzealous use of those powers?
Councillor Banks responded that she is curious to see the outcome of the pilot which will either confirm Councillor Pringles fears or it will reassure residents and Members that we are taking our public space orders seriously.
Councillor Pringle thanked the Portfolio Holder and asked, does the fact we are having to consider the route of private enforcement indicate that historically we have failed to encourage a change of behaviour because we have failed to invest properly in our own enforcement and encouragement methods?
Councillor Banks responded that her personal view is that indeed it could be seen as a failure that we have not managed to encourage our residents sufficiently and that she welcomes the outcome of the pilot to see that.
Councillor Williams addressed the Portfolio Holder, following on from Councillor Tindall’s question, and asked; would you agree that whilst we would not want to prosecute those who are trying to use the bring sites inappropriately, we would want to prosecute those that are leaving items that are not suitable for the bring sites.
Councillor Banks agreed.
Councillor England asked the Portfolio Holder; does she agree that if seriously contemplated, the example given of Bedford promises that we can see a huge rise in enforcement events, and if so, is Bedford currently seeing too many fixed penalty notices, or has Decorum’s enforcement rate been too low? Adding, is there any evidence this changes behaviour to reduce enforcement action in future?
Councillor Banks confirmed the whole idea of bringing forward a pilot will answer those questions but at this time she is not able to comment further without seeing those outcomes.
Councillor England asked, do you not agree that rather than using our residents as guinea pigs to find out something and using Bedford that has a completely different profile to Dacorum, that we should look at whether there are any other examples we can compare with, rather than carrying out a pilot.
Councillor Banks responded that although she is familiar with the Bedford model, it is not the only one out there and there will be other examples which she will happily provide as a separate response.
There were no further questions.
Councillor G Sutton, Portfolio Holder for Planning & Infrastructure
The Portfolio Holder presented his update as follows:
Payments of the new Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG)
The Economic Development team working with the finance service have now administered and paid over 200 claims for small businesses totalling over £400k.
Each application is verified by the team before processing for payment to make sure that the funding is going to help the right businesses.
This initial round of funding closed on January 4th but has now been reopened with some more targeted publicity to ensure as many as possible of our eligible businesses are able to claim.
This grant sits alongside other grants available to business and there is a lot of work happening to make sure that businesses are being signposted to the right source of support wherever possible.
Local Plan Consultation Update – figures as of 12 January
We have had 183 representations submitted to date, the majority of which have been online. Experience from previous consultations consistently shows that most comments are made and received in the final 2 weeks of the consultation period
There have been a total of 14,185 hits on the Local Plan page from 27th November 2020 to 12th January 2021. There have been 1,862 users access the on the virtual exhibition hosted by AECOM, accessing it 2,083 times and viewing a total of 20,295 items (such as supporting documents, exhibition boards, video content within the virtual exhibition)
The consultation was agreed to run to 7 February 2021, offering a ten week period (noting the statutory minimum is six weeks); in view of the current lockdown situation and to provide further opportunities for people to engage, we will now extend this to midnight on 28 February – thus providing a thirteen week period in all
We are of course encouraging residents to make use of the very extensive resources we have placed online
We have prepared a short and illustrated summary document explaining the Plan and we will provide it free of charge in paper form should this be required – this document is of course available online
The full version of the Plan – itself a very weighty document - can be provided in paper form at a charge of £30 (this is heavily discounted from the unit cost) – but again this is all available free of charge online
Requests for paper copies of the summary document and full plan can be made to Strategic.planning@dacorum.gov.uk or in writing at the Forum’s postal address
The current Local Plan consultation includes an annual housing requirement of 922. This figure was taken from changes to the methodology that Government consulted on in August 2020. Following that consultation Government has announced that it does not intend to alter the way housing numbers are calculated for places like Dacorum;
We now revert to the current housing method as set by Government and as such the figure for Dacorum has increased to 1,023 new homes per annum. Our Local Plan is of course in draft only and given that we last consulted with the public in late 2017, it is important that we continue the current consultation to gain views on its proposals and policies
Following the end of the current consultation, the Council will need to consider all representations made and the changed position on housing numbers before taking further decisions on the next stages of the Local Plan process.
Questions:
Councillor Ransley addressed the Portfolio Holder and expressed she is pleased to hear information is available in other places but advised that during lockdown the libraries are closed and as such the only way you can view the consultation is by computer and it is those without a computer who are struggling. Also, if a copy is to be borrowed from Tring Town Council, how do we maintain safety if more than one person wants to look at it?
