Apologies were received from Councillor John Leach, Councillor Jenny Slark (contractually required to attend a School Parents’ evening), David Aylett and Colin Wadeson.

Minutes of the Beddington and Wallington Local Committee held on 17 October 2007 and 5 December 2007 to be agreed and signed subject to the following:

Minute 873/07 

Substitution of:

“It was felt…” with “A resident felt…”

“0.3m” with “9.3m”; and

“including….lorries” with “not HGVs”.

Minute 1097/07

Substitution of “temporary traffic orders” with “experimental traffic orders”.

The minutes of the 17 October 2007 and 5 December 2007 were signed as a true record subject to the following amendments:

Minute 873/07

Substitution of:

“It was felt…” with “A resident felt…”

“0.3m” with “9.3m”, and

“including…lorries” with “not HGVs”.

Minute 1097/07

Substitution of “temporary traffic orders” with “experimental traffic orders”.

• Verbal presentation by Inspector Colin Baker.
• Minutes of the Beddington and Wallington Ward Panel meetings for noting:-

1. Wallington South – 3 December 2007
2. Wallington North – 9 January 2008

The minutes for Beddington North and Beddington South were circulated with the agenda of the meeting held on 5 December 2007.

Inspector Colin Baker updated the committee on various police matters and outlined their priorities for the four wards. 

Resolved: (i) To note the Wallington South Ward minutes of the

3 December 2007 and Wallington North of 9 January 2008.

(ii) It was requested at an informal meeting of members and special advisors on 31 January 2008 that in addition to the minutes of minutes of Ward Panel meetings, comparative crime statistics in bar chart form for all four wards to be attached to future agendas for information and also minutes of Police Forum meetings.

There will be 15 minutes allocated for the public to ask questions on non-agenda items.  Please submit in writing to the Area Co-ordinator at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting.

There is in addition the opportunity to ask questions or make contributions on each item as it arises.

There were no questions from members of the public.

·        Verbal report from Malcolm Barker, Lead Locality Officer.

·        Presentation from Mike Dees, EcoLocal on the Gear-Up Project in Beddington Park- Request for funding.

Malcolm Barker advised that all the identified projects had been put forward for costing and information would be available for decisions to be made on the projects to be funded from the public realm monies at the next Beddington and Wallington Local Committee on Thursday 3 April 2008.

Councillor Hall expressed disappointment at the drop in the number of residents attending the meeting.  Malcolm stated that more publicity would be arranged to advertise the next meeting to attract a wider audience, ensure residents were aware of the decisions that would be made about public realm spending and the important role that they have to play.

Gear-Up Project

Mike Dees, EcoLocal advised that £30,000 of public realm monies was being sought for an inclusive cycling project in Beddington Park and showed a short video about a project that was already in place at Croydon Arena.

He explained that there a cycling route is already in existence around Beddington Park.  It is proposed that there would be basic cycling training carried out during the week, in order that cyclists could then progress to using the cycle route in the park, followed by independent cycling.  The purpose of the project is to make cycling more visible and enable members of the community to become involved.  The project would be open to everyone of all abilities and ages, and not only for people with disabilities and learning difficulties.

Although some funding had already been secured, It was hoped that match funding could be obtained to further expand the scheme so as to reach its full potential.  They hoped that heritage signage could be installed to enhance the park.

Dee Hyatt, Friends of Beddington and Grange Parks stated that there was children’s cycling training was carried out at weekends in Beddington Park by Pollards Hill.  Although the cycle route circuit was not complete, it was endeavoured this could be finalised by the end of February.  Dee expressed concern that the cycle route was quite narrow.

Trevor Lenthall, London Borough of Sutton Cycling Officer advised that any training would be low speed and marshalled by volunteers.  He emphasised that the facility in Beddington Park was greatly underused and required wider publicity.  He hoped that cyclists would be encouraged to join the organised rides in order to gain the confidence to cycle independently.  He also hoped that the scheme would be a magnet for volunteers and encourage community engagement.

It was suggested that EcoLocal and the Friends of Beddington & Grange Parks liaise to discuss their separate plans and work in conjunction with each other.

Keith Knight enquired whether the project would qualify for public realm funding.  Malcolm Barker confirmed that the funding being sought was considered capital and initially seemed to fit within the public realm criteria.

Resolved: (i) That the Gear-Up Project would be included in the  Public Realm Projects listing for further eligibility review.

