To
agree the minutes of the Communities Select Committee meeting as a
true and accurate record of proceedings.
Minutes:
The minutes of the
8 February Communities Select Committee meeting were
agreed as a true and accurate record of proceedings.
3.
Declarations of Interest
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All
Members present are required to declare, at this point in the
meeting or
as
soon as possible thereafter:
i.any disclosable pecuniary interests and /
or;
ii.other interests arising under the Code of Conduct in
respect of any item(s) of business being considered at this
meeting
NOTES:
·Members are reminded that they must not participate
in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary
interest;
·as well as an interest of the Member, this includes
any interest, of which the Member is aware, that relates to the
Member’s spouse or civil partner (or any person with whom the
Member is living as a spouse or civil partner); and
·Members with a significant personal interest may
participate in the discussion and vote on that matter unless that
interest could be reasonably regarded as prejudicial.
Minutes:
Cllr Witham stated that he was a Member of the
Surrey Wildlife Trust charity.
Cllr Mason stated that she represented Epsom
and Ewell on the Surrey Countryside Partnership.
4.
Questions & Petitions
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To receive any questions or petitions
Notes:
1.The deadline for Member’s questions is 12.00pm
four working days before the meeting (31 August
2018).
2.The deadline for public questions is seven days
before the meeting (30 August 2018).
3.The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the
meeting, and no petitions have been received.
This report updates the Committee on the development of a joint
strategy for Surrey’s Countryside Estate. The Committee is
requested to establish a Member Reference Group and agree how they
would like to input and engage with the development of the
strategy.
Minutes:
Declarations of interests:
None
Witnesses:
Lisa Creaye Griffin,
Countryside Group Manager
Sam Cunningham,Senior Change
Consultant
Key
points raised during the discussion:
The report was
introduced by theCountryside Group Manager
who explained that a Countryside Estate
Strategy Member Reference Group (MRG) would focus on
developing questions for the public engagement exercise, supporting
the drafting of the Countryside strategy and the three year
business plan.
It was clarified that
since the partnership had been established in 2002 there was no
overarching strategy for the Countryside although each area within
the Countryside had a management strategy in place. In terms on key
achievements, the Surrey Wildlife Trust (SWT) had improved
conservation sites that formed part of the estate and would be
focusing on improving visitor’s services going
forward.
With the reduction of
funding to the Countryside from the County Council and the impact
of the loss of funding through Brexit, there was a plan in place to
replace funding. It was explained that DEFRA (Department for
Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) would be lobbied for
financial support.
The Countryside Group
Manager explained that SWT would be in attendance at MRG meetings
and confirmed that EU funding for the Countryside currently stood
at £300k.
The Chairman
requested that officers confirmed what ideas had been considered as
part of income generating activity on the Countryside
estate.
It was confirmed that
the MRG would be given the opportunity to review funding sources to
support the management of the Countryside estate.
In response to a
Member question, it was confirmed that discussions around the
development of the strategy with a number of partner organisations
including Natural England and the Forestry Commission had already
taken place.
The Chairman queried
the timescales for strategy launch in February 2019. Officers
explained that work on the strategy would be prioritised for launch
in March 2019 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of
SWT.
A Member of the
Committee queried the timescales for engagement with the public and
asked if this was an appropriate amount of time. TheSenior Change
Consultant explained that 8 weeks was the standard amount of time
given for publicengagement exercises and
that a number of channels including social media and focus groups
would be used to support activity.
Cllr Heath
briefly left the meeting at 10.42am
It was stated by a
Member that public engagement should also include holding events
for residents to attend.
In regards to
charging on the Countryside, the Countryside Group Manager
explained that as part of the engagement activity officers wanted
to understand the public desire for setting variable costs.
A Member of the Committee stated the importance of
clarifying and communicating with the public the costs associated
with maintaining and supporting the Countryside. It was further
added that DEFRA would be focusing on ‘public money for
public goods’ and that this was something that the MRG should
focus on as a possible avenue for future funding.
