Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Arun Civic Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, BN17 5LF. View directions

Contact: Helen Burt 

Media

Items
No. Item

633.

Apologies

Minutes:

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillors Huntley, Wallsgrove, Needs and Warr.

 

634.

Declarations of Interest

Members and Officers are invited to make any declaration 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 items or as soon as the interest becomes apparent.

 

Members and Officers should make their declaration by stating:

 

a)             the item they have the interest in

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

c)             the nature of the interest

 

Minutes:

Councillor Stanley declared a Personal Interest in Agenda Item 10 as a local resident.

 

Councillor Goodheart declared a Personal Interest in Agenda Item 9 due to his involvement with the Bognor Community Gardeners, and Agenda Item 11 as a Member of Bognor Regis Town Council and a Bognor resident.

 

Councillor English declared a Personal Interest in Agenda Item 10 as a local resident and Member of Felpham Parish Council.

 

Councillor Madeley declared a Personal Interest in Agenda Item 10 as a resident of Felpham.

 

Councillor Brooks declared a Personal Interest in Agenda Item 7 as a Member of Bognor Regis Town Council

 

Councillor Edwards declared a Personal Interest in Agenda Item 10 as a local resident

 

635.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 153 KB

The Committee will be asked to approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Environment and Neighbourhood Services Committee held on 17 November 2022.

 

Minutes:

          The Minutes of the meeting held on 17 November 2022 were approved by the Committee. These would be signed at the end of the meeting.

636.

ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA THAT THE CHAIRMAN OF THE MEETING IS OF THE OPINION SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS A MATTER OF URGENCY BY REASON OF SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

Minutes:

The Chair confirmed that there were no urgent matters for this meeting.

 

637.

Public Question Time

To receive questions from the public (for a period of up to 15 minutes)

 

Minutes:

The Chair confirmed that no questions had been submitted for this meeting.

638.

Committee Revenue & Capital Budgets 2023/2024 pdf icon PDF 149 KB

The purpose of the report is for this Committee to consider and recommend its revenue budget for inclusion in the 2023/24 revenue budget, which will be submitted to the Policy and Finance Committee on 9 February 2023. The Policy and Finance Committee will consider the overall revenue budget for 2023/24 so that it can make recommendations to a Special Meeting of the Council on 1 March 2023 on the budget to be set and level of Council Tax for the District for 2023/24.

[30 Minutes]

Minutes:

          Upon the invitation of the Chair, the Interim Group Head of Finance and Section 151 Officer presented the report to the Committee. She explained that the budgets from this Committee plus any growth bids would be considered at Policy and Finance Committee as part of the overall budget on 9 February 2023, before going on to Full Council on 1 March 2023 for approval. She highlighted that the budget had been prepared against a backdrop of a significant budget gap for 2023-24. Only the essential growth bids for 2023-24 had been put forward for the Committee to approve. She went through the growth bids listed in Appendix B, and then the main year on year changes, which were Combined Cleansing Contract; and Foreshores – cost of beach patrol service; Establishment; Grounds maintenance Contract Consumer Price Index inflation. The Committees Capital programme totalling £1.655m for 2023-24 was detailed in Appendix C, and was comprised of £1.4m Disabled Facilities Grants, which were all grant funded; and £255k for Play Areas.

 

          Members then took part in a question-and-answer session and the following points were made:

  • Clarification was sought on some of the figures. This was provided by the Interim Group Head of Finance and Section 151 Officer
  • There was concern that the Disabled Grant had not risen, and it was not expected this would rise over the course of the next five years, despite inflation rapidly rising. It was suggested that a letter from the Council be written to lobby for a rise in this grant. The Chair offered support for this, and it was agreed this could be discussed after the meeting.
  • Disappointment was expressed by some Members that there was nothing regarding beach access in the budget.
  • Questions were asked regarding spending on the Sunken Gardens, whether any underspend would be rolled over, and if so could this be spent on additional elements to the project? The Interim Group Head of Finance and Section 151 Officer would look at the detail on this and supply a written reply to Members. The Chair explained that suggestions for additional projects could be brought to the Council by any Member and would be looked at on a case-by-case basis. 
  • Clarification was requested on the costs of operation of the car parks. The Interim Group Head of Finance and Section 151 Officer explained that the costs in the report were the direct costs to the Committee, however there were other corporate costs involved.

