Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 21 November 2017 were accepted as a true record.

 A presentation will be provided by Nottinghamshire County Council

The Development and Partnerships Manager at Nottinghamshire County Council delivered a presentation to provide the Group with an update regarding the provision of rural public transport available within the Borough.

The Manager outlined the frequency of bus services within the Borough and it was noted that even though towns such as West Bridgford and villages such as Bingham, Radcliffe, Keyworth and Ruddington were well served on a commercial basis by Trent Barton and Nottingham City Transport, villages further away from these areas were not as well served. The Manager explained to the Group that the budget for local bus support was £3.95 million per year, which had been reduced from £7.5 million over the past seven years. The funding currently available  for rural transport provided 11 services within the Borough at a cost of £812,000 a year. It noted that there could be changes to services in future, but that consultation would be carried out with Councillors and users of the transport before any changes were made to services or how services were provided. 

The Manager provided details of community transport provision and support within the Borough. The Group were also informed of the introduction of a S19 minibus concessionary scheme for elderly and disabled residents that was currently being finalised for introduction during in 2018/19.

It was noted that although there were 118 real time bus stop displays within Rushcliffe these were mostly in its urban areas and that it was accepted that real time displays were needed within the rural areas of Rushcliffe due to the services being less frequent. The Manager advised that in order to resolve this issue a bid had been submitted to the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership to install over 500 real time bus stop displays across Nottinghamshire. In the urban areas of Rushcliffe such as West Bridgford bus lanes and other bus priority measures had been implemented in order to help bus increase punctuality. It noted that by 2018/19 99% of all operators should be real time enabled with information accessed through the Traveline and operator websites.

The Manager informed the Group that there were currently 22,500 elderly concession pass holders and 1,000 disabled pass holders (with 381 of these with companions) in Rushcliffe.  The Manager also provided the Group with an update of the Nottinghamshire Total Transport Project.

The Group expressed concern about the lack of availability of public transport in the rural areas of Rushcliffe. The Manager explained that Nottinghamshire County Council were not looking to reduce services in Rushcliffe and were instead looking to provide flexible services for residents which connected into main services. It was also noted that bus destinations such as Morrison’s were asked to provide funding for services via section 106 agreements, but it was up to them what level of service was provided and for what length of time. The Manager also informed the Group that the County Council pay for the pocket park and ride spaces.

Members of the Group also asked if Nottinghamshire County  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

The Report of the Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods is attached.

The Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods presented a report to provide information on, and request comments on the action plan developed by the corporate working group that had been established to reduce the use of single use plastics within the Borough.

The Executive Manager advised that as a result of the resolution made at Council on 7 December 2017 regarding the use of single use plastics (Council Minute No.37 2017/18), a corporate working group had been formed to develop actions to be taken to deliver a reduction in the use of single use plastics. A copy of the action plan was attached at Appendix 1 of the officer’s report and identified the detailed tasks to be considered across four theme areas that were:

·         an audit of the single use plastic currently used across RBC in normal council activities

·         to identify ways of seeking support from key partners and contractors to encourage them to commit to support similar actions

·         running relevant communications and campaigns to influence and change behaviour of residents and businesses in the borough on these issues

·         identifying how the Council could prohibit the use of Chinese lanterns and helium balloons at Rushcliffe Borough Council assets and parks and following good practice examples from other agencies such as Nottinghamshire County Council.

It was noted that the Corporate Working Group included representatives from across the Council as well as delivery partners such as Parkwood.

Members of the Group asked several specific questions regarding the availability of china cups instead of plastic cups for Councillors use at Rushcliffe Arena. The Executive Manager confirmed that these would not create an extra cost to the Council and would only require the caretakers to put them in the dishwasher for them to be used again.

The Group also suggested that instead producing communications material which included pictures of products that could be recycled such as water bottles and yoghurt pots, residents should be informed of the different types of plastics that could be recycled instead as for example, not all yoghurt pots could currently be recycled. The Executive Manager advised that this work sat outside the objectives of the single use plastic work stream. It was noted that the communication material about what could be recycled in the blue wheeled bin was based on county wide work supported by Veolia and industry best practice which had identified that people  would prefer pictures rather than large amounts of texts in recycling communications. The Executive Manager also suggested to the Group to forward on any comments to the Portfolio Holder for Communities and Leisure who attends the Nottinghamshire Joint Waste Management Committee.

