Minutes for Southport Area Committee meeting, Feb 3 2010, 6.30PM official page

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Hands, Pearson and Porter.

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.

Minutes of the meeting held on 6 January 2010

The Committee considered the Minutes of the meeting held on 6 January 2010.

Councillor McGuire referred to Minute No. 113(g) - (Open Forum question relating to Southport Library)- and indicated that the 30 signature petition detailed in the Minute was part of a larger petition containing several thousand signatures.

RESOLVED:  

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 6 January 2010 be confirmed as a correct record.

To receive a presentation from Mr. Paul Acres, Chair of NHS Sefton on the work of the Primary Care Trust (PCT) and to deliver key messages and receive feedback around health matters.

The Committee received a presentation from Mr. Paul Acres, Chair of NHS Sefton on the work of the Primary Care Trust (PCT) and on the key messages around health matters.

Mr. Acres:

·             indicated that the PCT had now been in operation for three years and in effect was the NHS for Sefton

·             indicated that £500m per year was spent on health care

·             referred to the document "Better Health: Better Life" and the consultations undertaken regarding health services

·             identified the following priorities for the PCT:

(i)                improving the health of all residents

(ii)    reducing health inequalities

(iii)    improvements to all health services

(iv)    spending of money wisely

(v)    engagement with our communities

·             indicated that patient waiting times had greatly reduced

·             indicated that all national targets had nearly been met

·             stated that there was now improved access to G.P.s at weekends and out of hours

·             indicated that MRSA and hospital infections had been dramatically reduced

·             referred to the opening of the new Portland Street Centre

·             detailed the provision of new dental services

·             stated that one of the major challenges of the PCT was to reduce health inequalities between electoral Wards

·             referred to the transformation of community services - looking at the best way of providing services at a local level

·             indicated that the PCT was under great financial pressures - £325 million savings had to be made over the next five years

Mr. Acres, along with Mrs. J. Massam, Children's Trust Director, answered questions from Members and Local Advisory Group Members on the following topics:

·             the poor bus service to Southport D.G.H. from Lord Street

·             the cessation of Homeopathy services

·             potential cuts in community spending

·             the submission of the PCT budget to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Health and Social Care) for approval to improve democratic accountability

·             out of hours cover

·             complaints about the out of hours service

·             the current situation concerning the children's spinal injuries unit

·             the demands for service provision due to the large elderly population in the north of the borough

RESOLVED:   That

(1)       Mr. Acres and Mrs. Massam be thanked for their informative presentation; and

(2)       Mr. Acres be requested to provide the Committee with information concerning the numbers of complaints received about the out of hours G.P. service.

Report of the Neighbourhoods and Investment Programmes Director

Further to Minute No. 103 of 6 January 2010, the Committee considered the report of the Neighbourhoods and Investment Programmes Director indicating that the balance of the budget available for allocation during 2009/10, including sums set aside for the provision of litterbins, was as follows:

Ward

Available Funds

£

Ainsdale

      8,250.58

Birkdale

    14,691.18

Cambridge

      8,070.83

Dukes

    11,635.28

Kew

      2,051.29

Meols

    11,277.25

Norwood

    19,029.84

Town-wide

      2,812.50

Total

    77,818.75

Details of the allocations made by each ward against the general provision in the current year were set out in the report.

RESOLVED:   That

(1)      the remaining balance of £77,818.75 of the budget available for further allocation for the rest of the year be noted;

(2)      the following allocations be approved:

Scheme

Ward

Amount

£

Waste bin or dog waste bin at the corner of Emmanuel Road and Radnor Drive

Cambridge

      210

Albert Road - provision of wall mounted street sign where the road meets Park Crescent

Cambridge

       45

(3)      the following allocations, notified to the Neighbourhoods and Investment Programmes Director since the preparation of his report, be approved:

Scheme

Ward

Amount

£

Horizontal climbing equipment at Birkdale County Primary School

Birkdale

750

Provision of waste/litter bin at the bus stop at the top end of Marshside Road near the traffic lights on the even side (Meols Ward side of the road)

Cambridge (£110)

Meols (£100)

210

(4)      the Neighbourhoods and Investment Programmes Director be requested to include in his next budget monitoring report clarification on the following issues:

          (i)       are the budgets allocated for litter bins and street signs ring-fenced for such purposes;

          (ii)      are the balances available for litter bins and street signs, as referred to in paragraph 2 of the report, correct; and

          (iii)      if a litter bin is damaged and has to be removed, does the Area Committee have to fund a replacement from its devolved budget.

Report of the Leisure and Tourism Director

Further to Minute No. 103(4) of 6 January 2010, the Committee considered the report of the Leisure and Tourism Director seeking the reallocation of £1,500 from the Norwood Ward devolved budget towards the cost of structural repairs to the Portland Street playing fields changing pavilion pending the design and construction of new changing room facilities on this site.

RESOLVED:  

That a contribution of £1,500 made up of £500 each from the Birkdale, Meols and Norwood devolved budgets to fund structural repairs at the Portland Street sports pavilion be approved.