Councillor Sutton advised he would look into the H&S considerations of loaning paperwork. He referred to the broadcasting of information and advised that we will be trying to push this more thoroughly in the coming days and weeks but unfortunately we are in unprecedented times so we will have to cope as best we can.
Councillor Ransley asked that the Portfolio Holder talks to officers about how the information might be sent to the general public without computer use.
Councillor Sutton confirmed he would.
Councillor Birnie asked the Portfolio Holder to confirm that this is a draft Local Plan, and at the second stage, that is after any necessary amendments made in light of this consultation, that the public will be given a further opportunity to comment on what will be the final draft.
The Portfolio Holder responded that yes that is the case. This is the very early stage of the process which is compulsory under Regulation 18 but there is still some way to go before this reaches publication stage. There are also Task & Finish Groups held in the run up to Regulation 18 and these will continue so it will give Members every opportunity to express their view at these meetings.
Councillor England asked the Portfolio Holder, are you aware that Councillor Uttley and myself have been discussing and promoting the Local Plan on the Lib Dem website and also on various local Facebook sites with a minimum of 10 posts discussing various elements of the plan and asked; is he aware of any other bodies doing such promoting?
Councillor Sutton responded that he was not aware that the Lib Dems were carrying out that promotion and he commented that he is aware that there will be lots of people out there making comments, often uninformed.
Councillor England asked, are you aware that Google Analytics can produce a report on what channels are producing input to the consultation, asking the Portfolio Holder, would you ask officers to generate a report on how the consultation is receiving such feedback?
Councillor Sutton confirmed he would speak to officers and seek a written response.
Councillor Pringle referred to the excluded groups and asked, is Councillor Sutton aware that residents have written in and have asked for hard copies of the documents as they are not able to access the electronic copies. Those people have been advised they would have to pay £30 each if they wished to receive a copy?
Councillor Sutton responded that yes, he is aware as set out in his update. It is a very large document running into several hundreds of pages and would carry high costs to distribute widely.
Councillor Pringle stated, it seems evident that entire groups of people, namely those who are shielding and those who do not have access to ICT, will not have access to this consultation given it closes on 28th February and it would be irresponsible to the public health of our residents to suggest that anyone vulnerable should be asked to visit libraries’ etc.
Councillor Sutton responded that he respects Councillor Pringles views and agreed that the public’s health is paramount. He advised that he is working with Communications and a shorter paper version is to be created, but how that is to be distributed is yet to be seen. He further commented that there is still a remaining 6 to 7 weeks left of consultation which is longer than a usual consultation.
Councillor Rogers asked the Portfolio Holder; with the recent increase in housing numbers by 1032, would the Portfolio Holder agree that Dacorum Borough Council should be vigorously challenging and not accepting figures?
The Mayor advised that time was up therefore the Portfolio Holder will not be in a position to respond. However the Mayor sought clarification that the figure referred to by Councillor Rogers be checked against the number reported by Councillor Sutton. Councillor Sutton confirmed that 1023, as his update, is the correct figure.
Councillor Elliot, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources
The Portfolio Holder presented his update as follows:
Financial Services
Financial Services continues to lead on the financial reporting and monitoring requirements arising from the coronavirus pandemic to ensure the Council secures the pandemic –related
Government funding it is eligible for.
The service is also supporting the payment of national Covid-19 Business grants and test and trace support payments, to ensure funds are distributed promptly and accurately.
Alongside the monitoring of the current financial position, budget setting for 2021/22 is the team’s current focus, ahead of seeking formal approval of this budget from Council in February.
The role of the accounts receivable service in the collection of debt is becoming more challenging as the pandemic continues. The service is working incredibly hard with our partners to find short and medium term solutions that support the local business economy.
Commercial Assets and Property Development.
The Commercial Assets service is busy liaising, and working in partnership with existing tenants through this difficult financial period, to ensure we support the local economy where possible. The uncertain market conditions brought about by Covid require a flexible and fluid approach to asset management and the service have, and will continue to liaise, with tenants in a positive manner.
The Building services team are continuing to liaise with Health partners and the County Council to support the Covid response in regards to assets and locations for vaccination and testing. This process will be ongoing over the coming weeks and months with different facilities required at different times. The service also continues to maintain the council assets through this period of closure so that when a point in the near future arises that council premises can be open without delay.
