Minutes for Crosby Area Committee meeting, Oct 7 2009, 6.30PM official page

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Hill and D. Jones and Parish Councillors Hounsell and West.

Members and Officers are requested to give notice of any personal or prejudicial interest and the nature of that interest, relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the relevant Code of Conduct.

No declarations of interest were received.

Part “A”

These items are for general discussion.  Anybody attending the meeting is welcome to speak (subject to the Chair’s discretion).

RESOLVED:  

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 9 September 2009 be confirmed as a correct record.

Inspector Turner presented and reported on Crosby's crime statistics for September 2009, comparing them with the statistics for the same period in 2007 and 2008.

August

(Figures for Hightown in brackets)

2007

2008

2009

All Crime

228 (0)

196 (0)

188 (0)

Violent Crime

27 (0)

33 (0)

37 (0)

Robbery

1 (0)

1 (0)

1 (0)

Burglary Dwelling

15 (0)

16 (0)

20 (0)

Unauthorised theft of Motor Vehicle

5 (0)

9 (0)

3 (0)

Theft from Motor Vehicle

20 (0)

23 (0)

18 (0)

Criminal Damage

67 (0)

35 (0)

29 (0)

Inspector Turner reported on a number of issues including:

·             a concentration of offences at the beginning of September in the Brighton-le-Sands area to which increased resources had been diverted

·             the closure of a second "crack house" in the Claremont Road, Seaforth area and the continuing drugs issues in that area

·             the discovery of a "cannabis farm"

·             the continuing effective use of quad bikes by the Police (Advisory Group Member Mr. B. Wright congratulated the Police on this tactic, which had led to two arrests recently in the Little Crosby area)

·             the conclusion of Operation Safespace in the Coronation Park area

·             prioritisation of robbery and burglary offences.

Inspector Turner also responded to the following points raised by Councillors/members of the public:

·             diversionary activities being planned by the Police for the forthcoming "Mischief Night", Hallowe'en and Bonfire Night period.  (It was reported that local residents had been pleased with the effectiveness of such diversionary activities last year.)

·             Police policies in relation to logging calls and responding to members of the public.  (Members of the public were urged to telephone the Police neighbourhood number [0151  777 3634] to report significant issues)

·             a request to monitor Leopold Road this Bonfire Night in the light of the damage caused last year by miscreants damaging fencing etc. in order to obtain material for bonfires.  (Inspector Turner agreed to monitor this area, together with as many open spaces as possible).

·             thanks to the Police and Fire Brigade for their assistance and advice given to Mr. I. Hamilton Fazey and his family following death and arson threats they had recently received.

Members of the public are invited to ask questions, raise matters, or present petitions on issues which are relevant to Sefton Council.  The person asking a question will be allowed one supplementary question.

(If a response to a question is required which cannot be provided at the meeting or if the question is not reached within the 45 minute period, the Chair will either refer the matter to the appropriate Service Department for a written answer or to the appropriate Cabinet Member for further consideration).

Part “B”

These are formal decisions to be taken by Members of the Council.  Only in exceptional cases will the Chair allow contributions from the public (Advisory Group Members may speak but not vote).

The following matters were raised during the Open Forum:

(a)       Ms. D. Winstanley indicated that she lived in Brownmoor Park and her children attended Great Crosby Catholic Primary School.  The school encouraged the children to walk to school but the family found it virtually impossible to cross Brownmoor Lane before and after school, due to the heavy traffic travelling at high speeds.  She asked if there were any plans to appoint a "lollipop person" for this stretch of road or to introduce traffic calming measures.  She added that she had raised this same question in 2003 when her children started at the school and she had been told that the Council would look into the matter.

The Assistant Director (Neighbourhoods) agreed to pursue this matter with her colleagues in the Technical Services Department.

