Meeting documents

65 WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

66 EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROCEDURE

The Chair(person) drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out on the Agenda.

67 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Councillor Paul Crossley declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest in item 11 (Bath Communities Partnership Southside Youth and Community Centre Redevelopment Feasibility) as a member of the BCP Board and Chair of the South West triangle.

Councillor Gerry Curran declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest in the same item as Vice-Chair of the South West triangle.

Councillor Malcolm Hanney declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest in the same item and also item 13 (Local Area Agreements and Local Public Service Agreements: Update) as Chair of the Primary Care Trust.

68 TO ANNOUNCE ANY URGENT BUSINESS AGREED BY THE CHAIR(PERSON)

There were no items of urgent business.

69 QUESTIONS FROM PUBLIC AND COUNCILLORS

13 questions had been submitted from the following people;

Councillor Matt Davis, Councillor Shirley Steel, Councillor Brian Webber, Councillor David Hawkins (x2), Councillor Chris Watt, Councillor Hilary Fraser (x2), Chris Beezley, Councillor Gitte Dawson (x2), Councillor Gail Coleshill and Councillor Caroline Roberts.

[Copies of the questions and responses have been placed on the Council's Minute book and are available on the Council's website.]

70 STATEMENTS, DEPUTATIONS OR PETITIONS FROM PUBLIC AND COUNCILLORS

Councillor Shirley Steel and local resident Julie Body presented a petition of 314 names regarding a pedestrian crossing in Midsomer Norton. This was received by Executive Councillor Sir Elgar Jenkins and passed to officers in the Transportation section.

Parish Councillor Carol Watts and Councillor Matt Davis made statements regarding the cutting of the bus service to the village of Timsbury and calling on the Council to put pressure on First Bus to meet the needs of the community in Timsbury. They also asked for an interim solution to be found and for this matter to be taken into consideration in the Annual Review of Supported Bus Services. Executive Councillor Sir Elgar Jenkins explained that he was very concerned about rural passengers and he undertook to ask First Bus to send a representative to talk to the local community. Sir Elgar also offered to review all the correspondence that had been submitted to First and see what action could be taken.

Councillor Gitte Dawson made a statement regarding the flood mitigation measures planned for the Lambridge Park & Ride. Executive Councillor Sir Elgar Jenkins responded.

71 MINUTES: WEDNESDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER 2005

On a motion from Councillor Francine Haeberling, seconded by Councillor Nicole O'Flaherty, it was

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 7th September 2005 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair(person).

72 CONSIDERATION OF SINGLE MEMBER ITEMS NOW REQUISITIONED TO COUNCIL EXECUTIVE (Report 9).

There were no such items on this occasion.

73 CONSIDERATION OF MATTERS REFERRED BY OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY BODIES (Report 10).

There were no such items on this occasion.

74 BATH COMMUNITIES PARTNERSHIP SOUTHSIDE YOUTH AND COMMUNITY CENTRE REDEVELOPMENT FEASIBILITY (Report 11).

Councillor Tim Ball explained some of the history regarding this building and urged the Executive to take up the opportunity of a feasibility study. Councillor Ball added that a community facility was vital in this area of considerable deprivation.

Denise Burton, Chair of the Bath Communities Partnership, referred to the `Rationale' section, paragraph 6.1 of the report and explained that the Partnership had a different view about whether SWRDA were content to fund the feasibility study with only the Council's commitment to "in principle" support. Their view was that SWRDA would not fund the study unless funding for the entire project was guaranteed.

Councillor Paul Crossley noted that there was not a shared understanding regarding the commitment from SWRDA to fund the feasibility study.

Following debate and an adjournment, Councillor Paul Crossley stressed the importance of working in partnership with Bath Communities Partnership and the SWRDA. He explained that the Executive were fully aware of the needs of the community and needed the right information to explore fully the options.

