Agenda and minutes

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interest they may have in any matter which is to be considered at this meeting.

None declared.

Agreed.

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Adult and Community Services concerning progress of redevelopment work on Valence House Museum.

The aim is to deliver a high quality venue for the borough which provides activities for young people, a resource for learning about the borough’s heritage for all ages and a focus to bring the community together.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council to achieve its Community Priorities of a Clean, Green, Sustainable Borough of Opportunity for all Young People, to:

(i)  Note progress in the completion of the Valence House redevelopment scheme; and

(ii)  The return of £200,000 to the Capital Programme, to be held centrally in reserve until the resolution of all scheme risks.

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Resources regarding the borough’s end of year 2008/09 performance against the Local Area Agreement (LAA) Indicators.

The borough’s performance is above the London average in areas such as:

• Young people’s participation in positive activities;
• The gap in attainment of Level 3 at age 19 in each Local Authority between those young people who were in receipt of free school meals at academic age 15 and those who were not; and
• Narrowing the gap between the lowest achieving 20% in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile and the rest.

Noted however that a focus on performance is required in the following areas:

• Housing;
• Attainment;
• NEETS (Not in Employment, Education or Training);
• Obesity;
• Teenage Pregnancy; and
• Place Survey Indicators – Overall satisfaction and percentage of people who believe people from different backgrounds get on well.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council to achieve all of its Community Priorities, to:

(i)  Note the performance of the LAA Indicators overall; and

(ii)  Note the changes in performance and key projects related to the poorly performing indicators.

Received a report from the Chief Executive regarding the Rights of Way improvement Plan (ROWIP) which has been prepared following a period of public consultation.

The ROWIP is intended to be the prime means by which the Council identifies the changes to be made in respect of the management and improvement of the local Rights of Way network, in order to meet the Government’s aim of better provision for walkers, cyclists, equestrians and people with mobility problems.

Agreed, in order for the Council to achieve all of its Community Priorities, to recommend the Assembly to adopt the Rights of Way Improvement Plan and support its continued development and implementation.

Received a report from the Chief Executive regarding consultation on the draft Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) which focuses on the health impacts of hot food takeaways.

The SPD aims to reduce the risk of obesity amongst the borough’s population, particularly children, by:

• Reducing opportunities for new hot food takeaway shops, especially those in proximity to schools;
• Seeking developer contributions from new takeaways towards initiatives to tackle obesity;
• Working with hot food takeaways to improve the nutritional value of the food they sell; and
• Improving the opportunities to access healthy food in new developments.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council to achieve its Community Priority of a ‘Healthy’ borough, to approve the “Saturation Point – Addressing the Health Impacts of Hot Food Takeaways” Supplementary Planning Document:

(i)  for consultation until the end of September 2009, with Schools and Children’s Centres to be included in the consultation; and

(ii)  as a material consideration by Development Management.