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

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meetings held on 11 March (Environment Overview and Scrutiny Panel) and 5 May 2021 be signed by the Chairman as correct records.

Cllr Wade declared a non-pecuniary interest agenda item 7 as a member of Hampshire County Council, which was the waste disposal authority for the waste and recycling collected in the New Forest District Council area. He concluded that there were no grounds under common law to prevent him from remaining in the meeting to speak and vote on the matter.

No issues were raised during the public participation period.

The Panel noted that it was responsible for the overview and scrutiny of the following Cabinet Portfolio Holders and their areas of responsibility:

1.    Leader (Portfolio Holder - Cllr Edward Heron)

a.     Sustainability

2.    Environment and Coastal Services (Portfolio Holder - Cllr Steve Davies)

a.     Waste Strategy

b.     Refuse & Recycling Collection

c.     Land Drainage

d.     Coastal Protection

e.     Car Parking/road Closures

f.      Beach Huts and Keyhaven

3.    Planning, Regeneration and Infrastructure (Portfolio Holder - Cllr Diane Andrews)

a.     Local Plan

b.     Development Management

c.     Building Control

d.     Listed Buildings and Conservation

e.     Town Centre Regeneration

f.     Land Charges

A member of the Panel raised the issue of climate change and felt that this should be specifically included within the responsibilities detailed in the Portfolio Holder areas.  It was felt by most members, that this issue was already covered in the Portfolio Holders areas of responsibility.

The Portfolio Holder for Environment and Coastal Services addressed the Panel, noting that he had recently become a Cabinet Member and that the last two months had been a significant learning opportunity.  He thanked officers of the Waste and Transport, Coastal and Parking teams for their support and patience.

He gave an update on the following:

Waste Collection: The draft waste strategy continued to be refined and enhanced.  Responses had been submitted to the recent government consultations on the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Waste Prevention.

The Portfolio Holder would be attending his first Project Integra Board meeting as well as visiting depots and hopefully the MRF to get a good feel for the operational side of the division.

Coastal:  The Portfolio Holder had visited the Milford phase 1 site (Westover urgent works). The plans for the next phases were to be firmed up along with an FCERM (Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management) strategy for Christchurch Bay.   The Panel noted that there would be a number of coastal council briefings followed by a public consultation on the strategy. Future funding requests to the Environment Agency based on a detailed strategy were more likely to be successful.

The Milford beach recharge would take place next month.

The Portfolio Holder had also attended a presentation of the Hurst Tracer project by Coastal Partners regarding longshore drift and the scale of the shingle movement towards the east.  He had been surprised by the range of movement and was keen to extend the study, however this was dependent on further grant funding.

The Keyhaven project had been completed.

Car Parks: The Portfolio Holder had visited car parks in Totton and Fordingbridge.  He had seen the EV charging points and the need for more long-term car parking spaces. In response to local needs the availability of long-term spaces had been increased.  At present there were EVCPs in 9 car parks, with Lyndhurst coming on stream later this year.  A survey would be carried out to assess all remaining NFDC amenity car parks.

The recommendations of the Off-Street Parking Strategy Working Group would be pursued, especially with regard to moving to a cashless service and a Discounted Tariff Card to replace the clocks.  Blue Badge parking had been proposed by the Working Group to remain free but limited to 4 hours (20 hours with a long-stay clock).

The Panel considered the Annual Performance and Provisional Budget Outturn report for 2020/21, which provided an overview of the performance and delivery of the Corporate Plan, Community Matters as well as setting out the provisional outturn results for the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account.  The report reflected on performance for 2020/21, highlighting the Council’s response to Covid-19 and provided an overview of the performance for each portfolio area.  This included an assessment of performance for each key service area in terms of the availability of staff, the impact on budget and overall service delivery impact.  The Panel noted the performance of the Planning and Infrastructure and the Environment and Regulatory Services Portfolios.

Members questioned the reasons for the considerable increase in fly tipping incidents.  It was noted that during the first coronavirus lockdown the HCC run household waste and recycling centres had been temporarily closed.  Residents had spent more time at home and used this time to clear out.  This had led to a rise in the number of fly tipping incidents.  The waste and recycling centres upon reopening had introduced a booking system in order to limit capacity and to ensure it was easier to social distance, which required local residents to pre-book a date and time slot.  In some instances, it had been difficult for residents to book a slot due to limited availability, or some were unaware of the booking system, which was the likely cause of some cases of fly tipping.  The Panel noted that nationally there had been a rise in fly tipping incidents.

Members thanked officers for the comprehensive report and requested their thanks be passed onto members of staff in their response to covid and their ability to maintain front line services.

