Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1 - Pink Room at the Arun Civic Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, BN17 5LF

Contact: Carley Lavender (Ext 37547) 

Items
No. Item

7.

Declarations of Interest

            Members and Officers are reminded to make any declarations of pecuniary, personal and/or prejudicial interests that they may have in relation to items on this agenda and are reminded that they should re-declare their interest before consideration of the item or as soon as the interest becomes apparent.

 

            Members and officer should make their declaration by stating :

a) the application they have the interest in

b) whether it is a pecuniary, personal and/or prejudicial

c) the nature of the interest

d) if it is a prejudicial or pecuniary interest, whether they will be exercising their right to speak to the application

 

Minutes:

            Councillor Dixon declared a personal interest in agenda item number 4 as a member of the Bognor Regis Civic Society.

8.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 141 KB

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Environment & Leisure Working Group held on 4 July 2019.

Minutes:

            The minutes of the last meeting held on 4 July 2019 were approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

9.

Urgent Item - Bognor Regis Disc Parking Scheme

Minutes:

            The Members received an urgent report from the Customer & Parking Services Manager in relation to the Bognor Regis Disc Parking Scheme that operated in Hothamton, Lyon Street and Fitzleet car parks. It was explained that the scheme was due to finish on 31 December 2019, but a request had been made from The Bid Board and Bognor Regis Town Council that the scheme continues and a long-term agreement be agreed for the scheme.

 

            A full discussion was had by all Members who were all in full support of the scheme being continued consideration was given to the following points:

 

§  Cost implication to Arun District Council

§  Possible Sponsorship options to be suggested to The Bid

 

   

            The Working Group then,

 

Agreed to recommend to Full Council the extension of the Bognor Regis Disc Parking Scheme up to the 31December 2022.

10.

Littlehampton Wave Update pdf icon PDF 178 KB

Recent reports have provided updates on the progress of the delivery of the new leisure centre.  This report provides a final update on the completion of the project.

Minutes:

            The Principal Landscape Officer provided the Members with a final update on the completion of the Littlehampton Leisure Centre project. She highlighted that the project objectives that had defined the scope of the project in 2016, had been met and the total project expenditure was on target to be maintained within the allocated budget. She further explained that as well as providing the new leisure centre for the district, the project had also created a range of wider opportunities that had and continued to add extra value for local people during and after its delivery.

 

            All Members of the Working Group expressed their satisfaction with the project and the completed addition of an excellent leisure and sport provision in the District. Key points that were highlighted throughout the discussion were:

 

§  A request for specific feedback from the leisure centres customers to be provided to Members

§  Confirmation was sought to ensure that light pollution measures were considered when the lights for the new path were installed and it was confirmed that grey caps had been included in the design to provide downward light.

§  Praise was given by Members for working in conjunction with Willmott Dixon that assisted with a careers initiative at HMP Ford

§  Attention was drawn to the figures that had been detailed in a report that was presented to the Overview Select Committee on 22 October 2019 showed a significant reduction to the new buildings carbon footprint in comparison to the old building. It was confirmed that the technology was proving to be successful during its first year of use.

§  Tree planting on the west and north side of the site had been completed, and it was confirmed that further planting of trees was planned.   

 

 

            The Chairman thanked the Principal Landscape Officer and the Group Head of Community Wellbeing for the update which was then noted by the Working Group.

11.

Safer Arun Partnership Annual Review pdf icon PDF 119 KB

This report sets out progress of the Safer Arun Partnership (SAP) during 2018-19 in delivering the strategic priorities contained in its Partnership Plan (2018-2022).  It provides information to enable Members to understand performance to date and provides a summary assessment of the future challenges and opportunities for SAP.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

            The Community Manager introduced Inspector Steve Turner from the Arun Prevention Team at West Sussex Police to the Working Group and explained that there was a statutory requirement for all districts to ensure they tackled and reduced anti-social behaviour and crime in the local area. There continued to be a long-standing partnership with the anti-social behaviour team at Arun District Council and the prevention neighbourhood team who jointly work together to tackle an array of persistent anti-social behaviour and crime issues.

