Councillors and committees

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Council Offices, Knowle Green, Staines-upon-Thames. TW18 1XB. View directions

Contact: Yvette Ortel, Community Partnership & Committee Officer  Room 357, Council Offices, Knowle Green, Staines-upon-Thames TW18 1XB

Items
No. Item

16/15

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS

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    To receive any apologies for absence and notices of substitutions from Borough members.

    Minutes:

    Apologies were received from Cllr Joanne Sexton, Cllr Daxa Patel and Cllr Chris Frazer. Cllr Vivienne Leighton and Cllr Sinead Mooney were present as substitutes.

17/15

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING pdf icon PDF 159 KB

18/15

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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    To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests from Members in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.

     

    Notes:

    ·        In line with the Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012, declarations may relate to the interest of the member, or the member’s spouse or civil partner, or a person with whom the member is living as husband or wife, or a person with whom the member is living as if they were civil partners and the member is aware they have the interest.

     

    ·        Members need only disclose interests not currently listed on the Register of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.

     

    ·        Members must notify the Monitoring Officer of any interests disclosed at the meeting so they may be added to the Register.

     

    ·        Members are reminded that they must not participate in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest.

     

    Minutes:

    No declarations of interest were received.

19/15

CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

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    To receive any Chairman’s announcements.

     

    Agenda item only

    Minutes:

    The Chairman advised that the meeting was being filmed for training purposes. She requested members of the public give feedback on their experience of attending the Local Committee and welcomed Liz Bowes, Chair of the Woking Joint Committee. She also explained that the expected update on Project Horizon was not available for this meeting but would be presented at a future session.

20/15

PETITIONS & LETTERS OF REPRESENTATION

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    To receive any petitions in accordance with Standing Order 68.  Notice should be given in writing or by email to the Community Partnership and Committee Officer at least 14 days before the meeting.  Alternatively, the petition can be submitted on-line through Surrey County Council’s e-petitions website, providing the minimum number of signatures (30) has been reached 14 days before the meeting.

     

    Two petitions have been received:

     

    i) One from Mike Portch which contains 77 signatures and reads:

    We, the undersigned, residents of Thames Meadow, Shepperton, object to the proposal for an experimental closure of Walton Lane, Shepperton.  We call upon the council to:

    1. Reject the proposal

    2. Fully consult with all local residents on any future proposals.”

     

    ii) One from Lisa Rollin which contains 37 signatures and reads:

    We the undersigned petition Surrey County Council to Reject any proposal to close Walton Lane.  We feel the closure of Walton Lane will a) force even more traffic onto an already busy, fast and increasingly dangerous Russell Road; b) force more traffic onto the bottom end of Walton Bridge Road (Marshalls Roundabout) creating further congestion; c) Will not enhance the lives of residents of Walton Bridge Road, Russell Road and roads leading from it due to congestion, additional pollution, safety issues, noise and general traffic disturbance and; d) will impact negatively on the wider Shepperton community. Instead of closing Walton Lane we urge the Council to engage in a fuller survey of traffic and to undertake urgent traffic calming measures in Russell Road.”

     

    The Petition Responses are contained within the report at Item 8.

    Minutes:

    Two petitions were presented by residents against the proposed closure of Walton Lane.

     

    Lisa Rollin from Russell Road presented an online petition of 38 signatures and referred to an additional 93 signatures that she had collected from members of the public outside Budgens on the High Street. She would favour a holistic approach to looking at traffic in Shepperton in general.

     

    Mr Barnard (appointed to speak by petitioner Mr Portch) presented a petition signed by the residents of Thames Meadow, who had all been in favour. There was a total of 77 signatures. There had been concern that residents had not initially been informed of the proposal even though they would have been the most affected, making it more difficult for them to access Shepperton.

     

    A response to the petitions was included in the officer report for item 8 and the Chairman invited both speakers to remain for that item.

     

21/15

PETITION RESPONSE pdf icon PDF 73 KB

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    To provide Members with an Officer response to a petition previously submitted to the Local Committee.