RESOLVED:

(a)              That the Annual Performance Statement for 2020/21, including impact of Covid-19 on performance be noted;

(b)              That the provisional outturn on the General Fund revenue and capital budgets for 2020/21 be noted; and

(c)               That the provisional outturn of the Housing Revenue Account for 2020/21 be noted.

The Panel considered the Waste Strategy Update and the Defra Waste Consultations.  Four consultations had been released by Defra in relation to Deposit Return Schemes, Extended Producer Responsibility, Waste Prevention and Consistency in collections for household and business recycling.  The District Council had responded to three of these consultations, however the final one on consistency of materials collected by local authorities had a later deadline of 4 July. 

The key considerations of the consistency consultation had been detailed in the officer report.  The draft response proposed to support the suggested range of materials to be collected, with the exception of the proposed free collection of garden waste (240 litres, fortnightly during the growing season).  This would not encourage home composting and did not support the polluter pays principle.  The Panel noted the concerns in relation to the timescales for introduction of new burdens and the need for infrastructure to be in place which was outside of the responsibility of NFDC. 

Hampshire County Council, as the waste disposal authority had been carrying modelling work on collection systems and had indicated a system which would align to the NFDC’s preferred option, detailed in the draft Waste Strategy.  HCC were also working on the impacts of the changes to the collection services and future infrastructure requirements to deal with the proposed additional waste streams.

Members expressed their support to the proposed NFDC response, in particular the opposition to the proposal for a free garden waste collection service.

RESOLVED:

(a)   That the programme of Defra Waste consultations be noted; and

(b)   That the proposed NFDC response to the key elements of the “Consistency in Household and Business Recycling in England” consultation response be supported.

The Panel considered the proposed scope of work in order to develop a Strategy on Green Infrastructure.  The importance of developing a green infrastructure had been recognised in the Local Plan Part 2: Sites and Development Management, adopted in 2014.  The development of a Strategy would help to deliver on a host of environmental issues through the planning system, as well as more widely as an owner and manager of green infrastructure across the District.  It would help to achieve more sustainable development moving towards net carbon zero and address climate change.  Green Infrastructure also had an important role of mitigating the impacts of development as well are providing health and wellbeing benefits to the local community.

Members noted that having a Strategy in place setting out the vision for the New Forest and how this could be achieved, with a range of potential projects, would enable the District Council to apply for any future funding opportunities. 

It was proposed that a workshop be set up inviting all members of the Council to seek input into the draft Strategy at an early stage.

RESOLVED:

(a)   That the scope of the Green Infrastructure Strategy Work as outlined in the report be supported and agreed; and

(b)   That an all member workshop be held.

The Panel received a presentation on the draft Design Guidance for Outdoor Play Space (attached to these minutes as an appendix).

The presentation gave a brief explanation of the draft Guidance which had been included with the agenda papers, and included the purpose of the design guide, principles of designing for play and standards for play space provision. 

The Panel noted that the provision of play equipment would be funded by developers as part of the delivery of strategic housing sites across the District.  Members supported the draft guide which would enable a more consistent approach across the District as well as ensuring that spaces were fit for purpose and well designed.  Members stressed the importance for equipment to be durable and that play space needed to be regularly inspected and maintained.  The financial responsibility for future management and maintenance of play equipment would be discussed with the developer and the responsibilities set out in the Section 106 agreement.

The Panel considered whether to set up a Task and Finish Group to further review the draft Guidance but agreed that this would not be required and expressed their support for the guidance to be progressed for consultation.

RESOLVED:

That the draft Design Guidance for Outdoor Play Spaces be supported.

The Panel noted that the District Council had signed up to a statement of Common Ground, through the Partnership for South Hampshire (PfSH), to work with other South Hampshire authorities to develop a joint regional development strategy for the area.

Since the District Council’s Local Plan had been prepared, the Government had changed the standard methodology for calculating how much housing should be developed in various areas.  The new methodology sought to increase the housing targets across all areas and had the potential to impact on the scale of the development in New Forest District.

The Panel noted the detailed technical background work of the Partnership.  This included an assessment of potential areas for strategic housing development sites in South Hampshire, together with an environmental and sustainability appraisal, transport modelling and a review of the economic, employment and commercial needs in the area.  The Partnership was also considering green infrastructure and intended to carry out a green belt study, looking into the possibility of introducing a new green belt in South Hampshire.  The work had built up a strong evidence base which would be used to develop a strategy looking forward to 2036.  It was anticipated that a draft Strategy would be presented to the Panel later in the year. 

The Panel expressed concern regarding the pressure on increased housing targets to be imposed by Government acknowledging that the New Forest was a very unique area.

RESOLVED:

That the Work Programme be noted with the inclusion of the following additional items for the meeting on 9 September 2021:

·       Review of Section 106 transport contributions

·       Coastal Protection Overview