Agenda and minutes

The Chairman of Council, Councillor Peter Edwards will chair the meeting.

The Chairman, Councillor Peter Edwards welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Chair will draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as follows:

If the continuous alarm sounds, you must evacuate the building by one of the designated exits and proceed to the named assembly point. The designated exits are sign-posted. Arrangements are in place for the safe evacuation of disabled people. The assembly point is on the footpath by the lawned area in front of the Town Hall.

The Clerk drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

Apologies had been received from representatives of Bathford, Chew Magna and Compton Dando Parish Councils.

Apologies had also been received from Councillors David Bellotti, John Bull, Liz Hardman, Sarah Bevan and Sally Davis.

The Chair will announce any items of urgent business accepted since the agenda was prepared

A representative from Freshford Parish Council drew the meeting’s attention to the number of regulations and the attendant costs involved in the organisation of street parties and asked whether there was any possibility of them being relaxed by the local authority. The Chief Executive replied that, if the party involved a road closure, the Council had to advertise, which had associated costs.  However, the Council could look at implementing a different policy for small groups. It is also possible for parishes to precept for this kind of expense. 

To adopt the minutes of the previous meeting as an accurate record.

The minutes of the last meeting were agreed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

Cabinet Members are invited to introduce themselves to the meeting and to give a brief summary of the remit of their portfolio.

The Chair invited Councillor Paul Crossley to introduce the new Cabinet Members.  Councillors Tim Ball, Nathan Hartley, Simon Allen, David Dixon, Roger Symonds and Cherry Beath introduced themselves to the meeting and gave brief explanations of the scope of their portfolios. Councillor Gerry Curran also introduced himself as the Chair of the Development Control Committee.

A representative of Batheaston Parish Council questioned Cllr Hartley about the reduction in funding for Youth Services. Cllr Hartley replied that he would be glad to meet with the Parish Council to discuss this issue. A representative from Camerton Parish Council informed the meeting that their village had a pre-school group which was struggling and in danger of closure. Cllr Hartley said that he was happy to visit the group and discuss the future.

A briefing note is attached. The Divisional Director, Planning and Transport (David Trigwell) will attend the meeting to answer questions.

The Divisional Director for Planning and Transport Development (David Trigwell) introduced this item and explained that the Core Strategy and associated documents had been submitted to the Inspector on 3^rd May. The Inspector will decide whether the strategy is sound and may call for an Examination in public, which would take place in September.

A representative of Batheaston Parish Council asked whether guidance would be available to parishes regarding the Placemaking Plan(s) to help them engage with the planning officers and to be re-assured that their views are taken into account. The officer replied that the planning office wished to encourage communities to engage and would be happy to help.

A representative of Saltford Parish Council asked whether the consultation would be parish by parish and was told that this was the intention although the process had not been finalised.

The Strategic Director for Service Delivery (Glenn Chipp) and the Secretary to the Local Councils group (Peter Duppa-Miller) will give a joint presentation on the current status of the Parish Charter.

The Secretary to the Local Councils Group (Peter Duppa-Miller) introduced this item and explained that they were putting on hold the revision of the Parish Charter as it was driven by the emerging clauses in the Localism Bill which would dramatically alter the relationship between parishes and local authorities. He welcomed the fact that the new Cabinet was eager to engage with the Parish and Town Councils.

A representative from Farrington Gurney Parish Council asked how localism was defined. Mr Duppa-Miller replied that the Bill was not clear on this. The Strategic Director for Service Delivery (Glen Chipp) added that they were trying to distil the proposals in the Bill to work out the implications for the  Parish Charter in the future. 

A briefing note is attached. The Funding and Programme Manager (Susan Bowen) will attend to answer questions.

The Funding and Programmes Manager (Susan Bowen) introduced this item and informed the meeting that Policy and Partnerships had invested in 11 projects since the 1^st April 2011 and she gave two examples (Wellow Village Shop and Midsomer Norton and Radstock Dial-a-Ride) of the kind of schemes which were awarded funding. She encouraged parishes to apply for funding and said that team members were happy to help with applications.

The Team Leader, Systems GIS (Martin Laker), will attend to give a demonstration of the latest developments with this project.

The Team Leader of Systems and GIS (Martin Laker) introduced this item and informed the meeting that there was now a public sector mapping agreement in place with avoided the need for restrictive licences. This would free up the exchange of data across the public sector. He encouraged the parish and town councils to sign up to these agreements and become members. The officer introduced Chris Mewse from Getmapping (Parish Online) who gave a presentation on the latest functions of the project. The ‘district on-line’ information could now be shared with parishes and created a single structure which was easy to navigate. Of interest to rural parishes would be the inclusion of data from Natural England.

Councillor Appleyard asked who was responsible for updating the data and was told that the B&NES data was fed to parishes, who could also update their own data. A representative from Batheaston whether it was accessible in digital format and was informed that the system can translate between formats and was also able to produce 3D modelling which was useful for flood-risk areas.

A representative of Clutton Parish Council asked when the assets such as gullies would be linked in to the highways department. The officer replied that the department was linked live into the same system. A representative of Dunkerton Parish Council asked whether there would be any further training sessions on the system and was informed that the lecturers at Bath University would be happy to hold further training sessions. A representative of Freshford Parish Council asked whether this scheme could be made available to parishioners through the parish website and was informed that the University was working on that aspect as a new project.

Councillor Appleyard asked whether a high level of processing capacity was needed for the application and was informed that it was usable with low band-widths.

The Chair thanked the officers for their presentation.        

Councillor Roger Symonds, Cabinet Member for Transport, will explain how the new Cabinet intends to make progress.

Councillor Roger Symonds, Cabinet Member for Major Transport Schemes, introduced this item. He explained that the authority did not receive funding for the Bath Transport Package in the first round so an amended scheme was being developed. The government wished to reduce costs, so the Bath Rapid Transit part of the scheme had been dropped.  However, it was still hoped to extend the Park and Ride facilities and retain the showcase bus routes. The authority has until the 9^th September 2011 to re-apply for Bath Package funding.  In the meantime, an experimental scheme to divert HGV lorries from the city centre was under way.

A representative from Combe Hay Parish Council asked whether the extension to the Odd Down Park & Ride would survive the cuts and was assured that it would still be going ahead.  A representative from Newton St Loe Parish Council asked why the extension to Newbridge Park and Ride was smaller than originally planned. He was informed that the slow-down in growth means that less capacity was needed. A representative of Corston Parish Council asked whether the Newbridge site could be surfaced as it gets muddy, but was told that there were no plans to do that. Councillor Gabriel Batt asked whether there were still plans for a Park and Ride on the east side of Bath and was told that it was still being reviewed. A representative from Dunkerton Parish Council commented that the bus service which runs from Odd Down to the RUH was very popular and asked whether a similar service could run from Newbridge P & R to the hospital. Councillor Symonds agreed to look into the proposal.

A briefing note is attached.

The Economic Enterprise and Business Development Manager (John Wilkinson) introduced this item and referred Members to the briefing paper which had been circulated.  The meeting agreed to note the paper and the Chair thanked the officer for the information.

A briefing note is attached.

The meeting agreed to note the information contained in the briefing note.

A briefing note is attached.

The meeting agreed to note the information contained in the briefing note.

The date of the next meeting will be Wednesday 19^th October 2011.

The Chairman announced that the next Parishes Liaison meeting would be on Wednesday 19^th October 2011.  He thanked everyone for their contributions.