Agenda item

Barbican Podium Phase Two Works

A Member stated that he was concerned about the messaging going to the public and residents about these works highlighting that those living nearby had received nothing in the mail pertaining to the public consultation that was taking place on this. An email as part of the regular, monthly City Resident newsletter had been sent describing the waterproofing membrane priority and pinpointing where residents could view plans or ask questions had been distributed but, again, this failed to reference the public consultation. The Member remarked that this seemed very odd and insensitive.

The Chair reported that he and the Deputy Chairman would soon be meeting with Officers and others to discuss how this matter could be progressed governance wise. The Comptroller and City Solicitor reiterated that the issue here was around separation of functions as discussed at the last meeting and concerns that the Committee could not be the promoting Committee as well as the Committee that decided the planning application – something which applied to Officers and Members alike. She added that, ultimately, the question being posed today related to the promotion of the application and should therefore be put to the Committee responsible for advancing this in due course. Officers cautioned that, for this Committee to engage in the way in which the proposals were being developed prior to the submission of the planning application would risk it being involved in the promotion of the proposals and thereby remove any possibility of it being able to eventually consider the application itself.

The Chair undertook to keep the Committee informed of any progress around governance arrangements for this matter going forward.

Suspended Parking Bays

A Member stated that she had received a number of complaints from residents who had legally parked and paid to park for the duration of the weekend on a Friday evening only to find that they had been ticketed the following day and to see a suspension notice in place. This often led to residents appealing these tickets and having to provide evidence of suspension signs having been erected at 7 o’clock in the evening. The Member stressed that bays should only be suspended with plenty of notice and not once people had already parked.

Officers undertook to look into these specific cases in greater detail outside of the meeting but explained that the basis of suspensions was that there was still a Saturday paid for period in terms of pay and display parking. This meant that suspensions in place on a Friday evening would only be enforceable from Saturday morning. Officers clarified that the processes around this had not changed for some time now and that this was something that they traditionally received very few complaints about.  

Department of the Built Environment Users Panel

A Member stated that she had only recently discovered that this group existed and asked for further clarification as to its role and membership. She also questioned whether there were any other similar user groups within the Department which Members ought to be aware of and how it was possible to join these. The Chief Planning Officer reported that the DBE Users Panel was made up of residents in the form of the residents associations, developers, agents and the CPA as well as anybody with an interface within the department and its services. It was essentially a sounding board to share ideas and any issues. He undertook to send the Member further details on the Panel composition and objectives.

At this point, the Chair sought approval from the Committee to continue the meeting beyond two hours from the appointed time for the start of the meeting, in accordance with Standing Order 40, and this was agreed.