The Council is asked to note any statements made by Members of the Cabinet (Portfolio Holders).
Councillors may then ask questions of the Portfolio Holders on their statements.
Minutes:
Action on Climate Change Update
The Environment and Public Space Portfolio Holder (Councillor Talbot) made the following statement:-
“I am sure Members read in the press the lively debates at the start of this month as United National delegates discussed climate action at COP26 in Glasgow, so I will not go over those international discussions this evening. I will focus on our District.
First to remind Members that our own Climate Change Action Plan is designed to deal with the action within the Council’s own domain
.
I am pleased to report further moves to get the message out into the Community seeking to influence our residents and our Businesses.
Lee Heley, our Climate Change officer, called a first meeting on 17th November, of a new Climate Change Programme Board he has set up, with Officers who have Climate Change responsibilities and two elected Members, Councillor Alan Coley who led TDC’s original Climate Change Member Working Group and me. This first meeting reported, amongst other things, on the items listed below:-
ü Energy Audits of all Council owned buildings are being conducted. The Council is exploring future options for EV charging points across Council owned properties in addition to carparks.
ü A definite proposition to place 4 Electric Vehicle charging points, in the Starling Car Park in Dovercourt.
ü The development and delivery of training for staff and suppliers on Climate Change, carbon foot printing, carbon reduction and the important role of procurement in supporting change.
ü All future committee, portfolio holder and officer decisions to consider and evaluate the impact on the net zero emissions target, to help inform decision making.
ü A new Report Template has been drafted and when in use will direct attention to the above requirement.
ü Clearly, some suggestions will be expensive if put into operation such as on our progress and for example a Solar Farm that would generate 5 MW, could cost us £3 million and by 2030 would offset 710 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide emissions.
ü We will continue to engage with parish and town councils, businesses, our residents, Essex County Council, and other partners across Tendring to raise awareness and develop shared objectives.
ü I am still chasing the NEPP over the installation of EV charging points in their parking places on roads that approach our various sea fronts but so far have just received polite answers.
A more startling matter was introduced to me as below:-
The Royal Town Planning
Institute and the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) held
a Climate Change conference that I attended on 19th October for
what they have called a ‘Climate Guide’ Webinar.
I was a bit startled by a comment from Hugh Ellis, Director of
Policy TCPA, who said, in the context of Climate Change planning
for the future, that we should plan to “Relocate Parts of our population, and some Communities are going
to have to be removed simply because their vulnerabilities are too
high”. This extract from the recording of
the meeting is suggested on a permanent basis, to prepare ourselves
for flood risk. This gentleman leads on policy development,
briefings and engagement with central government and politicians.
This was very interesting to me as I live virtually on the sea wall
in Point Clear Bay, which was under two metres of water in the 1953
East Cost floods. A further reference was made to NPPE obligations in Section 19 of the 2004 Act. Gary
Guiver, Acting Director (Planning) advises that Section 19 says -
“Development plan documents must (taken as a whole) include
policies designed to secure that the development and use of land in
the local planning authority's area contribute to the mitigation
of, and adaptation to, climate change.” Which in short, is
referencing the statutory basis for including climate action in
planning documents.
There is no need for immediate concern as I know Mr Ellis was
speaking about long-term planning for the country as a whole, but
his comments brought home to me that Climate Change really does
matter, particularly for a Coastal District such as
ours!”
Councillor Talbot then responded to questions put to him on his Statement by Councillors I J Henderson, Scott and Allen.
Corporate Enforcement Update
The Corporate Finance & Governance Portfolio Holder (Councillor G V Guglielmi) made the following statement:-
“I would like to give an update to Members on the work of the Corporate Enforcement Group. Back in 2015 I worked with Officers to create a Corporate Enforcement Strategy which was then adopted by Full Council. As a result of this a Corporate Enforcement Group was then set up in 2017 to co-ordinate enforcement responses across the Council under the Strategy.
