Councillors and committees

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Guildford Borough Council, Millmead House, Millmead, Guildford GU2 4BB

Contact: Gregory Yeoman  Partnership Committee Officer

Link: Click here for the webcast

Items
No. Item

1/22

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

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    To receive any apologies for absence from members under Standing Order 39.

    Minutes:

    Apologies were received from Cllr Furniss, Cllr Lee, Cllr Rigg, Cllr Steel, Cllr Rooth and Cllr Witham. Cllr A Goodwin and Cllr D Goodwin attended virtually.

2/22

MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING pdf icon PDF 333 KB

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    To approve the Minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record.

    Minutes:

    The minutes of the meeting held on 16 March 2022 were agreed.

3/22

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)

    • 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:

    There were no declarations of interest.

4/22

PETITIONS

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    To receive any petitions in accordance with Standing Order 14.1. An officer response will be provided to each petition.

    Minutes:

    No petitions were received.

5/22

MEMBER WRITTEN QUESTIONS

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    To receive any written questions from Members under Standing Order 13.

     

    Minutes:

    No questions were received.

6/22

PUBLIC WRITTEN QUESTIONS

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    To receive any questions from Surrey County Council electors within the area in accordance with Standing Order 14.2.

    Minutes:

    No questions were received.

7/22

DECISION TRACKER [FOR INFORMATION] pdf icon PDF 317 KB

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    To update the committee on the progress of decisions that have been made at previous meetings.

    Minutes:

     

    The Chairman asked the Committee Officer to follow up Item 14 on the Decision Tracker to see what the timeline was for the discussions on reviewing parking permits for carers.

     

    The decision tracker was noted.

8/22

GUILDFORD TOWN CENTRE AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT AREA - ACTION PLAN (EXECUTIVE FUNCTION FOR DECISION) pdf icon PDF 400 KB

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    Following the declaration and adoption of the Guildford Town Centre Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) on 21 October 2021, the Council has a statutory duty to produce an Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP).

    Additional documents:

    Decision:

    The Joint Committee (Guildford):

     

    (i)    Approved a 4-week public consultation on the Air Quality Action Plan for Guildford Air Quality Management Area shown in Appendix 2.

    (ii)   Noted that the results of the public consultation and any consequent amendments will be presented to the 26 October 2022 Joint Committee and if approved will be sent to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for final approval.

     

    Reasons for Recommendations

     

    To ensure the Council meets its statutory duties to adopt an Air Quality Action Plan to improve air quality within the AQMA in Guildford Town Centre.

    Minutes:

    Declarations of Interest: None

     

    Officers attending: Gary Durrant, Senior Specialist – Environmental Protection, Environment and Regulatory Services, Guildford Borough Council; Justine Fuller, Head of Environment and Regulatory Services, Guildford Borough Council

     

    Petitions, Public Questions, Statements: None

     

    Member Discussion – key points:

    The Chairman thanked the officers for their detailed report. Mr Durrant provided some context: Formal declaration of the Air Quality Management Area was made to DEFRA on 21st October 2021. 30 measures were identified to help reduce the exceedance, with five key ones that it was felt would provide the most significant improvement in air quality identified in the report. This would be the first time many have been implemented in Surrey, therefore it would be difficult to predict accurately the level of their impact. Borough officers from Environmental Health, Transport, Parking and Planning along with county council officers had worked closely in considering the implications of the AQMA and how to tackle it; improving the air quality in the area will have significant Public Health implications.

     

    Points raised during the discussion included:

    ·         The length of the consultation

    ·         The possibility of traffic displacement

    ·         The extent of proposed 20mph zones in Holy Trinity ward and Onslow

    ·         Enforcement of HGV bans

    ·         The need to coordinate work and discuss prioritisation with SCC to tie in with EV charging projects and the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan

    ·         The contribution of Park & Ride to the plan

    ·         Addressing anti-idling near the railway station and Waitrose

    ·         Potential funding for implementation

     

    Officers agreed to review the consultation period, bearing in mind the deadline in the autumn for preparing the follow-up report, when the results of the consultation would be presented to this committee. Reassurance was given that the consultation was fully prepared and ready to launch on 1st July; the borough’s Communications team would be helping to promote it.

     

    Following the consultation process the chosen measures would then need to have a feasibility assessment. It is likely that a combination of measures would be the most effective approach. Because the exceedance had been identified as traffic related, some of the measures would sit within the county council’s remit to implement.

     

    The 20mph zone boundaries were indicative at the moment and could be adjusted following the collection of evidence to indicate possible traffic displacement. Officers undertook to circulate the results of traffic monitoring in Holy Trinity ward along with a link to modelling results from 2019.

     

    There is a parking app in use already, to help people find the most suitable parking place and avoid driving around trying to find one. It would be reviewed for ease of use and effectiveness, and promoted to make sure the take up of it is as wide as possible.

     

    The Chairman emphasised that the October meeting of this committee would be its last scheduled meeting. The AQAP was due to return to the committee at that point, so it was important for the consultation to have concluded successfully in time for officers to prepare their report so that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8/22

9/22

MEMBERSHIP OF PARKING AND AIR QUALITY WORKING GROUP (FOR DECISION) pdf icon PDF 139 KB

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    This report seeks Joint Committee agreement to the draft revised terms of reference for, and the appointment of members to, the Parking and Air Quality working group.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Declarations of Interest: None

     

    Officer attending: Gregory Yeoman, Partnership Committee Officer

     

    Petitions, Public Questions, Statements: None

     

    Member Discussion – key points:

    The Chairman explained that with the Joint Committee no longer handling parking and highways, the terms of reference for the working group needed revising. There were also two spaces available on the group for membership from among the Guildford Borough Council members Cllr Seabrook put herself forward and was accepted. In the absence of a second volunteer the Chairman asked local Group leaders to canvass their members for a nomination. She stressed the importance of the working group, particularly in light of the Town Centre Air Quality discussion in the earlier item.

     

    Resolved:

    The Joint Committee (Guildford) agreed:

     

    (i)      The revised terms of reference of the Parking & Air Quality working group

    (ii)     The membership of the Parking & Air Quality working group, as detailed at paragraphs 2.1 to 2.8, with the addition of Cllr Seabrook.

    Reasons for Recommendations:

    Good governance practice requires that the Committee reviews membership arrangements regularly to ensure that representation on the committee, working groups and partnerships is fair and provides the best outcomes for the interests of Guildford borough residents.

     

10/22

FORWARD PLAN (FOR INFORMATION) pdf icon PDF 124 KB

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    Committee members are asked to note the contents of the forward plan and suggest any items that they would like to be considered for future meetings.

    Minutes:

    Declarations of Interest: None

     

    Officer attending: Gregory Yeoman, Partnership Committee Officer

     

    Petitions, Public Questions, Statements: None

     

    Member Discussion – key points:

    The A25 bus lane item was removed from the forward plan.

    There was enthusiasm for a discussion on the Park & Ride provision and it was agreed that this should be covered in an informal meeting to be arranged by the officer.

     

    The forward plan was noted.

11/22

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

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    Minutes:

    26 October 2022.