Agenda and minutes

Apologies were submitted on behalf of a number of Councillors due to excessive traffic congestion.

Agreed.

Received a petition opposing the conversion of the former doctor’s surgery at 35 Strood Avenue, Rush Green into a nursery in respect of the effect on traffic and parking in the area. 

Agreed, in order to address the concerns raised by petitioners, to:

1.  Note that the Council has no powers to prevent the conversion of the former doctor’s surgery into a nursery; and

2.  A consultation exercise to be undertaken once the Nursery is operational in the area around the new nursery site to determine if there is resident support for a Controlled Parking Zone.

Presentation by Chief Superintendent Robin Hopes, Barking and Dagenham Police

Chief Superintendent Robin Hopes, Barking and Dagenham Police, attended to give a presentation on policing in the Borough.

The presentation included a personal perspective looking backwards at where the service had come from, where the service is at now and the vision for the future.  The presentation also included statistical information on comparing performance across a number of indicators between June 2004 and June 2005.

Janette Whitfield from the Audit Commission will be present to answer questions on the 2004 / 2005 Joint Audit and Inspection Letter

Janette Whitfield from the Audit Commission was present to answer questions on the inspection element of the 2004 / 2005 Joint Audit and Inspection Letter, which was presented to the Assembly meeting on 4 January 2006.

Members of the Council asked questions covering the following areas:

·  The level of involvement of Members in providing challenge to the efficiency and the value for money agenda;

·  The services and actions required to meet the community’s expectations and how well we are placed to address these

·  What services need further improvement?

·  What does “improving adequately” really mean?

Janette Whitfield’s responses identified that most services were in a robust state and those that needed improvement were included in her report.  She was also comfortable with the Council’s direction of travel.

Presentation by Jeremy Grint on behalf of the Planning and Transportation Division, Regeneration and Environment

Received a presentation by Jeremy Grint, Head of Regeneration, Regeneration and Environment Department on Customer Care in the Planning and Transportation Division.

Amendments to the Remit of the Development Control Board

Agreed to amend the Council’s Scheme of Delegation in respect of the remit of the Development Control Board (Section E, Part C of the Constitution), to include responsibility for determining the following applications:

·  All conversions of residential properties to flats; and

·  Erection of single, infill, dwelling houses which, in the opinion of the Head of Planning and Transportation, would have a detrimental impact on the amenity of the surrounding locality.

Noted the regular report on the work of the BAD Youth Forum summarising the activities of the Youth Forum in December 2005, including the challenging programme of work planned for the various sub-groups.