Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Scott and Cllr Hare.

The Chair will consider any items of urgent business.

There were no new items of urgent business.

A member with a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority 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 judgment of the public interest and if this interest affects their financial position or the financial position of a person or body as described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct and/or if it relates to the determining of any approval, consent, licence, permission or registration in relation to them or any person or body described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct.

All Councillors declared a personal interest in agenda item 7, Making the Difference, as Ward Councillors.

Cllr Solomon declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 7 as a member of the Muswell Hill and Fortis Green Association, and Cllr Jenks declared a prejudicial interest as a member of the Friends of Queens Wood. Cllr Jenks and Cllr Solomon would not participate in the approval of funding for the respective groups of which they were members.

There were no issues raised under this item.

To consider the Minutes of the Area Committee held on 16 June 2011 and any matters arising.

The Chair advised that for future minutes, the notes taken by Councillors during the Area Forum section of the meetings would be appended to the Committee minutes.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 June 2011 be approved and signed by the Chair.

Matters Arising

- It was confirmed that the briefing sheet for members of the public regarding how to participate and add items to agendas, mentioned at the bottom of the first page of the minutes, had been produced and was on the Council’s website.

- It was agreed that the questions on page 2 of the minutes regarding making compost from recycling available to residents and the issue of arrangements for the collection of large, non-recyclable items, should be forwarded on to Veolia for response.

- Cllr Solomon reported that the change in the designation of Pinkham Way in the development framework had been rejected by the planning inspectorate and that the Council would now need to re-consult on this issue. Concern was expressed that the process had not been fully transparent and that stakeholders were keeping a watchful eye on the situation.

Report of the Director of Place and Sustainability – to report to the Committee on the progress with the Area Plan and take receive comments/variations

The Chair asked Members to contact their local residents’ associations and community groups to seek representatives to form a one-off Sub Committee to consider the Area Committee Plan at the end of October. It was also agreed that one Councillor from each Ward should sit on this Sub Committee.

The draft Area Committee Plan would be presented at the January 2012 meeting.

Report of the Director of Place and Sustainability – to advise the Committee of those bids received for funding and seeking the Committee’s prioritisation and agreement to the bids to progress

The Committee considered the Making the Difference report, which set out the proposed allocations of funding. Claire Kowalska, Community Safety Strategic Manager, introduced the report, and clarified that the process for work undertaken by external suppliers was that payment would be made once an invoice from the supplier had been submitted.

The Committee sought confirmation from the Highgate Society that the leaflet for which funding had been applied was to be provided free of charge, and a representative from the Highgate Society confirmed that this was indeed the case.

The Committee asked what the position was in respect of funding for ongoing maintenance of projects that had previously been funded, as the previous arrangement had been that the funding available was top-sliced to facilitate this. It was confirmed that top-slicing to fund previous projects would not happen for this round of funding, and that arrangements would need to be made with local groups to provided any ongoing funding required for previous projects. It was noted that the Palace Gates Residents’ Association provided ongoing funding and carried out upkeep themselves, and could provide a useful model for other community groups looking to maintain previous projects. Cllr Solomon could provide details for anyone interested in contacting them for information or advice.

A question was raised regarding the Hillfield – St James Association grant, and whether hoops would be more effective than bollards as proposed for the biker bay. It was reported that the Council’s Transport department had looked into this, and bollards had been proposed as they provided specific protection from vans and were felt to be more effective than hoops as they would not be knocked down.

RESOLVED

That the proposed sums as set out in Appendix 1 of the report be approved.

It was noted that Cllr Jenks and Cllr Solomon did not participate in the approval of funding for the particular groups of which they were members, namely Friends of Queens Wood and the Muswell Hill and Fortis Green Association respectively.

The Chair expressed thanks for the high quality of the bids submitted, and announced that a Ward Councillor would be nominated to monitor the delivery of each bid.

Report of the Director of Place and Sustainability – to report to the Committee recommending approval of identified locations for repair.

Tunji Oladejo, Traffic Manager of Sustainable Transport, presented the report on the proposed allocation of additional pothole funding and sought the approval of the Committee in order to commence the repair work proposed. It was clarified that the purpose of the additional funding provided was to address potholes before they reached the Council’s threshold for intervention. The work would be carried out in addition to the Council’s statutory repair work to potholes which did meet the threshold for intervention, and the ongoing re-surfacing programme. It was reported that details of all the work carried out would be published online.

The Committee welcomed the proposals, and asked about the scheduling of the work, in response to which Mr Oladejo reported that it was intended to start immediately, and for all the work to be undertaken this year.

In response to a question from the Committee regarding Hampstead Lane, and why this was not included in the report, Mr Oladejo advised that this required more extensive re-surfacing work rather than pothole repair, and was scheduled to be undertaken during school holidays, as it would necessitate temporary closure of the road.

Members commented that the article in Haringey People on this issue could have been made more effective, and suggested that this be addressed for the communication of any such projects in future. It was agreed that this would be fed back. The Committee also asked that Ward Councillors be informed when inspections were due to take place in their area.

Mr Oladejo clarified that our Highways Inspector carried out the routine inspection process, which was required by law. The Council engaged an external accredited company to undertake detailed visual inspections, as required of all Local Authorities, and this process enabled the Council to generate a list of potential sites. If any further concerns were raised regarding particular roads, these should be reported directly via the Council’s Potholes Hotline (020 84891335), or email address (potholes@haringey.gov.uk).

RESOLVED

That the allocation of the additional funding provided for road repairs be approved.

[post-meeting note: the amount of funding allocated for the area was corrected to £46,400, and not £44,950 as originally stated in the report]

To summarise those areas raised during the Forum part of the meeting for putting forward for prioritisation from the Area Committee

The Chair noted that the presentation on the budget provided by Kevin Bartle, Lead Finance Officer, during the Forum part of the meeting had been useful, but felt that there were alternative ways of engaging with the local community on this issue, such as the Budget Scrutiny Process. It was suggested that if local residents had any specific questions on local issues to do with the budget, these could be fed back to their Ward Councillors.

12/01/12

 29/03/12

The 12 January 2012 meeting date was scheduled to be held in Highgate Ward, and it was suggested that the venue for this meeting be Jacksons Lane. The draft Area Plan and implications of the Localism Bill were currently on the agenda for this meeting, and it was suggested that an item on National Planning Policy Framework also be considered at this meeting, as well as a possible planning brief on Highgate Bowl, similar to that provided for St Luke’s Hospital at this meeting. With regards to format of the meeting, Ward Councillors would consult with local groups for their feedback.

The 29 March 2012 meeting was scheduled to be held in Alexandra Ward, and Alexandra Park School and St Andrews Church Hall were discussed as possible venues. It was confirmed that Ward Councillors would discuss this further and advise the Chair of their preferred venue.

There were no items of urgent business.

The meeting closed at 21:05hrs.