{Disestablished Committee} - Communities and Neighbourhoods Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Read the Minutes

Minutes of the meeting held on 17 July 2007

Present:

Councillor Flanagan - In the Chair Councillors L. Ali, Ankers, Bracegirdle, Cameron, Carroll, Helsby, Karney, Lewis, Longsden, Loughman, McCulley, N. Murphy.

Present by Invitation:

• Councillor Cowell - Assistant Executive Member for the Environment
• Councillor E. Newman - Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services
• Councillor Swannick - Executive Member for the Environment

In attendance:

Councillor Grant - Ward Councillor for Whalley Range

CN/07/13 Minutes

The Chair thanked Walker Simpson Architects and the officers involved for the informative tour of North City Library demonstrating its energy reducing design features, and the North Manchester Sixth Form College for accommodating the meeting.

Decision

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 June 2007.

CN/07/14 Engagement with Community Guardians

The Committee invited four Community Guardians from North Manchester to attend the meeting and give members an account of their experiences of their role in the community.

The Community guardians were pleased to have an opportunity to take an active role in their community to address residents' concerns and improve the local environment. Community Guardians were assisted in their role by their knowledge of the key contacts in the Council to whom individual problems in their ward could be related to; this resulted in local concerns being resolved rapidly and effectively. New schemes for junior guardians were representing young people's concerns in relation to the environment in their area.

The Guardians reassured members that although they were proactive in the community in reporting activities to the Council they did not put themselves in risk of harm. Furthermore, members noted that the Community Guardians present at the meeting were not wholly representative of the 750 Community Guardians in the city and that the Guardians were encouraged to take a level of engagement that was appropriate to them.

Ward councillors stated that they would welcome greater links with Community Guardians to address local issues effecting the environment, but were mindful that this would have to be adopted on a voluntary basis according to individual Community Guardians' level of engagement.

Decision

1. To thank the Community Guardians for attending and for their valued work in the community.

2. To request information back to the Committee detailing the numbers of Community Guardians per ward and, if the Community Guardians wished, their names passed on to the relevant ward councillor.

3. To request that further information is brought back to the Committee on how links between community guardians and ward councillors and ward co-ordination can be developed and what scope there was for an annual meeting with ward Councillors.

CN/07/15 Waste Minimisation

A Report of the Strategic Director of Neighbourhood Services was submitted informing members of action taken to address barriers to waste minimisation and recycling, best practice nationwide and action taken by retailers to combat packaging waste.

Chris Davey, a representative of Waste & Resources Action Programme was invited to the meeting and briefed the committee on action taken to reduce the amount of commercial and household waste. This included action taken at source, such as reducing package weights, and actions in the household, such as encouraging preserving food for longer periods of time.

13 major commercial grocery retailers had entered into the Courtauld Commitment setting targets for reducing packaging weights. Some of these were particularly substantial, including Tesco who had set a target weight reduction of 25% across Tesco's own brand and other brand products by 2010.

Members questioned: -

• whether there were sanctions for not complying with the agreement,
• whether there were proposals to encourage bottle-returning facilities,
• how the message to recycle more was being sent out to the public.

The representative of the Waste & Resources Action Programme responded that the agreement was voluntary but high profile and it would it be a poor public relations exercise and disappointing to shareholders if the targets were not met. He added that often bottles sold in the United Kingdom were produced overseas, and that there had been problems in the past of bottles being returned in a dirty state.

On the topic of advertising campaigns to spread recycling awareness, members were advised that targeted television advertising campaigns were running at different times to reach selected audiences.

The Committee then addressed the report covering the range of services offered by Manchester City Council, barriers to recycling, work carried out with the private sector and best practice in other local authorities. With the increase in landfill taxes it was recognised that this was a crucial time for tackling hearts and minds and encouraging waste minimisation and recycling.

Members raised the following responses to the report: -

• They questioned how charging for waste collections was perceived in other countries
• Members questioned whether further Bring Sites would be effective in increasing recycling rates. Members also mentioned that access to the sites may be difficult for older people
• Members requested collection rates for the 66,000 Kerbit boxes, and recommended that waste bin and recycling bin collection days should be synchronised
• Members stated that in some wards knowledge of appropriate contents for recycling bins amongst residents was poor and that access to this information should have been made available. Furthermore the Council had been quite inflexible in its approach to collection and would refuse to collect if there were any inappropriate contents
• Members also questioned how great the response to the real nappies scheme had been
• Members suggested that Community Guardians could encourage recycling as part of their role in the community

The Executive member for Environment stated that other countries had applied a charge for waste collection; however charging for a basic service was not a policy route that Manchester intended to pursue at this time.