     

    One petition was received at the Local Committee on 27 July from Mr Edward Rogers MBE which contained 342 signatures and read:

    Petition to introduce speed bumps on the towpath adjacent to Shepperton Lock and to make the towpath a 20mph speed limit road.”

     

    Minutes:

    Mr Ted Rodgers received a response to the petition he presented at the meeting of 27 July 2015 calling for traffic calming measures and a reduction in the speed limit on Towpath, Shepperton.

     

    Main points of discussion:

     

    NH explained that any work would require funding and would depend on the decisions taken by members in item 9, on how to allocate the highways budget for 2015-16.

     

    Cllr Leighton wanted it noted that there was an error under 1.3 of the report where parking referred to as ‘private’ in fact belonged to Spelthorne Borough Council who in turn leased it to the public. She stressed that the problem was a lack of consideration shown by motorists driving past the parked cars, which are often parked at right angles due to being larger vehicles.

     

    Cllr Leighton suggested that through ‘localism’ there may be a way of finding a low cost solution and knew of suitably experienced SBC officers who are willing to do a design.

     

    Mr Walsh suggested that such an approach could also be used to solve problems in other areas but wanted to know where the report left the petitioner and was referred again by NH to the decision to be taken in item 9.

     

    Cllr Watts suggested that the borough councillors could contribute from their community grant funding.

     

    NH stressed that a feasibility study could not be delivered by December but Cllr Leighton insisted that it could, if it was carried out by borough officers. NH confirmed he would be happy to work with SBC officers.

     

22/15

MEMBER QUESTION TIME pdf icon PDF 86 KB

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    To receive any written questions from Members under Standing Order 47.

     

    Agenda item only

    Minutes:

    Officers in attendance:

    Nick Healey (NH), Area Highway Manager (NE)

     

     

     

    Cllr Robert Watts submitted a written question and received a response in advance of the meeting (attached).

     

    As a supplementary he wanted to know when the recommendations highlighted in the safety audit would be completed. NH advised him that these would be done at the earliest opportunity and Mr Walsh confirmed he would be working with Cllr Watts to push for the installation of the toucan crossing but that funding of about £90,000 was required.

     

    Cllr Smith-Ainsley wanted to know why the design was signed off if it was considered dangerous and Mr Walsh suggested that it had been designed to have traffic lights, but that the money had run out. NH explained that the original design had not included a Toucan crossing and it was removed to save costs, but would be installed at the earliest opportunity.

     

    .........................................................................

     

    Mr Robert Evans had submitted a written question and received a response in advance of the meeting (attached).

     

    He again stressed his view that there was a lack of communication and co-operation between Surrey County Council and Spelthorne Borough Council but the Chairman insisted that there had been definite progress to move away from a ‘them and us’ approach.

     

    Cllr Watts referred to the flooding on Clare Road in Stanwell and said he was waiting to hear when the drains were last cleared out. NH explained that every gully is cleaned once a year but that the soakaways only have a certain capacity. Cllr Flurry asked whether the soakaways were still in their life period and wanted to know whether there was a programme for renewal. NH explained that there was only a programme for cleaning but not for renewal.

     

23/15

PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

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    To receive any questions from Surrey County Council electors within the area in accordance with Standing Order 69.

     

    Agenda item only

    Minutes:

    Mr McLuskey submitted two written questions and received responses in advance of the meeting (attached).

     

24/15

WALTON LANE (EXECUTIVE FUNCTION) pdf icon PDF 77 KB

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    To receive a report from the Highways Area Team Manager (North East) on Walton Lane.  This will include responses to two petitions: one from Mike Portch and one from Lisa Rollin.

     

    Decision:

    The Local Committee (Spelthorne) resolved to agree to:

    (i)    Defer indefinitely the suggestion to close Walton Lane, Shepperton, to vehicular traffic between its junctions with Walton Bridge Road and Russell Road.

