Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, County Hall, Newport, Isle of WIght

Contact: Sarah MacDonald  Email: democratic.services@iow.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

13.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 394 KB

To confirm as a true record the Minutes of the meeting held on 20 June 2022.

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 16 June be approved.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 20 June 2022 be approved.

 

14.

Declarations of Interest

To invite Members to declare any interest they might have in the matters on the agenda.

Minutes:

Cllr Jones-Evans declared a non-pecuniary interest in the item relating to Newport Pedestrian Improvements, being the local councillor for the area and also a member of Newport and Carisbrooke Community Council.

 

Cllr Andre declared a non-pecuniary interest in the item relating to the disposal of land to Sandown Town Council, being the local member for the area and also a member of Sandown Town Council.

15.

Public Question Time - Maximum 15 Minutes for Written Questions and 15 Minutes for Oral Questions

Questions may be asked without notice but to guarantee a full reply at the meeting, a question must be put including the name and address of the questioner by delivery in writing or by electronic mail to Democratic Services at democratic.services@iow.gov.uk, no later than two clear working days before the start of the meeting. Normally, Cabinet is held on Thursday, therefore the deadline for written questions will be Monday 11 July 2022.

Minutes:

No written questions were received.

 

A member of Newport Business Association (NBA) explained that in relation to the item on Newport Pedestrian Improvements, the NBA had given full agreement to a lot of the plans, however there were strong concerns for any changes to movement of traffic along St James Street. Concern was expressed that if the traffic elements were to proceed the matter should be brought back to Cabinet. The Cabinet Member for Levelling Up, Regeneration, Business Development and Tourism confirmed that all that was to be agreed at the meeting were those matters listed in the recommendations and nothing which would affect traffic at this present time.

16.

Chairman's Announcements

Minutes:

The Chairman announced that she was proud that the council had been given the gold award in the Ministry of Defence Employer Recognition Scheme and she thanked the staff for their work in achieving this.

17.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Levelling Up, Regeneration, Business Development and Tourism

17a

Levelling Up - UK Shared Prosperity Fund pdf icon PDF 561 KB

Decision:

That Cabinet instructs the Director of Regeneration to arrange for the submission of the Isle of Wight Shared Prosperity Investment Plan in liaison with the Cabinet Member for Levelling Up, Regeneration, Business Development and Tourism.

 

Minutes:

The fund had replaced the European Regional Development Fund and the island had been allocated £1.73 million, £666,000 of which would be spent on a programme known as ‘Multiply’, which would improve adult numeracy skills. Revenue funding would enable work on the three identified themes, including encouraging accessible tourism. The work done in relation to Southampton’s City of Culture bid would continue. Other programmes to help business start-up and getting people back into work via the Restart scheme were hoped to commence by 1 August.

 

The Adult Community Learning team would offer the multiply programme to upskill people in those sectors of workforce where numeracy was needed.

 

Although not affecting the Shared Prosperity Fund, there was discussion that the government would look at whether there was an up to date Island Plan when considering the allocation of some future funding streams.

 

Confirmation was provided that the MP had supported the recent levelling up bid.

 

RESOLVED

 

That Cabinet instructs the Director of Regeneration to arrange for the submission of the Isle of Wight Shared Prosperity Investment Plan in liaison with the Cabinet Member for Levelling Up, Regeneration, Business Development and Tourism.

 

18.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Strategic Finance, Transformational Change and Corporate Resources

18a

Disposal of land to Sandown Town Council at Eastern Esplanade, Sandown for construction of new public toilets pdf icon PDF 315 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

 

 

THAT Cabinet grant a lease to Sandown Town Council for the provision of new public toilets at eastern gardens, Culver Parade (Avenue Road Slipway), Sandown (shown outlined on the attached plan at Appendix 1).  Final terms of the lease to be agreed by the Cabinet Member for Strategic Finance, Transformational Change and Corporate Resources in consultation with the Director for Regeneration.

Minutes:

Research had been undertaken into refurbishing the existing toilet block, however this was not possible, therefore the adjacent land was proposed to be leased for the provision of three individual cubicles. The lease of the land would be restricted to the provision of public toilets. If the lease was approved, a planning application would come forward in due course.

