Agenda and minutes

Cllr Christine Quinn-Wilcox declared a non-pecuniary interest in agenda item 4, (Play Strategy for Rural Areas/Green Space Projects).

RESOLVED

that the minutes of the meetings held on 26 September and 17 October 2018 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

The Deputy Leader of the Council (Outward Focus), the Interim Director of Place and Communities, the Assistant Director, Neighbourhoods and Environment and the Place Team Leader attended the meeting to provide further information, as requested by the committee on the Play Strategy for the rural areas and green space projects following the call-in meeting of the Cabinet decision (Minute No. OS10 2018/19).

The officer’s report provided additional information on, and details of the status of the Car Parking Strategy 2016 – 21, the Public Open Space Strategy 2016 – 26 and the Ashfield District Council Play Strategy. It was noted that the Ashfield District Council Play Strategy was a plan of action, rather than an adopted document, which aimed to provide continued improvements to play facilities over a four-year period using additional funding streams.

The Deputy Leader of the Council (Outward Focus) advised that the Public Open Space Strategy had been adopted by the Council in 2016 and set out the catchment for play areas across the district. The Deputy Leader noted that the Rural area had seen significantly less investment in play areas due to lack of funding in the past, namely from lower amounts received from Section 106 agreement.

The Committee was advised that the emerging play strategy would address this lower level of investment by providing £120,000 of funding in the current financial year for Rural area projects, and that Kirkby, Hucknall and Sutton-in-Ashfield would receive the same amount of funding in subsequent years. It was noted that projects would be prioritised using information gathered from a recent stock condition survey. 

The Deputy Leader advised that play area improvements funded through Section 106 contributions and grant funding were continuing this year and through into 2019 and that these included improvements at West Park and Morven Park, Kirkby, Sutton Lawn and Roundhills Recreation Ground, Sutton and Broomhill Park in Hucknall. It was also noted two new play areas had been opened in the current year which had be provided as part of developments at Papplewick in Hucknall, and at Larwood Park in Kirkby. 

With regards to the Car Parking Strategy Members were informed that the Car Parking Strategy was due for an annual review. This review would be completed by end March 2019, but noted that Brand Lane would not be covered by the strategy which focused on parking need and demand in town centres and the Rural area rather than very localised parking issues across the district.

It was noted however that Brand Lane had been identified as a key project in the corporate plan refresh and that the issues surrounding it would receive full consideration as part of that project.

Councillor Morrison enquired as to whether improvements to play areas would be carried out on basis of need or on a schedule determined by location. The Deputy Leader advised that improvements made under the emerging play strategy would be carried out on a schedule determined by location but assured the committee that any required maintenance  ...  view the full minutes text for item OS13

The Deputy Leader of the Council (Outward Focus), the Interim Director of Place and Communities, the Assistant Director, Neighbourhoods and Environment and the Service Performance Officer attended the meeting to answer the committee’s questions, and to seek the committee’s feedback regarding the Big Ashfield Spring Clean 2018,

The Big Ashfield Spring Clean had been added to the Scrutiny Workplan in September 2018 to enable the committee to review the project and to make recommendations to Cabinet for any proposed future schemes. It was noted that the district wide clean-up campaign had been delivered over a three-week period between 19 May and 9 June 2018 and the officer’s report set out details regarding the cost of delivery, the impact the scheme made, as well as details on lessons learned.

It was noted that the campaign was rolled out geographically across the District over a three-week period, with Sutton week one, Kirkby and the Rurals week two and Hucknall week three. The campaign was comprised of three distinct offers for residents with static skips being placed at various locations across the District, complemented by “flying skip” bin lorries which collected waste at pre-determined routes over the weekends (excluding the Bank Holiday weekend) as well as free bulky waste collections for residents who needed door to door collection or additional support.

The report presented to the Committee contained a full evaluation of the scheme including information on the amount of waste collected, the type of waste collected and the costs associated with the disposal of the waste collected.

Members were informed that any future scheme would utilise the “flying skips” more widely and engage with local community groups more as initial assumptions made around the community self-policing of the skips and skip sites had not been fully realised. 

Members of the committee noted with approval the positive outcome of the scheme in that it had resulted in the collection of large amounts of waste from the district, but did express concerns that some commercial and hazardous waste, including a small amount of asbestos that had been placed into the static skips.

The Deputy Leader advised that the reduction of the number of static skips for 2019, and an increased number of “flying skips” would help prevent this problem from reoccurring in future years. The Committee were also reassured that AB Waste, the contractor employed by the Council to process the waste deposited in the skips, had dealt with asbestos deposited in a manner that complied with all waste disposal and environmental regulations.

Councillor Morrison noted his concerns regarding the health and safety of the residents who subsequently deposited waste in a skip that contained asbestos and requested that an investigation be carried out into how the asbestos was deposited in the skip and how it was processed by the Council’s contractor, AB Waste. The Leader noted that the dumping of hazardous waste was a problem but hoped that the Big Spring Clean had flushed a lot of it out of the district which  ...  view the full minutes text for item OS14