CABINET MEMBER REPORT TO THE COUNCIL

Posted By: Wera Hobhouse
Date Posted: 01/05/2009

ROCHDALE METROPOLITAN BOROUGH COUNCIL

CABINET MEMBER REPORT TO THE COUNCIL


REPORT OF THE CABINET MEMBER FOR ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY TO THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL ON 29th APRIL 2009

Thank you Mr Mayor for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Environment and Sustainability Portfolio.

Environmental Management

Sustainability
Rochdale MBC is one of only 7 Councils in the UK to be selected to re-start its Carbon Management Programme working alongside the Carbon Trust.
The refresh aims to genuinely embed carbon management within the council. RMBC was involved in a previous phase of the programme but the programme had stalled.
This new review dovetails with complementary support provided by the Energy Saving Trust which helps us deliver on our wider Nottingham Declaration commitments.
Work with the Carbon Trust will identify projects and quick wins to save CO2 and money and will result in what is essentially a new longer term Carbon Management Plan which will set out how together we all need to play our part in hitting or exceeding a tough 34% CO2 reduction target over the next 5 years. Colleagues from across the council came together on the 16th of April to officially re-launch this important initiative which is central to achieving value for money, for CAA, for National Indicator 185 and, not least, in preparation for the Carbon Reduction Commitment which applies from 2012 – this is emissions trading for the public sector where a £12 cost applies per tonne CO2.
The revised CMP will be reported to ELT and Cabinet later in the summer of 2009.
In addition the sustainability team is working on tow collaborative projects on climate change adaptation with Manchester University and is working with the Impact partnership to create a new Energy Unit.


Parks and Street Services

Big Clean is now completed and has been a huge success. The local media
have been very supportive and local communities have been involved in
many of the clean ups across the borough.
These additional improvements will hopefully all contribute to put the borough in a very good position for this year’s Townships in Bloom competition.

Seven parks currently being prepared for Green Flag judging.


Waste and Recycling

Recycling and Composting Performance between December 08 and April 09 stands at 33.10%. We are now Second best performing council in Greater Manchester after Stockport and the best performing council for ‘dry’ recycling which is car paper glass plastic and cans but excluding garden waste. (Stockport has more gardens)

Residual household waste per household (Apr-Dec) = 394kg , which is the 2nd lowest in Greater Manchester (Stockport 1st)

We recycled 3,800 Christmas trees collected in January 09 which is an increase of 800 from 2008.

Countryside

The performance indicator (BVPI 178) for rights of way network easy to
use has increased from 59% IN 2007/8 to 70% 2008/09 the survey of
which has just been completed. This is particularly important to
a Borough that is surrounded by countryside. The borough has the largest number of definitive footpaths in Greater Manchester and I have had some initial meetings to look for funding to update the Definitive Map which has not been updated for over thirty years. The council has a statutory duty to upgrade the map by 20012.


Planning and Regulation

Quality of Place Partnership

The quality of Place Partnership has now been formed as a Shadow Board and has met twice on 25th February and 8th April @ Touchstones
The Partnership currently has 9 members to date plus officer support from a range of services. Further names have been put forward and it is hoped to have a full membership in the next few weeks.
The next meeting of the Partnership will be held on 1st May. This will be a workshop session which will examine Partnership priorities.
A future meeting to be planned for August. It is hoped at this stage that the Partnership can declare itself to be fully formed.

Development Control

Performance The speed of planning decision targets exceeded in last quarter for all planning application types – Majors, Minors and Others with over 90% of householder planning applications determined within 8 weeks for year 2008/09. Other categories of application have also exceeded targets. Of particular importance is the fact that of Major Planning Applications 100% were determined within the government 13 week target for last quarter compared with the national target of 65%.
Important applications determined in the last quarter included the 6th Form College, Heywood Sports Village, Building Schools for the Future and Langley ( - 300 dwellings)

Developers Forum This new initiative recently established as a quarterly meeting, has now met twice and comprises local developers and agents, and other Council Service to provide service information, promote closer working. There are already 40+ Members of the Forum including most local architects and developers.

Enforcement We now fully staffed team which comprises 3.5 posts compared with only one twelve months ago. This has enabled us to provide a much improved service. Other improvements have also been undertaken including an online complaints form and improved reporting systems for Members have been established.

Service Income Despite the current economic climate it is pleasing to be able to say that income from Planning fees has held up in Rochdale in contrast to most other Council’s across the UK. The initial target for the Service of £850,000 has been missed by only £16,000 and two applications were received the following day which would have taken the total received above the target.

Section 106 payments S106 contributions in excess of £2m for affordable housing, environmental improvements and highway works have been negotiated over the past year. This will bring significant benefits to the Borough.

And finally a Big Thank You to all council officers for their tireless efforts to make the borough a place we can all be proud of. It has as always been a pleasure to work with them during the last quarter.

Thank you Mr Mayor, I will be pleased to answer any questions from Members of the Council about these or any other matter relating to the Environment and Sustainability Portfolio.