The Committee will receive a progress update on the reports which were approved by Cabinet on selected dates, with regard to:
· Keeping town centres vibrant by reducing on street parking charges and maintaining turnover of visitors (Approved by Cabinet on 17 April 2013).
· Authority to commit to making progress against the GLA’s Exemplar Borough qualifying criteria to become a designated Cleaner Air Borough (Approved by Cabinet on 17 April 2013)
· Neighbourhood Responsibility progress report (Approved by Cabinet on 10 July 2013)
· Approval to access energy efficiency funding through the Green Deal & Energy Company Obligation (ECO) via a Greater London Authority (GLA) framework (Approved by Cabinet on 25 September 2013)
Minutes:
The Sub-Committee received updates on reports when had been approved by Cabinet. The updates were:
Keeping town centres vibrant by reducing on street parking charges and maintaining turnover of visitors (Approved by Cabinet on 17 April 2013) – the Head of Streetcare informed the Sub-Committee that this report had been approved to harmonise the charges for on street pay and display and outlying car parks, as well as Parks across the borough. The tariff of 20p for 0-2 hours and 50p for 2-3 hours were introduced.
This scheme had been a success and had boosted the local shopping centres as visitors were able to spend more time in one location and get all their shopping done. The tariffs had also been made simpler in car parks, and the whole borough was now in-line.
The Sub-Committee noted that these smaller charges had also reduce the amount of commuter parking as the borough lay in Zone 6.
It was agreed that the issue of car parking in Parks would be discussed at a future meeting
Authority to commit to making progress against the GLA’s Exemplar Borough qualifying criteria to become a designated Cleaner Air Borough (Approved by Cabinet on 17 April 2013) – The Sub-Committee was informed that since this report had been approved the GLA had not progressed with its programme for an Authority to attain Exemplar Borough Status to become a ‘Cleaner Air Borough’. However the Council had continued its work to meet its legal duty regarding air quality by adopting the principles of the scheme and to try to continue to work to improve local air quality and reduce health and environmental impacts. There were a number of projects being undertaken to meet both DEFRA, EU and local levels.
Neighbourhood Responsibility progress report (Approved by Cabinet on 10 July 2013) – The Sub-Committee noted that the initial focus of the Neighbourhood Responsibility project was on the Briar Road Estate. Its purpose was to bring one community together through partnership working with committed groups of local residents. Officers stated that a vacant shop was used to combine services including Streetcare, Social Care, Housing and Community Safety into one location and to establish a ‘Neighbourhood Office’. The shop was run by volunteers from the estate and a Briar Resident Action Group (BRAG) was established. This group included representatives from LBH, HAVCO, the Police as well as local residents.
The volunteers were resident with a good knowledge base and regular drop-in sessions were conducted by officers from the council to deal with any enquiries. BRAG also run local events including Christmas and Easter events for the children of the estate and events for the elderly. The estate is now better engaged and improvements have been made by way of Better Homes, the removal of walkways and alleys and a general better use of space. A new multi-play area had also been installed on the Bosworth fields for use by the community.
Approval to access energy efficiency funding through the Green Deal & Energy Company Obligation (ECO) via a Greater London Authority (GLA) framework (Approved by Cabinet on 25 September 2013) – It was agreed to defer this item until the next meeting.