Basingstoke & Dean Borough Council Community, Environment and Partnerships Committee Meeting

Councillor Eachus was replaced by Councillor Izett.

Councillor Phillimore declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to item 6 of the agenda as he was the treasurer of Overton United Football Club and the Chairman of the Hampshire Premier Football League.

There were no urgent matters.

Due to an error, Councillor Howard-Sorrell had not been included in the list of apologies for the meeting. Subject to the amendment, the minutes of the meeting held on 15 November 2023 were approved by the Committee as a correct record and signed by the chair.

The Parks and Streetscene Manager introduced the report which set out the approach taken to develop the draft Biodiversity Strategy that the council would use to deliver one of the requirements of the declared Ecological Emergency.

The Committee received a presentation from the Principal Ecology and Biodiversity Officer on the Biodiversity Strategy and the work carried out since the last meeting.

The Committee were advised that a separate paper on Biodiversity Net Gain would be bought to a future meeting of the Committee.

The Committee discussed the report and presentation and made the following comments:

• Acknowledged that a Biodiversity audit of the borough had been commissioned so that the council could better understand the local issues and that the results would be available by the end of March.

• Implored Officers to liaise with the relevant ward members, community groups and parish councils in the areas of focus.

• Noted that there was an error in relation to the reference to DEFRA in the glossary and that it should read Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. 

• Stated the heat maps were a useful tool.

• Felt that it was important to gather enough evidence and ensure that a monitoring plan was in place in order to track the results of any changes made.

• Acknowledged that a lot of areas managed by the Ministry of Defence were nature rich as often they were mostly undisturbed, and no harsh chemicals had been applied to the land.

• Welcomed that the council would engage with schools on the issue.

• Questioned the process for the designation of a local nature reserve.

• Queried how Biodiversity could be protected from future development. The Principal Ecology and Biodiversity Officer advised that the Biodiversity Officers would work with planning officers to review new planning applications. He further advised that if Natural England had approved a plan for a protected species, then the council could not reject it but that increased protection for biodiversity had been included in the new local plan and the team had increased capacity to be able to review and comment on more planning applications.

• Made reference to habitat banks and the various issues with flooding.

• Some Councillors felt that the list of priorities should be reordered into groups such all the types of flowers together, ranked in order of priority and include action targets.

• Referenced Manydown and Saunders Field as key areas of opportunity.

The Committee thanked officers for their hard work and felt that the strategy had an optimistic tone.

Resolved: The Committee

1. provides its comments 

2. requests that the results of the Biodiversity audit be circulated to all members.

3.     requests that the report on Biodiversity Net Gain be scheduled for a future committee meeting.

The Cabinet Member for Sports, Leisure and Culture introduced the report which provided the Committee with an update on the progress against the playing pitch strategies (PPS) for Netball, Cricket and Rugby.

The Committee discussed the report and made the following comments:

Cricket

• Questioned the difference between informal and formal cricket. The Sports Infrastructure Team Leader responded that the main difference was the standard and that there were more costs associated with formal cricket such as facilities and booking fees.

• Referenced the initiative of community nets which were popular in other towns. The Committee were advised that community nets could sometimes be vandalised and that that they were being considered but this was subject to funding from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

• Sought clarification on the use of School Sports pitches. The Sports Infrastructure Team Leader advised that community use agreements were often complicated but that the council had good relationship with the secondary schools in order to make use of the facilities but the network of primary schools was lest strong and there were often additional requirements with them.

• Requested that Officers promote the village teams to encourage increased usage and participation.

Rugby

• Sought clarification on the support given to the Boroughs Rugby Clubs.

• The Committee discussed the various issues that specific clubs were facing such as Chineham who had issues with drainage and the sanitary facilities. The Committee were advised that there were a number of reasons why improvement works could be delayed such as issues with the length of the lease but that the Council were happy to engage and assist any of the clubs to help to resolve issues and to direct them to more appropriate funding streams.

• It was requested that Officers meet with the Basingstoke Sports and Social Club to talk about their requirements and meet with Councillor Vaux and all the relevant parties to discuss the issues and requirements for the Down Grange Rugby Club. 

• Stated that the work carried out so far had been positive.

Netball

• Stated that the facilities were valued for grassroots netball and the development of the sport in general. The Head of Contracted Services responded that it was important for the clubs to engage in process so that their aspirations could be incorporated as part of the updated LRNA strategy and so that officers could assist them in securing the appropriate funding and requested that members share any netball related contact details with them.

• Concern was raised in relation to the lights at Russell Howard Park as new LED lights were fitted in September 2022 and since then there had been issues where some courts had no lights and others were only half lit. It had also been reported that the lights had been flickering which could cause health issues. TheHead of Contracted Services advised that the lights were due to be repaired by the end of the month.

• Questioned whether there were proposals for indoor facilities at Manydown.

• Raised the issues in relation to the poor lighting when accessing the courts.

Resolved: The Committee provides its comments.

The Chair introduced the work programme and gave a brief overview of the items that would be included on the agenda for the upcoming meetings.

The Chair advised the committee that an item on the Ice Rink would be brought to the July meeting.

The Chair confirmed that he had received a work programme suggestion form from Cllr Compton-Burnetts and that he would respond with Officers outside of the meeting.

The Committee suggested that they review football and indoor sports provision within the Borough.