Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chair and Vice-Chair of the BPP for the municipal year 2006/7.

Following nomination by Cllr Lorna Reith, Cllr Brian Haley was elected Chair for the municipal Year 2006-07.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business.  (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear.  New items will be dealt with at Item 14 below).

Apologies were received from the following Members:

Jill Sterry, Thames Water

Judith Hanna, English Nature

Paul Hand, Haringey Metropolitan Police

Pat Hayes, Transport for London (represented by Peter Livermore)

Philip Dale, HA21 CSG

Ibilolea Campbell, Haringey Residents Forum

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business.  (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear.  New items will be dealt with at Item 14 below).

There was no Urgent Business.

A member with a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the BPP at which the matter is considered must disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest at the commencement of that consideration, or when the interest becomes apparent.

A member with a personal interest in a matter also has a prejudicial interest in that matter if the interest is one which a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the member’s judgement of the public interest.

There were no Declarations of Interest

As the minutes of the BPP meeting held on 8^th March 2006 were unavailable at the meeting, they were requested to be presented at the next meeting for discussion and approval. In the interim, a copy was to be sent to the Chair.

Report of the Haringey Chief Executive’s Policy, Partnership and Consultation Team (attached).

The report was tabled for noting. The process was explained whereby the HSP was reviewing the community strategy which expires this year and to consider for the future

2007-2116. A conference for HSP partners had been held at Alexandra Palace and a number of issues had been raised, which was a useful starting point for consideration. All partners had been requested to consider the priorities and participate in the public consultation process. The partnership was to review strategy in March 2007, setting priorities in Haringey. A theme group event was to take place on 13^th September, when the partnership will be drawn together in the wider aspect of the HSP.

The key themes in the Local Area Agreement were to give priorities to targets. Additional funding would be made available by central government. In order to start the process for the agenda, there would be a public consultation on the community strategy, with a residents’ conference to be held on 2^nd July, with local groups to feed in. One question was as to how long the community strategy plan should cover, with 2016 maybe being too long a period. Residents’ associations within the borough are able to be contacted through the Federation of Residents Associations.

The current priorities for the group were due to be discussed under Agenda Item 11, however the incorrect Terms of Reference had been circulated as they had been updated several times. It was agreed that the current and correct Terms of Reference, including priorities, be made available for the next meeting. The new priorities and budgets would be required for funding. It was emphasised that projects were required which were sustainable in the real world.

A five-minute each update to the BPP from Key Partners/Agencies on issues prevalent to their areas of work (UPDATES TO BE TABLED AT MEETING).

·                    Haringey Council

·                    The Community Engagement Forum

·                    Other agencies: including Fire, Police, Environment Agency, Mobility Forum.

i)        Haringey Council

The Better Haringey campaign programme for a cleaner and greener Haringey, from the last administration, had been delivered and was to be continued. The question now arose as to where does it go next. Issues discussed centred around funding streams.

With regard to improving homes, it was reported that the ALMO was now up and running, with improvements in progress for a successful inspection later this year.

Local transport – work continued with TFL implementing safety schemes, which were having an impact on statistics.

Environmental sustainability – recycling and its wider impact had been led by work of the partnership.

Sports & Leisure centres and parks – wider use was being made of the facilities.

Built environment – design and design standards would be the major theme over the next four years.    

ii)                  Community Engagement

       The latest copy of the Bulletin, ‘Haringey Community Action’ was circulated.

       Concern was raised as to housing densities and the tripling of housing developments. There was hope that high densities of housing would be dropped. There was still an open space deficiency in the borough. It was thought that the current definition was inadequate, having recalculated the open space deficiency, in order to protect the available open space in the borough.

