Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Lorna Kercher and Deepak Sangha.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Lorna Kercher and Deepak Sangha.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on the 5 July 2017.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 5 July 2017 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 5 July 2017 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.

Members should notify the Chairman of other business which they wish to be discussed by the Committee at the end of the business set out in the agenda. They must state the circumstances which they consider justify the business being considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chairman will decide whether any item(s) raised will be considered.

There was no other business notified.

There was no other business notified.

Members are reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and are required to notify the Chairman of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda. Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item.  Members declaring a Declarable Interest which requires they leave the room under Paragraph 7.4 of the Code of Conduct, can speak on the item, but must leave the room before the debate and vote.

(1)       The Chairman welcomed those present at the meeting, especially those who had attended to give a presentation;

(2)       The Chairman advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded;

(3)       The Chairman drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

(1)       The Chairman welcomed those present at the meeting, especially those who had attended to give a presentation;

(2)       The Chairman advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded;

(3)       The Chairman drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

There was no one available to present to the Committee from Imajica Theatre.

There was no one available to present to the Committee from Imajica Theatre.

REPORT OF THE LICENSING MANAGER

To comment on the proposed Street Trading Policy for the Council, particularly in relation to any matters relating to Letchworth.

Councillor David Levett declared a declarable interest as he was a member of the BID Board. He stated that this would not affect his ability to take part in the debate and vote.

            RESOLVED: 

(1)        That the report entitled Consultation in Relation to the Proposed Street Trading Policy 2018-2025 be noted;

(2)        That the Licensing Manager be requested to take the following views of the Letchworth Committee into account:

(i)         That the Policy duration should remain at 5 years;

(ii)        That annual consents should only be offered if payment was made in one instalment or by quarterly payments via Direct Debit.

(3)        That Letchworth Committee strongly supports the delegation of responsibility for the control of A boards and trading outside of premises to North Hertfordshire District Council and encourages Hertfordshire County Council to complete the delegation as soon as possible.

REASON FOR DECISION: To provide local input into the proposed Street Trading Policy 2018-2025.

Councillor David Levett declared a declarable interest as he was a member of the BID Board. He stated that this would not affect his ability to take part in the debate and vote.

The Licensing Manager presented a report in respect of the proposed Street Trading Policy 2018-2025.  He advised that consultation had commenced on a revised Policy, part of which was to seek the views of Area Committees.

By way of background, the Licensing Manager explained that the Council had adopted the appropriate Street Trading legislation in 2005. In Street Trading terms, a “street” was a road, footway or other areas to which the public had free access (eg. car parks, shopping arcades). Street Trading was the selling of goods that could be purchased and taken away at the time of purchase.

The Licensing Manager further explained that Charter Markets were exempt from Street Trading, as were shops that displayed some of their wares outside their frontages.  Typically, Street Trading covered burger vans, ice cream vans, ad hoc markets and community events.  In this latter regard, he stated that the revised Policy sought to continue to those parts of the existing Policy which provided encouragement for community events.

The Licensing Manager advised that the Council was able to designate streets as consent streets, where its consent was required to be able to trade within such streets;  prohibited streets, where trading would not be permitted at any time; or not to designate at all.  In 2005, the Council had chosen to designate as consent streets all streets within the District’s four main towns and the arterial roads which linked them.  Village roads/streets had been excluded from such designation.

The Licensing Manager commented that the Policy did not contain any prohibited streets, but appended to it was a list of streets where consent would not normally be granted.

In respect of Advertising Boards (A Boards) and tables and chairs outside restaurants/cafes, the Licensing Manager confirmed that those matters did not fall within the remit of street trading, but were instead the responsibility of Hertfordshire County Council under the Highways Act 1980.

Attempts had been over the years to have responsibility for A Boards delegated to NHDC, however County had been reluctant to do this mainly due to the expectation of financial recompense to undertake the duties.

The Licensing Manager stated that the main objective of the Policy was to protect the public from unregulated street traders.  The Policy also aimed to make things easier for community events to go ahead without having to go through the same process as commercial operators.  Accordingly, it was possible for an annual Town Centre consent to be issued to an appropriate Town Centre organisation (such as a BID company or Community Events Forum), so that all community or commercial operators wishing to trade within the town could approach the Town Centre organisation for permission to use their annual consent.  A cost could be levied on a commercial operator for use of the consent,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

REPORT OF THE STRATEGIC DIRECTOR OF FINANCE, POLICY AND GOVERNANCE.