 

RESOLVED

 

THAT Cabinet grant a lease to Sandown Town Council for the provision of new public toilets at eastern gardens, Culver Parade (Avenue Road Slipway), Sandown (shown outlined on the attached plan at Appendix 1).  Final terms of the lease to be agreed by the Cabinet Member for Strategic Finance, Transformational Change and Corporate Resources in consultation with the Director for Regeneration.  

 

19.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Infrastructure, Highways PFI and Transport

19a

Newport Pedestrian Improvements pdf icon PDF 589 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

That cabinet approves planned changes to the High Street and St James’ Square to widen footways, improve the public realm and reallocate space from the carriageway and on-street parking to facilitate this.

In doing so, cabinet authorises the Cabinet Member for Levelling Up, Regeneration, Business Development and Tourism and the Cabinet Member for Infrastructure, Highways PFI and Transport in consultation with the Director of Regeneration and the Director of Neighbourhoods to use available resources to develop and deliver whichever aspects of the plans prove to be technically and financially viable within the timeframe of the HAZ scheme, and to seek additional resource  to develop and deliver the remaining viable elements in due course. 

 

Furthermore, cabinet authorises the Director of Regeneration and the Director of Neighbourhoods to prioritise and work towards measures to reduce the volume and size of vehicles moving through the High Street by developing alternative routes and arrangement around the town centre.

Minutes:

This was a part of the overall Heritage Action Zone scheme in Newport, and was intended to bring changes and improvements to the High Street area. The proposals would be jointly funded by Historic England, the Isle of Wight Council and Newport and Carisbrooke Community Council (NCCC) with a total funding of £1.4 million, some of which was time limited therefore it was important for a decision to be agreed. A six-week consultation had taken place as widely as possible, with the design panel including members of the community and other residents. It would contribute to the biosphere with its cultural aims and carbon target.

 

The council had worked with the horticulture department of the IW College when considering the proposed planting.

 

There was some concern expressed that the rest of the island residents had not been consulted and that the consultation should be undertaken again, There was also concern that the majority of the public were not aware of the decision that was to be made, and it was important to have a scheme the public would be happy with. NCCC had voted earlier in the week to ask Cabinet to defer a decision until September and increase public awareness of the proposals. However, it was confirmed that there had been a full and open consultation which had also been on social media for anyone to respond, and that local councillors should have encouraged their residents to engage with the consultation. There was a risk to delaying a decision that the funding from Historic England would have to be returned if not spent.

 

The council, jointly with NCCC had been funding a free hour’s parking in short stay car parks in Newport. In the time since it had commenced, there had been 8000 extra transactions.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That cabinet approves planned changes to the High Street and St James’ Square to widen footways, improve the public realm and reallocate space from the carriageway and on-street parking to facilitate this.

 

In doing so, cabinet authorises the Cabinet Member for Levelling Up, Regeneration, Business Development and Tourism and the Cabinet Member for Infrastructure, Highways PFI and Transport in consultation with the Director of Regeneration and the Director of Neighbourhoods to use available resources to develop and deliver whichever aspects of the plans prove to be technically and financially viable within the timeframe of the HAZ scheme, and to seek additional resource  to develop and deliver the remaining viable elements in due course. 

 

Furthermore, cabinet authorises the Director of Regeneration and the Director of Neighbourhoods to prioritise and work towards measures to reduce the volume and size of vehicles moving through the High Street by developing alternative routes and arrangement around the town centre.

 

19b

Traffic Regulation Orders Policy pdf icon PDF 340 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

That Cabinet approves the proposed draft that is subject to this report in relation to the Isle of Wight Council Traffic Regulation Policy, with an amendment. The amendment to read as paragraph 7 on page 69 of the reports pack, (starting “the council recognises….” with additional wording at the end of the paragraph, to read “and by the provision of additional on-road parking spaces, that correspond to the number of lost spaces, in the immediate vicinity.”

 

Minutes:

The intention of the policy was to standardise consideration of issues prior to development, and to ensure that liaison between planning and highways to ascertain any impact of a TRO on the community would take place at a much earlier stage. If approved, this would come into effect at the end of any call-in period. An amendment to the recommendation was put forward by the Cabinet member for Infrastructure, Highways PFI and Transport.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That Cabinet approves the proposed draft that is subject to this report in relation to the Isle of Wight Council Traffic Regulation Policy, with an amendment. The amendment to read as paragraph 7 on page 69 of the report, with additional wording at the end of the paragraph, to read “and by the provision of additional on-road parking spaces, that correspond to the number of lost spaces, in the immediate vicinity.”