Revenues and Benefits service.
The revenues & benefits team continue to respond to government announcements in regards to business grants, test and trace support payments and business rates relief.
The last 2 months since the end of the November lockdown, to the present lockdown has seen unprecedented change in government business grants. The process of interpreting government policy and implementing these policies has kept the service incredible busy.
During December and into early January the service have been implementing and processing 5 different Covid related Business Grants and continued to process the Covid Test and trace support payments to ensure the council continues to support the local residents and businesses as part of the response to the pandemic.
At present the council is waiting for funding allocations and government guidance on last weeks announced government lockdown grants and top up grants. Once these details are received the service will work proactively to implement the policy and process these grants with immediate effect.
Questions:
Councillor Tindall asked the Portfolio Holder; given that Local Government audit is currently under consideration by government – did Dacorum Borough Council take part in consultation and if so what was that input?
The Portfolio Holder responded that he would have to provide a written answer.
Councillor Beauchamp referred to Council Tax collections and asked; can you give members some indication on how these collections have compared to the previous year in light of the current situation.
The PH responded that the year on year collection of Council Tax is 1.8% down on last year and commented this is not too bad a result given the current circumstances.
There were no further questions.
Councillor Griffiths, Portfolio Holder for Housing
The Portfolio Holder presented her update as follows:
TENANT AND LEASEHOLDER SERVICES
· Rent arrears reduced in December following the 2 weeks where rent was not applied. This gave chance for some tenants to catch up with payments and very pleased that arrears were only 19% higher than this time last year, which is excellent considering the current pressures. We will continue to support tenants over the coming weeks as very aware of the potential impact on rent arrears with the new lockdown.
· The Supported Housing team are continuing to focus on regular phone contact with tenants who don’t have family or support networks and linking with partners like Age UK to ensure they have regular contact.
· The enhanced cleaning in Sheltered schemes has been reinstated in light of the lockdown, with an antibacterial sterilising machine also being deployed to assist with reducing infection risk.
· ASB cases and reports have started to increase again following the recent lockdown. Staff obtained a Closure order for a property in November following effective partnership working with the Police and we will continue to take appropriate action to protect residents over the coming weeks with courts still open for these and other appropriate interventions.
STRATEGIC HOUSING
· Additional £119k funding obtained to provide support to vulnerable homeless households during the pandemic and rising service costs, support includes access to medical care and meals.
· New relationship/Service Level Agreement & nomination agreement implemented for new build site at Icknield Way, Tring, with Legal & General.
· Severe Cold Weather protocol operational, additional funding obtained to install pods at the Elms Hostel (pods install 11/1/2021)
PROPERTY AND PLACE
· The current restrictions and wider implications of the pandemic, with increased levels of infection are continuing to put significant pressure on all work streams within Property and Place. Staff are now predominantly working from home with only essential inspections and surveys carried out to ensure service delivery.
· All maintenance activities being undertaken are continually being reviewed from a health and safety perspective to ensure safe systems of work are in operation in-accordance with Government guidelines. We are continually working with our supply chain to ensure our risk and method statements are appropriate for the work activities ensuring residents safety at all times.
· Statutory and cyclical compliance works are continuing, with good performance against the targets to ensure residents safety within their homes.
· The current scope of works being undertaken in terms of maintenance and refurbishment haven’t changed with the continued suspension of non-essential internal Planned Works. However some further Planned Work activities in Supported Housing Schemes have also been suspended to help protect some of our most vulnerable residents in their home.