(b)       Mr. I. Hamilton Fazey, the Chairman of the Waterloo Residents' Association, referred to the guidelines to the Licensing Act 2003 in relation to consultation on licensing policy.  Whilst acknowledging that open meetings and forums were not cost-free, his Association strongly urged the Council to adopt them as policy.  His Association also urged the Licensing Sub-Committee to defer consideration of all new licences in Crosby and Waterloo until an appropriate open meeting had been held and a standing consultation forum established.  The Association's treasurer, Mr. C. Harvey, referred to Sections 9.3 and 1.10 which, he believed, gave Councils sufficient flexibility to take account of objections received to licensing applications and to depart from their own policies, if considered appropriate.

The Assistant Director (Neighbourhoods) had sent a written response to Mr. Hamilton Fazey which indicated that the Licensing Authority had no power to defer an application and that the Act required the Authority to deal with applications within 20 working days of the expiry of the 28 day period allowed for objections.  The response also stated that the holding of a consultation forum was not a statutory requirement under the Act, although it was recommended.  The response undertook to consider the possibility of arranging a number of such forum meetings as part of the planned review of licensing policy next year.  Whether or not a forum was established, any cumulative impact case for the Waterloo area would have to be based on sound evidence.

Members acknowledged that there could be a need for the existing legislation to be "tweaked".  The Chair stated that he was sure that the Licensing and Regulatory Committee would be happy to discuss the general thrust of the Association's representations and it was agreed to refer the issue to that Committee for consideration.

Report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director

The Committee considered the report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director which sought approval for the progression of a Traffic Regulation Order to provide a disabled resident with a parking place directly outside their place of residence.  The report indicated that all new TROs for Disabled Parking Permits allowed for the provision of a numbered permit which restricted the use of the bay to the applicant only.

It was proposed to introduce an individual Order for the road incorporating all the existing restrictions.

RESOLVED:   That

(1)       the Traffic Regulation Order providing a numbered permit for the bay centrally located outside the following address, as set out in the plan at Annex A and as detailed in the report, be approved:

·             28 Harrowby Road, Seaforth; and

(2)       the Traffic Services Manager be authorised to undertake the necessary legal procedures, including those of public consultation and advertising the Council's intention to implement the Order.

Report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director Director

The Committee considered the report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director which sought approval for the provision of Traffic Regulation Orders, to remove certain Disabled Persons' Parking Places (DPPs.)  The report indicated that information had been received by the Council that the disabled persons' parking places were no longer required, as the original applicants no longer lived there.

It was proposed to introduce individual Orders for the roads incorporating all the existing restrictions.

RESOLVED:   That

(1)       the Traffic Regulation Orders providing numbered DPPs centrally located outside the following addresses, as detailed in the report, be revoked:

·             2 Staley Avenue, Crosby

·             87 Myers Road West, Crosby

·             35 Devonshire Road, Waterloo; and

(2)       the Traffic Services Manager be authorised to undertake the necessary legal procedures, including those of public consultation and advertising the Council's intention to revoke the DPPs from the Orders.

Report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director

Further to Minute No. 49 of 9 September 2009, the Committee considered the report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director indicating that the balance of the budget available for allocation during 2009/10, including sums set aside for the provision of litterbins, was £20,727.66.

There had been no new requests for funding of up to £1,000.

The Assistant Director (Neighbourhoods) indicated that, further to Minute No. 47 of 9 September 2009, funding had been found outside the existing delegated budget for the additional £411 required to finance the re-designed alleygate at the rear of Hastings Road and Eastbourne Road, Waterloo.  She also indicated that further reductions to the unit costs for the provision of new street nameplates had been negotiated and she requested Members to supply her with a final list of priority sites for these nameplates as soon as possible.

Members referred to instances where existing litterbins had been destroyed by joyriders/vandalism and questioned why replacement bins should have to be funded by this Committee's delegated budget.  The Assistant Director (Neighbourhoods) agreed to investigate this issue.

Copies of correspondence relating to questions which have been answered since the last meeting are attached for information only.

Copies of responses to issues raised at previous meetings of the Committee were submitted for information.

RESOLVED:  

That the correspondence be noted.

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 4 November 2009, at SING Plus, Cambridge Road, Seaforth, commencing at 6.30 p.m.

RESOLVED:  

That the next meeting of the Committee be held at 6.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 4 November 2009 at SING Plus, Cambridge Road, Seaforth.