Issue - meetings

To consider the proposals for future ownership and maintenance of the orphan sites that the Council currently maintains but does not own.

Approve the proposed treatment of the categories of orphan sites in respect to future ownership and maintenance arrangements, as detailed in paragraph 3.2 of the Officer’s report, as follows:

a)  Maintenance activities to cease on the 60 privately owned sites and the one utility company site, as of 31 July 2016.

b)  Having been advised of the need to adopt the 66 sites identified as part of the Highway under their statutory function as the Highway Authority, the costs of maintaining these sites to be included in the negotiations already taking place with Cambridgeshire County Council.

c)  The additional costs of maintaining 23 Luminus sites to be directly recharged to Luminus for 2016/17.

d)  That the District Council adopt 42 of the orphan sites and continue to maintain these sites, having been identified in the review as sites being appropriate for the Council to own.

e)  Further review work to be carried out regarding the 23 sites yet to have ownership determined.

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By way of a report by the Interim Head of Service (Operations) (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) presented in his absence by the Executive Councillor for Environment, Street Scene and Operations, the Cabinet considered proposals regarding future ownership and maintenance of 240 orphan sites that the Council did not own but maintained at its own expense.

A review of all grounds maintenance regimes had highlighted that there were not insubstantial costs associated with the maintenance of these orphan sites.  The ownership details of the sites had been reviewed in order to transfer the maintenance responsibilities to the rightful landowner.  The Officer’s report detailed the various ownerships and the proposed course of action for the sites.

Having considered the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Communities and Environment) the Cabinet were informed that the Panel were generally in support of the report and that maps of orphan sites were being complied for the respective Ward Members.

In response to questions it was explained to the Cabinet that the orphan sites were a longstanding anomaly which pre-dated the establishment of the Land Registry and that once resolved there should not be an issue in the future. Whereupon the Cabinet,

RESOLVED

to approve the proposed treatment of the categories of orphan sites in respect to future ownership and maintenance arrangements, as detailed in paragraph 3.2 of the Officer’s report, as follows:

a)  Maintenance activities to cease on the 60 privately owned sites and the one utility company site, as of 31 July 2016;

b)  Having been advised of the need to adopt the 66 sites identified as part of the Highway under their statutory function as the Highway Authority, the costs of maintaining these sites to be included in the negotiations already taking place with Cambridgeshire County Council;

c)  The additional costs of maintaining 23 Luminus sites to be directly recharged to Luminus for 2016/17;

d)  That the District Council adopt 42 of the orphan sites and continue to maintain these sites, having been identified in the review as sites being appropriate for the Council to own; and

e)  Further review work to be carried out regarding the 23 sites yet to have ownership determined.

The Review of the Ownership and Maintenance of Orphan Sites is to be presented to the Panel.

Preceding the report the Panel received a presentation from the Executive Councillor for Environment, Street Scene and Operations and the Interim Head of Operations on the Operations Services. The key points were as follows:

·  The service is divided into three sections: Environmental Services, Commercial Services and Business Development.

·  The service has undergone some key development issues including: reconfiguration of the waste collection services to deliver efficiencies, consulting on reducing bin capacity and charging for replacement bins.

·  Between 56-58% of household waste is recycled in the District. The service is now focusing on reducing residual waste. Household waste only accounts for 12-14% of waste in the country.

·  Since the arrival of the Interim Head of Operations the management of Huntingdonshire District Council’s (HDC) tree stock has become a priority.

·  In the last year the service has taken over the management of the Corporate Estate.

·  As a result of not profiting from the markets in Huntingdon and St Ives, the service is looking at reconfiguring the layout of the markets to make them more appealing to traders and customers.

·  The Business Support Team has downsized in order to make it more focused.

Following a question from a Member regarding the forwarding of non-HDC enquiries from a HDC operative to an external agency it was confirmed that the Operations Service had been liaising with the Call Centre in order to aid an easy handover. Members were advised that the difficulty is ensuring that the customer’s enquiry will be dealt with once it is passed over to the external agency.

Concerns were raised as to whether recycling does get recycled and in response Members were reassured that the recycling goes to a treatment centre where it is sorted. A following question was asked in relation to the cleaning of recyclates before recycling to which the Panel were advised that the Council recommends the cleaning of recyclates for the following reasons: to prevent harmful bacteria from growing and to enable the Council to receive the best gate fee it can when the recycling is presented to the treatment centre.

In response to a question on the contamination of recycling Members were informed that the service had an issue with garden waste contamination which it addressed by reissuing guidance to residents. In addition the practice of photographing the contaminated bin had been introduced in order to provide the resident with a reason as to why their bin had been rejected. In the majority of cases the resident has then accepted the explanation however in a minority of cases the Council is required to work further with the resident before the ultimate sanction of the removal of the bin is imposed.

Officers agreed to circulate the Operations Service presentation slides (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) to Members of the Panel following a request by a Member to do so.

A concern was raised by a Member that it is possible that the District would see an increase in black bin bags left  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8