HOUSING DEVELOPMENT
|
Martindale |
Practical completion achieved 21/10/20, all social units allocated. 15 market sale units completed. 5 market sales units under offer. 1 more property to sell. |
|
St Margaret’s Way |
Resident newsletter issued. Attending the Community Review Panel on 11th Feb to present scheme. Planning a further detailed consultation with the local residents. |
|
Paradise Fields |
Planning Application approved subject to agreement on some Ecology matters. |
|
Bingham Mews |
Progressing well on site. Completion due this month |
|
Eastwick Row |
Starting on site in April but with some enabling works taking place Jan / Feb. Local residents have been informed. |
|
Coniston Road |
Starting on site in March but with some enabling works taking place Jan / Feb. Local residents have been informed. |
|
Wilstone |
Planning Application submitted. Seeking Cabinet approval 19th Jan to appropriate the land from General Fund to HRA . |
|
Bulbourne |
Progressing design. Site purchase still with Tring Town. |
|
LA1 |
Design completed to stage 1. Revised brief received to accommodate access road for Homes England site. |
|
Cherry Bounce |
Architect and Employers Agent appointed, project commencement meeting held. |
|
Paradise Depot |
Revised brief issued regarding DENS building requirements and meeting set up to brief the professional team. |
|
Garage Sites |
6 No Planning applications have been submitted. Seeking Cabinet approval 19th Jan to appropriate the land from General Fund to HRA . |
|
Randall’s Ride |
Planning application has been submitted. Seeking Cabinet approval 19th Jan to appropriate the land from General Fund to HRA . |
Questions:
Councillor Barry asked the Portfolio Holder; when will regular cleaning schedules for non-supported housing sites will resume?
Councillor Griffiths responded that she does not have the schedules to hand and will have to come back with a written answer.
There were no further questions.
Councillor Williams, Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Contracted Services
The Portfolio Holder said he had nothing in particular to report but was happy to take questions.
There were no questions for the Portfolio Holder.
Councillor Anderson, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services
Councillor Anderson paid tribute to the hard work of refuse staff to keep services running during the current situation.
He then gave his update as follows:
Refuse:
Thanks to a lot of effort from management and because a lot of our temporary staff have been with us for a few months now and gaining some familiarity, I am pleased to report that the number of missed collections has been falling so we’ve had less issues over that.
The team are supporting the County wide Covid testing which is being carried out at schools. It is being spearheaded by Welwyn Hatfield District Council and all but two of the Districts in the County are taking part in this major exercise. In our case it involves having to remove the rubbish after the testing has been done.
Officers will be reporting to the next SPAE OSC about the £1million overspend we’ve had in the service and going into detail in terms of additional staff and trucks that have been required.
I’m pleased to report that the Christmas collection arrangements appear to have worked well and the backlog has all been cleared. We’re now back to normal dates which is good.
I have been asked about disposable face coverings being littered by members of the public. Could I urge all members, especially those that have been concerned by the issue, to spread the message on the website to advise members of the public to please dispose of disposal face coverings in the grey bin and not on the road side.
Outside facilities, skateboard and cycle ramps etc. have been closed as of yesterday. I haven’t been updated yet but I am waiting to find out if the government guidance requires us to close the playgrounds which I suspect is something we’re ready to do if we have to.
New developments:
Officers at Cupid Green have completed the first phase of work in conjunction with planning officers to identify our environmental requirements for new developments, for example, ensuring that developers provide the refuse facilities that are required and we’ve got some guidelines about the open spaces, everything from park benches to litter bins, all sorted in the hope to prevent problems occurring after the developments have been built.
Finally, I did send an email a couple of weeks ago about the issue with the bring sites. We have been working with the council’s contractors to try and resolve the issues so that we can reduce the problem of fly tipping. We are putting the signage up now to warn people that they are fly tipping if they leave stuff by them. I don’t want members to go away feeling that we are not doing anything about it and trying to prosecute people for fly tipping.
Questions:
Councillor Tindall addressed the Portfolio Holder, expressing that he would be grateful if he could associate himself and the Lib Dem Group with the thanks to all the operatives in Waste Services, further commenting that the continued work on our behalf is to be much appreciated.
Councillor Anderson confirmed he would pass that thanks on.
Councillor Symington addressed the Portfolio Holder in respect of the collection of clothes recycling from Tring and with reference to Councillor Williams comments to large items being dumped at bring sites. The Councillor commented that she believes this is as a result of many people being unable to recycle things due to charity shops being closes. Asking; could we turn around the problem and look for solutions as a Council, in recognition that charity shops will not be open and we want to avoid people just throwing items away.
Councillor Anderson responded that the Council is already doing that, along with talking to contractors to improve collections and resolve the issues.
Councillor Symington responded by asking; how can you justify saying we are doing all we can do, could we not be signposting people more about how they could recycle other items such as furniture?
Councillor Anderson reiterated her belief the Council is already doing that.
Councillor Beauchamp asked the Portfolio Holder; would you agree the work undertaken to restore the white bridge in Gadebridge to its former glory is a triumph for Hemel?
Councillor Anderson agreed and added credit to his predecessor Councillor Janice Marshall.
There were no further questions.