New Forest Borough Council Environment and Sustainability Overview and Scrutiny Panel Meeting

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 January 2022 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

No declarations of interest were made by members in connection with an agenda item.

No issues were raised in the public participation period.

A member of the Panel made a general comment in relation to the Performance Dashboards in that the key activity and specific actions were repeated in some instances.  It was felt that more data or detail should be included in order for the dashboards to be more meaningful and to demonstrate progress.

The Portfolio Holder for Environment and Coastal Services presented his performance dashboard to the Panel.  He highlighted the Key Performance Indicators relating to reducing household waste sent for reuse and recycling, increase in coastal funding towards identified schemes, electric vehicle charging points and the CO2 emissions saved through the EVCPs including the direction of travel for each of them. 

A member of the Panel questioned why the coastal funding KPI, had no financial contribution for Quarters 2 and 3.  The Portfolio Holder reported that the funding required was significant and that the target date for the work was 6-7 years away.  Therefore, a number of steps needed to be taken before being in receipt of funding.

The Portfolio Holder for Planning, Regeneration and Infrastructure reported on the work within her performance dashboard, as follows:

·       Delivering the vision of the Local Plan: This was progressing.  Regeneration work in Totton was moving forwards.  A consultant was proposed to be appointed to work with the District Council, the Town Council and HCC.  The District Council would take a lead and initially introduce small scale projects.  The regeneration of Totton would take place over a number of years and would consider the road and rail system.  A visit would take place to Andover to observe the regeneration schemes taking place in order to learn lessons for the District.

·       Working with partners, applicants and developers to ensure a positive, timely and enabling attitude to development: 5 of the strategic sites identified in the Local Plan were being developed to deliver 530 dwellings.  The construction sites were visited on a monthly basis and a comprehensive report prepared to provide an overview of progress, to ensure that any oversights or changes to the original plans were picked up and addressed.  The Portfolio Holder reported she would be visiting one of these strategic sites in April.

·       Work with Partners to develop and deliver infrastructure projects to provide transport options: The Portfolio Holder reported she had attended a transport for South East presentation which looked at the long term strategic investment plan.  The blue print of this would be for 30 years.  It was stated that the South East was already a powerful motor for national prosperity adding £200 billion a year to the UK economy.  The transport network had been recognised as nationally and internationally significant.  The pressure on this network meant it needed, innovation, insight and investment for the South East to continue to flourish.  Various forms of transport were being considered.  Home building was expected to increase over the next 30 years.  Many areas were currently unconnected to major road systems with little connectivity west to east along with coast.  These gaps needed to be addressed.  Specifically, in relation to the New Forest, within the blue print, Fawley Waterside new town had been mentioned, the A326, as well as possible changes to junctions on the M27.  The final strategic investment plan was expected to be presented to Government in March 2023.

·       Working in Partnership with the Partnership of South Hampshire authorities on a Joint Strategy and Statement of Common Ground:  A series of workshops had been held with key stakeholders over the last few weeks with key partners to discuss the work to develop a partnership for South Hampshire joint strategy.

·       The planning policy team had also been preparing consultation responses on the first stage of the Local Plans for BCP, Test Valley and Southampton.

A member of the Panel spoke about the work being carried out with partners in relation to Fawley Waterside and questioned whether this work had taken into account the needs of the residents currently living in the area and whether solutions had been developed to meet this need.  The Portfolio Holder believed that all work was being carried out for the benefit of the local residents and took into account the wider geographical area.

A member of the Panel asked about the progress of the LCWIP (Local Cycling and Walking Implementation Plan), specifically the one covering the Waterside area.  It was noted that this plan had been delayed due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, however work had been progressing and it was anticipated that a consultation and engagement exercise would be carried out in the next 2-3 months with the District Council.

The Panel considered a report which proposed to introduce monitoring charges for Section 106 agreements. 

It was noted that due to changes in legislation in 2019, the Council could seek monitoring charges in relation to ensuring that the requirements within Section 106 agreements were being complied with.  The report set out a proposed charging schedule for specific contributions such as biodiversity net gain and recreational habitat mitigation.  The charging schedule would enable developers to take into account these costs within their viability appraisals for any proposed developments.

It was recognised that there was likely to be a significant increase in development in the future and therefore it was important to have a robust monitoring framework in place to make sure that developments were monitored regularly.  This was during the construction phase and also to ensure the requirements were upheld in perpetuity.  Should any issues be identified through the monitoring they could be picked up and addressed immediately.

RESOLVED:

That the proposed introduction of monitoring charges be supported.

The Panel considered the draft Local Enforcement Plan.  The existing Local Enforcement Plan had been adopted in 2013 and therefore had been reviewed in order to reflect changes in government guidance and legislation.

The Local Enforcement Plan set out the procedure for how complaints would be addressed and the assessment process used to determine whether, and how to take any form of action.  Members noted the three priorities when dealing with complaints and that individual cases could be re-prioritised if considered necessary.

