Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.  

Apologies for absence were received from the following people:

David Anstey

Nic Durston

Councillor Toni Mallet (Overview and Scrutiny representative)

Neil Mawson

Susan Otiti

The Chair will consider the admission of any items of Urgent Business. (Late items of Urgent Business will be dealt with under the agenda item where they appear. New items of Urgent Business will be dealt with under Item 11 below).

No new items of Urgent Business were raised.

Agenda items 8 and 10 were tabled at the meeting.

Members of the Board must declare any personal and/or prejudicial interests with respect to agenda items and must not take part in the consideration of those items.

No declarations of interest were made.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 22 October 2009 as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 22 October be confirmed as a correct record.   

Information and presentations will be provided by the successful bidders set out below:

• Hornsey Meadow                  -Kate Allardyce
• Markfield Travellers              -Roz Corrigan
• Transitions Finsbury Park    -Carol Glover
• BME Carers Support            -Cenk Orhan

The Board received presentations from four of the successful bidders that had received money from the Greenest Borough Innovation Fund.

Markfield Park Travellers

The Board received a presentation from Roz Corrigan of the Markfield Park Travellers Project aimed at assisting young people with learning difficulties to travel independently.

To date two young people had been through the scheme and it was hoped that once they were confident in travelling independently they would be able to act as mentors. In this way more young people would benefit from the project.

In response to a query the Board was advised that although the group was aware of proposals to included an additional access point to Markfield Park they had not been formally consulted on this or on changes to traffic flow on Broad Lane. However, it was indicated that the group would welcome an additional bus stop being included within Markfield Park.

The Chair commended the project and noted that enabling people to live independently represented a real shift in approach.

Hornsey Meadow

A presentation was given by Kate Allardyce from the Hornsey Meadow project.

The Board was advised that the land had been donated by NHS Haringey and the project was aimed at promoting well-being. A range of initiatives were being undertaken as part of the project including:

• Food growing and promoting sustainable food sources
• Fostering ‘green skills’ particularly amongst young people with the involvement of schools
• Developing social cohesion by bringing together people from different groups within the community to work on projects

A steering group, comprised of local people, had been established, which was overseeing work to create a community organisation with charitable status. A consultation event was also being held on 19 December to gauge how people would like to see the project develop.

The Board was advised that the British Trust for Community Volunteers (BTCV) had not been approached to date but as the project developed this would be considered. Similarly match funding had not been pursued as yet as funding during the first year had been secured.

It was suggested that it may be useful for the project to contact Natural England with regard to participating in a pilot the organisation was running to examine the therapeutic benefits of the natural environment.

There was agreement that the Board should be receive a report on ? at a future meeting.

Transitions Finsbury Park

The Board was advised that the Jamboree Huts were locked when they were not in use. However, the planted areas within the site were open and could be vandalised if people were minded to do so.

It was suggested that the group might find it useful to create links with the ‘Green Roots’ scheme run by the Metropolitan Housing Trust situated in the north of Finsbury Park.

BME Carers Support

The Board was advised that a sensory garden had been established at the Selby Centre. The project had been established after consulting Carers and their clients and a common theme arising from this had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61.

A presentation will be provided with respect to:

• Priority Six: Promoting Sustainable Transport

The Board received a presentation on performance and progress with respect to Priority Six of the Greenest Borough Strategy (GBS): Promoting Sustainable Transport.

An overview was given of the key projects being undertaken as part of this priority. These fell under six broad areas:

• Schools and Work Travel Plans
• Bus Routes
• Community Transport
• London Cycle Network +
• Greenways
• Car Clubs

There was discussion around the introduction of further 20mph zones within the Borough and the Chair noted that this was being considered by the Transport Forum at present. The only obstacle to this was enforcement; in order for 20mph zones to be introduced in all residential areas there would need to be commitment from the Police in terms of enforcement.

The Chair noted that the Mayor had recently announced that funding for the London Cycle Network would be ceased at the end of this financial year and consequently it would not be possible to meet the LAA target attached to this.

In response to a query the Board was advised that there was ongoing discussion with Transport for London (TfL) regarding bus routes and improving these to meeting people’s requirements.