     

    Reasons:

    Closing Walton Lane to vehicular traffic would transfer trips onto Marshalls Roundabout, which already suffers congestion during peak periods.  There is no pattern of Personal Injury Collisions in the subject section of Walton Lane that would be ameliorated by the suggested closure.  The local community are opposed to the suggested closure.

     

     

    Minutes:

    Officers in attendance:

    Nick Healey (NH), Area Highway Manager (NE)

     

    Declarations of Interest:

    None

     

    Main points of discussion:

     

    Mr Walsh explained that he had moved to raise the issue following representations from Bagster House and a resident of Walton Lane as drivers had been observed driving the wrong way down the one way section of the highway. He suggested that making it a cul de sac would solve the problem, a proposal that was also favoured by DI Alan Sproston who was in attendance.

     

    However, the support for the two petitions presented under item 5 had made clear the opinions of residents on this issue. The Chairman underlined the importance of listening to what they have said but also stressed that action should be taken against drivers who do not comply.

     

    Cllr Watts suggested that the positioning and size of the ‘No Entry’ signs might be adding to the confusion and NH agreed that an officer would go out and check. He expressed his view that there was sufficient information out there to properly inform drivers and that it was impossible to police motorists’ behaviour.

     

     

    The Local Committee (Spelthorne) resolved to agree to:

    (i)    Defer indefinitely the suggestion to close Walton Lane, Shepperton, to vehicular traffic between its junctions with Walton Bridge Road and Russell Road.

     

    Reasons:

    Closing Walton Lane to vehicular traffic would transfer trips onto Marshalls Roundabout, which already suffers congestion during peak periods.  There is no pattern of Personal Injury Collisions in the subject section of Walton Lane that would be ameliorated by the suggested closure.  The local community are opposed to the suggested closure.

     

25/15

HIGHWAYS UPDATE (EXECUTIVE FUNCTION) pdf icon PDF 111 KB

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    To receive an update from the Highways Area Team Manager (North East).

     

     

    Additional documents:

    Decision:

    The Local Committee (Spelthorne) agreed to:

    (i)    Authorise the Area Highway Manager in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman and relevant Divisional Member(s), to prioritise schemes as necessary to ensure the remainder of this Financial Year’s budgets are fully invested in the road network in Spelthorne (paragraph 2.6 refers).

    And

    (ii)   Decided its preferred option for allocation of next Financial Year’s budgets to be option A detailed in Annex C

     

    And agreed to

    (iii)  Authorise the Area Highway Manager in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman and relevant Divisional Member(s) to undertake all necessary procedures to deliver the agreed programmes.

     

    Reason:

    To facilitate delivery of the 2015-16 Highways programmes funded by the Local Committee and to facilitate development of Committee’s 2016-17 Highways programmes, while at the same time ensuring that the Chairman, Vice Chairman and relevant Divisional Members are fully and appropriately involved in any detailed considerations.

     

     

    Minutes:

    Officers in attendance:

    Nick Healey (NH) Area Highway Manager (North East)

     

    Declarations of interest:

    None

     

    Main points of discussion:

     

    With reference to 2.9 of the report Cllr Watts raised on behalf of Ashford Town councillors the issue of holidaymakers and commuters parking in residential roads (in particular Woodthorpe Road) rather than using the car park at Ashford station. He explained that the matter had been discussed with Jack Roberts and Mrs Carole Coleman (divisional member). Cllr Watts would like a survey to go ahead and have a timeline for carrying it out.

     

    NH explained that any survey would have to be funded and the local committee decision on how to allocate the highways’ budget would directly affect this.

     

    NH informed members that £2 million had been taken out of the capital budget and that there was likely to be a similar reduction next year, which should be planned for.

     

    Cllr Harvey expressed his preference to pooling the monies and spending it on one item. Mr Beardsmore wanted to use the budget on improving the A308 and had already discussed pooling funding with Mrs Coleman for that purpose.

     

    Mr Jenkins expressed his preference for option A as it was important to be able to deliver on what his residents want, but said that members should still be able to work together.

