Meeting documents

To sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2016.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2016 were agreed as a correct record and were signed by the Chairman.

There were no declarations of interest.

Members considered the 28 Day Notice for the Cabinet meeting on 1 November 2016, as appended to the report.

Members were advised that the Chiltern Pools Feasibility Study item was to be reported to the Leisure Options Working Group  on 19 October, to the Community, Health and Housing Policy Advisory Group on 6 December and presented to Cabinet on 13 December 2016.

RESOLVED:

That the content of the Work Programme was noted.

The Committee, at the meeting held on 14 June, requested a report providing more detail about the problems and progress on achieving the recycling target of 57%.

Consideration was given to the report which provided information regarding the performance of the Joint Waste Service against recycling performance indicators.  It was noted that the report was taken to the Joint Waste Collection Committee on 29 September 2016.

The Chairman invited members to raise questions in relation to the report.  The Waste Services Manager was in attendance to respond to members queries, clarify current processes and issues; and to advise of further work being undertaken to improve recycling performance.

Members raised queries in respect of:

• The impact of contaminated recycled material and the rejection rate
• The constant need for re-education to ensure that residents are recycling wherever possible but may not be aware of different processes if recently moved to Chiltern District
• The need for a review of the Bring Sites
• Encouraging more aspirational targets for recycling and the need for a review of the metrics currently being used and whether they are fit for purpose
• The possibility of focussing on the disposal of problem items per month by informing residents of key messages
• Properties with restricted access do not have sufficient opportunity to recycle

The Waste Services Manager thanked members for their comments and consideration of the report and advised that continual work was underway to regularly provide information to residents on recycling but it was appreciated that more work needed to be done due confusions on what can and cannot be recycled remained.

Cllr M Smith left the meeting 7.10pm

RESOLVED:

That the content of the report be noted.

Members received an update on the new Local Air Quality Management Guidelines in England, including the new framework for Clean Air Zones, and to highlight potential policies for inclusion in the emerging Local Plan.

The Chairman invited questions from the Committee members in respect of the report, as follows:

• Pollution was raised as a concern along Berkhampsted Road, Chesham

Cllr Jones left at 7.18pm

·         Parking enforcement had now transferred to Bucks County Council and the monitoring of this needed to be maintained. 

·         Levels of pollution in the district and the potential effect on health

·         Future monitoring processes of air quality and emissions eg. HS2

The Principal Environmental Protection Officer was in attendance to respond to questions.  Members were advised that parking enforcement has been transferred to Bucks County Council some years ago and Bucks CC provided Chiltern District Council with the data relating to ticketing in the AQMA but Bucks were not being monitored.  It was noted there was no indication of high levels of pollution within Chiltern District; but the levels of pollution (Nitrogen dioxide) continued to be monitored to identify any potential issues.  It was confirmed that Chiltern District Council were not monitoring emissions of HS2, but were monitoring NO2 levels in the district, particularly in areas where future infrastructure development may lead to changing NO2 levels; which was more in relation to the construction phase (extra HGVs in particular) than the actual operation of HS2 etc.

RESOLVED:

That the following be noted:

        i.            The completion of the statutory annual status report (ASR) for air quality in Chiltern (appendix 1);

     ii.            The potential opportunities moving forward for a new Air Quality Steering Group; and

   iii.            Officers working with Planning Policy to strengthen air quality policies in the emerging local plan.

Consideration was given to the report which outlined the performance of Council services against performance indicators and service objectives during Q1 April - June 2016.

Members were invited to ask questions on the content of the report, and the following questions were raised:

• Can sufficient affordable housing be provided in a timely manner to address the short term issues?
• Is there something that Chiltern District Council can do to achieve the planning appeals targets?

Councillor Harris was in attendance and explained that the Affordable Housing Working Group recently established by the Council was seeking solutions to both long and short term issues in respect of affordable housing for the district.

It was noted that the reasons for none achievement of the planning appeals targets was due to the local policy of Chiltern District Council to refuse an application in the Green Belt but this was often allowed on appeal.  However members wished to retain the policy to maintain the special nature of the Chiltern District but this resulted in a continual problem to meet the planning appeals targets.

RESOLVED:

That the content of the report was noted.