Page 33 Agenda Item 8
ENVIRONMENT, PARKS & LEISURE SCRUTINY PANEL - 5.12.2007
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE ENVIRONMENT, PARKS & LEISURE SCRUTINY PANEL HELD ON WEDNESDAY, 5 DECEMBER 2007
COUNCILLORS
PRESENT Edward Smith, Chris Bond, Annette Dreblow, Norman Ford, George Savva MBE, Terence Smith, Yasemin Brett and Geoffrey Robinson
ABSENT Christopher Andrew
OFFICERS: Peter Lewis (Director of Education, Children’s Services and Leisure), Gary Barnes (Assistant Director of Environment, Street Scene and Parks (Contracts)), Julie Gibson (Head of Libraries and Museums), Madeline Barratt (Libraries Strategy and Performance Manager), Mike Ahuja (Head of Corporate Scrutiny Services), Matt Clack (Scrutiny and Improvement Officer),Penelope Williams (Secretary)
Also Attending: Councillor Paul McCannah, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Olympics and 25 members of the public.
620 WELCOME AND APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Councillor Chris Andrew and John Pryor (Director of Environment, Street Scene and Parks) sent their apologies for absence.
621 DECLARATION OF INTERESTS
There were no declarations of interest.
622 LIBRARY STRATEGY
1. Library Strategy
Councillor McCannah, Lead Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Olympics, gave a PowerPoint presentation on the Enfield Library Service review highlighting some of the key issues in the strategy.
Copies of the presentation slides are available on the Council’s website or from the Scrutiny Secretary.
2. Questions/Issues raised in response to the presentation on the
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library strategy as a whole
The first part of the discussion took place about the general direction of the library strategy as a whole.
2.1 Timing of consideration of the library strategy
2.1.1 Councillor Michael Rye, the Leader of the Council had decided that the strategy should be discussed by Cabinet before Christmas which gave little time to arrange a separate scrutiny panel meeting.
2.1.2 However the timing of the issue had not been influenced by the recent call-in of the decision to restructure the library service, a decision made in response to the need to make savings in the Council’s 2008/9 budget. This call-in was due to be considered on the following evening at a special Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting (6.12.07).
2.1.3 The library strategy was a long term, document which set out proposals for the future of the library service over the next five years.
2.2 Computer Use in Libraries
2.2.1 Some felt that the strategy had not paid enough attention to computer use in libraries; but officers responded that computers were an important part of the strategy and one of the problems was that there was often not enough space to include more, to keep pace with demand.
2.2.2 However there were plans to increase WiFi access which was currently available at Oakwood and Palmers Green.
2. 3 Library Footfall
2.3.1 There was some concern that the footfall (the number of people entering the library), information on the age profile, ethnicity and types of users for each library had not been included with the strategy documents.
2.3.2 Footfall and borrowing rates do not always correspond.
2.4 Oakwood Library Relocation
2.4.1 The successful relocation of Oakwood Library was discussed. New users, defined as those who had never joined a library before, had increased by 703% in the first year of operation. All, except one, of the former Merryhills library users, had moved with the new library.
2.5 Relocation of Local History Unit
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2.5.1 Concern was expressed, and two letters received and circulated to members, from the presidents of the Enfield Society and the Edmonton Hundred Historical Society about the proposals to move the local history collection from Palmers Green to the new Thomas Hardy House in Enfield Town. There were particular worries that things could be damaged or go astray
2.5.2 Members were assured that the move would be carried out by professionals, experts in the field of handling and moving valuable, precious, historical objects and documents. New shelving would be provided by a specialist supplier.
2.5.3 The new facilities for the history collection at Thomas Hardy House would include a 100m2 search room (in comparison to the 46m2 room at Palmers Green) and a 100m2 climate controlled store. A timeline museum will also have additional space of its own and in 2010 100m2 additional space will be available for genealogical studies.