RESOLVED:

That the draft Local Enforcement Plan be supported.

The Panel considered the update on the progress of the Waste Strategy.

The draft Waste Strategy had been developed to take account of national and regional changes as well as local priorities.  It was noted that the District Council ranked 174 out of 216 English authorities for recycling and therefore there was a need and desire to improve this.  The “preferred option” for the proposed new waste and recycling service was to introduce wheeled bins for the collection of residual waste and dry mixed recycling with paper and carboard to be collected in a separate container.  Food waste would be collected on a weekly basis.

Members asked how properties considered unsuitable for wheeled bins would be addressed.  In response, it was noted that a Waste Collection Policy would set out the local circumstances and criteria which were likely to lead to a departure from the core service.  It was possible that some properties would retain the current sack collection service.  The Panel discussed the visual impact of wheeled bins on the streetscene and it was noted that officers would work with local residents to minimise this impact.

Members questioned the size of the current sacks provided to residents and the proposed size of the container for paper and carboard.  In response, it was noted that the clear sacks could hold around 80 litres of recycling and that the proposed container for paper and carboard would hold about 90 litres.  The wheeled bins proposed within the draft Strategy could hold the equivalent of 2 / 3 clear or black sacks.  It was anticipated that there would be adequate capacity within the wheeled bins for most households to have their residual waste and the dry mixed recycling collected on a fortnightly basis.

In response to a question regarding whether there were end markets for the materials collected for recycling, it was noted that the Government was introducing measures to improve this situation.  A plastic tax would be introduced from 1 April 2022, whereby plastic packaging would need to include a percentage of recycled materials, or alternatively the producer would need to pay a tax.

The Portfolio Holder for Environment and Coastal Services addressed the Panel.  He spoke about the need to consider “refusing” to buy things with additional packaging.  He reported that he could not justify the continuation of the District Council providing and distributing 10 million plastic sacks a year and the resulting environmental impact of the plastic sack service.

The Panel received a presentation on the planned coastal maintenance work for 2022/23.  The presentation has been attached to the minutes as an Appendix.

The coastal revenue maintenance budget for the next financial year was £325,000, a slight increase from the last year.  The proposed works for the next financial year were outlined as follows:

·       Calshot timber groyne repairs:  Work was carried out every 3-5 years to assess the timber piles and replace them in sections, where required.

·       Hurst Spit (North Point Recycling): This project would include a mixture of revenue and capital funding. It was anticipated that other funding would be obtained through grant aid and stakeholders in order to fund these works.  Material would be recycled from the tip of Hurst Spit (North Point) and placed on the main body of the spit.  This is a more sustainable approach than bringing in new material to this section of coastline.  The works were anticipated to be carried out in Autumn 2022.

·       Milford timber groyne repairs, beach recharge and handrails: Capital funded project.  These works were undertaken on an annual basis

·       Barton jetting and repairs: The cliff drainage system at Barton was proposed to be cleaned out in order to ensure that it works properly.  Some repairs would also be carried out.

Information was presented to the Panel in relation to the strongest storms over the last 10 years recorded off the wave rider at Milford.  Storm Eunice was noted to have been the 5^th strongest storm at Milford over this time.  A number of the Hordle Cliff beach huts had been damaged as a result of this storm.  5 huts had been washed away during this storm and a further 21 had been damaged or were in a vulnerable condition. The impact of the storm was still being felt and officers would continue to monitor cliff movement and beach levels at Hordle cliffs.  It was noted that the urgent works at Westover had performed well and there had be no cliff erosion.  Discussions were being held with the beach hut owners in relation to those which had been damaged or lost.  It was recognised this was a sensitive issue.  A campaign had been held after storm Eunice to clear away debris which had washed up on the beach.  The Panel expressed their thanks for this work.

The Panel received a presentation on the draft Parking Standards Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) and the outcome of the consultation exercise.  The presentation is attached to the minutes as an Appendix.

The Panel noted that the SPD had been taken through a Member Task and Finish Group and the draft document had been approved by Cabinet for consultation.  A consultation exercise had been carried out between November 2021 to January 2022, resulting in 25 responses.  These were from Town and Parish Councils, developers / agents, local residents, and agencies and other organisations.  The consultation exercise had asked seven key questions which sought views on, for example, the size of parking spaces, electric vehicle parking and residential development in Town Centre locations.

Members expressed their disappointment at the low level of consultation responses received.  This was acknowledged, however the responses received had been broadly representative of the geographical areas of the District.  It was also recognised that the draft SPD dealt with the level of parking provision within new developments and therefore had a more limited target audience.

The Panel noted that the Parking Standards SPD would be presented to Cabinet for adoption in April 2022.

RESOLVED:

That the Work Programme be approved with the inclusion of the following items for the meeting on 16 June 2022:

·         Transport for South East – consultation on Strategic Investment Plan

·         Climate Change SPD

·         Local Transport Plan 4 (LTP4)

·         Waterside Transport Strategy

·         Green Infrastructure Strategy update