The Group has had a few changes and tweaks but the current membership includes Portfolio Holders, Directors, Assistant Directors and senior managers of various services and it meets every two months. The purpose of this Group is to clearly explain the Council’s approach to enforcement and non-compliance.
All authorised officers when making enforcement decisions shall abide by it, and the supporting documented procedures, both within the appendices and departmental processes.
The aim of the Strategy is to ensure that any enforcement is proportionate, accountable, consistent, transparent and targeted.
The primary focus is that we take a ‘whole Council’ approach rather than a ‘service only’ approach, which was the disjointed approach of previous years. It also provides direction and support to the recently formed Operational Enforcement Group which is made up of all Officers who carry out enforcement as part of their everyday activities. Although this is still in its infancy it has produced a document which clearly details ‘who takes what action’ across the Council and it is beginning to better co-ordinate action with Essex Police and other agencies to maximise the joint approach to tackle issues as they come up.
The Group has identified, agreed and allocated funds to purchase four mobile CCTV cameras and 26 body-worn cameras for our Public Realm Officers. It has also set aside funds for additional legal resource and has also funded a case officer post to support services to ensure that there is continuity in the way information is collected and recorded across the services, as well as assisting with case file preparation and provide advice and guidance about potential prosecutions.
The members of this group have worked together to identify future training needs to ensure that Officers have the skills, knowledge and confidence to do their duties. So far 16 members of staff have been fully trained on the issuing of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) by an outside training provider.
Only this evening I have had confirmation that those CCTV cameras will be deployed in the Dovercourt area where there has been a recent spate of anti-social behaviour and criminal damage on Dovercourt seafront, including vandalism to 26 beach huts in the past two weeks. I am pleased to announce that in response to these mindless acts I have authorised the deployment of two of the newly purchased deployable CCTV cameras to that area and we are looking to have them installed by the end of the week. We are doing this to support local people and our partners in the Beach Hut Association by being pro-active as a Council in trying to combat this issue and prevent further instances occurring.
The other project that the Group has in mind is the purchase of mobile CCTV cameras that don’t rely on power (i.e. they run on batteries) in order to tackle issues in the remoter, rural areas such as country lanes that are prone to instances of fly-tipping.
To give a few examples of recent enforcement actions:-
1) Point Clear – planning enforcement and planning appeal work in Flood Zone 3 where restricted occupation conditions had been imposed in the past. Working with the Environment Agency, Housing and planning enforcement officers will monitor the site during the 2021/2022 close season to ensure compliance and engage with owners/occupiers as necessary. The experience gained from the Point Clear work will be applied to other similar sites/investigations;
2) Harwich (Orwell Terrace) – issues of poor building structure and accommodation;
3) St Osyth (Clacton Road) – cases of statutory nuisance;
4) Harwich (Emperor House) – misuse of community waste bins;
5) Point Clear (Colne Way) – anti-social behaviour;
6) Kirby Cross (Vista Avenue) – harassment case involving Essex Police;
7) Clacton-on-Sea (Langham Drive) – anti-social behaviour and misuse of drugs; and
8) Dovercourt Swimming Pool – anti-social behaviour involving Essex Police.
Finally, this year’s “Summertime Plan” included 95 ‘Covid-19’ visits to businesses by Community Ambassadors where there had been alleged breaches of Covid-19 regulations and 217 foot patrols across the District (amounting to 532 patrol hours).
142 incidents were referred for further action including Graffiti, fly tipping, licensing issues, PSPO warnings and waste accumulation.
The Ambassadors were key when the Safer Communities team held 3 Street Action Days over the summer period responding to ASB and waste concerns raised by residents and Councillors. The team’s contracts are due to expire in March 2022 and in view of the current situation we will need to consider a potential extension, but I am sure all of us are very grateful for their sterling work.
Thank you Mr Chairman.”
Councillor Guglielmi then responded to questions put to him on his Statement by Councillors Baker, J Henderson, I J Henderson, Allen and Turner.