Skip to main content

Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1

Contact: Democratic Services 

Items
No. Item

27.

Minutes of Previous meeting pdf icon PDF 52 KB

To consider the minutes of the meeting held on 30 September 2021.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 September 2021 were approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

28.

Apologies for Absence and Temporary Appointments

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Owen Collins

29.

Declarations of Interest

To receive any declarations of interest from Councillors relating to items to be considered at the meeting, in accordance with the provisions of the Council’s Local Code of Conduct, and any from Officers.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

30.

Participation of the Public

Purpose:

To receive any submissions from members of the public, in accordance with the Council’s Rules of Procedure.

 

Minutes:

There was no Participation of the Public.

31.

Waste Bin Placement and Renewal Programme pdf icon PDF 3 MB

Purpose:

To receive a presentation on the progress of the Waste Bin Placement and Renewal

Programme

Minutes:

The Chairman introduced the Contracts Manager, Scott Williams, and Service Designer, Louise Oddy.

Mr Williams addressed the Committee and shared a presentation on the Waste Bin Placement and Renewal Programme.

The Chairman thanked Mr Williams and invited Councillors to comment or ask questions of Mr Williams or Louise Oddy, remembering to focus on the Policy and not local issues.

Councillor Fenton asked who paid for the bins to be emptied, WODC or the Town Council. Mr Williams clarified that WODC was responsible for the adopted highway but if the land was owned by the Parish, or was the responsibility of the Parish, it would fall to them to maintain.  However, he noted that as part of this service moving forward, WODC would offer this service to the Parish Council.

Councillor Goodwin enquired how long the gap was between removal of the old bin and installation of a new bin.  He also queried if, where sites were busy, was there a plan to issue more recycling bins. Louise Oddy explained that at the beginning of the programme there had been a resource issue where ten members of staff were off sick with Covid on the same day.  However, the programme got back on track and the gap between removal and replacement was usually two days.. As for the recycle bins, these were not being issued anymore as they were not properly used, and were mixed contaminated.

Councillor StJohn asked if the timetables for collection had changed, as some bins seem to be full.  Louise Oddy confirmed that this would be reviewed at a meeting in January where all collections were going to be looked at. The review would include seasonal timetables where bins were fuller in summer and less so in winter, different routes would be planned and highlighted that Parish councils could request more frequent pickups. Mr Williams also confirmed that there was no decrease in resource, therefore Ubico had capacity, if there was a need to target bins more frequently.

Councillor McBride enquired about the consultation process and asked if there was a reduction in the number of bins at the Country Park. Louise Oddy explained that she and Councillor MacRae had visited the Country Park several times, and there was no reduction of bins.  However, the location of the new bins may have been moved to convenient spots, where they were most needed. Councillor McBride also asked about bad aromas at key locations, particularly bus stops and play areas. Louise Oddy confirmed that only litter bins would be located at these areas, and dog waste bins would be located at positions where they were needed. At the January review meeting these issues were to be looked at especially in the summer months where key locations would have more frequent pickups.

Councillor Rylett commented that there were still recycle bins in situ and queried if there were some locations where recycling works. Mr Williams confirmed that once the replacement programme had been completed, there would be no recycle bins  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

32.

Committee Work Programme 2020/2021 pdf icon PDF 193 KB

Purpose:

To provide the Committee with an updated Work Programme for 2020/2021.

 

Recommendation:

That the Committee notes the work programme, provides comment where needed and makes amendments where required.

 

Minutes:

The Chairman addressed the meeting and provided an update on the Committee Work Programme as follows:

 

Review of the Section 19 Report and the Riparian Work – Item 1 & 2

The Chairman introduced Laurence King the Shared Lead Flood Risk Management Officer who addressed the Committee and gave a verbal update.

Mr King clarified that legally Section 19 report could not be delegated, and that an agreement between the Council and Oxford County Council (OCC) was unsigned. Frustration had grown locally regarding the floods, and the lack of a Section 19 report, however, WODC had decided to take the lead and put funding in place to commission the work. The report was due to be shared with Mr King, week commencing 13 December for final tweaking.   It would then be submitted to Frank Wilson and Councillor MacRae for review. Following the review, the report would go to Scrutiny and finally formal Cabinet. To set expectations, the report was likely to be submitted to Cabinet in January 2022 at the earliest.

Councillor Coles commented that he had spoken with Mr Cotton and the County Council were keen that this report would be circulated as soon as possible.

Councillor Fenton asked for clarity as to whether producing Section 19 Reports was a County or District responsibility.  In response, Mr King stated that OCC felt they had delegated the report responsibility to WODC, however, the legal agreement had not been signed.

Councillor Leffman noted there had been a lack of communication between OCC and WODC which had delayed action and this needed to be looked at further by the Committee to understand the process.

The Chairman agreed that the responsibility and processes between WODC and OCC regarding this issue needed to be added to the work programme.

Mr King was able to inform the Committee that OCC did used to have a team since the 2007 floods, which used to work closely with WODC, with regular meetings. The team leader had retired and OCC resources had been depleted hence why the agreement was never concluded and signed.

The Chairman thanked Mr King and concluded that at the next meeting 3 February 2022 the report would have been issued and at that point the Committee could reflect on that and the process between WODC and OCC.

Councillor StJohn wanted to know why the Section 19 report had taken so long, and noted that no answer from Mr Cotton, even though he had been chased on several occasions.

Mr King reflected on the length of time the 2007 Section 19 report took to produce, it was over one year with the report not published until 2008.  He believed the initial hold up was due to the unsigned agreement but he highlighted that the report was not an in depth technical report but a summary and did not unlock funding. 

Councillor Postan reminded Members that it was not only Witney that flooding occurred in but also in Windrush and Shilton, affecting a great number of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

33.

Cabinet Work Programme pdf icon PDF 154 KB

Purpose:

To give the Committee the opportunity to comment on the Cabinet Work Programme published on 16 November 2020.

Recommendation:

That the Committee decides whether to express a view to the Cabinet on relevant issues in its Work Programme.

 

Minutes:

Resolved that the report be noted.

34.

Members' Questions

Purpose:

To receive questions from Members relating to the work of the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee. In order to ensure that appropriate information is to hand at the meeting, Members may wish to give notice of any questions through the Committee Officer.

Recommendation:

That Members’ questions be dealt with as appropriate.

 

Minutes:

Councillor Fenton raised the issue of late bin collections in Church Street, Bampton with seven out of twelve collections being late.  He asked if communication, such as a leaflet drop, could be passed to residents to advise them of the situation and the reasons for lateness.

 

In response, Councillor MacRae updated the Committee advising that this was a result of faulty vehicles.  This had been further compounded by a delay in sourcing spare parts, a situation which was affecting the whole country.  He assured Members that the website was being updated daily regarding any collection issues.

 

Councillor Postan advised that having heard from Parish Council, the Councils Information Service was working really well.

 

Councillor McBride advised that where he lived neighbours shared information and bins so that all rubbish was collected - , one neighbour may have less collection one week so offered the space in the bin to other neighbours, which worked well.