 

 

   The recommendation was proposed by Councillor Bicknell and seconded by Councillor Chace.

 

          The Committee

 

RESOLVED that

 

1)      the 2023/24 Revenue Budget as illustrated in Appendix A of this report be agreed;

 

2)      the list of uncommitted growth items as illustrated in Appendix B of this report be agreed;

 

3)  the 2023/24 Capital Programme as illustrated in Appendix C of

this report be agreed; and

 

RECOMMEND TO POLICY & FINANCE COMMITTEE that

 

4) the Revenue Budget for this Committee be included in the overall General Fund Budget when the Policy and Finance Committee considers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 638.

639.

Variation to Parking Charges pdf icon PDF 112 KB

The Council’s Medium Financial Strategy assumes that income from all charges should be reviewed.  The Off-Street Parking Strategy sets out that the vehicle parking tariffs will be kept under review to optimise yield.  This report sets out proposed tariff options for Committee to select from them.

[20 Minutes]

Additional documents:

Minutes:

          Upon the invitation of the Chair, the Group Head of Technical Services presented the report to Committee. He explained that the Medium-Term Financial Plan considered at Policy and Finance Committee on 13 December 2022, recommended to Full Council the maximising of income including fees and charges, where possible, as part of the 2023-24 budget process. Car parking charges were discretionary and could be set by the Council in order to optimise its revenue in accordance with the Council’s recently adopted Off-Street Parking Strategy, which set out that the Council would review the charges annually. The Strategy aimed to maximise the use of car parks in a way that supported the needs of businesses, workers, shoppers, commuters, and visitors, whilst looking to optimise yield from parking in line with the corporate charging principles. The costs, including the corporate support services, had increased, and it was therefore necessary to increase revenues. This was mainly due to the effects of inflation such as its impact on the national living wage and energy prices. Other cost factors were associated with the Council’s move to reduce the carbon emissions from its parking service in line with its declared climate emergency and adopted carbon

neutral strategy.

 

The Group Head of Technical Services explained the proposals did not change the 2-hour free parking schemes that allowed parking in Fitzleet, Hothamton, and Lyon Street car parks in Bognor Regis and St. Martins, Anchor Springs and Manor House car parks in Littlehampton. The proposal did not include introducing charging to car parks which were currently free to users. The parking charges at the Fitzalan Pool car park in Arundel would also be unaffected.

         

Members then took part in a question-and-answer session and the following points were made:

·       It was asked why consultation had not been carried out. The Group Head of Technical Services explained that the process for adopting fees had been looked at, and although historically the Council had undertaken a consultation process, there was no obligation to do this if there were no other amendments to the Parking Order. The chosen approach had been taken due to compressed timescales.

·       It was noted that the current charges were not included in the report, so no comparison could be made between the current and proposed tariffs.

·       There was a large range of different percentage increases, none less than 11%, which was arguably higher than inflation at present. The Group Head of Technical Services explained that they had carried out some benchmarking and the proposed fees were below the average for almost every tariff in comparable districts.

·       Clarification was requested on some of the figures, which was provided by the Group Head of Technical Services

·       It was asked whether additional income generated from a rise in car park charges could be used in other areas of the Council such as Wellbeing. The Group Head of Technical Services did not believe this to be the case.

·       There was concern that it was unfair to try to reduce people’s use  ...  view the full minutes text for item 639.

640.

Empty Homes Strategy 2023 - 2028 pdf icon PDF 128 KB

The Council is committed to playing its full part in the national campaign to bring empty homes back into use and has had an empty homes strategy for the past 10 years the latest one being 2018 – 2023. The strategy details the aims and objectives of addressing long term empty homes in the district.

 

The strategy has been updated and it details the positive work that has been achieved since 2018 and outlines a revised plan for the next 5 years to tackle empty homes across all tenures within the Arun district. This report therefore recommends the adoption of the new Empty Homes Strategy 2023 – 2028 which is appended to the report.