       Resourcing parks was requested now, the view of the community being that they require dedicated staffing to be in the parks. Funding for parks was inadequate and a comparative review was requested with other boroughs. It was thought that more relevant funding was required and, although it was agreed that parks should receive more money, budgets were tight. The ‘Streetscope’ manual, which was to be published shortly, was welcomed.

iii)                Fire Service

It was emphasised that community fire safety was the priority, with the provision of free smoke alarms and fire safety checks for vulnerable people. The figure for dwellings without smoke alarms is 70%. With secondary fires some were down 80% but overall they are decreasing. The actual figures are on the attached spreadsheet that was requested at the meeting. The gap in the individual categories and the total is for fires such as grass fires which accounts for spikes in hot summers – this year will be very high. However we are concentrating on reducing the ‘anti-social’ areas where we can have some influence such as rubbish fires from fly tipping, bin rooms being left unlocked, abandoned vehicles, etc. these fires are declining but with local partnership working we can become more effective and assist in ‘cleaning up’ Haringey. The graph below reflects the patterns.

iv)                Mobility

       Mobility Forum had been in existence now for 2 years. It was mentioned that Hackney had a good community transport scheme and a link up was proposed with them, to provide a service with neighbouring boroughs. The service should be for all age groups, for people who were having difficulties with using conventional transport.

            It was suggested that HSP be requested to identify the level of resources that are aspired to for a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

A presentation from the Environmental Services Assistant Director (Recreational Services).

The Groundworkprogramme in Haringey was described; phase 2 of the programme of the projects was now underway improving access and the quality of open space. A 3 to 6 year business plan was in place, with the ability to access other funding.

Groundwork was looking at deprived communities across London, whilst moving towards cross borough and inter borough relationships. They aim to align priorities to local area agreements. Their role was in joining things up at the local level, whilst pooling resources. The environment was used as a tool within local communities, involving both the private as well as the public sector, in local regeneration projects.

Phase 1 was completed at the end of 2005, bringing new resources into the borough. The final report was due in October 2006, including the final programme. 6 projects in Haringey projects were used as examples, with 12 businesses in Wood Green involved in recycling. It was proposed to develop the programme and projects over a 3 year period with the priorities being proposed by the theme group. Suggestions were, therefore, required from the theme board. Success depended on support from LSP and theme boards, with a commitment from the authority. Groundwork was effectively playing a communication role to a wider audience.

Note: Colour copies of the slide presentation are appended to these minutes, as technical malfunction did not permit their showing at the meeting.

Feedback from the Environmental Services Assistant Director (Service Improvement).

The programme of work was presented for 2006 - 07. The full report would be presented to the next meeting. A query was raised as to the budget allocation prior to this meeting. It was necessary to have available a budget to prioritise projects now, with the projects being agreed by the theme board. Members requested that they required briefing on the different funding streams which were available.

A presentation from the Environmental Services Assistant Director (Recreational Services).

This involved Implementation of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy (comprising 8 priority points) and was a Statutory document .Detailed proposals were presented for 2005/6 - 2008/9 and indicative proposals for 2009/10 - 2010/11. The first 2 years funding had been allocated, being linked to LIP Funding Submission of July 2006. A Strategic Environmental Assessment was presently required. Haringey LIP proposals included road safety, 20mph zones, bus priority, station security measures, community transport scheme, accessibility improvements, pedestrian phase programme, cycle route programme, town centre schemes and travel awareness. The draft LIP consultation took place in summer 2005, with the adoption of the final LIP in October 2006. The road safety plan in Haringey was described in detail.

Discussion paper on Developing a Climate Change Action Plan and Projects (attached).

The development of an action plan and associated projects was described. The declaration on climate change had been signed, with a climate change audit proposed on council activities. It was intended to promote close partnership working, with a reduction in fossil fuel based use. The Haringey community leadership role was described, with an action plan for the council itself and then to widen to embrace all of the partners. There was considered to be capacity for renewable energy, with the proposals and actions contained in the report. A feasibility study would be carried out later this year.

The BPP will be asked to affirm the terms of reference and membership for 2006/7 (attached).

This Agenda Item was postponed to the next meeting, when the correct and up-to-date document would be made available.

The Chair, Cllr B Haley, was appointed as the BPP representative to attend the HSP meeting on the following evening. This would be reviewed at the next BPP meeting in September 2006, together with the appointment of a deputy chair for the BPP theme board.

To consider any new items admitted under Item 2 above.

There were no items of urgent business.

·        13 September 2006, 7pm venue tbc

·        11 December 2006, 7pm venue tbc

·        26 February 2007, 7pm venue tbc

·        13 September 2006, 5pm

·        11 December 2006, 5pm

·        26 February 2007, 5pm