Agenda item

To discuss the following matters raised by Local Council’s:

1.            Road Closures

The Branch required an update on the procedure for road closures under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 (Minute 12a) and who was now responsible for the road closures.

(Assistant Director of Corporate Support Services) To consider the attached report. (page ? of the agenda)

2.            Collection of Rubbish and Recycling from Community/village Halls

The branch requested an update on the collection of rubbish and recycling from community/village halls and whether this would be included in the Waste Management Contract.

3.            Progress on the Draft Local Plan

The Branch requested an update on the Draft Local Plan, a timetable and information on the adoption of Community Infrastructure Levy.

1.            Road Closures

The Deputy Chief Executive, Derek Macnab advised that EFDC had taken on the powers under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847, to provide local means of road closures for temporary events. These powers would be coming into effect on 1 April 2014, with the exception of the Debden Broadway event in June 2014. The road closures would be subject to a fee of £170.00 and further consideration to the charging of the fee for a charitable event would be considered by the Licensing Committee.

The Chairman of the Licensing Committee, Councillor K Angold-Stephens advised the Parish and Town Councils that a report would be considered at the next meeting of the Licensing Committee on 9 April 2014 regarding concessions and that all applications would be judged on merit and whether they were for primarily for charity or commercial purposes.

2.            Collection of Rubbish and Recycling from Community/village Halls

The Deputy Chief Executive advised that the Council currently provided  Community/Village Halls with an 180-litre residual waste bin and recycling facilities free of charge, although any activities that that were commercially run within the halls would have to pay for the removal of the waste. The Council was currently procuring a new waste contract and as part of the procurement, a commercial waste collection service would be included.

Councillor Angold-Stephen advised that most village/community halls were used for both purposes. The Deputy Chief Executive, acknowledge this and advised that ECC used a RAPP formula and waste officers to formulate costs for the collections.

County Councillor Pond enquired whether the recycling from Community/Village halls, commercial or not benefited the District Council recycling figures and therefore should be collected for free, as previously agreed. The Deputy Chief Executive advised that he would enquire into whether the recycling collections were free.

3.            Progress on the Draft Local Plan

The Director of Planning and Economic Development, John Preston advised that he had an update from the previous meeting regarding the weekly planning list and missing/delayed notice. He advised that due to a member of staff being absent, there had been a delay in the list being placed on to the website and service; however this had returned to normal.

The Director of Planning and Economic advised that the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Councillor Bassett had been attending various meetings concerning the local plan and the duty to co-operate in conjunction with the many neighbours and strategic issues in the District. Currently, the District Members were considering the population projections for the evidence base, the Strategy Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) required updating and the Objectively Assessed Housing Need required agreeing. These elements needed careful consideration to prevent the local plan being found unsound. The time table for the Local Development Scheme was currently out of date and required updating.

The Director of Planning and Economic advised that the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) was an alternative to section 106 agreements, which could provide a standard tariff rather than a case by case basis, although authorities had to have an  adopted plan in place before they could have a CIL. The CIL was there to provide a top up to infrastructure, and what with the economic fluctuations and the Government changing the contributions, the District Council would have to consider the net cost of the CIL compared to the current Section 106 section agreements.