[10 Minutes]

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

          Upon the invitation of the Chair, the Principal Environmental Health Officer presented the report to Committee. She explained that the report detailed the Council’s third Empty Homes Strategy and the positive work that had been achieved in this area in the past 5 years. The Council was committed to playing its part in the national campaign to bring empty homes back into use. Since 2006 there had been a part time Empty Homes Officer and in April 2017 this was made full time. In addition, in 2022 a part time resource for a Technical Support Assistant was made available to work alongside the Empty Homes Officer. The Empty Homes Officer worked closely with colleagues within the Revenues and Benefits Team and monthly reports were received from Council tax records in terms of those properties that were recorded as empty, which were properties empty for more than 12 months, and did not include second homes or those properties going through probate.

 

The Principal Environmental Health Officer highlighted Paragraph 3.8 of the report, which identified the number of properties brought back into use as a direct result of the activity of the Empty Homes Officer.

 

The Empty Homes Strategy had three key stages which The Principal Environmental Health Officer went through and explained to the Committee. These were Engage; Encourage; and Enforce. The Empty Homes work had been recognised Nationally via the Empty Homes Network and received a number of awards.

 

The Principal Environmental Health Officer highlighted the changes in the updated Empty Homes Strategy for 2023-2028. She explained the Empty Homes function had shown successful activity over the past two successive strategies spanning 10 years, but this continued to be an evolving and important area of work in bringing much needed empty homes back into use. Members were requested to support the adoption of the Empty Homes Strategy 2023 -2028.

 

 

          Members then took part in a question-and-answer session and the following points were made:

  • Members congratulated the Principal Environmental Health Officer and her team for achieving great results.
  • There was concern that there would no longer be any action taken regarding properties empty for less than 12 months, whereas previously this was 6 months. The Principal Environmental Health Officer explained this had been changed because homes empty for less than 12 months were often due to factors such as the owners selling, or the property going through probate. Increasing this to 12 months meant Officers could focus resources more effectively.
  • What was the target? The Principal Environmental Health Officer confirmed this was 50 for the current financial year, however they had so far achieved 74 and would be revising the target going forwards.
  • Did the Council guarantee rent to landlords when they had arranged for tenants to be housed in these empty homes? The Principal Environmental Health Officer explained that the Council did not guarantee rents, however the Housing Options team worked closely with tenants to ensure their tenancy agreements were fulfilled, including the payment of rent.
  • It was asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 640.

641.

Parks and Greenspaces Strategy (PGS) - Scoping Report pdf icon PDF 112 KB

In order to meet the new Council Vision, a strategy which focuses specifically on our parks and greenspaces is highly desirable.  This is to ensure that future decisions concerning the management, maintenance and development of the service and its existing greenspace assets is driven by guiding and well-established principles and is supported by robust consultation with valued stakeholders.

[10 Minutes]

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

[Councillor Goodheart redeclared his Personal Interest during this item]

 

          Upon the invitation of the Chair, the Environmental Services & Strategy Manager introduced the Parks & Cemeteries Manager, who presented the report to Committee. He explained that following the adoption of the new Council Vision, the parks and greenspaces service had taken some time to reflect on how best to meet the relevant Vision themes, which were identified in the Committee report. They felt the drafting of a Parks and Greenspaces Strategy to be critical in setting a clear direction for how the service should be managed going forward. The strategy’s principal focus was on Arun’s own parks and greenspaces. This was important because it put more strategic focus on the value of parks and greenspaces already owned by Arun,  thereby laying the blueprint for future management, maintenance and development of the service and its greenspace assets. They proposed to establish and consult on seven key strategic outcomes which were contained within an overall framework, illustrated in the Scoping Report. The strategy would review existing operations and management of the Parks and Greenspaces Service, as well as put in place the mechanisms needed to review how Arun’s parks and greenspaces were used by the public and to implement any necessary changes to meet the outcomes. The strategy would develop practical actions and solutions to deliver the strategic outcomes.

