Agenda and minutes

Before the consideration of this item, the Leader and Councillor Coleman updated on the steps taken by the Council to disseminate guidance for people to protect themselves and their families against the coronavirus. The Council had had a meeting with all NHS Partners on the previous  week to understand  how they were operating and how the council could cooperate with them.

Councillor Homan stated that they would have conversations about coronavirus at the  Sheltered Housing Forum to support the vulnerable residents on this issue.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 3 February 2020 be confirmed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings, and that the outstanding actions be noted.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Max Schmid.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter.  The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Standards Committee.

With the Leader’s permission three speakers addressed the Cabinet for 5 minutes each, having submitted two petitions and a valid deputation request.

Eilidh Mactaggart, the first speaker, submitted a petition in support of keeping Harwood Terrace closed. She stated that her main concerns were safety of residents, pedestrians and children going to school. She informed the meeting that during her 32^nd week of pregnancy she was run over by a “rat runner” while taking her dog for a walk in the evening. The car was driving at speed on the wrong side of the road, as he overtook the car in front, who had stopped to give her way. She suffered a detached placenta and had to have an emergency caesarean section, her premature baby needed neonatal care. Luckily, they both survived. She added that it was a common fact that several “rat runners” used the road at great speed as a short cut into New King’s Road. Hence her support for the permanent closure of Hardwood Terrace.

In response to a question from Councillor Stainton, Ms Mactaggart stated that she did not believe a compromise on the closure of the road would be an acceptable solution as it should remain closed at all times. To minimise the ripple effect caused by this closure on the surrounding roads, she suggested extending the bus lane all the way into New King’s Road and introducing traffic calming measures on other roads using new technology.

The Leader agreed with Councillor Stainton’s comments that residents should not be expected to develop a solution. Officers would need to find an appropriate solution with residents’ input.

Councillor Loveday queried whether there were traffic enforcement cameras in the area.  Ms Mactaggart stated that there were  cameras which were not working at the time. The Police had not been able to catch the driver.

James Spokoini submitted a petition requesting the re-opening of Hardwood Terrace. He stated that the Council had committed many errors during the process before closing the road and had not followed the correct procedure from the start. He added that a letter notifying residents of the experimental traffic order  was only sent to Harwood Terrace residents and the Council had ignored the ;large majority of responses which objected to the closure. He urged the Council to commit to a full public consultation before taking a decision and said that the Council needed to give enough time for residents to properly access all data, make comments and only then develop a suitable solution.

In response to a question from Councillor Connell, Mr Spokoini stated that he did not have a solution, as he was not an engineer. His concern was that the Council had not carried out a full consultation from the beginning. He stated that the Council needed to talk to residents, TfL and neighbouring boroughs, as well as rely on comprehensive new data and find a proper area wide solution.

The Leader acknowledged that the Council had not started the process well  ...  view the full minutes text for item 113.

Councillor Fenimore stated that the Council was determined to completely eliminate rough sleeping and the harm it caused to individuals and communities. There had  been a 30% reduction of people sleeping rough, which was an excellent indicator of the good work done so far. She added that this Council had the lowest record of rough sleepers in the whole of London.

The Leader commended the impressive work done by Mark Meehan in promptly helping a homeless woman finding shelter in temporary accommodation, following a telephone call from the Leader during the weekend. She had since been re-housed.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet:

Approves the acceptance of the following grant allocations from the MHCLG and approve corresponding amendments to expenditure budgets to be spent in line with the relevant grant conditions:

Table 1

Councillor Jones provided the following updates on the responses to letters received in relation to the appropriation of land:

1.    Paragraphs 39 to 41 in the Cabinet report explained what steps had been taken to negotiate the release of rights by agreement.

2.    The Council had sent 57 letters to neighbouring properties with a long-term property interest. By Monday 2nd March 2020 the Council had received 5 responses.

3.    Of the 5 responses received, 2 did not have any comments and 3 had questions about the construction phase of the development. None raised any issues in relation to the Council’s intention to appropriate the land.

The Leader stated that this scheme would transform West King Street into a civic, cultural and commercial destination; delivering a new four-screen cinema, commercial space (with affordable business space), 204 homes (of which 52% would be affordable homes for local people), café, restaurant and retail establishments, a public events space and the extension and renewal of the Grade II-listed Town Hall. It would transform the way the Council operated and delivered its services to residents.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet:

1          Resolves that the areas of land at the Civic Campus referred to in this report and shown edged red on the plans at Appendix 1 are no longer required for the mixed commercial and civic purposes for which they are currently held.

2          Approves the appropriation of the areas of land edged red on the plans at Appendix 1 pursuant to section 122 of the Local Government Act 1972 for the planning purposes of facilitating redevelopment for residential and other uses pursuant to section 226 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990

3          Approves the use of powers to override easements and other rights in respect of the land pursuant to section 203 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

The Key Decision List was noted.

None.