RESOLVED:

That the presentation be noted.

A verbal update will be provided by Nic Durston of Groundwork and John  Morris, Haringey Council, Head of Parks.  

The Board received a verbal update on Priority Two of the Greenest Borough Strategy: Improving the Natural Environment.

It was noted that seven themes had been agreed and partnership groups had been established to lead of the delivery of these:

In addition a Steering Group had also been established that was led by Groundwork.

This report will be tabled at the meeting.  

The Board was reminded that at the last meeting a one year targeted pilot had been agreed to increase awareness of the environmental agenda in the Borough amongst faith groups.

It was noted that significant progress had been made since the previous meeting. It had been agreed that the project would initially focus on youth groups within the wider faith group, the people taking part would then be encouraged to share information with the wider adult faith community.

The Board was advised the project would consult with the three major faith groups represented in the Borough –Christians, Muslims and Jews, to gauge their attitudes to environmental issues. Once this exercise had been undertaken the information gathered would be shared with project partners from the Council and Groundwork and a survey would be compiled for each faith group.

It was noted that the project would be based at St Anne’s Church and there would be a project officer based at the Tiverton Hut. As Project Leader Reverend Wood would act as the key contact point and for the project and he and the project officer would meet with all of the key contacts across the faith groups to agreed working arrangements.

The Board discussed the project and it was confirmed that Reverend Nims Obunge had been contacted and would be involved in the project.

It was recognised that within the various faiths there were different traditions and customs that would need to be treated with respect. There were also tensions between the generations that would required sensitivity.    

It was suggested that the project may wish to drawn on contacts obtained as part of an existing project focussing on Waste and Recycling.

RESOLVED:

That the verbal update be noted.

The Board received a report that provided an overview of how projects funded by Area Based Grant (ABG) had performed during Quarter Two and an overview of each project was given.

In response to a query the Board was advised progress against Street Enforcement had fallen as that the officer supporting the project had left the Authority; the post had now been recruited to and the new officer would be in post in the New Year.   

The Chair noted that changes to the methodology used by the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) continued to impact on performance. Representations were being made to DEFRA with respect to this and the NLWA was supporting the Council’s request for these targets to be revised.

The Board was advised that the Community Toilet Scheme had been delayed due to a lack of interest from local business owners who had expressed concern over security. The local Chamber of Commerce was now being consulted to identify ways of improving participation.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

This report will be tabled at the meeting.

The Board considered a tabled report detailing performance against Local Area Agreement (LAA) targets within its responsibility during Quarter Two.

The Board discussed performance against targets with respect to Lordship Recreation Ground and Markfield Park. It was noted that the delays were due to a lack of information around when the utility companies were due to carry out work at Markfield park. The Chair requested that officers liaise and, if necessary write to the contractor, to ascertain when the work would be scheduled.

Despite the ‘Red’ status currently attached to Carbon Management targets the Board was advised that officers were confident that this would be achieved by March 2010. At present a Schools Environmental Strategy was being drafted and this would be completed by ? It was confirmed that Children’s Services had been involved in the drafting of the Strategy.

It was recognised that performance against School Travel Plans had now reached a plateaux and there was agreement that it would be useful to obtain data from other Local Authorities with respect to this for benchmarking purposes.

The Board was advised by representatives from Transport for London (TfL) that ‘I Trace’ data would be used to inform School Travel Plans rather than data collected from the school census.

In response to a query the Board was advised that there were options for extending the Local Cycling Network scheme, including the use of money derived from Section 106 contributions. The Chair requested that the Board receive an update on this at the next meeting.

The Chair requested that a meeting was arranged to brief him on the action being taken to resolve issues at Lordship Recreation ground.

The Board discussed Travel Plans and it was noted that the London Travel Plan       

To consider any new items of Urgent Business admitted under Item 2 above.

No new items of Urgent Business were raised.

To raise any items of AOB.

No items of AOB were raised.

To note the date of the next meeting:

• 18 February 2010

Dates for May 2010 – April 2011 will be circulated once the Council’s Calendar of Meetings for the new Municipal Year has been confirmed by the Cabinet.

It was noted that next meeting was scheduled for 18 February 2010 at 6.30pm.