An opportunity to question the Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Stuart McNamara on developments within his portfolio.
Minutes:
Councillor Stuart McNamara, the Cabinet Member for Environment, answered questions from the Panel regarding key areas within his portfolio as follows:
· Recycling of glass; Street banks had been removed due to contamination. However, it had been agreed to keep them where they worked and they could be brought back if need be. David Beadle, the Chief Executive of the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) commented that the best solution was if bottles could be taken back and refilled. However, deposit schemes rarely existed now. New European Commission regulations could require a higher level of re-use though. Banks were being removed due to co-mingling. Co-mingled bottles tended to be contaminated and broken. There was technology that could separate bottles but this was expensive. Work was undertaken by the NLWA with boroughs regarding the relative costs of the different options available. The value of materials had diminished considerably and it could therefore be challenging for local authorities to dispose of them.
· Timed collections were now being rolled out across the borough as well as black boxes.
· Houses in multiple occupation (HMOs); Enforcement involving HMOs was complex. The focus of enforcement in such circumstances was on the landlord of the property. The potential loss of licence could be used as leverage to promote compliance by landlords. Steve Russell, the Housing Improvement Manager for Private Sector could be invited to a future meeting of the Panel to report on the licensing scheme, including statistics on the number of landlords who had had action taken against them.
· The plans for joined up enforcement involved all different levels involved in enforcement being co-located with one individual to oversee the service. There would also be closer working with partners, especially the Police. The Panel noted that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee was looking at the development of joined up enforcement.
· The borough’s Cycling Conference had been successful with over 140 people attending and the event attracting sponsorship from a number of sources.
· In respect of traffic management, the borough wide 20 MPH speed limit was due to be implemented from February onwards. In addition, a number of traffic schemes were scheduled to be completed by the end of this tax year, including Cross Safe and work to North Hill in Highgate. In addition, three traffic reviews were planned. These were in Tottenham, Green Lanes and West Green. The aim of these was to address any anomalies and tidy up current lay outs. He was happy to come along to a future meeting to report on these.
Councillor Berryman raised issues relating to the availability of facilities at Park Road pools and it was agreed that a meeting would be arranged between him and the Cabinet Member at the venue to discuss them.
In answer to a question regarding broken bicycles being left attached to cycle stands, he stated that he was happy to address this issue. Work to de-clutter streets was planned and any such bicycles could be removed as part of this process. Cycling on pavements was discouraged but there were some areas of pavement where there was dual use. However, he was in favour of demarcation and was not convinced that dual use was desirable.
AGREED:
1. That the issue of ensuring that landlords fulfil their waste and recycling responsibilities and, in particular, the role on licensing within this be referred to a future meeting of the Panel; and
2. That the issue of the removal of broken bicycles left in cycle parking facilities be referred by the Cabinet Members to appropriate officers in the Environment and Community Safety service for response.