Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Chair drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

Councillors Paul Crossley, Grant Johnson and Tim Ball had sent their apologies to the Panel.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

David Redgewell has registered to make a (3 minute) statement on transport issues.

David Redgewell made a statement to the Panel, a summary of which is set out below. A copy of the statement can be found online as an appendix to these minutes.

We are very concerned the now that public transport and bus service have transferred to the West of England Combined Authority as the city region Transport Authority. But without precept powers what resources are being allocated by the city and county of Bristol, Bristol Mayor, Banes and South Gloucestershire Council to  revenue support socially supported bus services  especially to serve rural and orbital bus services in Bath and North East Somerset for example Bath Spa bus station to Peasedown St John, Radstock, Midsomer Norton, Paulton and Farmborough.

There is also a need to have subsidies for  the Severn Beach, St Andrew Road, Avonmouth Dock, Portway Parkway,  Shirehampton, Sea Mills, Clifton Down, Redland, Montpelier, Stapleton Road,  Lawrence Hill, Bristol Temple Meads, Keynsham, Oldfield Park, Bath Spa, Freshford,  Avoncliffe, Bradford on Avon, Trowbridge, Westbury, Frome or Warminster.

We welcome the work on the 25% reduction in service from 24th January 2021 due to lockdown and the protection of essential journeys for key workers access to supermarkets Post Office, Banks, health care facilities and vaccinations centres.

But regret the loss of catering services between Bristol Temple Meads, Keynsham, Bath Spa, Bradford on Avon, Trowbridge, Westbury, Salisbury and London Waterloo. The Department for Transport appear to be removing catering services on the Express train network on emergency recovery contracts. 

We need to see Bath Spa Bus Station Travel Centre facilities reopened as Travel Centre and Tourist Information Centre for green sustainable tourism in Bath and North East Somerset and Somerset and the need for public toilets in Bath Spa Bus and Coach Station, including disabled toilets.

We welcome progress by Bristol City Council Mayor to find a way forward on a devolution deal at WECA Mayoral Combined Authority and new governance to allow North Somerset Council to join WECA Mayoral Combined Authority. 

The bus back better bus improvement plan by the WECA Mayoral Transport Authority and North Somerset Council needs to improve Sunday evening and rural services and cross border service into Somerset and Wiltshire. 

Please note that the West of England Combined Authority meeting is on 23rd June 2021 at Bristol City Hall at 1030. Please note WECA Mayoral Combined Authority Scrutiny Commission is in Bristol City Hall 23rd June 2021 and the Board with the Metro Mayor Dan Norris is 1130 at the Civic Centre in Kingswood 25th June 2021.

The Chair thanked him for his statement on behalf of the Panel and asked that it be passed to the B&NES Councillors who sit on the WECA meetings mentioned due to take place later in the week and the Cabinet Member for Transport.

The draft minutes of the meeting held on 7^th June 2021 are attached.

The Panel confirmed the minutes of the previous meeting as a true record and they were duly signed by the Chair.

A cover report is attached. There will be a presentation at the meeting.

(Note: This item was postponed from the 7^th June meeting of the Panel.)

The Clean Air Zone (CAZ) Team Manager introduced this item to the Panel and gave a presentation. A summary is set out below.

Preparation for the CAZ launch

•  Over 8000 early warning letters were issued to drivers of non-compliant vehicles driving within the CAZ prior to launch

•  9500 businesses were contacted via telemarketing company to raise awareness of the launch and the financial help available

•  Core scheme ANPR cameras and software tested extensively with government teams

•  Financial assistance scheme was promoted and a surge in applications was received

CAZ Mitigations

•  A bus upgrade programme with a view to achieving a fully compliant scheduled bus fleet operating in Bath.  From our modelling this is a key deliverable to achieving compliance

•  A financial assistance scheme providing grants and interest free loans to businesses, individuals and community groups to upgrade non-compliant vehicles.  Upgrade rates have exceeded expectations and we are seeking more funding from central government

