Agenda item

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 20^th September 2022.

The Committee considered the public minutes of the meeting held on 20 September 2022 and approved them as a correct record.

MATTERS ARISING

Traffic Order Review (page 7) – A Member commented that he did not feel that the minute here gave sufficient weight to the fact that some Members had stressed that it was important not to lose sight of what this was fundamentally about and the importance of some discussion amongst senior members on the matter before it was formally presented to the full Court next week to ensure that the focus at this juncture was correct.

He went on to refer to recent press coverage this week on the Taxi Drivers’ Survey which had suggested that between 60-80% black taxi drivers intended to completely avoid Bank Junction and to avoid coming to the City and Bishopsgate because of the previous complications. The Member stated that, in portraying the review as an enormous, 700 item piece of work, two fundamental points were being missed – firstly around Destination City which was all about injecting life back into the City and secondly the matter of black cabs not being treated as public transport and the consequence of this. 

Public Lift Report  (page 11) – A Member thanked the City Surveyor for having provided her with details of those other lifts/escalators within the City that were not currently captured within the public lift report  (four in total – 200 Aldersgate 1 London Wall, London Wall Place and 125 London Wall). The Member went on to state that she was keen to receive an update on these and, moving forwards, they be included in the public lift report. The City Surveyor responded to clarify that details of these lifts which were leased to and maintained by others would also be included within future reports. He referred specifically to the lift at 125 London Wall which had initially prompted this discussion and stated that Officers had continued to press those responsible for maintaining this for an update on its performance since the last meeting of this Committee but were still awaiting a response. They stated that they would continue to press this matter and would appreciate any support from Members to help add some weight to this request.

Consultation Notices (page 13) – A Member stated that she had raised an issue as to out of date notices in place at Stanley Cohen House at the last meeting and reported that, two weeks thereafter, she had visited the Golden Lane estate and was disappointed to see that these were still in place. She added that some notices had now been removed by residents but that these had caused some damage to the paintwork of poles that they had been stuck on throughout the estate.

Officers responded to state that they too had visited the estate last week. It was reported that photographs were taken when such notices were put up as proof that these had been posted. Members were informed that the damage reported had been caused by some form of industrial tape which was not utilised for these notices. Consultation notices were put up using double sided tape which did not damage the paintwork. That being said, Officers were now discussing the matter with various London boroughs to discuss the most non-invasive and sustainable way of posting this information going forward. In the meantime, it was confirmed that string would be utilised for this purpose.

Finally, Officers confirmed that it was standard for such notices to be removed within a month of the consultation period ending. It was reported that the location of all such notices was now being tracked to ensure that this remained on track.

City Plan – The Chair reported that the Local Plans Sub-Committee had now met on various occasions to discuss the redraft of the Plan. He reported that there was a strong desire from Members of the Sub-Committee to have a much more thorough consultation period and a more in-depth analysis of various aspects of the Plan as it emerged. Taking this into account, it was recognised that the timetable originally envisaged for this work was no longer feasible. The Chair reported that he had therefore now tasked Officers with coming back to this Committee at its next meeting on 1 November with a rescheduled timetable for delivery of the Plan as well as an engagement strategy and list of stakeholders.