 

19c

The Isle of Wight Council (Seaview Lane, Nettlestone) (Traffic Regulation) Order No1 2022 pdf icon PDF 483 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

Cabinet resolves not to approve the restrictions that are subject to this report in relation to the Isle of Wight Council (Seaview Lane, Nettlestone) (Traffic Regulation) Order No 1 2021, and to abandon the proposal.

 

Minutes:

The original development application included 20 spaces to be set aside for the local school. However, it would be impossible to enforce this as, a) it was on private land, and b) it would not be known whether or not the owners of any vehicles parked there were at the school. In addition, it would not be possible to mitigate the loss of spaces in the vicinity. If a crossing was put in, there would be a loss of a further 3-5 spaces.

 

RESOLVED

 

Cabinet resolves not to approve the restrictions that are subject to this report in relation to the Isle of Wight Council (Seaview Lane, Nettlestone) (Traffic Regulation) Order No 1 2021, and to abandon the proposal.

 

 

20.

Cabinet Member Announcements

To invite Cabinet Members to provide a brief update on matters concerning their portfolio.

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Lifelong Skills reported that she had attended the PEACH games, a sports event for children, selected by teachers, who would not usually excel in sports. She had also attended the opening of St George’s School 6th Form and had met teachers and students. There would be good provision for SEN students. Thanks were expressed to all secondary school teachers for ensuring that GCSEs had been undertaken successfully with all the disruption of the past two years.

 

The Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment, Heritage, Human Resources and Democratic Services reported that the Mardi Gras which had taken place the previous week had concentrated on the biosphere and students had learned a lot from studying this. The Rhythmtree event had supported the environment with reusable cups being used. The household battery collection was working well and there had been no fires in the waste processor from batteries. The Policy and Scrutiny Committee for neighbourhoods and Regeneration had noted that projects to the value of £200,000 had been identified by the Rights of Way Team, including the development of a new database. This money had now been committed.

 

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Enforcement reported that he would be having one-to-one meetings to look at issues raised in relation to the Island Plan prior to Full Council in September. Planning officers were also working with councillors to address any concerns.

 

The Cabinet Member for Levelling Up, Regeneration, Business Development and Tourism reported that the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership had given their first introduction to their proposals for the next few years.

 

The Innovation Wight building would be due for completion in August 2022. A mentoring programme for businesses was being discussed with Portsmouth university.

 

‘Shademakers’ who took part in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Parade would feature at carnivals on the island this summer.

 

The Cabinet Member for Infrastructure, Highways PFI and Transport reported that there was a new member of staff in the Highways team who had brought some good ideas, including a road safety theatre performance in secondary schools. The Leader was keen to bring back the previous ‘Head-On’ campaign.

 

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health reported that advice was to be given to attendees at the Pride event in Ryde the coming weekend, on how to stay safe in the hot weather. COVID numbers were increasing on the island, which was impacting on the social care workforce, although staffing numbers had generally improved. A meeting had taken place with Red Funnel in relation to the upcoming strike and it had been confirmed that people travelling to the mainland for medical appointments during the strike would be prioritised on production of their appointment letter.

 

The Cabinet member for Community Protection, Regulatory Services and Waste reported that it was currently ASBO awareness week. She would be meeting with the local Police Superintendent and councillors were invited to pass on to her any items for discussion

 

The Cabinet Member  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

21.

Consideration of the Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 221 KB

Cabinet Members to identify decisions which need to be amended, added or to be removed from the Forward Plan.

Minutes:

An item was to be added to the Forward Plan for the Cultural Strategy, for a decision in March 2023.

22.

Members' Question Time pdf icon PDF 50 KB

To guarantee a reply to a question, a question  must be submitted in writing or by electronic mail to democratic.services@iow.gov.uk no later than 5pm on Tuesday 12 July 2022. A question may be asked at the meeting without prior notice but in these circumstances there is no guarantee that a full reply will be given at the meeting.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Cllr Lilley had submitted a written question (MQ 14-22) concerning the now empty Ryde Arena ice rink. A response was provided by the Leader.