Agenda item

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk detailing outstanding actions from their last meeting.

Updates were provided as follows:

Ludgate Circus

The Transportation and Public Realm Director reported that Officers had continued to work alongside TfL to find solutions to this dangerous junction. He reminded the Committee that TfL were intending to attend the next meeting of this Committee on 24 May to present their outcomes.

The Chairman thanked Officers for the amount of time and persistence that had gone in to this large and extremely important piece of work.

Daylight/Sunlight Training

The Chief Planning Officer and Development Director reported that she would be meeting with the trainer in early May and would therefore propose that training be offered to Members in June 2019 on a date to be confirmed.

Daylight/Sunlight – Alternative Guidelines

The Chief Planning Officer and Development Director reported that this would be the subject of a report to this Committee at its June 2019 meeting.

Illegal Street Traders on the City’s Bridges

The Assistant Director Public Protection was pleased to report that the Section 101 agreement with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets (LBTH) had been signed and received on 3 April 2019. A joint operation was therefore able to commence immediately and resulted in the seizure of four peanut receptacles. It was expected that prosecutions would follow. The Easter Weekend had also led to further action around Tower Hill.

Members were informed that three days of further joint enforcement work was scheduled to take place this week. A report providing Members with a full update on work so far with both LBTH and Southwark would be presented to the next meeting of this Committee.

The Chairman stated that he was pleased to hear that joint enforcement action had now begun and thanked Officers for their efforts.

In response to a question, the Assistant Director Public Protection clarified that there was a 24/7 telephone line that both Members and the public could contact should they wish to report any illegal street traders on the bridges.

Millennium Inclinator

Members were informed that a report on this would be put to the next meeting of this Committee on 24 May.

Bartholomew Lane

The Transportation and Public Realm Director reported that he had met with the Member who had originally raised concerns and had agreed a solution which would involve widening the footway at the junction with Threadneedle Street and raising the carriageway.

Air Quality

The Chairman recognised that Air Quality pervaded the City Corporation’s work. He went on to question, however, whether, procedurally, the matter should be retained on this Committee’s list of Outstanding Actions.

A Member questioned whether it might be possible for this Committee to refer the matter to the Streets and Walkways Sub-Committee given that a representative from the Port Health and Environmental Services Committee (the Committee responsible for Air Quality under their terms of reference) sat on this body. In response to this suggestion, the Comptroller and City Solicitor highlighted that this was not a specific function of the Planning and Transportation Committee to delegate. It was suggested that the Chairman and Deputy Chairman discuss how best to proceed on this matter with their counterparts on the Port Health and Environmental Services Committee and the Streets and Walkways Sub Committee and report back.

Whilst the Committee were happy with this suggestion, Members requested that the matter continue to feature on their list of Outstanding Actions given the issue’s cross cutting nature and high profile, with Officers to report back to a future meeting, setting out how much it might be appropriate for this Committee to do around this going forward.