     

    Mr Walsh moved that option A should be the preferred choice and this was seconded by Cllr Smith-Ainsley. The motion was carried with 9 votes.

     

    NH reminded members he would be asking them to notify him by December of the schemes they want to finance and that if he did not receive these by the deadline, he would work with the Chairman to decide on which works would be funded.

     

    The Local Committee (Spelthorne) agreed to:

    (i)    Authorise the Area Highway Manager in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman and relevant Divisional Member(s), to prioritise schemes as necessary to ensure the remainder of this Financial Year’s budgets are fully invested in the road network in Spelthorne (paragraph 2.6 refers).

    And

    (ii)   Decided its preferred option for allocation of next Financial Year’s budgets to be option A detailed in Annex C

     

    And agreed to

    (iii)  Authorise the Area Highway Manager in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman and relevant Divisional Member(s) to undertake all necessary procedures to deliver the agreed programmes.

     

    Reason:

    To facilitate delivery of the 2015-16 Highways programmes funded by the Local Committee and to facilitate development of Committee’s 2016-17 Highways programmes, while at the same time ensuring that the Chairman, Vice Chairman and relevant Divisional Members are fully and appropriately involved in any detailed considerations.

     

26/15

ECO PARK UPDATE (SERVICE MONITORING & ISSUES OF LOCAL CONCERN) pdf icon PDF 66 KB

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    To receive an update from the SCC Waste Operations Group Manager on progress with the development of the Eco Park at Charlton Lane, Shepperton.

    Minutes:

    Officers in attendance:

    Richard Parkinson (RP), Waste Operations Group Manager

    Mr Mike Goodman, SCC Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning

     

    Declarations of interest:

    None

     

    Main points of discussion:

     

    The Chairman made it clear that questions should only be on the update report submitted for the meeting.

     

    RP gave a brief summary of the ongoing works at the site. In order to counter some of the disruption to current operations with some bays temporarily shut off, the opening hours had been extended. He confirmed that with regard to concerns about air pollution, in addition to monitoring devices on the stack which would provide continuous monitoring, the Cabinet Member for the Environment and Planning had agreed to an offsite monitoring station for measuring nitrogen oxide and particulates. Tthe location for this and a power supply were yet to be decided on.

     

    Cllr Smith-Ainsley believed that the foundation piling work had overrun and RP conceded that this had the case and that SITA had been ‘too optimistic’ but had learnt their lesson. The borough councillor also expressed his dissatisfaction with the drop in sessions that had been held, as the chosen venue on the first floor of the golf club opposite the site presented access issues for members of the public. He also raised the issue of some planning conditions having been ignored. He highlighted the dust baseline assessment which he said had only been carried out once the Spelthorne Borough Environmental Health team had got involved and that some Freedom of Information requests had not been answered in time. Furthermore the residents of his ward in Charlton Village had not benefitted from the project.

     

    RP explained that they had chosen a venue near to the Charlton Lane site but would bear in mind the points raised for future meetings. He explained that the planning conditions had now been carried out and that residents would benefit from a reduction in local traffic once the new facilities were fully operational.

     

    It was agreed that the provision of online monitoring data was important to reassure the public and that confidence in the information provided was paramount, but its usefulness was questioned. Mr Tim Evans commented that once the stack was working the monitoring station would not pick up any readings. RP explained that it was a requirement of the Environment Agency to have monitoring on the stack and sets limits to determine compliance but it is possible that emissions might be below the level to be detected.

     

    Mr Tim Evans acknowledged that there was a large amount of information available to the public and questioned the need for frequent updates and the Chairman asked to have another report to be brought to the local committee in the new year.

     

     

    The Local Committee (Spelthorne) agreed to

     

          i.        Note the contents of the report.

     

27/15

SURREY CIVILIAN-MILITARY PARTNERSHIP BOARD UPDATE (FOR INFORMATION) pdf icon PDF 405 KB

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    To receive an information report from Canon Peter Bruinvels, Surrey County Council Civilian-Military Liaison Advisor.