2.5.4 The move of the local history collection and the temporary move of Enfield Town library would both take place early in the new-year. The exact date had not yet been agreed, but would be after handover of the building on 21 January 2008. Members were assured that the Enfield Town Library would be moved back to the Carnegie Library in 2010.
2.5.5 The prospect of more space and better facilities for the local history unit was welcomed but some members of the public felt that there was also a need for greater access to the service; longer opening hours and more staff. They thought that since 1999 the service had been provided on a shoe string and when the unit moved to the new buildings it would need more staff in order to offer an adequate service.
2.5.6 Members were assured that there would be no reduction in existing provision and that with more efficient use of the existing staff and the savings envisaged from co-location; joining together of facilities; a better service could be provided.
2.5.7 Julie Gibson offered to put anyone, concerned about the history unit move, in touch with the officer organising it, to reassure them about the arrangements.
2.6 Money from sale of library buildings
2.6.1 Members were concerned that any money made from selling any of the library buildings would be ring-fenced to the library service.
2.6.2 Councillor McCannah advised the panel that the net capital expenditure at Oakwood had been greater than the capital receipts from the sale of the old library and that they were intending to create a brand new library facility on the Enfield Island site.
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2.6.3 Councillor Edward Smith added that the main purpose of the strategy was to improve and increase the use of the libraries and not to generate income for the Council by selling off library sites.
2.7 Partnerships with other services
2.7.1 There was some concern about the possibility of proposals to link libraries to the provision of other services particularly those in the commercial sector. The example of the Enfield Town Post Office, which had recently been taken over by the supermarket Budgens was mentioned as an unpopular precedent.
2.7.2 A partnership was already established at Enfield Highway with the Connexions Service and others were being considered with the Citizens Advice Bureau and other community advice providers.
2.7.3 As part of the library consultation, support had been expressed for the idea of providing cafés in some libraries. Councillor McCannah said that he would welcome a link with Starbucks, as an example.
2.7.4 All refurbished libraries would have toilets.
2.8 Children and the Library Service
2.8.1 A member of the public expressed the view that children should read more and spend less time on computers.
2.8.2 Homework Centres for school age children were provided in many libraries. IT facilities were an important tool for research.
2.8.3 Over 3000 children had taken part in last year’s “Summer Reading Challenge” run by the library service to encourage reading. A “Super Library Challenge” was also organised which reached thousands of children in schools. The “Summer Reading Challenge” had been running for many years but perhaps needed to be better promoted so that people were more aware of it.
2.9 Availability of reference books
2.9.1 The library service were looking closely at the way reference books were distributed across the borough as many were not used or there was often duplication. They were in the process of reviewing what stock to provide where.
2.10 Accessibility of the library service to people from other cultures
2.10.1 There was concern about the difficulties people from other cultures may have in accessing the library service. In order to access the service users needed to have knowledge of English and of the way the library system operates.
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2.10.2 Staff, in libraries, already provide a service introducing new users to the services on offer and explaining the way that the library works, but this could be better advertised.
2.10.3 The library service had a wide range of stock in other languages, employed a variety of other language speakers and had recently appointed a Polish speaker.
3. Questions/Issues raised in response to the presentation on the Proposals for individual libraries
The second part of the discussion took place about the proposals for individual libraries.
3.1 Edmonton Green Library
3.1.1 Edmonton Green was one of the most popular and best used libraries in the borough. Proposals here involve remodelling the front of the library and providing a new customer access centre to serve, not only the library, but other council offices in the building. The access point would serve as a neighbourhood office giving access to council services, including payment of council tax, benefit claims etc.
3.2 Palmers Green
3.2.1 The medium term proposals for this library, which was attached to the old Southgate Town Hall, were to provide a new modern library facility on the existing site. If the site were to be sold, part of the sale agreement would include the retention of a library.
3.2.2 Proposals for this library would be considered as part of the North Circular Road Area Review and would be fully discussed with the people living in the area.