Members of the Group suggested that water fountains could be installed in town centres to encourage residents to stop buying multiple bottles of water. The Executive Manager advised the Group that the logistics of installing and maintaining water fountains could be expensive and that any decision for the Council to install such infrastructure  would have to be approved by Cabinet.

The Chairman requested that an  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

The Report of the Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods is attached.

The Service Manager – Neighbourhoods presented the report of the Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods that outlined the draft Off Street Car Parking Strategy 2018 – 2022.

It was noted that the Off Street Car Parking strategy had been developed to demonstrate the important contribution car parking made towards the economic growth of the Borough. The Service Manager advised that the Borough car parks received around 550,000 visitors each year and that off street car parks had provided an income of £521,000 for the Council in 2016/17 which was predicted to rise to £672,000 in 2017/18 with the introduction of car parking charges at Rushcliffe Country Park. The Service Manager informed the Group that the strategy did not cover on street parking provision, as that was the responsibility of Nottinghamshire County Council.

The Service Manager asked the Group to consider the strategy and the action plan which were attached as an appendix to the officer’s report. The Group were advised that any comments made would be considered so that a final strategy could be presented to Cabinet in May 2018 for approval.

The Service Manager advised that usage of the car parks could vary from year to year due to a wide range of factors for example whether major events had been held within the Borough such as Test Matches at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground. It was also noted that electric vehicle charging points would be introduced across the Borough and these would be funded by central government in a joint project with Nottingham City Council.

Members of Group supported the recent installation of new ticket machines which would be more accurate and reliable in West Bridgford car parks. The Group were also in support of a review of the evening tariff arrangements that residents had occasionally reported as finding confusing.

Members of the Group expressed concern about the limited number of car parking spaces for those who lived in newly built houses that led to residents parking on the road. The Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods agreed to discuss with the Executive Manager – Communities to explore if and how a new requirement of two parking spaces per new build could be introduced.

The Group were also pleased to see that the introduction of the strategy would not conflict with the objectives of the Nottinghamshire Transport Plan.

It was RESOLVED that:

a)    the report of the Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods be noted.

b)    the content of the draft off street car parking strategy be supported

c)    the Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods discuss with the Executive Manager – Communities and the planning department to see if a new requirement of two parking spaces per new build could be introduced to prevent residents from parking on the road.

The Report of the Executive Manager – Finance and Corporate Services is attached.

The committee considered their Work Programme.

The Chairman requested that an interim report be provided to the Group with an update regarding the action plan of tackling single use plastics six – twelve months’ time. The Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods agreed to discuss this suggestion with the Executive Manager – Communities.

Members of the Group noted their concern that they had not been consulted on a piece of art that had been commissioned for Rushcliffe Arena using the income of the sales of the art collection at the Civic Centre. The Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods advised that a sculpture option had been supported by the Portfolio Holder for Community and Leisure and agreed to ask the Executive Manager – Communities be requested to provide an update to the Group on this issue. 

It was RESOLVED that:

a)    the Work Programme, as detailed below be approved.

b)    an interim report be provided to the Group with an update regarding the action plan of tackling single use plastics at the September, 2018 meeting of the Community Development Group.

c)     the Executive Manager – Communities provide an update to the Group regarding the piece of art commissioned for Rushcliffe Arena.

5 June 2018

Economic Development Update

Review of the Public Spaces Protection Order

Community Development Group Annual Report

Work Programme

18 September 2018

Diversity

Digital by Default

Single Use Plastic Action Plan Update

Work Programme

20 November 2018

Rural Broadband Update

The Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre Update

Work Programme

26 February 2019

Tree Protection and Promotion in Rushcliffe Update

Work Programme

Action Sheet

Community Development Group - Tuesday 20 February 2018