Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the previous meeting be approved as a correct record.

There were no items of urgent business.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no deputations or petitions.

Briefing to follow.

Cllr Brabazon reported that she had been asked by a local resident to add this to the agenda, and a briefing from officers on this issue had been tabled.

Costas Christoforou gave a brief outline of the Finsbury Park Accord, which was a tripartite accord between Hackney, Haringey and Islington councils, with Islington the lead authority. The accord related to the town centre of Finsbury Park, including the park itself, and had been signed two weeks ago by the leaders of the authorities involved. It was reported that the agreement was currently in its infancy, and that action plans would be brought forward in the coming year with the aim of improving the area for all residents. It was noted that the bulk of the area covered fell within the other boroughs, and that for Haringey the main areas affected were the park itself and the housing along Stroud Green Road.

In response to questions from the Committee, it was advised that at this early stage, no action plans had been developed as yet. It was anticipated that in time each borough would identify appropriate funding. The accord was currently being managed by the NLSA, with a view to transferring it to an arms-length organisation, although these arrangements were still at a very early stage.

It was felt that it was right for the Area Committee to monitor the accord, and that it would be essential to get an early draft of the proposed action plan when this was available. NLSA would be welcome to attend future meetings to update the Committee on progress.

Concern was expressed that the first that ward councillors had heard about this initiative was on Harringay Online, and that it seemed to have come out of nowhere – it was agreed that the Chair would write to the Leader, on behalf of the Area Committee, to seek more information. It was also suggested that Members should meet with John McGill, either informally or at the next meeting; if it were not possible to meet with John McGill before the next meeting, it was suggested that a briefing should at least be supplied to Members.

News round-up and current consultations

Concern was expressed that residents were reporting that they had not received the consultation documents on the St Ann’s development, and Cllr Alexander reported that, as a local resident, she personally had not received them. It was agreed that the Chair would write to the Mental Health Trust to follow this issue up, as a commitment had been made that the document would be sent to every household in the borough. It was further agreed that the Chair would contact the Mental Health Trust regarding the suggestion that the commissioning group should attend a meeting of the Community Reference Group to discuss health provision at St Ann’s.

Cllr Adamou advised that the St Ann’s development would be a subject for discussion by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

It was suggested that the number of items for discussion under the ‘news round-up’ segment be reduced for future meetings, in order to allow more time for questions from residents; it was suggested that presenting these items in the form of stands may be a better way of handling these items. Members felt, however, that the information presented had been useful, particularly for the items on the proposals around the artwork element of the West Green Road improvements, which not everyone had been aware of, and the Alexandra Palace consultation.

Some concern was expressed that not all ward councillors had been aware of the West Green Road artwork issue before it had been raised at this meeting. Officers would be advised in future to use as clear language as possible in addressing the Area Forum, and to avoid jargon.

It was suggested that the Article 4 Direction should be a standing item on the agenda; while some concern was expressed regarding the timescale for progressing this, it was noted that the time-frame was set out in law and it was recognised that it was positive that this was being taken forward. It was suggested that a specific enforcement strategy needed to be developed to support the Article 4 Direction.

It was suggested that Planning and Licensing issues, and how people could engage with applications and consultations could be an item at the next meeting. The Committee discussed the issues around Certificates of Lawfulness, and the need to rigorously check the documentation associated with these. It had been suggested that the Regulatory Committee could have a report on a random sample of Certificate of Lawfulness applications, to monitor whether documentation was being checked, and the Committee endorsed this suggestion. It was recognised that it was positive that the Planning and Licensing departments were working together more closely on issues around HMOs.

Waste and Recycling: the new arrangements

Some Committee members felt that the presentation on waste and recycling had given the impression that there were no positive aspects of the new arrangements, and that this was not an entirely balanced view of the situation. Others felt that it was useful to focus on the problems, in order to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

Joan Hancox presented the report on the evaluation of Phase I of the waste collection roll-out and lessons learned for Phase II, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting for Members’ consideration.

In response to a question, it was reported that the Council had applied to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for funding in order to enable food waste recycling to be introduced to estates, and was awaiting a decision. The Committee noted that there were certain streets that seemed disproportionately affected by the introduction of larger bins; it was suggested that officers should revisit these streets and to take a decision as to whether smaller bins should be provided in these areas.

The Chair advised that, in Bromley, food recycling bags were delivered on a quarterly basis to residents, and extra supplies could be obtained from local libraries – this was suggested as a possible idea to be explored.

It was noted that the Council was working to resolve the outstanding issues with regard to the new arrangements, and Members were encouraged to report any issues that they were aware of in order to assist this process.

The Committee noted the content of the briefing note circulated on progress with the additional HMO licensing scheme. It was reported that Steve Russell would attend the next meeting of the Committee to discuss this issue in greater detail. Cllr Schmitz advised that he had spoken with Steve Russell, who had confirmed that he passed on details of all HMOs he was aware of to Planning, in order to confirm whether they were legal.

The Committee agreed that HMO Licensing should be a standing item at every meeting.

Joan Hancox presented the report, circulated in advance of the meeting, on the procedures for updating the Area Plans. It was agreed that outcomes needed to be added to the Area Plan, in order that these could be monitored.

The Committee considered the briefing note, previously circulated, and noted that Committee Members would be kept informed of progress with this issue. A further update would be provided at the next meeting.

Cllr Canver advised that the Green Lanes TFL Corridor scheme would be discussed at the Green Lanes Strategy Group meeting next week.

The Committee discussed items for future meetings, and it was suggested that Licensing and Planning issues could be the main discussion item at the next meeting. It was also suggested that there should in future be a session on residents’ involvement in enforcement issues.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 20^th September 2012.

It was suggested that the next meeting should be held at the same venue (Cyprus Kitchen) as this was centrally-located.

The Committee formally thanked Liz Ixer for her contribution to the Area Forum.

The meeting closed at 21:50hrs.