To inform and involve
Members in the development of the Surrey Transport Plan, in
particular in relation to reducing air pollution and carbon
emissions from transport and facilitating sustainable transport
options. To also provide the Select Committee with an overview of
the Draft Surrey County Council Electric Vehicle Strategy as well
as a summary of the consultation to date to enable members to
provide their feedback and help to shape the final version of the
document.
Bronwen Chinien, Principal
Environment and Sustainability Officer
Paul Fishwick,Local Transport Programmes Manager
Key
points raised during the discussion:
TheLow Emissions Transport Strategy
(LETS)report was introduced by thePrincipal Environment and Sustainability Officer and
the Electric Vehicle Strategy (EV) was introduced by theLocal Transport Programmes Manager.
Cllr Heath
briefly left the meeting at 11.08am
The
Chairman queried what work had been undertaken to encourage
sustainable travel behaviour. The Principal Environment and
Sustainability Officer explained funding had been received between
2012-16 from the Local Sustainable Transport Fund to support
sustainable travel work. Since then, funding has been secured for a
programme for schools to provide a range of travel planning
measures which will be rolled out by the end of 2018.
In response
to concern from the Chairman about health and safety of electric
charge points in domestic properties, theLocal Transport Programmes Manager confirmed that rapid charge
points could not be installed in homes and only trickle (slow)
charging points could be installed in the home. Furthermore, in the
context of the previous item’s subject of countryside sites,
it was advised that in secluded locations the cost for installing
rapid charge points could cost considerably more than £25k
and would be subject to other suitability criteria.
TheLocal Transport Programmes Manager gave details of a number of
schemes that were taking place, this included£56m which had been allocated for major schemes including
sustainable travel improvements.
Officers
agreed to support the inclusion of an additional performance
indicator within the LETS, measuring travel behaviour as indicated
within the public consultation summary and explained that this data
was already available.
Members
generally supported both strategies and agreed both were clear in
aims and objectives.
A Member of
the Committee was concerned that the LETS had not explicitly
mentioned air travel and the implications of the expansion at
London Heathrow on emissions in Surrey. The Member added that he
was not confident the strategy could deliver against the scale of
the issues at hand. Officers stated that as a partner within the
Heathrow Strategic Planning Group, the council is seeking
sufficient mitigation of the impacts of growth. Heathrow Airport
Ltd are responsible for designing the scheme and proposing
mitigation measures to ensure air quality is not adversely impacted
by the expansion. Regarding delivery of the LETS, although there
was no explicit action plan attached to the strategy, local
transport strategies at the borough level will be a key element of
delivering the aims of the strategy.
In regards
to planning issues, it was confirmed that the transport development
planning team based at the county advised districts and boroughs on
transport implications for new developments with larger
developments requiring an air quality assessment.
It was
explained that home working was encouraged at the Council and
promoted through travel plans with businesses. Officers explained
that there was a rail strategy in place which lobbied electrifying
on particular networks. Unfortunately, the cost of rail travel is
regulated by ...
view the full minutes text for item 6.
The
Select Committee is asked to review and approve the Forward Work
Programme and provide comment as required.
Minutes:
Key
points raised during the discussion:
The
Chairman explained that the 5 December Select Committee meeting
would be held at the Surrey Fire and Rescue Service HQ in Wray
Park.
It was
agreed that the Countryside Estate Strategy MRG would review
disabled access on the Countryside estate.
The
Chairman confirmed that to her knowledge the final report regarding
the HMICFRS inspection of the Surrey Fire and Rescue Service was
not ready for publication.
A Member
asked that in future when an item was removed from the forward plan
that this be communicated with the Committee. The Chairman agreed
to this course of action and ensured Members that they would be
notified when the forward plan was changed.
The
Chairman stated that the forward plan would be updated with the
scrutiny of transformation projects in due course.
8.
Date of the Next Meeting
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The
next meeting of the Select Committee will be held on Wednesday 5
December 2018 in the Ashcombe Suite at County Hall.
Minutes:
The next meeting of the
Environment Select Committee will be held on 5 December 2018, at
10.00am in Room 1, SFRS HQ, Wray Park.
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