     

    Decision:

    The Local Committee (Spelthorne) agreed to:

    (i)            Note the contents of this report and to applaud the good work that has been done by the Surrey Civilian-Military Partnership Board.

     

    Reason:

    To receive an information report and to publicly acknowledge the work done by the partnership.

     

     

    Minutes:

    In attendance:

    Canon Peter Bruinvels, Surrey Civilian-Military Liaison Advisor

    Cllr Robin Sider, Armed Forces Champion (Spelthorne)

     

    Main points of discussion:

     

    Mr Walsh expressed his support for the work done by the Surrey Civilian-Military Partnership but added that it was difficult to contribute extra in view of the pressure on the Adult Social Care and Children’s Services budgets. He highlighted the large amounts of money held by the regiments and other organisations such as the Royal British Legion and stressed that it was important to know that some of these funds would follow ex-servicemen moving into the civilian communities.

     

    Canon Bruinvels agreed with this point and advised that he had recently addressed a group of Adult Social Care managers in this regard where he had explained that those over the age of 71 who had served in the Armed Forces should be eligible for help through the RBL.

     

    Mr Walsh stressed the need for the partnership to link with the Family, Friends and Communities programme and the Chairman suggested that it might be of interest to invite a serviceman who has been helped by the SCMP, to attend a future Local Committee meeting.

     

    Mr Tim Evans wanted the Local Committee not just to note the contents of the report, but also publicly acknowledge the good work that has been done by the SCMP and proposed a change of recommendation, which was seconded by Cllr Ian Harvey.

     

    The Chairman, on behalf of the Local Committee, thanked Canon Bruinvels and Cllr Sider for taking the time to come to the Committee and said it was much appreciated.

     

    The Local Committee (Spelthorne) agreed to:

    (i)            Note the contents of this report and to applaud the good work that has been done by the Surrey Civilian-Military Partnership Board.

     

    Reason:

    To receive an information report and to publicly acknowledge the work done by the partnership.

28/15

SPELTHORNE JOINT ENFORCEMENT TEAM (FOR INFORMATION) pdf icon PDF 91 KB

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    To receive an information report from Spelthorne Borough Council to update the Local Committee on the work of the Spelthorne Joint Enforcement Team.

    Minutes:

    Officers in attendance:

    None

     

    Declarations of interest:

    None

     

    Main points of discussion:

     

    Spelthorne Borough Council officer Keith McGroary was not in attendance, but members praised his report and Mr Walsh expressed his satisfaction of how the pilot scheme was going and that he hoped that the model would be implemented across the county.

     

     

    The Local Committee (Spelthorne) agreed to note the contents of the report for information.

29/15

CHANGES TO THE COMMUNITY YOUTH WORK SERVICE (EXECUTIVE FUNCTION) pdf icon PDF 139 KB

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    SCC Services for Young People is proposing changes to how Community Youth Work is delivered in Spelthorne.

    Decision:

     

    The Local Committee (Spelthorne) resolved to agree:

     

    (i)    The proposals set out in 3.1 as formal guidance for the Community Youth Work Service.

     

    Reasons:

     

    These changes are designed to enable the Community Youth Work Service (CYWS) to better support the Council’s strategic goal of employability for young people, implement a County Council Cabinet steer to allocate more of our resources to the areas of greatest need and respond positively to an overall funding reduction of 11% for Community Youth Work across Surrey.

     

     

    Minutes:

    Officers in attendance:

     

    Jeremy Crouch, Contract Performance Officer Youth Work

    Sara Lovegrove, Senior Practitioner for CYWS in Spelthorne

     

    Declarations of interest:

    None

     

    Main points of discussion:

     

    Cllr Watts wanted to know how the 11% reduction in Community Youth Work compared to cuts in other county services. Jeremy Crouch (JC) explained that it was comparable with savings in other areas and that through efficiencies the actual reduction in face to face services was only 9%.

