Agenda and minutes

Councillor Waddington as the Chair of the Commission welcomed the Members to the Commission and led on introductions.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Rae Bhatia and the Director for Planning, Development and Transportation.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting of the Commission held on 22 March 2023 are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as correct record.

AGREED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Economic Development, Transportation and Climate Emergency Scrutiny Commission, held on 23 March 2023 be confirmed as a correct record.

The Membership of the Economic Development, Transport and Climate Emergency Scrutiny Commission is as follows:

Councillor Waddington (Chair)

Councillor O’Neill (Vice Chair)

Councillor Batool

Councillor Dawood

Councillor Osman

Councillor Porter

Councillor Rae Bhatia

Councillor Whittle

Members of the Commission are asked to note the Membership of the Commission.

AGREED:

            That the Membership of the Commission be noted.

The dates of the Economic Development, Transport and Climate Emergency Scrutiny Commission are as follows:

Thursday 27^th July 2023

Wednesday 30^th August 2023

Wednesday 18^th October 2023

Thursday 7^th December 2023

Wednesday 31^st Jan 2024

Wednesday 20^th March 2024

Members of the Commission are asked to note the dates of the Commission.

AGREED:

            That the dates of the Commission for the municipal year be noted.

The Monitoring Officer to report on any questions, representations and statements of case received in accordance with Council procedures.

The Following Statement of Case has been received from Elizabeth Moles:

With pedestrian crossings, I would like to see more time for crossing and, ideally, a timer to tell how long we have to cross. This is because parents with small children need time, so do disabled people.

I propose at least one information board, but possibly more, to remember and inform us about Mary Attenborough and her role in hosting refugees from the Civil War in Spain, children affected by the Guernica bombing, and Jewish children and adults affected by fascism in Germany. All this happened in Leicester when she lived at College House on the uni. Campus.

With pedestrian crossings, I would like to see more time for crossing and, ideally, a timer to tell how long we have to cross. This is because parents with small children need time, so do disabled people.

In response to the Statement from the member of the public, The Deputy City Mayor for Climate, Economy and Culture noted that conversation were ongoing to consider options for crossing times and the City Transport Director noted that the signals provision was for the country and the various options were considered.

The Chair of the Commission drew the Commissions attention to an Active Travel England article in the Guardian and suggested that the option for countdown timers should be considered.

I propose at least one information board, but possibly more, to remember and inform us about Mary Attenborough and her role in hosting refugees from the Civil War in Spain, children affected by the Guernica bombing, and Jewish children and adults affected by fascism in Germany. All this happened in Leicester when she lived at College House on the uni. Campus.

 The Deputy City Mayor welcomed and commended the work by Mary Attenborough in the city and suggested that there was a continued commitment to producing heritage panels to tell a tale of the city and would be happy to take this forward.

The Monitoring Officer to report on any petitions received in accordance with Council procedures.

The Monitoring Officer noted that none had been received.

The Director of Planning Development and Transportation, the Director of Tourism, Culture and Inward Investment and the Director of Estates and Building Services submit a presentation, providing the Commission with an overview of the portfolios.

Members of the Commission are asked to note the presentation and forward any questions and queries to the Directors.

The Deputy City Mayor for Climate, Economy and Culture introduced the item and noted that the work delivered through the portfolios that were to be presented were delivered for the economy to thrive.

The City Transport Director provided an overview of the Transport Strategy, and the City Highways Director provided an overview of the Highways Service. as part of the discussions, it was noted that:

·         The Environmental impacts be clearly assessed as part of planning for new proposals.

·         The introduction of 20MPH schemes which had been delivered across cities had not proven to be effective whereas the approach to capture certain streets and blocks had proven to be a more effective approach, with a further programme of streets being developed.

·         Members of the Commission suggested that the bus services had improved and that the current cost of journeys were fare although these were set to rise at the end of the year.

·         It was suggested that there were business reasons behind bus companies operating certain routes and that recent changes on how bus services were tendered could consider the possibility for alternative routes to connect neighbourhoods in the city.

The Head of Planning delivered an overview of the Planning Service. As part of the discussions, it was noted that:

·         Members of the Commission requested information on the Knighton conservation area review and it was suggested that there was a programme of appraisal that would review the conservation area in Knighton, the team was now fully staffed, and more information could be provided to the Member of the Commission if requested.

·         There were an increasing number of applications for external insulation of buildings and that there were ongoing conversations with contractors and Trading Standards for improved detailing of installations and the use of appropriate designs. Half of the enforcement cases had been dealt with by the team.

The Chair and Members of the Commission suggested that an active approach to informing residents on the rules surrounding the external wall insulation and the alternative internal options in local areas would be beneficial and reduce the need for enforcement.  

The Programme Manager provided an overview of the Waterside regeneration and noted that the focussed approach around the riverside stimulated development in the area.

As part of the discussions, it was noted that:

·         Members of the Commission commended the Waterside regeneration

·         The redevelopment at Ashton Green continued to be delivered with other infrastructure work being delivered alongside the various building work at various patches on the site and there was competitive bidding and delivery was based on the best value for money

·         The redevelopment of the railway station was in progress and the funding had been secured. There had been dissatisfaction with the current layout of the station and the main constraint was the size of the ticket gates which the redevelopment would address delivering a larger gate line and concourse.

·         In response to the Chairs query on future targets and goals in other parts of the city, it was noted that there were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 155.

Members of the Commission will be asked to consider items for the future work programme.

The Chair noted that the propsed items would be programmed in on the work programme and Members of the Commission were requested to forward any items they may have to the Chair or the Scrutiny Policy Officer.