 

The Parks & Cemeteries Manager explained it was proposed that future Service Delivery Plan indicators were set in place to monitor performance and delivery of the strategy. They would also look to external partners to monitor progress. There would be extensive consultation with valued stakeholders throughout this process, recognising the huge contributions volunteers, concessionaires and community groups had to offer. It was likely that a series of focus groups would then be arranged to determine how to deliver the strategic outcomes. They anticipated presenting a full draft to Committee within 18 months, and there was a draft timetable set out in paragraph 4.8 of the report. He explained that by having a clear strategy built around key outcomes, the service would be able to operate in a modern, dynamic and more engaging way than before. It would establish a more robust pathway to decision making, and it would bring Arun in line with peer authorities.

 

 

          Members then took part in a question-and-answer session and the following points were made:

  • Was there a way to get greenspace areas allocated on new developments sites, handed over to the Council to run, in order to prevent these being built on at future dates? The Group Head of  Environment and Climate Change explained that the Council had been successful in the past when it came to keeping these as green spaces.
  • Support was offered for this report and Members welcomed that Arun would be making the best use of parks and greenspaces.
  • It was felt this was important to help protect wildlife and enhance biodiversity.
  • It was asked whether this covered allotments, and whether abandoned allotments would be brought  ...  view the full minutes text for item 641.

642.

King George V Play Area, Felpham pdf icon PDF 134 KB

This report provides a summary of the proposed project to make improvements at King George V play area, Felpham. The Project Summary in Appendix 1 provides the background information to the existing play areas located in the Felpham area and detail on the Section 106 developer play funding contributions available for improvements to these play areas.

 

This report recommends that the Section 106 funding generated by the residential development at Land North of Felpham (Site 6) under FP/92/04 should be drawn down and allocated for expenditure at King George V play area.

[15 Minutes]

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

          [Councillor English redeclared his Personal Interest during this item]

[Councillor Stanley redeclared his Personal Interest during this item]

[Councillor Madeley redeclared her Personal Interest during this item]

[Councillor Edwards redeclared his Personal Interest during this item]

         

Upon the invitation of the Chair, the Principal Landscape and Projects Officer presented the report to Committee. She explained that the report set out proposals for the expenditure of section 106 funding provided as allocations to improve play facilities in Felpham. These were in addition to the play areas installed by the developer at Site 6. The play areas in Felpham had been reviewed and King George V play area had been identified as the most appropriate location for the funding to be spent.  The report summarised the process and programme for the project which would start with understanding what type of equipment the public would like to see included. The recommendations sought approval to drawdown the funding, to award a construction contract for the value shown and to also adjust this sum should any additional funding become available.

         

Members then took part in a question-and-answer session and the following points were made:

  • There was concern that the timescales to complete this project were too lengthy, and during this time the cost of materials may further increase. The Principal Landscape and Projects Officer explained this was a conservative timescale and that if this could be brought forward it would be.
  • There was a discussion as to what the playpark would look like after the project had been delivered, and whether there was a possibility to use some of the funding in other parks.
  • It was asked whether consideration could be given to ensuring more parks across Arun had accessible swings for wheelchair users.
  • Support was offered for improving King George V Park.
  • It was asked whether the views of key stakeholders could be sought regarding what changes should be made. The Group Head of Environment and Climate Change confirmed the process would involve public engagement and they would also be working with the Parish Council.

 

          The recommendation was proposed by Councillor English and seconded by Councillor Edwards.

 

         

          The Committee

 

RESOLVED that

 

1)      the drawdown and expenditure of £67K Section 106 funding allocated from Land North of Felpham (FP/92/04) plus any other partnership funding that may be made available to carry out improvements at King George V play area in Felpham and deliver an objective from the Council's play strategy 2018-2028, be approved.

 

2)      a procurement process be undertaken for a design and build contract and to enter into a contract for up to £67K (subject to recommendation 3 with the preferred bidder, in order to carry out play area improvements at King George V.

 

3)      authority be delegated to Officers to increase the contract value at recommendation 2 should additional funding become available ahead of, during, or following the procurement process.

