Agenda item

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 03 May 2022.

RESOLVED, That the minutes of the meeting of 03 May 2022 be confirmed as an accurate account of the proceedings.

A Member suggested that a question referenced in paragraph 10 of the minutes (p.9 of the agenda) relating to clarification on aspirations around Bank Junction had not been answered, commenting that there had been an original aspiration - debated at high levels - to remove all traffic.

The meeting heard that the extent of change at the junction had been discussed at an earlier stage of the project at the Grand Committee which recommended an aspiration to close 2-3 arms of the junction. Complete pedestrianisation had been considered but the limitations of the funding for the project and the impact on the network meant this was not an agreed objective to be taken forward. The new Destination City strategy which was recently launched to boost the City’s leisure offer does not change the project objectives for the Junction apart from strengthening the weight of “improving the perception of place” which is one of the four original objectives.

The Chairman confirmed that the minutes of a part of the Committee’s discussion relating to Beech Street on 03 May 2022 would be available to the public, having been discussed in the meeting’s non-public section on that date. The Chairman issued an apology for the lack of clarity around the reason given for the exemption of that discussion, which should have clearly referenced Paragraph 3 of Schedule 12 of the Local Government Act 1997 relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) taking into account the fact that the London Borough of Islington was in their pre-election purdah period at the time, when the discussion was expected to touch on LBI business. It was confirmed that now that LBI elections have taken place the formal record of the meeting  - the minutes - on that point could be put into the public domain. It was also confirmed that no recording is made of non-public sessions, that the minutes constitute the formal record of such proceedings, that any documentation was available to the public, and that no decision was taken in relation to Beech Street on 03 May 2022.