Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Armstrong and Olliff-Cooper.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 13 December 2018 as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 December 2018 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

To note any declarations of interest made by members in connection with an agenda item.  The nature of the interest must also be specified.

Members are asked to discuss any possible interests with Democratic Services prior to the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made by any member in connection with an agenda item.

To note any issues raised during the public participation period.

No issues were raised in the public participation period.

To receive an oral update from the Portfolio Holders for Environment and Regulatory Services and for Planning and Infrastructure.

Cllr Hoare advised the Panel that the national Keep Britain Tidy Spring Clean campaign this year would be held between 22 March and 22 April, allowing plenty of time for local authorities to make arrangements and hold events.

The initiative to recycle Christmas trees had been extremely successful this year, with an extra chipper being needed to meet the demand.

To be advised of the outcome of survey work on parking availability in Hythe.

Following the sale of the St John’s Street car park in Hythe, for the construction of a supermarket, the Panel was advised of the outcome of monitoring to establish whether there was still sufficient car parking capacity in the village.  The results of the monitoring were attached as Appendix 1 to Report Item 5.

The monitoring had established that the only time there was some pressure on capacity was on Tuesdays, market day.  Even during the run-up to Christmas, which was historically a busy time, there had been sufficient parking available.  In the longer term, once the new supermarket was open and the initial surge of interest had normalised, the use and capacity situation would be reviewed again, to see if there was the  need for additional spaces.  Plans had been drawn up to provide additional spaces in the village, but it was important not to incur unnecessary expenditure should the current capacity be sufficient.  It was also likely that, once open, the supermarket’s car park would contribute to the parking available as customers would be able to shop there and leave their car while they went to other premises in the village centre.

The Panel agreed that the Portfolio Holder should be advised that, in their view, no additional car parking spaces were required at this time, but that following the opening of the supermarket, monitoring should continue to establish future need.  A report should be submitted to this Panel towards the end of 2019.

To be updated by Christ Noble, Service Manager Waste and Recycling, and Vicky Beechey, Head of Project Integra, on the following topics:

·      The National Context and Waste Strategy

·      Project Integra Update

·      Waste Composition Analysis Results

·      The District Council Recycling Performance.

The Panel received a presentation from Chris Noble, the Service Manager Waste and Transport, and Vicky Beechey, Head of Project Integra, on the following topics:

·      The National Context and Waste Strategy

·      Project Integra Update

·      Waste Composition Analysis Results

·      The District Council’s Recycling Performance.

It was agreed that the presentation would be circulated to Members of the Panel.

The Panel noted that the targets for recycling municipal waste would be challenging to meet at 55% by 2025; 60% by 2030 and 65% by 2035.   This Council’s current performance was 34%.   It was however currently difficult to decide a way forward as it was expected that the Government, in its drive to improve performance nationally and to seek greater consistency, would issue guidance on the materials that should be collected and the collection method.  This could have major implications for this District.  Until the Government’s requirements were known, it was not possible to plan locally.  Food waste and a wider range of plastics were likely to be the priorities.

The Government’s Waste and Resources Strategy would be based on 5 pillars:

• Achieving zero ‘avoidable’ waste by 2050

• Phasing out ‘avoidable’ plastic waste

• New recycling and waste targets

• Stopping food waste going to landfill by 2030

• Reforming the PRN system

A factor that could mitigate against the Council’s percentage capture of recyclable materials was the potential introduction of deposit return schemes for some materials, such as bottles, which would encourage people to return them to supermarkets or vending machines, rather than including them in the Council’s collection, where they would see no financial return.  The potential scale of any effect would depend on the operational details of the scheme.

There would be a change in emphasis away from the recycling of materials towards a more circular resource economy, including a greater role for the repair of items, rather than their replacement; and placing much greater responsibility on the manufacturer for meeting the end of life costs of their products.  This would significantly increase the proportion of the disposal costs that producers paid, from around 10% currently to nearer 100%.

During 2018 Project Integra had made progress on a number of issues:

• Project Integra’s Action plan;

• Fly-tipping partnership – in particular joint initiatives with other agencies such as the police who could stop and search vehicles;

• Waste Composition Analysis – the initial results for this District being reported later in the presentation

• Driver training (joint with local authorities) to increase driver safely

• Whole systems costs reporting

For 2019, work would continue to implement the Government’s Waste and Resources Strategy; to undertake necessary consultations; to respond to the Year of Green Action and to review the Project Integra Action Plan.  There would also be work to seek to achieve behavioural changes to reduce the use of resources, reflecting the waste hierarchy with waste prevention and then re-use being the preferred options.

The Waste Composition Analysis had looked at all the waste collected from a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

To agree the work programme to guide the Panel’s activities over the coming months.

RESOLVED:

That the work programme attached as Appendix 1 to these minutes be approved to guide the Panel’s activities over the coming months.