Report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director

Further to Minute No. 113(d) of 6 January 2010, the Committee considered the report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director on the winter service provision.

The report indicated that the current winter service policy was approved by Council in 2004; that there were set gritting routes for both footways and carriageways; that 209 miles of carriageway were on the gritting schedule, 35% of the total network whilst best practice suggested gritting a minimum of 20%; and that footway gritting was undertaken in the town centres of Bootle, Crosby, Formby, Maghull and Southport.

The report also detailed the problems experienced due to the extreme adverse weather conditions in winter 2009/10.

The report concluded by detailing that a highway authority had a statutory duty to maintain the highway and must take such care as in all the circumstances was reasonably required to secure that the highway was not dangerous; and that legal advice was such that by virtue of the fact that Sefton Council had published a Winter Service Policy and Operational Plan and had documentary proof that it had used its best endeavours to ensure compliance with and delivery of that policy it could demonstrate that it had complied with its statutory duties.

RESOLVED:   That

(1)       the report on the winter service gritting provision be noted; and

(2)       the Cabinet Member - Technical Services be requested to explore the possibility of gritting roads and pavements on approaches to schools.

The Chair indicated that following consultation with Party Spokespersons on the Committee, it was agreed that for Police Issues, a similar system would be introduced to that of the Open Forum; that Members/Local Advisory Group Members and local residents would be able to submit questions in advance; and that questions should be submitted to the Committee Administrator who could then co-ordinate responses with the appropriate Inspector.  The Chair continued that this would provide the relevant Inspector with the opportunity to provide a more detailed response to a question than if it was asked at the meeting; and concluded that the new arrangement would not preclude questions being raised at the meeting if the questioner did not have the opportunity to submit the question in advance.

Members of the public/Committee raised the following issues:

·           reference was made to a reported 73% increase in violent crime in Southport.  Was this true?  Inspector Fairbrother and Inspector McLoughlin both indicated that the reported increase was due to many more crimes now being classified as violent, such as public order offences.  In the compilation of previous statistics this was not the case.  Inspector Fairbrother continued that, due to the nature of the night time economy in Southport, there was always the potential for crime, but that there had been a steady reduction in crime in the town centre; and that this had been brought about by good partnership working arrangements with the Council and town centre licensees.

·           a question was asked about a reduction of Police numbers in Merseyside and whether any front line officers would be lost from Southport.  Inspector Fairbrother indicated that from the information he was aware of, the number of front line staff would remain the same at least until 2013.

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 and, provided the questioner is present or represented, any interested members of the public will be permitted to ask supplementary questions, provided the total time on each issue does not exceed five minutes. Questions must be handed to the Committee Administrator at least 15 minutes before the commencement of the meeting ie, by 6.15 p.m.

(If the questioner does not attend the meeting or nominate a representative to attend (at the discretion of the Chair), the question will not be read out, but a written response will be forwarded to the questioner.  If a response to a question is required which cannot be provided at the meeting or if the question is not reached within the 1 hour 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).

During the Open Forum the following questions/comments/petitions were submitted:

(a)      Ms. S. Flint referred to two accidents involving children attending Stanley High School that occurred whilst they crossed Marshside Road by the bus stop.  Ms. Flint alleged that the crossing currently on Marshside Road was in the wrong place and not used by pupils; suggested that the Fylde Road/Marshside Road junction should be investigated with a view to improving the safety of pedestrians when crossing the roads at this location; and stated that the installation of speed cameras/a 20 mph speed limit may help to resolve the problems being experienced.

The Committee Administrator advised the meeting that the Traffic Services Manager had responded to Ms. Flint by letter dated 2 February 2010. 

(b)      Local Advisory Group Member Mrs. M. Pointon referred to £25,000 that was identified for the cleaning up and painting of Cambridge Arcade;  and requested a breakdown of the costs of the work undertaken.

RESOLVED:  

That the Civic Buildings Manager be requested to provide a response to Mrs. Pointon.

(c)      Mr. T.W. Newman indicated that he lived on the corner of Cemetery Road and Portland Street and had seen some of the crashes that had taken place at the junction; that after speaking to the Police who attended such accidents, the location of traffic signage was blamed as the sign should be a Stop signal and not a Give Way sign to give drivers plenty of time to stop.

He continued that to say that a set of traffic lights and additional double yellow lines was needed was questionable; and asked why did it take so long to reach this conclusion if it was so simple and cheaper to cure, unless there was another reason for the lights.  Residents had suffered enough pollution outside their houses without standing traffic caused by traffic lights; and 90% of the traffic along this stretch was along Cemetery Road so it was best left as it was and not causing more problems.

RESOLVED:  

That the comments made by Mr. Newman be included as a response to the public consultation exercise to be undertaken regarding the proposed signal controlled junction at Cemetery Road/Portland Street.