•  A package of exemptions that support vital services, disadvantaged groups and those with hard-to-replace vehicles, along with a means-tested general exemption as part of the financial assistance scheme

CAZ launch- 15 March 2021

•  There were no technical issues on the day of launch

•  B&NES and JAQU (Joint Air Quality Unit) teams collaborated well and there were regular, daily check-ins during the first 2 weeks of the scheme going live

•  Ongoing discussions between central government and Wiltshire Council on traffic and air quality monitoring

Ongoing support post CAZ launch

•  A period of ‘soft enforcement’ has taken place where only the zone entry charge has been collected

•  Support and flexibility for vehicle owners affected by business rule changes which lead some vehicles (mainly vans and motorhomes) to change from a status of compliant to non-compliant

•  Sought clarity about the compliance status of M1 motorhome vehicles which will now be exempted from charges

Initial statistics following launch

•  Initially, approximately 32,000 vehicles were travelling in the CAZ each day (not including locally exempt vehicles) and older, diesel LGV’s represent the largest category of non-compliant, chargeable vehicles which have a disproportionate impact on air quality

•  In total the financial assistance scheme has received 2080 expressions of interest, of which 1650 vehicles have proceeded to having a telematics device fitted. Of those, 743 owners proceeded to apply for finance and 625 are currently recording telematic data. 506 vehicles have been approved for upgrade and drivers are in the process of taking ownership of their vehicles in the coming months

•  Since launch over 28,000 PCN’s have been issued, although a number of these will have been waived due to issues such as the business rule change, and these issues have now been resolved; typically, 25% relate to vehicle owners within B&NES and over 54,000 zone entry charges have been paid 

•  There is an emerging downward trend in the number of vehicle entrants which are subject to a CAZ charge which suggests an increasing level  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

There will be a presentation on this item at the meeting.

The Director of Place Management introduced this item to the Panel and gave a presentation. A summary is set out below.

The Challenge

•  Neighbourhood (and Highways) Services are the front line of the Council

•  A range of statutory and legal requirements for the council to discharge

•  High profile and high reputational impact

•  What could we do differently?

•  With limited resources, where should we invest any additional funding secured?

Context (2008 and beyond):

•  Significant service efficiencies have been achieved

•  Insourced recycling services and changed the way we deliver services

•  Prioritised activity around the Council’s statutory duties and maintaining public health and safety

•  Recognised that there is a significant backlog of works required on the highway network

•  Implemented Fix My Street ‘report it’ system – Good scheme, looking to make further adaptions

Breadth of services

Highways

·  1200 kms of roads

·  17,000 streetlights

·  25,000 road gullies

·  1040 kms Footways and footpaths

Parks

·  270 Parks and Open Spaces managed

·  6 Heritage Parks

·  59 Play Areas

·  28000 Trees & 7 Woodlands (to date) 

Waste

·  Waste and recycling collections provided to 86,435 households

·  Every 4 weeks over half a million refuse and recycling collections take place

·  Cleansed over 1300 miles of highway

·  Emptied litter bins two/three times a week or over 90,000 times a year

The efforts of all staff must be recognised

The request:

•  Consider developing a Task and Finish group to help Cabinet and Officers:

  Identify what would success look like for our communities in:

•  The short term

•  2 years

•  5 years

•  Undertake a review of the opportunities considering both the local and national picture; and

•  Make recommendations to Cabinet Members on how any investment should be targeted

Councillor David Wood, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services commented on how important it is for the Council to get the basics right and of how proud he is of the teams involved in this work.

Councillor Joel Hirst commented that it was a huge challenge and that he would like to see more promotion of Fix My Street to make members of the public aware of how to use it.

The Director of Place Management agreed that the more that Fix My Street is promoted the better and would look into how that can be progressed.

Councillor Joel Hirst asked if further street cleansing and other functions would be possible if a further precept was collected by the Council.

The Director of Place Management replied that he was unable to answer that question as he did not know how that process would work.

