36.
MINUTES
The Minutes of
the meeting held on 13 January 2005 were
agreed.
37.
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Mrs M J Lloyd
declared a personal interest in Minute 40, as she was a Governor at Medina High
School and also Minute 41, as she was related to an employee of Wight Leisure.
Mr C R Hancock
declared a personal interest in Minute 41, as he was a member of a faith group
that had shown an interest in a Community Hall.
38.
FORWARD PLAN
The Lead
Member for the Forward Plan informed Members of the items of relevance which
were contained in the Forward Plan for the period February to May 2005.
The Select
Committee was advised that the report on Tourism Brown Signs would not be
completed until the end of February 2005.
It was therefore suggested that a task group, made up of 4 Members be
formed and a report be brought back to the Select Committee in April 2005.
ACTION TO
BE TAKEN BY THE HEAD OF SELECT COMMITTEE AND REVIEW TEAM
a) To
contact the Head of Tourism and agree a mutually convenient date for a
presentation to the Tourism Brown Signs Task Group.
b) That
a Task Group to include Mr J R Adams, Mr K Pearson, Mr R C Richards and chaired
by Mr D G Williams, be set up to review the criteria, recent audit and
consultation undertaken and this be brought back to the Economic Development,
Planning, Tourism and Leisure Services Select Committee’s April 2005 meeting.
39.
THE DRAFT SOUTH EAST PLAN
The Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Development, Environment and
Planning Policy informed Members that the Isle of Wight had been awarded
special policy status in the South East Plan.
The Select
Committee was advised that the Council had campaigned for special policy status
in the South East Plan and this had been agreed by SEERA. The time scale for producing our input had
been very short. A particular concern
was the provision of the infrastructure to support growth. Working documents had been circulated by
SEERA to the whole region and the Island’s input would enable the development
of more detailed policies through the Local Development Framework (LDF). Consultations were currently in progress
(January to April 2005), with leaflets and questionnaires going out to every
household in the region.
A presentation
was provided which focussed on the broader issues of the Draft South East Plan,
detailing 4 policies which were put forward.
·
Economic regeneration
·
Transport links
·
Infrastructure
·
Rural areas.
The key issues
for the Island were:
·
Delivering sustainable communities
·
Affordable housing
·
Economic led housing provision
·
Creating investment in jobs
·
Infrastructure
The LDF would
address a strategy for delivering sustainable communities on the Island, with
the rates of housing development being linked to economic led
regeneration. Measures contained within
the LDF would need to comply with objectives and policies contained in the
Draft South East Plan.
Members were
advised that high levels of brown-field sites had been identified to support
the proposed housing growth. However,
the Select Committee highlighted the Council’s failure to deliver sufficient
affordable housing in recent years and was concerned that sustainable
management of infrastructure should be provided to support the proposed growth.
The Select
Committee was informed that it was likely that the plan would be submitted by
SEERA to the Government in autumn 2005.
A public examination would be held in the spring of 2006, followed by
Government approval in the summer of 2006.
The Portfolio
Holder for Economic Development clarified that the South East Plan required the
Council to provide for at least 520 homes per annum, making a total of
10,400. Further increases in the build
rate would be linked to economic growth and the Isle of Wight housing strategy
would also be taken into account.
Due to the existing high costs of bus and ferry services on the Island,
and reliance on the car which caused traffic congestion, Members were concerned
about the delivery of a sustainable transport infrastructure. However, it was envisaged that the Local
Transport Plan would address the links between the SE Plan and the necessary
transport infrastructure to deliver the Plan.
ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING POLICY
The Select
Committee support that the rates of housing development be linked with economic
led regeneration.
ACTION TO
BE TAKEN BY MEMBERS OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, PLANNING, TOURISM AND LEISURE
SERVICES SELECT COMMITTEE
To take part
in the consultation, either through the website, or the leaflets distributed by
SEERA.
40.
DUAL USE AGREEMENT – MEDINA HIGH SCHOOL
(Mrs M J Lloyd
declared a personal interest in the following two items and left the room.)
The Select
Committee was reminded that the formation of a Task Group had been requested in
order to assist with drawing up a dual use agreement. The Task Group had met on site on 4 October 2004, to discuss the
complexities surrounding public and school use. Since that time officers had met with school governors and the
Chairman of the Medina Task Group, resulting in a draft agreement being
formulated. A further meeting would be
held on 25 February 2005 to discuss the financial aspects of the agreement and
to draw up a written contract. The
Chairman of the Medina Task Group would join the working panel of officers and
school governors and report back to the Select Committee.
Members
believed that the role of the Medina Task Group had been completed and there
was no longer a need for it to continue.
ACTION TO
BE TAKEN BY HEAD OF SELECT COMMITTEE AND REVIEW TEAM
The Medina Task Group to be wound up.
ACTION TO
BE TAKEN BY COUNCILLOR DAVID WILLIAMS
To attend the
meeting of the working panel of officers and school governors on 25 February
2005 and a report be brought back to the 14 April 2005 Select Committee
meeting.
41.
PROGRESS REPORT ON THE WORK OF THE CULTURE AND LEISURE
PROJECT BOARD
(Mr C R
Hancock declared a personal interest in this item.)
The Select
Committee was advised that the core and secondary leisure services had been
reorganised into combinations where synergies existed between service
areas. A new organisational plan showed
that a recruitment plan had been completed and 3 new service managers had been
appointed. The new management structure
would be implemented by 1 March 2005.
Members noted
that Ryde Harbour had not been transferred, which was due to environmental
changes which may impact on the long-term future of the harbour. The Council’s Coastal Protection Manager
would investigate further before any transfer could be considered.
The Executive
had approved a revised terms of reference for the Project Board and compliance
had enabled the production of the business plan for development proposals at
Westridge and would also facilitate the relocation of Cultural and Leisure
Services to that site.
Members noted
that tenders had been invited for a range of services; the deadline for
applications was 12 noon on 11 February 2005.
A copy of the Board’s final report regarding all their activities could
be made available to the Select Committee.
It was envisaged that the report would be presented to the Executive in
April and would include a summary of the tenders received.
The scale of savings involved in the
reorganisation and relocation exercise had been achieved mostly from efficiency
savings although there had been some redundancies. The figures should be available in the near future.
42.
MEMBERS’ QUESTION TIME
Mr C M Gauntlett asked a question regarding the roof at the
Waterside Pool in Ryde. The Portfolio
Holder provided an answer.
Mr J A Bowker asked a question about St John’s Wood Park in Ryde,
reiterating that money saved within Parks and Gardens section would assist in
supporting this project. The Portfolio Holder was currently reviewing this
issue.
Mr A C Bartlett asked a question regarding the confusion about the
levels of housing provision related to the Draft South East Plan, and recent
comments from Andrew Turner MP. A
written response had been provided by the Planning Policy Manager. A copy of the question and reply given is
contained in the Members’ Question Register (MQ 10/05).
CHAIRMAN
