Agenda and minutes
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Contact: Kunwar Khan, Governance Officer Tel: 020 8937 2037 Email: kunwar.khan@brent.gov.uk
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Apologies for absence and clarification of alternate members Minutes: Apologies for absence was received from Councillor Krupa Sheth, Councillor S Choudhary substituted to attend in her place. |
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Declarations of interests Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, the nature and existence of any relevant disclosable pecuniary or personal interests in the items on this agenda and to specify the item(s) to which they relate. Minutes: There were no declarations of interests made by Members.
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Deputations (if any) To hear any deputations received from members of the public in accordance with Standing Order 67. Minutes: There were no deputations received.
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Minutes of the previous meeting PDF 62 KB To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on Monday 18 February 2019 as a correct record. Minutes: RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 18 February 2019 be approved as an accurate record. |
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Matters arising (if any) To consider any matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting. Minutes: There were no matters arising.
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Revoking a By-law to Enable Cycling In Parks and Open Spaces PDF 101 KB This report informs Members of the steps necessary to revoke a byelaw that prohibits cycling in Brent’s parks and open spaces and sets out a regulatory impact assessment of the revocation of the no cycling byelaw. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Committee noted the report informing Members of the steps necessary to revoke the by-law that currently prohibits cycling in Brent’s parks and open spaces and the benefits to cyclists and others for such an action. The report included a regulatory impact assessment of decision to revoke the no cycling by-law. Brent Cyclists, the Local Group of the London Cycling Campaign in Brent, had raised the issue of the by-law prohibiting cycling in parks and open spaces at Brent Active Travel Forum meetings as contradictory to transport policy objectives and a potential ‘barrier’ to encourage cycling.
During the discussion, the following points were raised:
· The Council could consider separate lanes for children and adults wherever possible, in response it was stated that that it would be extremely complicated and may not be feasible;
· The wording could be stronger about the speed limit of cycling in parks, it was noted that the Council did not have specific power per se around the speed limits of cycles in the park as the limit was advisory, however, if there were specific and consistent problems in a particular area the council could look into this under the conditions governing the general use of a park; and
· It was noted that any comments, suggestions and concerns about this change could formally be submitted to the Council during the consultation period.
Resolved that:
The content of the report be noted and the recommendations 2.2 to 2.4 on page 4 of the report from the Head of Highways and Infrastructure be agreed. |
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The purpose of this report is to seek views and prompt a discussion about the LGBCE’s draft recommendations on the new electoral arrangements for Brent. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Committee noted the draft recommendations on the new electoral arrangements for Brent by Local Government Boundary Commission for England - LGBCE. (The term ‘LGBCE’ was used interchangeably with the phrase ‘the Commission’ and ‘the Boundary Commission’). The report intended to prompt a discussion and invited comments.
Carolyn Downs (Chief Executive) highlighted that the key principles for comments at the meeting must have regard to the following principles set out by the LGBCE:
· electoral equality; · community identity; and · effective and convenient local government.
Councillor M Butt (Leader and the Chair of the meeting) concurred with the Chief Executive. He added that in light of these principles, the Committee should aim to reach a consensus, wherever possible, beyond electability for specific councillors or impact on just a particular ward by taking a council-wide approach.
In addition to the Committee Members, the registered speakers - Councillors Nerva, Long, Shahzad, Dar, Colacicco, together with, the Chair of local Labour Party’s Local Campaign Forum (LCF), Tessa Van Gelderen, also made representation and provided feedback about the LGBCE’s draft recommendations to the Committee.
During a comprehensive discussion, the following key points were noted:
· Carolyn Downs (Chief Executive) stated that Brent Council had not been able submit an official response to the LGBCE as there was no cross-party consensus on this issue unlike perhaps in some other local authorities. She highlighted that Brent North Conservative Association had already submitted their own response to the Commission which, by and large, seemed to have been taken on board in the draft recommendations published by the Boundary Commission. She added that it was her intention to write to the Commission with her independent views as the Chief Executive;
Committee Members:
· Councillor Agha stated that, based on the feedback, the Council should aim for a concrete Borough-wide response instead of ward-based comments;
· Councillor S Choudhary said that the Boundary Commission had made a mess of the proposal by woefully ignoring the natural boundaries of various wards as it arbitrarily incorporated significantly differing variances, ranging from 3% to 9%, within some of the newly proposed ward boundaries in their draft recommendations;
· Councillor Tatler emphasised the need for a strong collective voice. She added that the new ‘Kingsbury’ ward name was a better representation of the area and its identity instead of existing ‘Fryent’ but the Kingsbury underground/train station must be within the final boundary of the Kingsbury ward which was currently not the case;
· Cllr McLennan stated that, as a long standing resident of Willesden Green, she was of the view that the newly proposed name of ‘Roundwood’ did not mean anything to the local community in terms of community identity and local heritage; and
· Councillor M Butt (Leader and the Chair) reminded that it was about building consensus and reaching a compromise wherever possible by working together. He reminded that it was critical to ensure that local representatives and community stakeholders wrote to the Boundary Commission in numbers to demonstrate a strength of feeling for or against a particular proposal ... view the full minutes text for item 7. |
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Appointments to Sub-Committees / Outside Bodies To consider any appointments needing to be made in relation to the Sub Committees appointed by General Purposes Committee. Minutes: There were none. |
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Any other urgent business Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Head of Executive and Member Services or his representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 60. Minutes: None. |