Minutes

Apologies were received from Nick Logan – Planning Policy and Design.

The Chair disclosed a personal and non-prejudicial interest in the business to be discussed as a resident of Bradgate Heights.

RESOLVED:

that the minutes of the meeting of the Land Management Companies theme of the Regeneration and Transport Task Group held on 8^th December 2010, as previously circulated, were agreed as a correct record.

The Chair gave a brief introduction and Jerry Connolly stated that he had met with representatives from Greenbelt, the Land Management Company involved with the maintenance of land at North Hamilton and other sites within the City, on Wednesday 9^th February. Copies of the notes of the meeting were circulated at the meeting.

Greenbelt Group

Represented by: -

Andrew Hampton – Greenbelt England Regional Development Director and

Gareth Davies – Greenbelt Business Development Director

Andrew Hampton opened the discussion by stating that he had seen a set of the Minutes from the first meeting and wished to present a balanced view to the Task Group.

The company had started over 12 years ago as a result of funding made available from Strathclyde Regional Council. Now Greenbelt was a private limited company that managed a range of sites from Scotland to Cornwall. The size of sites managed varied enormously.

Around 31k properties on managed sites paid an annual management charge to Greenbelt, these equated to an average of £125 per property. An additional 25k properties were also contracted and would transfer to Greenbelt soon.

Councillor Dempster – questioned whether there was one person at Greenbelt who was responsible for the open space at Bradgate Heights.

Andrew Hampton – stated that each region had a Regional Operations Manager (ROM) who visited all sites to inspect work carried out. However, all complaints and issues regarding maintenance of sites were to be directed through the Glasgow based Customer Care Department, the main reason for this was to enable close monitoring of performance to be carried out. Any concerns highlighted then could be referred direct to the appropriate ROM.

Councillor Dempster – asked how Greenbelt knew that all residents on their managed developments fully understood about Greenbelt and their responsibilities, particularly in properties that were rented or purchased second hand.

Andrew Hampton – stated that Greenbelt did not have direct contact with residents at Bradgate Heights, but on the sites where direct contact was in place a Residents Pack was provided which contained all relevant information. Greenbelt realised that there was a problem keeping in touch with all residents

Councillor Dempster – stated that a Residents Association was in place at Bradgate Heights and they had their own website. It was suggested that Greenbelt forward relevant information to the Residents Association for inclusion on the website as this would be a way of allowing residents to better understand Greenbelt.

Andrew Hampton – stated that this seemed to be to be a very good idea that would be pursued. The site at Bradgate Heights was provided by a commuted sum from the developers but Greenbelt were moving towards those sites provided by way of Greenspace funding as direct contact could then be established with residents. It was further agreed that arrangements would be made for the Greenbelt ROM to attend a Residents Meeting at Bradgate Heights and establish dialogue with residents. 

Hamilton was an open space within a developing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

It was suggested that a further meeting be arranged in March 2011 to conclude the Review and make recommendations to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board.

The Chair declared the meeting closed at 1.28 pm.