           

            It was explained that the team had recognised and taken action on county line issues and it is known as a significant problem nationally. Littlehampton, Worthing and Brighton are key seaside areas where young and vulnerable individuals had and continue to be targeted. County drug lines can change in circumstances quickly so safeguarding and enforcement action was vital in the management of these specific circumstances. Arun was the first area in Sussex to obtain a criminal behaviour order against a known perpetrator involved in the sale and distribution of drugs linked to county lines activity; the order proscribes tight conditions restricting the activity of the offender including an exclusion zone that prevents them residing in West Sussex.

 

            Strong emphasis was placed by the Community Manager on the importance of continued partnership working across the board was vital to keeping the community safe.

 

            The Woking Group participated in a full discussion and the key points raised were:

 

§  Confirmation was obtained that the Glenlogie night shelter that was operated through Stone Pillow would be running again this year and negotiations to ensure all plans are in place in the event of severe weather conditions are ongoing.

§  A query was raised in relation to figures stated at point 8.3 in the report. It was advised that a written response would be provided for this question

§  Concern raised over the increase in violent crime reports. It was confirmed that while the figures for this type of crime are high, it does also include targeted violent crime reports and links to drug and county line reports. The recruitment for more PCSO’s that had taken place would help significantly with this area.

§  Suggestion for the team to work more closely with Parish Councils was made.

§  Concern for rural areas across the district was raised as it was understood that a lot of the work that had been completed was focused on Town areas. Reassurance was provided by the Arun Prevention Inspector that rural areas had the focus of the teams working in partnership and that consideration and risk analysis was always be taken in relation to these individuals considering a change in location when targeting behaviour in Towns and that more PCSO’s would also assist on a larger more detailed scale.

 

 

The Chairman thanked the Community Manager and the Arun Prevention Officer for their detailed update.

 

The Working Group then

 

RECOMMEND TO CABINET – That

 

1)    The work of the Safer Arun Partnership be endorsed and the importance of partnership  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

12.

Climate Change pdf icon PDF 152 KB

This report summarises the current situation on climate change and sets out a suggested corporate response from Arun District Council working across all elements of the Council and with the community, partners, contractors and businesses. 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

            The Director of Services provided Members with an overview of her report that outlined the current situation on Climate Change and set out Arun District Council corporate response. She stressed the importance of working across all elements of the Council and with the community, partners, contractors and businesses. She advised that declaring a climate emergency was Arun District Council stating that it was taking the issue very seriously. The report was really the start of the first steps to make significant improvements. She suggested that updates on action taken and next steps should be reported to Members every six months to ensure that Member’s would be fulling involved all the way through the process.

 

            Members were in full support of the report that had been provided to them and several comments made were:

 

§  Investment needed to be made to fund the post of a Sustainability Manager in order to keep the Council moving forward on the Climate Change issues.

§  A request to ensure that the latest scientific information to be kept at the forefront of decision making on this topic

§   It was confirmed that Consultancy support would be needed in order to ensure the work was credible. It would be vital to procure the right individual, qualified to speak and make decisions on the Climate Change plan.

 

Further discussion was had on how everyone could influence change, from moving to paperless meetings right through to the importance of planting more trees across the district.

 

 

The Chairman thanked the Director of Service for her report and update and then put the recommendations to a vote en bloc.

 

 

The Working Group agreed to recommend to Cabinet and Full Council that:

 

1.    Arun District Council declares a Climate Emergency.

 

2.    The impact and mitigation of climate change is considered and incorporate into all policy and key decision making.

 

3.    Officers work through the Environment & Leisure Working Group to produce an action plan with milestones to make the activities of Arun District Council carbon neutral by 2030.

 

4.    A supplementary estimate be approved for up to £180k to fund the post of Climate Change Manager and Sustainability Manager for three years, including consultancy advice to support the calculation of carbon budgets both within the Council and more widely through its role in community leadership and work with partners and local businesses.