Councillor Dr Yukteshwar Kumar commented that recently we have seen an upward trend of not collecting waste on designated days. He said that residents are incredibly unhappy and that he had written to several officers and Cabinet Members regarding collections of waste from the newly built temple on around 25 May and had not yet had a response.

The Director of Place Management replied that they do try  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

A report is attached, there will also be a presentation at the meeting.

The Deputy Head of Planning Policy and Highway Development Control & Transport Policy Manager introduced this item to the Panel and gave a presentation. A summary is set out below.

Role of the Local Plan Partial Update

Spatial Development Strategy (SDS): 2022 – 2042

New Local Plan: 2022 – 2038

•  New Planning Policy Framework to deliver the SDS

•  New spatial Strategy

•  New Plan period

•  New targets e.g. the housing requirement, employment land, renewable energy and ecology

•  Planning Reform

Local Plan Partial Update - To 2029 (adopt 2022)

•  The Climate emergency (eg facilitate renewable energy regeneration, retrofitting, parking standards, 

•  The nature emergency (Biodiversity Net Gain)

•  Address the shortfall in Housing Land Supply

•  The green recovery (including Milsom Quarter and protecting employment land)

•  Houses in multiple occupation

•  University campuses and student accommodation

•  Remove P&R sites from Green Belt

•  Green Belt Villages

•  NB the scope and extent of changes of a partial update are limited

Key SPDs Timetable

·  Draft SPDs – consult alongside LPPU in August/September

·  Sustainable Construction & Retrofitting SPD – adopt autumn/winter

·  Transport SPD – adopt alongside LPPU

LPPU: Options Consultation feedback

•  Around 2,350 comments (1,800 standard/petition style comments on Bath Rec or Whitchurch)

•  Key relevant issues raised included:

•  Support for zero carbon development policy and reducing carbon via retrofitting

•  Flexibility needed in policies

•  Impact on viability/affordable housing delivery

•  Biodiversity Net Gain – maximise

•  Sustainable transport modes should be considered first, but don’t be inflexible for rural areas

The Climate Emergency

LPPU will include policy changes addressing the 3 climate emergency priority areas for action:

·  Energy efficiency improvements to buildings

·  Local renewable energy generation

·  Sustainable Transport - increased shift towards walking, cycling and mass transit

Sustainable Transport

Update existing policies to:

•  Strengthen focus on sustainable travel

•  Ensure development transport choices are required to place sustainable modes first

•  Increased linkages between transport, health, equality and inclusivity

•  Embed Liveable Neighbourhoods measures and principles

•  Ensure active travel benefits of Green Infrastructure are delivered

•  Require ULEV charging infrastructure provided in new development

P&R sites in the Green Belt

Removal of the Park & Rides sites from the Green Belt (if exceptional circumstances to change the Green Belt are accepted by the Inspector) and broadening their role to become transport interchanges with solar canopies.

The Ecological Emergency

•  Updating adopted nature conservation policies so that they even better protect irreplaceable habitats and facilitate nature recovery

•  Bringing forward a new policy (in advance of the national requirement) for developers to deliver at least 10 % Biodiversity Net Gain as part of development

Supplementary Planning Documents

•  Transport SPD:

•  Parking

•  Ultra Low Emissions Vehicles

•  Walking & Cycling Infrastructure Design

•  Travel Plans

•  Sustainable Construction & Retrofitting SPD

Parking standards

•  Residential (Origin) Parking changed to Maximum Standards

•  Achieve low car developments where conditions exist to do so, i.e. excellent accessibility, car clubs, Controlled Parking Zones

•  Avoid over-provision,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

This report presents the latest workplan for the Panel. Any suggestions for further items or amendments to the current programme will be logged and scheduled in consultation with the Panel’s Chair and supporting senior officers.

The Chair introduced this item and noted the following requests for future items.

·  Air Quality Update

·  Light Pollution

·  WECA Update

·  Electric Vehicle Charging