     

    In his capacity as chairman of the Youth Task Group Mr Walsh congratulated the officers in performing a difficult juggling act and acknowledged the importance of directing resources where they were most needed. He suggested that other parties such as residents’ groups and the police could make a useful contribution to this work and encouraged other councillors to get involved in their areas. His comments were endorsed by Mr Beardsmore.

     

    Cllr Mooney queried whether any of the youth centres in the borough would be without provision and JC confirmed that all SCC owned centres would run with some services provided.

     

    The Chairman raised the issue that at Ashford there would no hours of targeted projects and JC explained that they will be delivering two evening ‘drop in’ style sessions but might in the future offer more, if additional funding was secured or partnership working was set up.

     

     

    The Local Committee (Spelthorne) resolved to agree:

     

    (i)    The proposals set out in 3.1 as formal guidance for the Community Youth Work Service.

     

    Reasons:

     

    These changes are designed to enable the Community Youth Work Service (CYWS) to better support the Council’s strategic goal of employability for young people, implement a County Council Cabinet steer to allocate more resources to the areas of greatest need and respond positively to an overall funding reduction of 11% for Community Youth Work across Surrey.

     

30/15

SERVICES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REPORT (SERVICE MONITORING & ISSUES OF LOCAL CONCERN) pdf icon PDF 58 KB

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    To update the Local Committee on the progress that SCC Services for Young People has made towards participation for all young people in Spelthorne in post-16 education, training and employment during 2014-15.

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Officers in attendance:

     

    Matt Raleigh, Youth Support Services Team Manager, Spelthorne

    Jeremy Crouch, Contract Performance Officer Youth Work

     

    Declarations of Interest:

    None

     

    Main discussion points:

     

    Cllr Leighton queried the accuracy of the figures in the table for Shepperton Youth Centre as it was noted in the report that there had been data recording issues. Jeremy Crouch explained that this had been due to two different methods being used for collecting information i.e. an electronic process using an ‘app’ which did not work very well and paper records.

     

    Mr Jenkins wanted to know about the number of apprenticeships available and what links the youth service had with secondary schools. Matt Raleigh (MR) confirmed that these did exist and that year 11-12 pupils at risk of becoming NEET were supported to the end of their schooling and just beyond. He also explained that the number of apprenticeships was not necessarily an issue but the calibre can be, as one of the service’s challenges was to ensure candidates were working to at least level 2 in order to qualify.

     

    Cllr Leighton further queried the data given in the report relating to Shepperton Youth Centre and asked MR to investigate and wanted it noted that the report contained unreliable information. Mr Walsh felt that a representative from Lifetrain should have been present and the Chairman suggested a meeting between herself, Mr Walsh and Cllr Leighton to discuss the situation. She also suggested that MR might be asked to attend the December meeting or provide the Committee with further information.

     

     

    The Local Committee (Spelthorne) agreed to note:

     

          i.        How Services for Young People has supported young people to be employable during 2014/15, as set out in the appendix to the report.

31/15

LOCAL COMMITTEE DECISION TRACKER pdf icon PDF 127 KB

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    To review any outstanding Local Committee decisions.

    Minutes:

    Mr Walsh asked that the ‘decision tracker’ be moved up the agenda at the next meeting, so that Highways’ officers would be present to answer queries.

32/15

FORWARD PROGRAMME 2015/16 pdf icon PDF 43 KB

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    To agree the Forward Programme 2015/16, indicating any further preferences for inclusion.

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    It was agreed that the following be added to the Forward Plan:

     

    ·         A revised annual performance report from Services for Young People.

     

    ·         Moor Lane (railway line)

     

33/15

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

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    To be held on Monday 7th December 2015 at 6.30pm in the Council Chamber, Spelthorne Council Offices, Knowle Green, Staines-upon-Thames TW18 1XB.

     

    (6.30pm – 7pm: Informal Public Question Time)

     

     

    Minutes:

    The chairman confirmed that the date of the next formal meeting was scheduled for Monday 07 December at 6.30pm.