BOROUGH OF POOLE

MINUTES

ALDERNEY, BRANKSOME EAST AND WEST AREA COMMITTEE

THE MEETING WAS HELD AT TALBOT COMBINED SCHOOL, TALBOT DRIVE, POOLE

10TH NOVEMBER 2004

The meeting commenced at 7.00 p.m. and finished at 8.45 p.m.

Present:

Councillor Pethen (Chairman)

Councillors Eades, Mrs Hillman, Mrs Lavender and Miss Wilson.

Also present:

Councillor Leverett, Leader of the Council

Members of the public present: 16

Officers in attendance:

Steve Cattle, Democratic Services

Ken Pearce, Transportation Services

1.APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Meachin and Trent.

2.DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Steve Cattle declared a personal interest in respect of M.5 as he was in receipt of a Council pension.

3.MINUTES

Councillor Eades drew attention to Item 6 – Requests for Section 106 Funded Schemes, and asked for the Minutes to be corrected by deleting “Albert Road” in Paragraph 1(i) and substituting it with “Alder Road” and also with regard to Paragraph (2) by deleting Brellards Avenue and substituting it with “St Brelades Avenue.

Steve Cattle also stated that with regard to Item 3, this should be renamed Talbot Heath Footpath Maintenance and not Alder Hills Footpath Maintenance.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 29th September 2004 as amended above were confirmed as a correct record.

4. ACTIONS ARISING

The Chairman stated that the items relating to Alderney Recreation Ground and Section 106 funded schemes had been deferred to the next meeting.

5.BUDGET AND COUNCIL TAX 2005/6

The Chairman introduced Councillor Brian Leverett, the Leader of the Council, who made a short presentation to the meeting and emphasised that priorities would be delivered to include:-

  • Supporting young people
  • Vibrant economy
  • Clean, green and safe
  • Strong sense of community
  • Health and well-being

He drew attention to:-

  • Low levels of Government funding
  • Government expectations for schools and social services
  • Contradictions in Government expectations for Council Tax

With regard to the Council’s financial standing, he emphasised that the Council Tax increase in 2004/5 had been 5%, compared to the Unitary average of 7.5%. Furthermore, there had been an improved reserved position in 2003/4 to £3.6M, and it was anticipated that expenditure would be over £1M under budget in 2004/5.

He emphasised that the Council’s financial standing created opportunities to deliver priorities, and that the following plans would be developed:-

  • XL projects – Schools for the Future, Customers First and Full Sail Ahead
  • Getting fit – performance management and procurement (examples)

He stated that there was still a need to develop further plans for XL projects to bring about significant step changes and key areas of need, such as affordable housing and highways. Furthermore, as part of the Budget Strategy, the following would be delivered:-

  • Funding for Striving for Excellence
  • Funding for key services, such as schools, affordable housing and social services
  • Identify efficiency savings
  • An acceptable level of Council Tax
  • Listen to views of others

Finally, Councillor Leverett set out the budget timetable which included consultation with all Area Committees, Residents and Businesses, with Government funding being announced in November, and the Council would then consider budget options in December. The Budget and Council Tax for 2005/6 would be set in February 2005. He also drew attention to the report submitted to the Cabinet meeting on 5th October 2004 and referred to the estimated increase in budget requirements for 2005/6.

A question and answer session followed:-

  • Ms Handley asked the following question.

With reference to the alarming matters which have come to light, and in view of the latest letter from the auditors, can the Leader of the Council assure us that the current administration will not make the same mistakes as its predecessors when dealing with development companies, such as Orb.

Councillor Leverett responded as follows:-

I can assure you that the current administration will be seeking to learn all possible lessons from the District Auditor’s report, in order that future dealings with development companies will result in the best possible deals being obtained for the residents of Poole. Where appropriate, and in order to do this, we would take up references, carry out company searches and, if necessary, seek financial guarantees. It is our intention to ensure that we adopt good business practices at all times.

  • Miss Herring stated that in his presentation, the Leader of the Council had stated that Government funding on education was less than in Bournemouth. She asked what reason the Government had given for this anomaly.

Councillor Leverett responded by stating that the problem would not exist in future years due to Bournemouth loosing transitional relief, but unfortunately the Government had stated that they would not be increasing Poole’s funding levels to match Bournemouth, but that the Bournemouth levels would be reduced to Poole’s. There was no justification for this as every school should be provided with sufficient funds.

  • Mr Reid stated that the Leader had in his presentation referred to “schools for the future” and stated that numbers of children attending schools were decreasing, and this would have an effect on funding.

Councillor Leverett responded by stating that “schools for the future” was more to do with rationalising the age of transfer and new buildings. A review was needed focusing on demand.

  • Mr DuLieu asked:-

(a)How much of a difference had the second home tax on the Budget?

(b)5,000 extra jobs would be created as a result of the regeneration scheme, but this meant transporting them into the town.

