Issue - meetings

Briefing and answers to questions from Councillor Brian Haley, Cabinet Member for Environment and Conservation.

Received a briefing on key issues and responses to questions from the Cabinet Member for Environment and Conservation, Cllr. Brian Haley.

The following was noted in response to discussions and further questions:

• The Council was moving towards a ward based cleaning system; information regarding individual ward cleanliness targets would be available in future.
• Whilst the number of claims had decreased concerns were raised about the number of legal claims made due to potholes.  If details of potholes were reported they would be dealt with although they could take a while to go through the system.
• Written responses to the following questions would be provided to Committee Members:
  • Food Recycling - which Schools were currently participating in the pilot? Every school in the Borough had recycling facilities and the food recycling scheme would be rolled out.
  • Pollution - over what time period did the passive diffusion tube monitoring take place?
  • Could Haringey’s actions in communicating the hazards of Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL’s) be more urgent and published in Haringey People? Cllr Bull suggested that the hazards were also communicated at the same time as the bulbs were distributed at Area Assemblies.
  • Disabled Parking Bays – a briefing note would be provided on the current process (how someone would apply for a disabled bay), the recent review and proposals for changing the policy.
  • Resurfacing – could the Council ensure that manhole covers were raised to the height of the carriageway as part of our carriageway resurfacing works and not just tarmaced over?
  • Department for Transport (DfT) was soon to announce new powers for 20 mile per hour (mph) speed limits, how soon could the Council use these powers? A short briefing note on what the new powers were and what the implications for Haringey were would be provided.
• Hornsey Road would be subject to a 20mph speed limit next year. It was possible that Wightman Road could also become 20mph, although there could be problems enforcing this.
• Concerns were raised about flytipping (due to the Council’s charging policy for bulky waste) and the delay in renewing the Council’s waste contract. Charging for the collection of bulky waste ensured the that the service was not oversubscribed; housing estates were provided with skips for communal dumping.  The Council’s waste contract had not yet been renewed due to the time required to collate new options and for tender discussions to take place.
• The Green Fair would continue to be held at rotated venues rather than at a permanent venue.

RESOLVED

That the briefing be noted.