Highways & Neighbourhoods Cabinet Member – Minutes – 16 October 2013

82                (29) PROPOSED RELAXATION OF CAR PARKING CHARGES FOR LATE NIGHT CHRISTMAS SHOPPING EVENTS The Director of Places submitted a report reconsidering the relaxation of car parking charges as in previous years to coincide with the Late Night Christmas Shopping Events in Scunthorpe and Brigg.

In previous years, the council had relaxed charges for car parking from 4.00pm on the evening when the Late Night Shopping Events were taking place (six in total last year).

Any monies taken through the ticket machines after 4.00pm had been donated to charity (The Mayor’s Appeal Fund/Brigg Mayor’s Appeal Fund).  The public had been advised of this fact if they wished to make a contribution.

The Late Night Christmas Shopping Events this year were taking place following the switch on of the lights on Thursday 21 November in Scunthorpe.

Resolved – That the proposal to waive the car parking charges after 4.00pm on 21 November, 28 November, 5 December, 12 December and 19 December in Scunthorpe and Ashby and on 29 November in Brigg, and donate any revenue received to the relevant Mayors’ Appeals Funds, be approved.

83                (30) HIGHWAYS LOCAL TRANSPORT PLAN PROGRAMME UPDATE – The Director of Places submitted a report updating the Cabinet Member on the progress of delivering the current Local Transport Plan and Capital budget programmes.

Transport capital expenditure was mainly secured through the Local Transport Plan (LTP) process.  The council was required to submit a LTP submission for the Department of Transport.  The plan set out transport priorities for the council.  Last year had seen the start of the third generation of the plans.  They now covered a 15-year period.

As part of the LTP submission, council’s were required to produce a three year Delivery Plan.  This plan set out the programme themes and expected outcomes for the plan.

There were two funding streams within the LTP award: Integrated Transport and Highway Maintenance.  The allocations for the current year including carry forwards were as follows:

·         Integrated Transport £1,509.000

·         Highway Maintenance £4,114,000

·         Additional capital £1,991.000

All funding received through the LTP process was assessed by professionally qualified officers, considering transport priorities and performance targets.  The breakdown into programmes of work was assessed using agreed policies and criteria.

Highway maintenance schemes were prioritised using nationally recognised highway condition assessment criteria within a prioritisation framework.  Where appropriate, maintenance schemes also included measures to improve road safety (particularly for vulnerable road users), increase personal security, reduce crime and enhance the street scene.

Monitoring of the programme could reveal both underspends or overspends on various budget lines whilst the base budgets were amended centrally.  The current position as set out in Appendix 1 to the report indicated that the LTP programme of works balanced and was fully committed.

Resolved – (a) That the progress of the delivery of the programme be noted; (b) that the potential start dates for future schemes, set out in Appendix 2 to the report, be noted.

The corresponding report of the following item (Minute 84 refers) contains exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

84              (31) CONTAMINATION OF THE BURGUNDY BIN COLLECTIONS FROM HOUSEHOLDS – The Director of Places submitted a report seeking to review the issues surround the council’s commingled collection of plastics and cardboard, and to consider the options for addressing current pressures caused by the contamination of the materials.

In November 2012 the council began a new recycling contract with SITA UK. They were the successful bidder when the contract was tendered earlier last year. The new contract took a different approach to the previous one.  It was designed to increase the income paid to the council in return for the council taking more risk on the value of recycled materials.

Despite some volatility in world markets since the contract was awarded the council had benefitted from a lower contract service price from SITA.  The council had also secured a higher level of income compared to the previous contract even though material prices had fallen on world markets.

The commingled recycling collection from households of plastics and cardboard in the burgundy bin had caused particular problems. North Lincolnshire had always suffered high contamination rates but these had caused acute problems over the last ten months.

The report gave details of issues that the council was facing with regard to these particular recyclable materials and set out available options for consideration.

Resolved – (a) That the changes that have already taken place in relation to the commingled waste streams be accepted; (b) that the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP) project currently underway be noted, and that a further report be submitted to the Cabinet Member in early 2014 outlining more sustainable solutions than the current arrangements for commingled waste; (c) that the WRAP project be supplemented with a pilot project to increase visual inspections on one round, and (d) that the WRAP project further be supplemented by a feasibility project in relation to a materials recovery facility as one possible solution.

Note: Reports are in Portable Document Format (PDF) and therefore require a suitable reader to view them. A reader can be downloaded free from the Adobe website (full instructions for downloading the reader are provided on the site).

Where there is no report this is because it is exempt, as it contains information which is considered to be of a confidential nature, as detailed in the Local Government (Access to Information) Act.