(c)With regard to “Customers First” he wanted it to be put on record that Officers at the Council were always very helpful and it was nice to know that when you phoned, you got to speak to someone who knew what they were talking about, whereas a call-centre would be a disaster for the Council. Why change the present system?

Councillor Leverett responded by stating that there had been a particular problem in some areas and there could be difficulties in accessing information. He also stated that the extra jobs created from the regeneration scheme would be in the region as a whole and not solely to the site itself. He agreed that public transport was a problem.

With regard to Second Home Tax, Poole was one of the first local authorities to adopt this stance and it had already been taken account of in the budget figures.

  • Mrs Powell stated that she was looking forward to the Full Sail Ahead scheme, but had concerns on congestion in the town centre and the fact that new roads would have to be built to cater for the extra traffic. She also asked for a definition of “affordable housing”.

Councillor Leverett responded by stating that new road building could not be funded locally, but it was essential to provide additional road links, especially to the A31. With regard to affordable housing, he responded by stating that developers were required within large developments to make provision for affordable housing which was provided by housing associations. If housing was not available on site, then developers were required to make a contribution towards provision elsewhere. Affordable housing was mainly for key workers and those who could not easily get onto to the housing ladder.

  • Mr Parish stated that as a Governor of a local school he welcomed the rationalisation of transfer ages. He agreed with the emphasis on improvements to highways and stated that maintenance was essential and at the moment white lines in particular were being neglected.

Councillor Leverett responded by stating that approximately £1M had been put in the budget this year to solve some of the highway issues, but that there was no quick fix and it could take some years to address the neglect.

  • Mr Francis made a comment as to why if cycle lanes had been provided that cyclists still used the road. He asked whether there was anything that could be done to make cyclists use cycle lanes. He also drew attention to the 20mph speed limit in Evering Avenue which was being ignored and people were parking on the yellow lines in the area and no enforcement was taking place.

Councillor Leverett responded by stating that Government had supported the provision of cycle ways through the LTP, but there was nothing to force cyclists to use them. The Chairman suggested that the enforcement issues should be referred to Transportation Services. He thanked Councillor Leverett for attending the meeting, and hoped that in the future some of his Cabinet colleagues could also attend to give presentations on their themes.

Members were given the chance to ask the Leader various questions on his presentation.

5.CONSULTATION ON LOCAL TRANSPORT PLAN

Ken Pearce, Transportation Services, gave a short presentation on the new five year Local Transport Plan for Poole, Bournemouth and Dorset, stressing the need for these authorities to work together on local transport matters. He explained that a vital part of formulating this plan was to ascertain the views of local residents. As a result, he referred members of the public to displays that had been put up in the hall and asked them to complete a questionnaire with their views on the new five year plan. He stated that the consultation would be carried out at Area Committees in the Spring when detailed plans had been drawn up.

A question and answer session followed, the main points being:-

  • Mrs Powell felt that money should be spent on highway maintenance and emphasised that, if asked, the majority of people would think that this was something that needed addressing, especially as money from the Government was, in fact, “our” money.

In response to a question relating to Wallisdown Relief Road and new road building, Ken Pearce stated that the Government had said no to new road construction, but consultants had been asked to look at possible alternative strategies, rather than new road build.

Mrs Powell stated that she thought land was still available for the Wallisdown Relief Road, and couldn’t understand why housing could take place, but not a new road.

The Chairman felt that this issue could not be easily answered at this meeting. He thanked Ken Pearce for his presentation.

6.ALDERNEY RECREATION GROUND

The Chairman was of the opinion that this matter warranted urgent consideration at the meeting and asked Mr Percik to make a short presentation.

Mr Percik stated that he was grateful that development and maintenance was taking place such as clearance/pathwork, and that drainage projects and grass cutting were now taking place, but felt that it was essential that a maintenance schedule was made available showing what tasks were being done and when. Without this information, it was impossible to have any meaningful discussions. He was unhappy at how this matter had been dealt with over the years, and that a report was still awaited. He felt that this delay was not allowing the Area Committee to work properly.

He felt that those involved with improvements to Alderney Rec. should have been consulted before the item was deferred as there were practical consequences to this delay.

Councillor Miss Wilson apologised on behalf of the two absent Ward Councillors that no one had been consulted on the deferment, but stated that the matter would be dealt with at the next meeting.

7.FUTURE AGENDA ITEM

The Chairman asked for a report to be submitted to a future meeting on Herbert Avenue, particularly relating to air quality and the decision which had been taken on HGVs.

8.CONFIRM THE DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING

AGREED that the next meeting of the Area Committee will be held on 26th January 2005, at 7.00 p.m. in the Alderney Ward (venue to be arranged), and that the meeting would be Chaired by Councillor Meachin.

FOR: Unanimous

CHAIRMAN

Contact Officer:

Steve Cattle, Principal Democratic Support Officer

Tel: 01202 633026

Email:

1