3.2.3 Councillor McCannah assured the meeting that the old library would remain open, until the new library was ready.
3.2.4 A schedule of works for the redecoration of the library, including repainting the areas of badly peeling paint, were due to be drawn up in the following week (the week beginning 10 December 2007).
3.3 Southgate Circus Library
3.3.1 The proposed relocation of the Southgate Circus Library had arisen at this stage because Southgate College needed the land for an £80m redevelopment scheme. The Learning Skills Council had stipulated that inclusion of the land, on which the library building now stood, was an essential condition of the funding for the redevelopment.
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3.3.2 The Council was now working with Southgate College to find a better site for the library, in a prominent position, on the high street.
3.3.3 The current library was not very visible, as it was situated within the curtilidge of the college; people did not always know it was there and the college students did have a tendency to dominate; some older users had complained that they found this slightly intimidating.
3.3.4 Some members felt that Southgate Circus Library was well used by elderly groups and that there were advantages to the current location since it was situated on a level site, had good parking, with drop curbs for disabled access.
3.3.5 Residents had complained about the growing numbers of off-licences, take-aways and restaurants in Chase Side, Southgate’s main shopping street. There was anecdotal evidence that having a council facility, such as a library in the high street, would be a good thing for the locality and promote more of a sense of the local community.
3.3.6 Gary Barnes advised the meeting that the parking lot behind the police station on Southgate Circus was a public car park and there were no plans to change it.
3.4 Weir Hall Library
3.4.1 The Weir Hall Library was part of the Millfield Theatre complex, and was situated in a relatively sparsely populated area, surrounded by main roads. It was not as well used as similar libraries in the neighbourhood; because it was tucked away behind a listed wall it had relatively little passing trade and not much cross over existed between visitors to the theatre and the arts centre.
3.4.2 The proposal to move this library to the former Blockbuster’s Store in Fore Street, which had been acquired by the Council, would place the library in a busy shopping centre, in a deprived area, close to a dense area of housing and also meet the Government’s requirement for people to live within a mile of a library.
3.4.3 There was some dispute about whether people who were regular visitors to this library could easily go to Fore Street, Edmonton Green, Palmers Green or Winchmore Hill libraries, which had been suggested as alternatives. Details of possible travel routes were requested.
3.4.4 Concern was expressed about the proposal to move this library from a deprived area which had suffered in the past. Millfield House and Theatre were heavily used and it was felt that the library could be better promoted to attract these users. The library also had a large car park and was situated close to 3 schools.
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3.4.5 Members felt that the library should be better publicised, to encourage more users, before agreeing the move to Fore Street.
3.4.6 Councillor McCannah said that there would be no further consultation on the proposal to move the library; consultation had already taken place as part of this strategy. He felt that the Council had a duty to lead and do what was best for the community as a whole. There had initially been a large amount of opposition to the moving of the Oakwood library but this had faded away and the new library was now very popular.
3.4.7 Oakwood Library had moved a relatively short distance – only 300 – 400 yards. Members felt that there could be no comparison with the situation at Weir Hall, which was entirely different.
3.4.8 Weir Hall Ratepayers Association, an organisation with over 1000 members had written in a letter of objection to the proposals, which had been circulated to members.
3.4.9 It was thought that Weir Hall Library had been let down in the past by limited opening hours; only opening 4 days a week. People living nearby were not always sure when it was open and this could have affected use.
3.4.10 This area was cut off by the surrounding main roads and it would be difficult for locals to get to Fore Street. This would also apply to people living in Fore Street but they would have easier access to Edmonton Green or to the nearby Haringey library. There was a suggestion that placing the library in Fore Street would provide more of a service for Haringey residents than those living in Enfield. Information on the distance to the Haringey library would be provided. (Post Meeting note: Coombes Croft Library, on Tottenham High Road is 0.6 of a mile from the newly acquired site on Fore Street)
3.4.11 There had recently been a huge new development close to Gladys Aylward School which would boost the need for the Weir Hall library to continue on its present site.