To update  the Committee on the activities and actions of the Communities Officer, to advise on the current expenditure and balances of the delegated budgets and to consider applications for grant funding.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the Communities Officer be requested to include detailed updates on local organisations in all future reports

(2)       That the Communities Officer be requested to circulate updated budget spreadsheets to all Members;

(3)       That the budgetary expenditure, balances and carry forwards from the Development and Visioning Budgets be noted;

(4)       That the actions taken by the Community Development Officer to promote greater community capacity and well-being for Letchworth Garden City be endorsed.

REASON FOR DECISION:To keep Members of the Committee apprised of the latest developments in community activities in Letchworth Garden City.

The Communities Officer presented the report of the Communities Manager entitled Grants and Community Update and drew attention to the following:

Grant Applications

There were no grant applications to consider at this meeting. This was possibly due to the timing of the meeting in that applications would have had to be submitted during the summer holidays.

Applications were now being received and it was likely that the December meeting of the Committee would have a number of applications to consider.

Councillors Surgery

The last Councillors surgery was quite busy and a list of issues addressed had been circulated to Members.

The next Councillors surgery would take place on Saturday 16 September 2017 between 10.30 and 12.00.

A Member expressed concern that details of issues were being recorded and passed on to Councillors rather than advice being given on the spot. It was often more effective for the resident to report issues to the Council themselves as they would then be able to monitor the result and get direct feedback.

The Communities Officer advised that, where possible, residents were directed to the relevant department.

Premier Inn – Volunteer Work

The Communities officer had been liaising with the Manager of the Premier Inn regarding projects that their staff could undertake or be involved in as part of their volunteer work.

A number of organisations had expressed interest and she would update the Committee in due course.

Updates on Local Organisations

Members welcomed the detailed updates on local organisations included in the report and commented that this should be a regular feature of future reports

Budget Spreadsheets

Members drew attention to the budget spreadsheets and commented that there were some errors.

The Communities Officer advised that she would check the figures and circulate updated spreadsheets to all Members

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the Communities Officer be requested to include detailed updates on local organisations in all future reports

(2)       That the Communities Officer be requested to circulate updated budget spreadsheets to all Members;

(3)       That the budgetary expenditure, balances and carry forwards from the Development and Visioning Budgets be noted;

(4)       That the actions taken by the Community Development Officer to promote greater community capacity and well-being for Letchworth Garden City be endorsed.

REASON FOR DECISION:To keep Members of the Committee apprised of the latest developments in community activities in Letchworth Garden City.

The Chairman to lead a discussion regarding developing a list of capital projects for Section 106 finding in the future.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the Communities Officer be requested to develop and maintain a list of potential projects in Letchworth Garden City that could be used when undertaking negotiations for Section 106  contributions.

(2)       That the following potential projects be included in the list mentioned in (1) above:

(i)             Children’s playground at Lordship Manor Park;

(ii)           Play area in Westbury.

(3)       That the Communities Officer be requested to include this issue in her report for every future meeting.

REASON FOR DECISION: To support negotiations for Section 106 contributions.

The Chairman led a discussion regarding developing a list of capital projects for Section 106 funding in the future.

He reminded Members of the presentation from the Development and Conservation Manager regarding Section 106 fun ding and that, in future negotiations for Section 106 contributions would centre on previously identified projects.

It was therefore suggested that the Committee identify projects that could be used by the Development and Conservation Manager when negotiating Section 106 contributions from future planning applications.

Members debated that it would be helpful to know where developments would take place in order to suggest projects and noted that a list of proposed developments was circulated to all Members each week.

Members were advised that the suggestion was to develop and maintain a “wish list” of potential projects that the Planning Control Department could use if a relevant development application was made.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the Communities Officer be requested to develop and maintain a list of potential projects in Letchworth Garden City that could be used when undertaking negotiations for Section 106  contributions.

(2)       That the following potential projects be included in the list mentioned in (1) above:

(i)             Children’s playground at Lordship Manor Park;

(ii)           Play area in Westbury.

(3)       That the Communities Officer be requested to include this issue in her report for every future meeting.

REASON FOR DECISION: To support negotiations for Section 106 contributions.

To receive any oral reports from Members regarding Ward matters and Outside Organisations.

North Herts Citizens Advice

North Herts Citizens Advice

Councillors Mantle and Rice advised Members that North Herts Citizens Advice were currently in discussion with their Stevenage counterparts with a view to possible amalgamating the two bodies.

NHDC currently paid a substantial grant to North Herts Citizens Advice and there was some concern about how the potential merger would affect services in North Hertfordshire.

Councillor Mantle and Rice undertook to keep the Committee updated regarding this issue.