Agenda item

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 7^th November 2018.

RESOLVED, that – the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 7 November 2018 be approved as a correct record.

Matters arising

At this point in the meeting, the Chairman invited updates from the Superintendents; Members were reminded that this was usually a standing agenda item and would continue to be so at future Committees.

Billingsgate

The Superintendent advised that a recent wholesalers forum had been dominated by Brexit and, whilst traders were not overly concerned at this time,  there would be further consultation meetings. 

Smithfield

The Superintendent was pleased to report that the Christmas Traffic Management plan had worked well and there had been no major road problems. The only unforeseen issue was a major water main burst on Farringdon Road for the whole pre-Christmas week.  

Members noted that free parking reached a peak of 450 vehicles  on 20th December, and that overall parking in the car park was up 14% on last year, mainly due to the weekend opening before Christmas and Christmas eve this year falling on a Monday.  There were 270 fixed penalty notices issued for parking offences, compared to 227 last year. 

The Superintendent advised that the Working Manual had been agreed with the Tenants Association and was to be signed shortly by both parties.  Members noted that the NABMA  Best Wholesale Market Award would be announced on 31st January 2019 and Smithfield had entered the nominations. The Superintendent finally reported on the recent HGV banksman 4 night audit. There were 96 deliveries witnessed and a 2% non-banksman result. This information had been shared with the SMTA and a jointly-signed letter issued to the relevant freight transport companies.  

The Superintendent agreed to bring a paper to the next meeting on car park usage.

Spitalfields

The Superintendent reported an incident at the Market on the 17^th December 2018, which resulted in the death of an HGV driver, just after Christmas, as a result of sustained injuries.  The Police investigated but the incident occurred in a CCTV blind spot.  Members noted a report on today’s agenda at item 8, in respect of CCTV replacement at the Market.   Initial findings concluded that the incident occurred in an area not authorised for unloading and therefore the market operators were not responsible.  The Chairman and Director had sent condolences to the driver’s family. 

In respect of other updates, there had been a new security system procured for the constabulary (Gartech); and the purchase of new LED lights in the market hall, at a cost of £8,000, had reduced energy consumption by 52% with payback expected in 9 months’ time.

Finally, Members noted that City Harvest, a charity which utilises products towards their end of life, were using the site as a City distribution hub; previously  located in West London.  The Charity received City Bridge Trust funding and were able to freeze produce, on site, to make soups and smoothies.  The Charity had expressed interest in taking space but did not want to pay commercial rent.  The Chairman asked for a proper request to be made, to consider them as tenants, and was happy for a report on their potential tenancy to be considered to enable Members to take an informed decision.