3.4.12 It was implied that the sale of Weir Hall could be connected to future plans for Millfield Theatre but Councillor McCannah said that the decision on the library move would be taken on its own merits.
3.4.13 There was a suggestion that Angel/Raynham, currently a facility for young children, could be expanded and moved to Blockbusters, instead.
3.5 Winchmore Hill Library
3.5.1 Providing access through the Sainsbury Car Park could improve usage; negotiations with Sainsburys had taking place in the past to achieve
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this, but Sainsburys had been reluctant to agree to allow access. Negotiations would continue.
3.6 Bowes Road Library
3.6.1 There were plans to move from this listed 1930’s structure to a nearby shopping parade. The current library was very small and had poor access; it was located on the first floor of the building. However it was on the right side of the road for local residents of Southgate Green and Bowes and was well used especially by local schools.
3.6.2 Some members questioned the premise that all shopping areas were at the heart of their communities. Bowes Library was presently situated among a collection of public buildings which provided a focal point for the area. The use of these facilities could be affected if the library was moved.
3.6.3 There was a suggestion that it would be better to redevelop the library on the existing, fairly large site; moving it down stairs to improve accessibility; preserving the best aspects of the listed building; as was proposed for the Enfield Town Library.
3.6.4 Members felt that, if it was not to be a library, alternative uses for the listed building, would be difficult to find.
3.7 Bullsmoor Library
3.7.1 At present the library had limited opening hours. There were plans to reconfigure these, but not to increase them. Users had indicated that they would like the library to be open more after school and on Saturday - it currently closed at 12:30pm on Saturday.
3.7.2 The library was well used by the nearby school.
3.8 Potential New Libraries
3.8.1 Two parts of the borough currently suffered from a lack of library provision; Hadley Wood and Enfield Lock. The Council was looking into the possibility of providing a library at Enfield Lock, in Enfield Island Village. They were working on proposals with the Oasis Trust and Data Connection together with young people living in the area building on the success of the new youth club and hoping to work in conjunction with other council services. There were relatively few council facilities in this area.
3.9 Mobile Library
3.9.1 There were plans to replace the existing mobile library vehicle which had reached the end of its life. The new mobile would provide internet access, and reservations could be made online.
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3.9.2 The panel had no comment about the specific proposals for Enfield Town, Ordnance Road, Enfield Highway, Ponders End, Ridge Avenue, Angel/Raynham, Bush Hill Park and Oakwood libraries.
AGREED that
1. More informed decisions could be taken if the information on usage and footfall were included with the strategy documents. Julie Gibson would provide members of the panel with the latest footfall figures, together with statistics on users by age for each library and these would also be included as an appendix to the main report.
2. The panel supported the proposals:-
• for the individual libraries at Enfield Town, Ordnance Road, Enfield Highway, Ponders End, Ridge Avenue, Angel/Raynham, Bush Hill Park, Oakwood, the mobile library and for a new library at Enfield Island Village.
• to reconfigure the opening hours at Bullsmoor, so that the library was open longer on a Saturday and after school.
• to open up the library at Winchmore Hill to the customers using Sainsburys Car Park.
3. The main concerns of the panel were:-
• That the capital receipts from the sale of any libraries would be ring-fenced to the library service.
• The proposal to relocate the library at Weir Hall to Fore Street for the reasons mentioned in the minutes above.
4. The panel would suggest that Bowes Road Library be redeveloped in its existing location.
5. A briefing note would be prepared setting out the views of the scrutiny panel as discussed at this meeting and backed up by the panel’s scrutiny work on libraries, which Councillor Edward Smith would present to Cabinet on Wednesday 12 December 2008.
