Agenda item

The Chairman, Councillor Hitchins, will present the Minutes from the meeting of the Environment & Leisure Working Group held on 22 January 2019.  There are no recommendations.

            The Chairman, Councillor Hitchins, presented the Minutes from the meeting of the Environment & Leisure Working Group held on 22 January 2019.

            Councillor Oppler confirmed that he wished to make a Statement in relation to Minute 31 [Urgent Item – Update on Public Conveniences on the Promenade at Bognor Regis] in line with Council Procedure Rule 13.1.  Councillor Oppler confirmed his view that the installation of the new conveniences on The Promenade had been a disaster.  Many residents had stated that they had been placed in the wrong location. Another concern was the queuing of people waiting to use the facilities.  Councillor Oppler stated that any new facilities needed to match an equal number of cubicles previously provided.  This was a problem that now needed resolving urgently so that the high demands of usage in the coming Summer months could be met.

            Councillor English confirmed that he wished to make a Statement in relation to Minute 32 [Strategic Direction for Car Parks] in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13.1 and he outlined how pleased he was to learn that the £90k surplus could be used for reinvestment into the District’s car parks.  He hoped that this surplus would be used to invest in charging facilities for electric cars.

            The Cabinet Member for Technical Services, Councillor Haymes, responded in relation to the statement made on the public conveniences stating that he would update Members on the fact that the Council remained in dispute with Healthmatic Ltd, the company that had designed, manufactured and installed the Bognor Regis promenade public toilet building.  This dispute surrounded defects present and it was explained that the Council’s Property & Estates team were continuing to work hard in order to attain an acceptable solution for the Council.  In an attempt to reach a conclusion, the Council had offered the Contractor to jointly instruct and appoint an independent Chartered Surveying Company to complete an inspection of the premises and assess the remedial actions proposed.

            Regretfully, Healthmatick Ltd had refused this reasonable offer and so the Council had elected to continue to proceed with the independent inspection which Councillor Haymes could confirm had now been instructed.  He hoped that the independent report and conclusion would be provided by the end of April 2019.  In the meantime, the Council had agreed to be reasonably bound by the conclusion of this inspection and so Councillor Haymes was unable to confirm anything further at this stage until such time that he was in possession of the independent report.  Councillor Haymes could confirm, however, that in the interim, the Council was exploring the provision of temporary public toilets on the promenade in order to minimise inconvenience to the public and visitors to the Town.  He confirmed that presently, the Council had not paid for the delivery or installation of the toilet structure as this matter remained in dispute, pending the outcome of the independent inspection.

            Councillor Wells then made a Statement on the same Minute in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13.1 confirming that he was pleased to hear that temporary facilities would be installed but wished to receive reassurance that these facilities would be in place before the Easter holidays commenced. 

            Councillor Northeast confirmed that he wished to make a Statement in relation to Minute 33 [Littlehampton Leisure Centre] in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13.1.  Councillor Northeast stated that as Chairman of the Keystone Management Committee he asked if any old or unwanted equipment from the existing centre could be donated to the youth club.

            Councillor Hitchins provided a response to all of the questions asked.  He confirmed that the Council was looking at providing electric charging points, especially for its new car parks.  He stated that he could not add to the substantial response provided by Councillor Haymes in relation to the promenade public conveniences.