The Head of Environmental Services responded that collection rates were sporadic between different wards, but the Environmental Campaigns team were playing a major role in addressing the more poorly performing wards. She added that differences in average collection sizes for waste compared to recycling meant that there were no efficiencies in collecting on the same day.

The Head of Waste Management added that Bring Sites had resulted in good value for money and were well used but were prone to abuse by the commercial sector. In response to the issue of recycling information and education she advised the Committee that there had been a fast roll-out of recycling facilities and in some wards this had not been fully supported by high levels of care advising residents on appropriate content. Stickers are now placed on bins explaining what content was deemed inappropriate and this was followed up with a visit to explain why and to answer any further questions. If there was only one inappropriate item in the bin this could be removed and the bin could be removed.

Uptake of the real nappies scheme had been relatively slow, which may have been effected by the poor publicity surrounding the real nappies scheme from the Environment Agency.

The Chair of the Committee raised the issue that many public houses and private clubs were not recycling their waste glass bottles, he suggested that agreements could be made with private companies whereby recycling facilities would be provided close to their site in exchange for glass collection.

Decision

1. To thank Chris Davey for attending the meeting and briefing the Committee on WRAP's remit and activities.

2. To welcome the stance taken against charging separately for waste collection.

3. To agree that recycling should be encouraged wherever possible with positive measures, but that in some instances a punitive process may be required to encourage recycling amongst some residents. Councillor Cowell declared a personal interest as a board member of Emerge recycling

CN/07/16 Climate Change Plan

A report of the Strategic Director of Neighbourhood Services was submitted updating members on opportunities to comment on the Climate Change Plan in advance of the more in-depth item in October.

Members highlighted that the plan did not make reference to the Airport and queried what action was being taken to promote greener vehicles and more environmentally-friendly driving practices.

The Green City Programme Director stated that the airport had no control over aviation emissions as this was covered by European legislation. As regards the operation of its premises on the ground, the Airport had many good practices in place and has set itself the ambitious target of a 30% cut in emissions by 2020, and carbon neutrality by 2030.

The cleaner vehicle campaigns was still running, and fixed penalty notices were being issued for buses idling for a prolonged period of time.

Decision

To note the report and pick up the issues raised in further detail in October's meeting.

CN/07/17 Green City Programme Update

A report of the Strategic Director of Neighbourhood Services was submitted updating members on the performance of the Green City Programme and to look at their targets, which were currently under review.

Members highlighted the following areas that they would like further detail on in October: -

• Manchester's approach to and progress in improving biodiversity
• The number of taxis now running on biofuels, and the impact use of biofuels has on agricultural land.

The Green City Programme Director responded that Manchester had recently been cited by the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs as having an innovative approach to biodiversity.

In response to a member's question, the Green City Programme Director advised the Committee that numbers of community orchards were now increasing and 12 small orchards were in place, and that an engagement plan was now in place to ensure the orchards were community led.

Decision

To note the report and pick up the issues raised in further detail in October's meeting.

CN/07/18 Information and Scanning Report

A report of the Head of Democratic Services was submitted providing information on relevant issues within the Committee's remit.

A Ward Councillor from Whalley Range attended the meeting and raised further questions in relation to the information provided to the Committee on operational matters in Alexandra Park: -

• Was the lottery bid another phase one bid or would consultation be on a new bid?
• Is the Council managing the Lodge on Claremont Road in accordance with the Asset Management Plan or was there a separate plan for the lodge?

The Chair of the Committee also added that there were some elements of the contributions raised by the pupil of Brookway High School that were not addressed in the briefing note. These were as follows: -

• To look at providing better cycle pathways in the Mersey Valley and other facilities to make the area a more attractive destination,
• That although it was noted that the park would not be open after dark, the young people had raised issues of security and the fear of being mugged in the park that could be more fully explored.
• To request that more than one teen shelter is provided to reduce the risk of them dominated by gangs.

The Committee also requested that information be brought back to the Committee regarding how Manchester Leisure and Galleries would manage the park together.

Decision

1. To note the Information and Scanning Report.

2. To request that the Head of Leisure Services bring back responses to the questions raised on the young people's engagement event and Alexandra Park to the next meeting.

3. To request that information be brought back to the Committee regarding how Manchester Leisure and Galleries would manage the park together