Agenda and minutes

Contact: Suzanne Bennett,  Email:  suzanne.bennett@coventry.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests.

 

It was noted in relation to Minute 39 Cllr Bailey and Cllr Miks were Members of the Planning Committee.

 

2.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 339 KB

a)  To agree the Minutes of the previous meeting held on 31 March, 2022

 

b)  Any matters arising

Minutes:

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 31 March, 2022 were agreed as a true record.

 

There were no matters arising.

 

3.

Highways Asset Management Programme - Scheme Assessment Process pdf icon PDF 130 KB

Briefing Note of the Director of Transportation and Highways

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for City Services introduced the item.

In response to a number of enquiries from ward Councillors, the Leader referred an item to the Communities and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Board to demonstrate and clarify the process for Highway Maintenance scheme selection. The Scrutiny Board considered a Briefing Note the Highways Asset Management Programme. At the meeting the Director of Transportation and Highways highlighted the following:-

·  In January 2016, Cabinet approved the Council’s Highways Asset Management Policy and Strategy documents. These documents set out at a strategic level the approach the Council takes to its provision of Highway Maintenance.

·  The use of asset management principles had been applied for many years in Coventry to ensure appropriate investment with longer term planning and this process was set out in detail within the Highways Infrastructure Asset Management Plan which was published in 2016.

·  Every year during December and January the Council’s Highway Maintenance Technical Services engineers, working with the Asset Management Engineer prepare a draft programme of schemes for approval at Cabinet. The schemes are presented as part of the Transportation and Highway Maintenance Capital Programme in March each year.

·  The Asset Management Engineer maintains a Forward Works Programme (FWP) holding information against every road and pavement in Coventry regardless of current need for treatment.

·  The Forward Works Programme was a key tool in managing the process.

·  There was no legal threshold regarding the maintenance of the highway. Local thresholds had been agreed based on case law and claims against Local Authorities.

·  The priority was to ensure the highway was safe for all users.

·  There were two programmes of work; preventative maintenance and  planned maintenance.

·  Preventative maintenance, which involved a thin surface overlay was not always the most aesthetically pleasing option but can provide a cost effective way to extend the life of the highway.

·  All local authorities faced a challenge to maintain pavements. The cost per square meter of maintenance was significantly higher than carriage way works due to the work generally needing to be done by hand.

·  A JCB pothole probe was being used on highways to free up staff to work on the pavements. Officers were monitoring and evaluating the performance of the JCB pothole probe.

·  The Government had tested and rated the Council’s approach to asset management and had recognised the approach as good and the Council had received the full amount of incentive funding.

·  The Council would need to consider how to prioritise pavement repairs within the priorities.

·  There were around 600 miles of road and 1000 miles of pavement in the City. Coventry had an unusually high number of concrete flagstone pavements at around 40%. These flagstones were not designed to take the weight of vehicles crossing them which happens frequently in some areas to either to access gardens for parking or due to two wheeled on street parking in narrow roads.

·  It was important to maintain footpaths as they supported the Council’s objective to get people active across the City.

 

The Scrutiny Board asked questions  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Consultations on Supplementary Planning Documents - i) Draft Biodiversity Net Gain ii) New Residential Buildings Design Guide pdf icon PDF 217 KB

Briefing Note of the Director of Streetscene and Regulatory Services covering:-

 

  i.  Draft Biodiversity Net Gain

 

  ii.  New Residential Buildings Design Guide

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities introduced the item.

 

The Scrutiny Board considered a Briefing Note and presentation which outlined the consultation on i) Draft Biodiversity Net Gain Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) ii) New Residential Buildings Design Guide Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) introduced by the Cabinet Member. Officers were looking to identify more sites in the City with significant biodiversity and a report will go back to the Cabinet Member meeting.

 

Issues covered in the presentation included:-

·  The definition of an SPD

·  A summary of biodiversity net gain (BNG) which was introduced in the Environment Act 2021.

·  The biodiversity value of sites would be established using a recognised metric.

·  Enhancement should be provided on-site but where this is was impracticable off-site projects were required.

·  The SPD provided details of how the Council would require all developments to deliver BNG

·  Contributions for off-site projects would be used to directly benefit Coventry sites

·  An increasing network of suitable sites was being established within the city

·  Sites would be managed for a minimum of 30 years and would be accessible to the public

·  If the BNG mechanism and network of sites was not agreed future resources were likely to be lost to Coventry

·  Design Guidance for New Residential Developments was outlined and superseded the 1991 residential design guide.

·  It brought together where applicable principles of design guidance for Sustainable Urban Extension (SUE) sites and the Ancient Arden Design Guidance, in order to deliver consistent standard of design guidance across the city for new residential proposals.

·  It would introduce a requirement for applicants of schemes over 50 units to articulate the design process to embed and ensure contextual responsiveness

·  Example key themes included:

o  Bringing into residential policy an expectation to meet national space standards throughout

o  The introduction of an expectation of private external amenity space provision in new build apartment schemes where possible.

o  The introduction of new principles of delivering positive frontages to waterways and green space.

o  Provided guidance in the accommodation of cycle and refuse/recycling storage in new build development.

 

The Scrutiny Board asked questions and received responses on a number of issues, including:-

·  The onsite delivery of BNG was the preference. However, if this could not be delivered on site, the development of a biodiversity plan would give the City Council control as to where the offset was delivered. It was important to get the plan in place as one of the proposals within the Environment Act was that biodiversity credits could be spent anywhere across the Country.

·  BNG mechanism seeks to ensure not an overall lost of wildlife from Coventry or Warwickshire. There was an intention to use upcoming legislation and an incoming local nature recovery strategy to create a new green infrastructure for Coventry which provides sites across the whole of the City.

·  It was suggested that Councillors and members of the public be encourage to record with Warwickshire Records office what biodiversity there is in the City. There could also be a call  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Work Programme and Outstanding Issues 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 109 KB

Briefing Note of the Director of Law and Governance

Additional documents:

Minutes:

6.

Any other items of public business which the Chair decides to take as matters of urgency because of the special circumstances involved

Minutes:

There were no other items of urgent public business.