Issue - meetings
Reference of item considered by Forward Plan Select Committee (if any)
Meeting: 12/10/2020 - Cabinet (Item 6)
Reference of item considered by Scrutiny Committees & Request to Speak (if any)
To consider any reference reports from any of the Council’s two Scrutiny Committees.
Decision:
The Leader of the Council advised that he had agreed to accept an additional request to speak at the meeting from Councillor Kennelly regarding the Healthy Neighbourhood proposals.
Cabinet noted the comments made by Councillor Kennelly who, whilst supportive of the environmental and public health aims supporting Healthy Neighbourhoods, highlighted concerns regarding local community engagement in the design and introduction of the trial schemes and requested further details in relation to:
· The response from the Emergency Services to the consultation on the proposals;
· The criteria under which the outcome of each trial would be assessed prior to any final decision being taken about their introduction on a permanent basis;
· How the proposals had been risk assessed and account taken of comments submitted as part of the Active Travel interactive consultation;
· The process for seeking to engage the local communities in the design and implementation of the trial schemes; and
· The funding bids submitted in relation to the scheme.
It was agreed that details of the information being sought would be submitted to the Lead Member Regeneration, Property & Planning. Cabinet also noted the comments made in response, highlighting the context in which the proposals had been introduced and consultation and engagement undertaken with local ward councillors, which had been developed to include regular feedback on each scheme.
Minutes:
The Leader of the Council advised that he had agreed to accept an additional request to speak at the meeting from Councillor Kennelly regarding the Healthy Neighbourhood and School Street Scheme proposals.
Councillor Kennelly thanked Cabinet for the opportunity to speak. Whilst emphasising that the proposals outlined in the scheme were positive, especially in light of the climate emergency, he was concerned that ward councillors and residents felt they had not been sufficiently engaged, which he felt would have addressed some of the concerns being raised and enabled them to have been resolved collaboratively. In drawing attention to these concerns, he sought clarity on the following:
· The response from the Emergency Services to the consultation on the proposals;
· The criteria under which the outcome of each experimental trial would be assessed prior to any final decision being taken about their introduction on a permanent basis;
· How the proposals had been risk assessed and account taken of comments submitted as part of the Active Travel interactive consultation;
· The process for seeking to engage the local communities in the design and implementation of the trial schemes; and
· The funding bids submitted in relation to the scheme.
Councillor Butt thanked Councillor Kennelly for his comments, and invited Councillor Tatler, as Lead Member for Regeneration, Property & Planning, to respond.
Prior to inviting a response, Councillor Butt felt it was important to recognise the context within with the Low Traffic and Healthy Neighbourhood proposals had need to be implemented, in terms of the conditional funding being made available by central government. In her response, Councillor Tatler (within the overall context outlined by the Leader of the Council) highlighted the consultation that had taken place prior to the introduction of the Healthy Neighbourhood scheme, and the involvement of ward councillors in its formation. The Council were committed to ensuring resident involvement throughout the trials and to ensure that consultation was ongoing, with feedback to be sought at two, four and six month intervals from implementation. The Council were committed to addressing poor air quality and to tackling the climate emergency and it was necessary that schemes be trialled to address those issues. In concluding her response, Councillor Tatler requested that Councillor Kennelly submit the details of the information being sought in writing in order to form the basis for further discussions and response.