Report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director

The Committee considered the report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director indicating that, as part of a larger scale project to clean the Lord Street Phase 2 Project area, the Town Hall Gardens, Princess Diana Gardens and Bandstand Gardens, there was an opportunity to cost-effectively clean other designated areas of Southport town centre namely, Chapel Street, Corporation Street, Cambridge Arcade and part of Nevill Street; and that funding was sought from the Committee’s devolved budget as a contribution towards such works.

The Planning and Economic Regeneration Director advised the meeting that following the receipt of tenders, £9,820.20 was required from the devolved budget for the deep cleansing operation twice per year, whilst £4,910.10 was required to deep cleanse once per year.

RESOLVED:   That

(1)       the cleansing and removal of chewing gum along Chapel Street, Cambridge Arcade, Corporation Street and part of Nevill Street in April 2010, at a cost of £4,910.10 be approved and the cost be allocated as follows:

Ward/Town-wide Provision

£

Town-wide

    3,500.00

Dukes

    1,410.10

(2)       the funding for the scheme referred to in (1) above be allocated from the 2010/11 devolved budget;

(3)       the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director undertake a review in June/July 2010 to ascertain the necessity for a further deep cleanse of the areas in October 2010;

(4)       the Assistant Director - Environmental be requested to submit a report to the Cabinet Member - Environmental on:

            (i)         the possibility of purchasing a hot washing machine to remove gum from pavements; and

            (ii)        utilising in the future only litter bins equipped with a "stubber" to accommodate cigarette butts and chewing gum; and

(5)       the Southport Business Enterprise Manger be requested to seek contributions from town centre businesses to contribute towards the deep cleansing operations.

Report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director

The Committee considered the report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director seeking approval for the provision of a vehicle activated traffic calming sign for Fylde Road, Crossens, to be funded via the Cambridge Ward devolved budget.

The report indicated that Fylde Road was a predominantly long and straight route with a slight bend close to the shopping area; detailed the accident record/review of traffic calming in the area; and that as the route did not meet the criteria for the introduction of traffic calming measures through the Council's LTP local safety scheme programmes, the funding for the sign would need to be provided from an alternative source.  The cost of the sign and electrical connection was £4,500.

RESOLVED:  

That the installation of a vehicle activated traffic calming sign for Fylde Road, at a cost of £4,500 be approved and funded from the Cambridge Ward devolved budget.

Report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director

The Committee considered the report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director on a proposed Traffic Regulation Order, the effect of which would extend the existing "At Any Time" parking restrictions on Fairhaven Road, Crossens.

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

RESOLVED:   That

(1)       the Traffic Regulation Order as shown on annexe A and as detailed in the report, be approved; 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

The Committee considered the report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director on a proposed Traffic Regulation Order, the effect of which would provide 14 - 15 dedicated disabled person's parking places on West Street, Southport to assist access to the Independent Living Centre on Scarisbrick Avenue.

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

RESOLVED:   That

(1)       the Traffic Regulation Order as referred to above and as set out in the plans and detailed in the report, be approved; 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

Further to Minute No. 97(1)(i) of 18 November 2009, the Committee considered the report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director outlining the results of the consultation exercise for the introduction of a signal controlled junction at Cemetery Road/Portland Street and seeking approval to implement the scheme.

The report indicated that 26 questionnaires were distributed and that 6 were returned, a response rate of 23% which was average for a consultation of this nature; that of the responses, 50% were in favour and 50% were against the proposal; and that following the consultation, a number of minor amendments had been made, primarily to accommodate access and egress to a garage but also to minimise, where possible, the impact of the proposed "No Waiting" restrictions on local residents.

The report concluded that the provision of traffic signals at this junction would provide an accident reducing feature, provide improved pedestrian crossing facilities and ease the movement of cyclists on the East-West route; that amendments had been made to the plans to accommodate the concerns raised by residents and that suggestions made by the petrol filling station owner; and that the length of the proposed waiting restrictions had been minimised;  and

RESOLVED:   That

(1)       the construction of the proposed signal controlled junction at Cemetery Road/Portland Street be approved; and

(2)            subject to the extent of the Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) being agreed with the Kew Ward Members, 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 required for the introduction of the additional TROs.

The Committee considered correspondence relating to the above.

RESOLVED:  

That the correspondence be noted.

RESOLVED:   That

(1)       the Southport Business Enterprise Manager be requested to submit a report on the private sector aspirations for the town centre and what contributions they are willing to make to improve the street scene; and

(2)       a copy of the report "Operation Collar" (considered by the Cabinet Member - Environmental on 13 January 2010) be sent to all Members of the Committee for information; and following perusal of the report, Members contact the Chair of the Committee if they wish the matter to be the subject of a presentation to a future meeting.

In accordance with the agreed programme of meetings for this Area Committee, the next meeting will be held on Wednesday, 31 March 2010 at the Town Hall, Lord Street, Southport, commencing at 6.30p.m.

RESOLVED:   That

(1)       the next meeting be held on Wednesday, 31 March 2010 at the Town Hall, Lord Street, Southport, commencing at 6.30 p.m.; and

(2)       the Legal and Democratic Services Director be requested to amend the schedule of meetings for the Committee in 2010/11 to take place at a six weeks frequency.