(ii) That the business plan prepared in respect of the Gear-up project be circulated to members of the committee and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 158.

Verbal Report of Neil Sewell, Head of Youth Services

Neil Sewell, Head of Youth Services outlined the work carried out by the Youth Service and highlighted that the best way of communicating with young people was to ‘go to them’.  Although the Youth Service already had in its possession a converted mini bus, Neil felt that the purchase of an URBI bus would enhance the service.

Neil enquired whether the Committee would be willing to agree to the allocation of £10,000 Public Realm monies for the purchase of a second URBI.  Neil advised that he would be making the same request to each Local Committee.

Although the Committee was keen to encourage the youth work, it felt that further evidence was required on the success of the first bus, prior to agreeing the purchase of a further bus.

Concern was also expressed by members that an internal council service was seeking public realm funding for projects when the aim of the handing down of budgets to Local Committees was to allow residents to champion local projects for the improvement of the area.

Resolved: That the purchase of URBI bus would not be put forward as a Public Realm potential project.

Briefing note by the Chair for discussion at the meeting.

The Chair invited Councillor Bruce Glithero to introduce this item.

Allison Letts, Legal Representative read the following briefing note clarifying the legal situation with regard to enforcement:

“The provision of the Health Act 2006 and subsequent Regulations, prohibited smoking within “enclosed public spaces” and workplaces.  The provisions of this legislation came into effect on lst July 2007 in England.  Parliament clearly debated the merits of this matter, but did not see it necessary to extend the provisions of this legislation to open public places.  Further to this, it should be noted that smoking is not illegal, save for the age restrictions on the sale of tobacco.  In pursuing such a pilot, there is a possibility that individuals, who feel that their Human Rights are being curtained, given that smoking is not prohibited within open public spaces, may challenge the scheme.

In light of the above, the proposed pilot scheme would require the co-operation of the members of the public, as there are no legislative provisions currently in force that could be used to enforce the proposed no smoking ban, Byelaws are not an option, as the Council cannot seek to criminalize an activity that Parliament does not consider to be illegal.”

Mark Dalzell, Parks Manager, Environment and Leisure had made enquiries of Exeter Council who had introduced a permanent smoking ban in all children’s playgrounds in the borough area of 2007.  The scheme had been introduced without consultation but with considerable support by residents and positive media coverage.  The scheme relies on voluntary compliance and has been deemed a success due to the high compliance rates.

After some debate and a vote, the committee agreed to undertake a trial in one playground.

Resolved: (i) That a pilot scheme be implemented in Beddington Park.

(iii) That section 106 monies [ref. 8516] would be used for the purchase of signage in Beddington Park.  There were already plans for new signage for the park to list local byelaws and police contact numbers and these could be  adapted to inclue the request not to smoke in the playground.  Expected cost of planned signage for Beddington Park £1,000.00.

(ii) That further investigations be made as to whether Section 106 monies could be used for publicity of the scheme.

• Provisional Planned Highways Maintenance Works Programme 2008/09
• Report from Friends of Beddington and Grange Parks.
• Air Quality Briefing Note from Chris Reid, Executive Head of Environmental Sustainability                           (TO FOLLOW)
• Extract from Carshalton and Clockhouse Local Committee 16 January 2008:

Minute XXX/07 – Ongoing Flooding and Infrastructure Capacities.

Resolved: (i) That Beddington and Wallington Local Committee be advised, and that Martin French advise Area D, of problems at Boundary Road/Stanley Park Road roundabout.

Resolved: (i) To note the Provisional Planned Highways Maintenance Works Programme 2008/09.

(ii)To note the proposals in the report of the Friends of Beddington

and Grange Parks for inclusion in the Public Realm process.

 (iii)To note the briefing note outlining the results of air quality monitoring in Beddington and Wallington for 2006 and 2007 and the launch of the Low emission zone for London on the

4 February 2008. 

(v) To note the reference from the Carshalton & Clockhouse Local Committee about the problems at Boundary Road/Stanley Park Road roundabout and note that the gully cleaner is scheduled to address the problem as soon as possible.

None.

The date of the next meeting is scheduled for THURSDAY 3 April 2008 at Bandon Hill Primary School, Sandy Lane South, Wallington.

Please note the meeting will be on a Thursday.

The date of the next meeting is on Thursday 3 April 2008 at Bandon Hill Primary School, Sandy Lane South, Wallington.