3.2. Scrutiny Visits to Enfield Libraries
The panel noted that 4 members had visited Palmers Green, Bullsmoor, Edmonton Green and Oakwood libraries on Tuesday 27 November with Julie Gibson, Head of the Libraries and Museums, Matt Clack, Scrutiny Support Officer and Penelope Williams (Democratic Services)
623
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NORTH LONDON WASTE
The panel received and noted the report produced by Matt Clack on North London Waste’s plans for the next 5-10 years.
AGREED that the panel would come back to this issue at a future meeting.
624 FAIRTRADE
The panel received an update from Anna Loughlin (Fairtrade Steering Group Co-ordinator) setting out the work being carried out by the Fairtrade Steering Group towards fairtrade accreditation.
NOTED that
1. The steering group was preparing a motion for agreement by full council to be considered early in the new-year (2008).
2. So far the steering group had done all that was required, although further work was needed to generate enough media coverage for the issue.
3. There was a discussion about the Fairtrade Foundation’s recommendation that borough’s enlist a ‘Flagship Employer’. Whilst this is not a requirement to achieve accreditation, it was felt to be a good way to raise interest locally. The Steering Group had approached several major local employers (such as Data Connection), but these companies already purchase Fairtrade produce.
4. Anna Loughlin was the officer, appointed by Council, to work with the steering group to achieve accreditation, but she was only employed to do this work for 4 hours a week.
625 PROGRESS UPDATE: JOINT PARKING ENFORCEMENT PLAN REVIEW
The panel received the notes from the meeting of the Joint Scrutiny Parking Enforcement Plan Working Group held on Monday 24 September 2007.
NOTED that
1. The working group had considered the initial findings from the Faber Maunsell review. Faber Maunsell were the consultants who had been employed to advise the council on parking matters.
2. The working group had expressed particular concern about three of their proposals; the suggestion that footway crossovers should be prohibited; the failure to support a 15 minute free parking period in
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town centre shopping areas; and the idea of standardised terms for all controlled parking zones in the borough.
3. Legal crossovers could be purchased for approximately £600-£700; this effectively gave the owners of properties with crossovers more than one free parking space on the public highway. The owners could park in front of the crossover, but if someone else parked there then their cars could legally be removed.
4. There were also problems with many illegal crossovers in the borough but these were not being considered as part of this review. This was a very complex issue and would require considerable consideration and member involvement.
5. The proposals from the parking review were to be included in Enfield’s Parking Enforcement Plan, which fed into the Local Implementation Plan and was subject to consultation with other statutory authorities.
6. The final proposals would be fed back to the working group, at a meeting to be arranged, before being submitted to Cabinet in March or April 2008.
626 MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 11 SEPTEMBER 2007
1. Minutes of the meeting held on 11 September 2007
The panel received and agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 11 September 2007, as a correct record.
2. Matters Arising
2.1 Green Belt Forum
The panel received the extract from the Council (7.11.07) minute setting out the changes to the terms of reference to the Green Belt Forum.
NOTED that following on from the panel’s complaints at the last meeting, new terms of reference had now been agreed by full Council and a meeting was due to be arranged shortly.
2.2 Water Pollution on the River Lea
The panel noted the report from Matt Clack, which included all the available data on chemical and biological water quality in Enfield’s rivers.
627 WORK PROGRAMME 2007/8
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The panel received and noted the changes to the Panel’s 2007/8 work programme.
628 SPECIFIC ITEMS TO BE REFERRED TO CABINET
AGREED that a briefing note would be presented to Cabinet (12 December 2007) by Councillor Edward Smith setting out the panel’s views on the library strategy as discussed at tonight’s meeting and during the scrutiny review.
629 SPECIFIC ITEMS TO BE REFERRED TO OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
There were no items referred to Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
630 DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS
The panel noted the dates agreed for future meetings as follows:-
• Wednesday 13 February 2008, 7.45pm • Tuesday 1 April 2008, 7.45pm
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