 

 

 

Before moving onto the next agenda items, the Chair, in line with the Constitution at Part 5, Rules of Procedure (Meetings)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 642.

643.

Bathing Water Quality pdf icon PDF 100 KB

Minutes:

          Upon the invitation of the Chair, the Environmental Health Team Manager presented the report to Committee. He explained the report updated the Committee on the results of the bathing water classifications for 2022, and the actions being taken to identify and address the causes of the Poor bathing water classification for Bognor Regis Aldwick.

 

The Environmental Health Team Manager went onto explain that the Environment Agency (EA) carried out monitoring of the water quality of designated bathing waters (DBW) between May and September each year. DBW were given a classification of Excellent, Good, Sufficient or Poor based on water quality. Samples were taken by the EA and provided a point in time indication of the quality by looking for faecal indicator bacteria. There were a range of potential sources for those bacteria including sewage, livestock, birds and road drainage. The latest results were shown in the table to the report and were based on the last four years of samples. Four out of six of Arun’s DBW maintained their previous classifications of Good or Excellent. Two of the locations had their classifications reduced. These were Bognor Regis Aldwick which had changed from Good to Poor and Bognor Regis East which had changed from Excellent to Good. The classifications would be displayed at each location during the next bathing season (May to September), with additional signage at Bognor Regis Aldwick advising against bathing. This enabled the community to make an informed choice about where and when to bathe.  A working group had been established following classifications for 2022, involving staff from EA, Southern Water and the Council, to investigate the causes of the Poor bathing water classification for Bognor Regis Aldwick, and to agree an action plan to address these. This may include the Council using enforcement powers to address any wastewater misconnections identified. At present there was no clear linkage between the elevated sample results seen in 2022 and the operation of storm overflows for Bognor Regis Aldwick.

 

 

          Councillor Stanley then proposed an amendment to the Officer recommendation as follows (additions have been shown in bold):

 

That the Environment Committee endorse staff, and Ward Members for Aldwick East and Aldwick West, participation in the Working Group, as an appropriate mechanism, to identify and address the causes of the reduced bathing water classification for Bognor Regis Aldwick.

 

The amendment was seconded by Councillor Worne.

 

The Director of Growth advised against the amendment and explained that this was an operational matter, whereby Officers were engaging with Southern water and EA to find solutions. He suggested communication between the different agencies may not be so productive if Members participated in the Working Group, and reassured Members that the Committee would be kept fully updated. He pointed out that if Members were not satisfied with the progress once Officers had brought the updates back to Committee, they would then have the opportunity to request Member participation on the Working Group.

 

Councillor Stanley confirmed he wished to proceed with the amendment and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 643.

644.

Key Performance Indicators 2022-2026 - Quarter 3 Performance Report for the Period 1 April 2022 to 31 December 2022 pdf icon PDF 97 KB

This report sets out the performance of the Key Performance Indicators at Quarter 3 for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 December 2022.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair confirmed that the report was an information paper with no recommendations for the Committee to consider.

 

There were no questions from Members.

 

Members then noted the report.

 

645.

UPDATE FROM THE BEACH ACCESS WORKING PARTY (INFORMATION UPDATE) pdf icon PDF 92 KB

The Chair of the Bognor Regis Beach Access Working Party, Councillor Worne, will provide a brief update of the meeting held on 16 January 2023.

[10 Minutes]

Minutes:

          The Chair of the Bognor Regis Beach Access Working Party gave an update to the Committee. She explained that the third Working Party meeting had taken place on 16 January 2023, where a presentation was provided by the Project Manager from Coastal Partners. The fourth meeting of the Working Party would take place on 06 February 2023.

 

          The Chair then invited questions from Members. There was concern no budget had been put aside for this, and also that it had been a longer process than hoped.

 

          The Committee noted the update.

 

646.

Outside Bodies

Minutes:

There were no updates from Members regarding Outside Bodies.

 

647.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 75 KB

The Committee is required to note the Work Programme for 2022/23.

[5 Minutes]

 

Minutes:

          The Committee noted the Work Programme.