Decisions

No declarations of interest were made by councillors regarding items on the Agenda.

The Committee:

(1)          Considered the performance reported in Annexe 1 to the report and did not identify any areas of concern;

(2)          Noted that there were no targets against which performance was currently a concern to Officers.

No questions were asked or had been submitted by members of the public.

The Committee noted the contents of the report.

The Committee:

(1)          Agreed in principle the changes to car park fees and charges identified by the cross party Parking Working Group set out in Annexe 1 to the report;

(2)          Agreed in principle the changes to business and residential permit fees as identified by the cross Parking Working Group set out in Annexe 2 to the report;

(3)          Agreed in principle the fees set out in Annexe 3 to the report;

(4)          Agreed to waive  car parking charges for the following events or periods on an annual basis until further notice:

a)            In all car parks in Epsom Town Centre on Christmas Day and the three Sundays immediately preceding it;

b)            In Dorset House and Ewell High Street car parks from 4pm on the day of Ewell Yule until 7am the following morning;

c)            In Dorset House and Ewell High Street car parks from 6.30pm in the evening prior to the Ewell Village Summer Fair until 6.30pm on the day of the fair.

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Environment Committee held on 12 June 2017 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman, subject to the addition of the start and end time of the meeting.

The Committee:

(1)          Agreed to establish a Street Tree Planting Scheme on the basis that this would be at nil cost to the Council;

(2)          Authorised the Head of Place Development to make the necessary arrangements including the procurement of the requisite administrative resource to support the scheme;

(3)          Noted that the scheme would commence as soon as reasonably practicable following the appointment of the administrative support but that no definitive start date could be given;

(4)          Noted that the unit cost of £250 per tree would be adopted for any planting carried out in the remainder of the financial year and for the 2018/19 financial year, the rate to be subject to review in subsequent years as part of the annual review of fees and charges.

That the Committee:

(1)          Notes the implications of the budget targets approved by the Strategy and Resources Committee;

(2)          Notes the previously agreed savings identified in paragraph 3.3 of the report;

(3)          Supports in principle the future savings options as set out in paragraph 3.4 of the report for further work and inclusion in the Medium Term Financial Strategy;

(4)          Notes that it might be requested to give further consideration as to how additional savings can be generated to address the Council-wide funding gap of £90,000 as identified in paragraph 3.5 of the report.

As there were no members of the Press or public present, the Committee did not pass a resolution of exclusion.

The Committee noted the outstanding references detailed in the Annexe to the report.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 13 June 2017 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

No declarations of interest were made by Councillors in items on this agenda.

The Committee received one written question and one verbal question from a member of the public. These questions related to a proposal for a café facility in Alexandra Park.

Following consideration, the Committee:

(1)          Noted the implications of the budget targets presented to the Strategy & Resources Committee;

(2)          Supported the changes to services and savings identified in section 3.3 of the report and that these are included within the budget presented to this Committee in January 2018;

(3)          Supported in principle the future savings options as set out in  3.3 of the report for further work and inclusion in the Medium Term Financial Strategy;

(4)          Considered how additional savings could be generated to address the Council-wide funding gaps of £90,000 in 2018/19 as identified in section 3 of the report. No specific savings were identified.

Following consideration, the Committee:

(1)          Noted the actions that had been proposed or taken where performance was currently a concern as shown in table 3.1 of the report.

Following consideration, the Committee agreed:

(1)          To continue running the Shopmobility Service;

(2)          To release funds from the repairs and renewals fund, estimated to be a maximum of £8,500, to purchase six new mobility scooters.

(3)          To release £12,000 of the remaining repairs and renewals fund back to the Epsom & Ewell Borough Council general fund.

(4)          To reduce the amount transferred to the repairs and renewals fund from £3,000 to £1,500 per annum.