To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor G. W. Davis.

To receive details any details of Members nominated to attend the meeting in place of a Member of the Committee.

There were no substitutes.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on the Agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 6th June, 2005.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 6th June, 2005, be approved and signed by the Chairman.

To receive a presentation by the Cabinet Member (Highways & Transportation) informing the Committee of policy issues affecting this programme area and the main priorities.

The Committee received a presentation by the Cabinet Member (Highways and Transportation).

A report and presentation had been prepared by the Cabinet Member outlining the issues affecting the Highways and Transportation programme area and highlighting the main priorities for 2005/06.

In presenting his report the Cabinet Member highlighted in particular:

• Recent successes had been the extension of the Great Western Cycleway; the refurbishment of Leominster Railway forecourt; opening of the Roman Road scheme; completion of the Leominster Industrial Estate Access Road and the award winning new bridge at Bridge Sollars.

• Proposals for the future included the Local Transport Plan 2006/7 to 2010/11 (LTP2), the draft of which had been submitted to GOWM by the due date.  The final version, which would cover the 4 shared priorities between Government and the LGA of: delivering accessibility; tacking congestion; safer roads and better air quality would be submitted by 31st March 2006. Indications were that Government LTP funding to the County would be at a lower level than in previous years.

• Major schemes included in the LTP2 were: Rotherwas Access Relief Road which needed strong cross-party support; A49-A465 link road including river crossing; monitoring work for a possible North West Herefordshire relief road; and an extension to Ledbury By-pass (possibly funded by PFI).

• Other possible schemes included finishing off both Eastern and Western ends of the Roman Road and addressing air pollution issues at Bargates, Leominster.

• A Director level meeting would be held with the Highways Agency to discuss trunk road issues and in particular those on the A49.

• Monitoring work continued to be undertaken during the trial Widemarsh Street pedestrianisation scheme.

• £2 million had been allocated in the Council budget for the Hereford City centre refurbishment works (undertaken with Economic Development).

• A protocol had been adopted, and was regularly reviewed, to speed up the implementation of traffic orders.

• Following recent development schemes in Bromyard, resulting in the loss of car parking spaces, work was under way to identify possible replacement sites.

• Flood Alleviation Schemes – work was due to start at Ross-on-Wye in 2006.  The Cabinet Member was monitoring progress with the Hereford, Belmont roundabout scheme (associated with the Asda development) which was currently being considered by DEFRA.

• The Public Rights of Way improvement plan would be progressed.

• The Council priorities to improve transport and the safety of roads and to sustain vibrant and prosperous communities, provide more efficient, effective and customer-focused services would be pursued, primarily through the LTP which encompassed all the Council’s major transport strategies and policies.

The Committee noted the report and presentation by the Cabinet Member.  The following is an outline of the questions and responses or comments made during the ensuing questioning of the Cabinet Member:

• In view of the generally disappointing response to questions put to the Highways Agency by Committee on 28th February, the outcome of the Director level meeting with the Highways Agency be conveyed to the Committee.

• In response to concerns over long term parking provision in the County, and in particular  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

To receive a presentation by the Cabinet Member (Environment) informing the Committee of policy issues affecting this programme area and the main priorities.

The Committee received a presentation by the Cabinet Member (Environment)

A report had been prepared by the Cabinet Member outlining the issues affecting the Environment programme area and highlighting the main priorities for 2005/06.

In presenting the report the Cabinet Member (Environment) highlighted in particular:

• The Environment Directorate was now seen as a high performing part of the Council.  The last CPA score indicated an improvement from 1 to 3 out of a possible 4.  The target now was to improve or maintain this position.

• Recent staff re-location had contributed to closer working relationships and reduced accommodation costs.  This would be continued in accordance with the Council’s property strategy.

• There was now a sharper focus on the management of the whole street environment through the “Streetscene” scheme.  The scheme had also benefited from a higher profile through the local press; lay-by “Safari” signs and officer visits to schools.  Further aspects of the scheme will be added as more parts of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 were enacted.

• Waste Management - Compared with Worcestershire, Herefordshire benefited from being a Unitary Authority.  The County now had a number of excellent waste bring sites.  While various means were used to promote recycling, further efforts were needed to reduce the overall waste tonnage.  In particular he wished to see a reduction in green waste sent to landfill.

• The restructure of the Environmental Health and Trading Standards Section had been successful with positive feedback being received through the Quality Audit in February 2005.

• Implementation of the Licensing Act 2003 had been slow due to the lack of information or guidance from Government.  However, the newly formed Licensing Section had developed a licensing policy for Herefordshire.

• Excellent work was being carried out relating to the Good Environmental Management system (GEM) and the ISO 9001 international standard for environmental management.

• Planning – while ICT improvements may not have happened as quickly as some would have liked, many improvements had been made.  While increased staff turnover had affected performance in Development Control this had been rectified and performance against statutory performance indicators now exceeded targets.  The Unitary Development Plan inquiry had concluded and was due to report at the end of 2005.

The Committee noted the report by the Cabinet Member.  The following is an outline of the questions and responses or comments made during the ensuing questioning of the Cabinet Member:

• In response to questions regarding the application response rate under the new Licensing Act, and the likely treatment of those who had not responded, the Committee was informed that despite national and local press coverage and letters to licensees, a high proportion had failed to respond as of the Saturday 6th August deadline.  Those who hadn’t responded would be dealt with appropriately.  Unfortunately the Government had not provided IT software programmes to support the change and therefore each Authority had had to commission its own.  The Licensing Section was intended to be cost-neutral.

• While the Council still had area depots, benefits had been derived  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.