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 webscast

Items
No. Item

Election of Chairman

In the absence of both Cllr White and Cllr D Goodwin, the committee elected Cllr Potter as Chairman for this meeting.

12/22

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 D Goodwin, Cllr Morson, Cllr Rigg, Cllr Rooth, Cllr Spooner, Cllr Steel and Cllr White.

13/22

MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING pdf icon PDF 303 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 29 June 2022 were agreed.

14/22

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.

15/22

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.

16/22

MEMBER WRITTEN QUESTIONS

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

     

    Minutes:

    No questions were received.

17/22

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.

18/22

DECISION TRACKER [FOR INFORMATION] pdf icon PDF 309 KB

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    This report updates the committee on the progress of decisions that have been made at previous meetings.

    Minutes:

    The decision tracker was noted.

19/22

GUILDFORD TOWN CENTRE AIR QUALITY ACTION PLAN - POST CONSULTATION (EXECUTIVE FUNCTION - FOR DECISION) pdf icon PDF 239 KB

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    The report seeks approval to submit the revised AQAP for Guildford Town Centre to the Department of the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra).

    Additional documents:

    Decision:

    RECOMMENDATIONS:

     

    The Joint Committee (Guildford):

     

    (i)    Noted the results of the public consultation carried out from 1 July 2022 to 3 August 2022 and any amendments to the Air Quality Action Plan.

     

    (ii)   Approved and adopted the Air Quality Action Plan for Guildford Town Centre as shown in Appendix 2, subject to  amending table 5.1 in Appx 2 (item 8) to insert the words ‘to include potential improvements to the operation of Park & Ride services in support of this action’ in the comments column of Measure 20. If approved the final report will be submitted to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for final approval.  

     

    REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS:

     

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

     

    Minutes:

    Declarations of Interest: None

     

    Officers attending: Gary Durrant, Senior Specialist – Environmental Protection, Environment and Regulatory Services, Guildford Borough Council; Richard Homewood, Executive Head of Regulatory Services, Guildford and Waverley Borough Councils; and, by video link, William Bryans, Transport Studies Team Manager, Surrey County Council.

     

    Petitions, Public Questions, Statements: None

     

    Member Discussion – key points:

    Mr Durrant introduced the report. He drew attention to the high level of response to the public consultation that had taken place during the summer – details of which were included in the annexes to the Committee report, and the complete set of responses were available on request if needed. The key primary action plan measures were listed in Table 5.1 in Appendix 2 and these would be the focus of efforts to achieve the required improvement in air quality. Feasibility studies would be needed to consider the potential impacts and implications of the suggested measures, and the importance of submitting the draft Action Plan to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) was stressed, for their review and comments before feasibility studies could begin.

     

    Officers acknowledged the support received from councillors and the current and previous GBC portfolio holder.

     

    Members noted the inclusion of Park & Ride (P&R) on the list of primary measures, and discussion focused on the significant contribution P&R could make to the air quality improvements being sought, and frustration that the suggested timescale for improving the existing P&R offer seemed too long. Ideas including more smaller buses, longer hours of operation, and having a network of routes rather than out and back linear ones were put forward. Mr Bryans committed to taking the comments back to his colleagues at the County Council, and would also seek a response to the Chairman’s question about the situation regarding funding for P&R with respect to how SCC manages the parking now.

     

    Reduced speed limits were raised. While it was recognised that SCC was more amenable to these now (20mph) residents were now looking at other initiatives such as Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs),Liveable Neighbourhoods, School Streets etc. It was noted that the prioritisation of Liveable Neighbourhoods would favour those districts and boroughs which have started to develop a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP), which currently did not include Guildford, and the County Council should review its approach to this as these schemes can make a difference to air quality.

     

    Mr Bryans would raise the issue with the Transport Policy Team.

     

    The cost implications of adding more elements to the feasibility studies were acknowledged but there was no appetite among members for removing some proposed elements in order to include others since all the elements had been included in the public consultation. However, there was discussion about specifying P&R in the feasibility studies and an amendment to the recommendation in the officer report was proposed by the Chairman, seconded by Cllr Nagaty and agreed by members.

     

    Resolved:

    The Joint Committee (Guildford)

     

    (i)    Noted the results  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19/22

20/22

PARKING AND AIR QUALITY WORKING GROUP UPDATE (FOR DECISION) pdf icon PDF 151 KB

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    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Declarations of Interest: None

     

    Officer attending: Gregory Yeoman, Partnership Committee Officer

     

    Petitions, Public Questions, Statements: None

     

    Member Discussion – key points:

    Members questioned the value of the working group given the reduced terms of reference and lack of activity.

    Guildford Borough Council’s Democratic Services and Elections Manager explained that a report would be submitted to the GBC Executive in November and Council in December recommending that they consider withdrawing the remaining GBC functions from the Joint Committee.

    A new recommendation to dissolve the Parking & Air Quality working group was proposed by Cllr Harwood, seconded by Cllr Taylor and agreed by the committee.

     

    Resolved:

    The Joint Committee (Guildford) agreed to dissolve the Parking & Air Quality working group with immediate effect.

     

    Reasons for recommendation:

    While it is still operating, the Joint Committee can address any issues on an ad hoc basis without the need for a standing working group.

21/22

FORWARD PLAN (FOR INFORMATION) pdf icon PDF 117 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 Committee Officer agreed to pursue arrangements for an informal discussion on the Park & Ride provision.

     

    The forward plan was noted.