Rationale

BCP and SWERDA have considered other options for investing the £500,000. The Partnership is developing these options but the redevelopment of the Southside Youth & Community centre remains their preferred option. In the Partnership's view, their proposal offers the best opportunity to support its target groups and support long term social and economic regeneration. Alternative projects will be more strictly related to economic development criteria in compliance with SWERDA.

The Council could at this stage reject the proposal if it felt it would not achieve a lasting regeneration impact or if any additional finance required could not be met from the Council's own resources.

On a motion from Councillor Paul Crossley, seconded by Councillor Francine Haeberling, it was

(1) That the Executive recognises that the facilities at the Southside Youth & Community Centre site are not adequate for serving the community;

(2) That the Executive requires a paper to be presented to a future meeting of the Executive which sets out the range of options available for the Southside Youth & Community Centre site and includes the proposals from the Bath Communities Partnership; and

(3) To request the Leader urgently to explore further with the South West Regional Development Agency the possibility of progressing a feasibility study with respect to the Bath Communities Partnership.

[During the above debate, a motion was proposed by Councillor Paul Crossley regarding supporting the proposal and an amendment was proposed by Councillor Vic Pritchard regarding deferral of the proposal. Following an adjournment, both these were withdrawn.]

75 REVIEW OF PARKING CHARGES (Report 12).

The Executive considered a report which put forward various changes to time limits and charges for parking.

Rationale

It is expected that, as a matter of course in each year's budget process, services should be able to accommodate an inflationary increase on all their budgets. In the case of parking income, it is considered better practice to allow prices to remain constant for a period and then implement an increase rather than make small incremental increases every year. In this case, it is not planned that prices will be altered for another 4 years.

Other Options considered

The alternative of introducing small annual increases was considered, as was the idea of introducing significantly higher charges, but these options were both rejected.

On a motion from Councillor Sir Elgar Jenkins, seconded by Councillor Paul Crossley, it was

RESOLVED

(1) That the schedule of charges as set out in Appendix A to the report be approved; and

(2) That the Head of Transportation and Highways be authorised to take all action necessary to effect such changes.

76 LOCAL AREA AGREEMENTS AND LOCAL PUBLIC SERVICE AGREEMENTS: UPDATE (Report 13).

The Executive considered a report regarding Local Area Agreements (LAAs) and welcomed the suggestion that Member briefings would be provided on this complex area.

Rationale

The Executive requested officers in March 2005 to begin work on developing a second-generation Local Public Service Agreement (LPSA2). Since then, the Government have announced that the timetable for Local Area Agreements (LAAs) and LPSAs are to be combined. As a result, Bath & North East Somerset's LPSA will be negotiated as part of its LAA, to begin in 2007-2008.

Other options considered

An alternative option of not pursuing an LAA/LPSA2 at this stage has been considered. This would remove access to LPSA2 funding streams and opportunities to engage with Government and other agencies on identifying new ways to meet local priorities. However, as the LAA is progressed, it will be important to manage and mitigate risk to ensure that the LAA meets local priorities in a sustainable way.

On a motion from Councillor Paul Crossley, seconded by Councillor Francine Haeberling, it was

RESOLVED that

(1) The Council, working with its partners, start work on developing a Local Area Agreement (LAA) for Bath and North East Somerset to begin in April 2007;

(2) Any LAA for Bath & North East Somerset should be driven by local priorities, in particular the Corporate Improvement Priorities, Community Strategy ambitions and emerging key issues for the area;

(3) The fullest possible stakeholder engagement take place on developing the LAA, including joint working with elected members, partners, the voluntary and community sector and local communities, with progress reports made to the Executive;

(4) The financial implications set out in the report be noted, and in particular the continued earmarking of up to £50,000 from expected Performance Reward Grant to fund any additional development and project work required; and

(5) The Local Strategic Partnership be requested to work closely with key partnerships and wider stakeholders to help co-ordinate and develop the LAA.