Agenda and minutes

Sustainable Communities Scrutiny Committee - Thursday, 19th November, 2009 10.30 am

Venue: Committee Suite 1,2 & 3, Westfields, Middlewich Road, Sandbach CW11 1HZ. View directions

Contact: Katie Smith  Email: katie.smith@cheshireeast.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

22.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors D Stockton and A Thwaite

23.

Declarations of Interest

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any personal and /or prejudicial interests in any item on the agenda.

Minutes:

Councillor Mrs E N Gilliland declared a personal interest in item 6 – Cheshire East Licensing Policy, due to being a Member of the Licensing Committee. In accordance with the code of conduct she remained in the meeting during consideration of the item.

 

Councillors A Barratt and Mrs E N Gilliland declared a personal interest in item 8 – Community Safety Strategy due to being Members of the Safer Cheshire East Partnership. In accordance with the code of conduct they remained in the meeting during consideration of the item.

24.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 61 KB

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 17 September 2009 as a correct record

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the meeting be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman subject to:

  1. The resolution of minutes 17 and 18 being amended to read ‘That the report be received but advice was given to officers regarding this’.
  2. Councillors J Jones and D Hough being included in the list of apologies.

25.

Public Speaking Time/Open Session

A total period of 15 minutes is allocated for members of the public to make a statement(s) on any matter that falls within the remit of the Committee.

 

Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes, but the Chairman will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned, where there are a number of speakers

 

Note: In order for officers to undertake any background research, it would be helpful if members of the public notified the Scrutiny officer listed at the foot of the agenda, at least one working day before the meeting with brief details of the matter to be covered. 

Minutes:

None

26.

Local Development Framework

To receive a presentation by the Head of Planning and Policy

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a presentation by the Head of Planning and Policy on the Local Development Framework (LDF) process.

 

The LDF system introduced a spatial planning approach, whichprovided the basis for guiding future development within the Borough.Unlike the former Structure Plan/Local Plan system, the LDF process involved all stakeholders at all stages of the process. The LDF consisted of a folder of planning documents, which would provide a single source for all the Council’s planning policies.

 

The folder contained the following documents:

 

  • Local Development Scheme
  • Statement of Community Involvement
  • Annual Monitoring Report
  • Core Strategy
  • Site Allocations Development Plan Document (DPD)
  • Area Action Plans
  • Proposals Map
  • Supplementary Planning Documents

 

To date the Council had achieved the progress in the following areas:

 

  • Local Development Scheme had been adopted Feb 2009, comprising the Core Strategy, Site Allocations DPD (from 2010), Area Action Plans for Congleton Town Centre and Middlewich Canal Corridor (from 2011) and various Supplementary Planning Documents
  • Work was underway on the Core Strategy evidence base
  • Public consultation on Alsager Town Centre SPD
  • Draft Statement of Community Involvement

 

The draft Core Strategy timetable was as follows:

 

  • Issues and Options consultation (jointly with Sustainable Community Strategy) – end 2009
  • Consultation on Preferred Option – Spring 2010
  • Publication of draft Strategy for consultation November 2010
  • Independent Examination – September 2011
  • Binding Report – January 2012
  • Adoption – April 2012

 

 It was noted that the Sustainable Community Strategy fed into the Local Development Framework. The Committee agreed that designing out crime should form part of the Strategy and that it would be considered by the Committee at its meeting scheduled to be held on 21 January 2010.

 

RESOLVED

 

1. That the presentation be noted

2. That the Committee give consideration to the Sustainable Community Strategy at its meeting scheduled to be held on 21 January 2010.

27.

Cheshire East Licensing Protocol

To receive a presentation of the Head of Safer and Stronger Communities

Minutes:

The Committee gave consideration to the Cheshire East Licensing Protocol, which set out how Cheshire East Borough Council, Cheshire Constabulary and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Authority would work together to ensure that an effective and efficient system of enforcement was in place.

 

Following detailed consideration of the report the Committee agreed that Trading Standards should be consulted on the Protocol with a view to signing up to and playing an active part in licensing enforcement.

 

Members raised concerns regarding the Councils ability to enforce any possible prosecutions due to lack of resources. It was agreed that if there appeared to be any evidence of this, the Committee would scrutinise the Protocol and agencies concerned.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Licensing Committee be recommended to approve the Licensing Protocol subject to the comments highlighted above.

 

Councillor S Wilkinson and left the meeting and returned during consideration of the above item

28.

Safer Cheshire East Partnerships Response to NI47 - Road Safety

To receive an update from A Waller (Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service) representative of the Safer Cheshire East Partnership

Minutes:

Due to a Waller – Cheshire Fire and Rescue being unable to attend the meeting, this item was deferred until 21 January 2010.

29.

Community Safety Strategy - Safer Cheshire East Partnership pdf icon PDF 60 KB

To make recommendations to the Safer Cheshire East Partnership on the draft Community Safety Strategy

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the Community Safety Strategy, which informed Members of how the Safer Cheshire East Partnership would be working to address reported crime and incidents of disorder, and its strategy, for making Cheshire East a safer place. The Committee felt that although the strategy was comprehensive, it was too lengthy and written in a language that was difficult to understand. It was agreed that the comments of the Committee should be passed onto the Partnership for consideration.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Safer Cheshire East Partnership be recommended to produce a Strategy that is more succinct and written in plain English

30.

Review of the Local Area Agreement

To receive a presentation of the Partnership Team

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a presentation on the Local Area Agreement and the performance indicators, which fall within the remit of the Committee.

 

The presentation highlighted to Members:

 

  1. That the Local Area Agreement was a three-year negotiated agreement that set out the priorities for a local area between:

 

  • Central Government represented by the Government Office
  • A local area, represented by the lead authority
  • Other key partners through the Local Strategic Partnership

 

  1. All target had an identified owner and thematic partnership, however some issues required more cross party ownership.

 

  1. Delivery plans had been produced for all designated targets, however they needed to reflect planning

 

  1. Performance management arrangements were in place and performance date collected and reviewed. The process still needed to be refined to ensure that poor performance was addressed and reported appropriately.

 

  1. The Local Area Agreement was being refreshed to make any essential changes to the targets. The Committee agreed that any amendments would be reported to the Committee at its meeting scheduled to be held on 21 January 2010

 

With regard to the performance indicators it was agreed that a cluster of indicators by partnership and a description of the indicators would be considered by the Committee at its meeting scheduled to be held on 21 January 2010.

 

RESOLVED

  1. That any amendments to the Local Area Agreement be considered at the meeting scheduled to be held on 21 January 2010.
  2. That a description and cluster of performance indictors by partnership be considered at the meeting scheduled to be held on 21 January 2010.

31.

Performance Indicators

To receive an update on the performance indicators which fall within the remit of the Committee

Minutes:

This item was considered alongside the presentation on the Local Area Agreement

32.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 55 KB

To give consideration to the work programme

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee gave consideration to the work programme. It was agreed that the following issues would be considered at the meeting scheduled to be held on 21 January 2010:

 

  • Revisions to the Local Area Agreement
  • Update on Performance Indicators
  • Safer Cheshire East Partnership Response to NI47 – Road Safety
  • Impact the budget deficit will have on the performance indicators, which fall within the remit of the Committee
  • Sustainable Community Strategy

 

RESOLVED

 

That the work programme be approved subject to the amendments highlighted above.