Manchester City Council Minutes Communities and Neighbourhoods Overview and Scrutiny Committee 14 December 2010 Communities and Neighbourhoods Overview and Scrutiny Committee Minutes of the meeting held on 14 December 2010 Present: Councillor Flanagan - In the Chair Councillors, Bracegirdle, Helsby, Hennigan, Karney, Kirkpatrick, Lewis, Loughman, E. Newman, Morrison, O’Connor, Pritchard and Ryan. Councillor Andrews, Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services Councillor N Murphy, Executive Member for Environment Councillor Burns, Trustee of the Airport Community Trust and member of the Airport Consultative Committee Wendy Sinfield, Manchester Airport Jon Bottomley, Manchester Airport, Joel Prittie, Transition City Manchester Dave Moutrey, Chief Executive of the Cornerhouse Derek Purnell, Friends of Rochdale Canal Apologies: Councillor Barnes CN/10/70 Minutes Decision: To approve minutes of the meeting held on 16 November 2010 as a correct record. CN/10/71 Information and Overview Report A report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit was submitted providing information about future key decisions within the Committee’s remit. Members were asked to note the responses to the Committee’s previous recommendations. The Committee discussed the work programme. A member informed the Committee that it had been announced since the previous meeting that the Collyhurst Private Finance Initiative (PFI) regeneration project would not go ahead. The Committee agreed to add an item to the work programme on what could be done for residents in Collyhurst affected by this. A member asked for an urgent item to be added to the work programme on the impact that the Council’s financial settlement would have on areas within the Committee’s remit. Members noted that the City Treasurer was due to give an oral report to the Resources and Governance Overview and Scrutiny Committee in two days time, and requested that an additional report be provided at its next meeting on areas specific to the Committee’s remit. 1 Manchester City Council Minutes Communities and Neighbourhoods Overview and Scrutiny Committee 14 December 2010 The Chair also informed the Committee that, at the request of a member, a visit to the City Library and John Rylands Library, Deansgate would be organised. Decision: 1. To add an item to the work programme on the impact of the Collyhurst PFI not receiving funding, and what could be done for the residents affected. 2. To request a report be submitted to the January meeting of the Committee on the impact that the financial settlement would have on areas within the Committee’s remit. 3. To visit City Library and John Rylands Library Deansgate. CN/10/72 Impact of Manchester Airport on the Local Community The Committee welcomed Wendy Sinfield and Jon Bottomley from Manchester Airport to the meeting. The Committee visited the Airport and surrounding areas in September to look at the impact that living near the airport has on the local area and learn about the ways the airport mitigates this impact. Ms Sinfield and Mr Bottomley gave a presentation to answer various questions the Committee had asked during the visit. The Committee also welcomed Councillor Burns, Trustee of the Airport Community Trust and member of the Airport Consultative Committee to the meeting. Members had wanted to know more about the Manchester Airport Community Community Trust Fund (CTF), such as the proportion of groups in Manchester which received grants and how the decisions are made. Everyone is entitled to apply and the Airport gives advice on how to do so. The funding comes from fining aircrafts that infringe noise controls, on the principle that the “polluter pays”. These infringements are automatically detected and invoiced. Levels of noise produced by aircraft have steadily decreased, and the threshold at which fines are incurred has also been decreased. This means that the funds available are not also decreasing and the noise levels in the area continue to reduce. The next meeting of the Trustees of the Community Trust takes place in January, and the deadline for applications had passed. The trust had awarded 976 grants so far, and expected to award its 1000th at the meeting. Manchester received the largest proportion of the grants, and Stockport received the second largest. The Committee praised the range of organisations and commended the CTF. A member asked whether the figures for grants could be provided by ward rather than area. Ms Sinfield explained they did not collate them that way, but could provide individual addresses of the recipients. A member asked about the decision process for grants. He informed the Committee that he knew of an organisation which was awarded a grant, but its other branches in different areas were turned down on the basis that one organisation can not receive more than one grant in two years. Councillor Burns clarified that if the subsequent 2 Manchester City Council Minutes Communities and Neighbourhoods Overview and Scrutiny Committee 14 December 2010 applications are for grants specific to an area different to the original one, then they can make a separate application. Ms Sinfield then explained the reasons behind the boundary by which eligibility for the Sound Insulation Grant Scheme is measured. At the site visit, members had asked if the scheme could be extended to cover three primary schools close to the airport. Because aircraft must fly into the wind and the usual direction of the wind, on average only about 20% of aircraft fly over Manchester to land, with the rest flying over Knutsford. So far this year, this figure has been 32%, which is unprecedented. The boundary for eligibility is based on the noise contours caused by the aircraft and the schools fall outside of it. Ms Sinfield added in her experience, often teachers did not want double glazing because many preferred to keep the windows open. A member asked how noise levels in Manchester compared to other areas. Ms Sinfield explained it was hard to compare due to the differences in the type and quantity of aircraft between airports, but that the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs published a list of the noise levels of airports. Members asked if they could be sent this. The Committee thanked Ms Sinfield and Mr Bottomley for the presentation and for producing the information on the Community Trust Fund. Decision: To request that members of the Committee are provided with the list produced by the Department Environment Food and Rural Affairs comparing the noise levels of airports in the UK. [Councillor Bracegirdle declared a personal interest in this item as a member of various community groups which had received grants from the Manchester Airport Community Trust Fund] [Councillor Hennigan declared a personal interest as a member of sport club which had received a grant from the Manchester Airport Community Trust Fund] CN/10/73 First Street : Proposed Cultural Facility The Director of Neighbourhood Services gave the Executive Member for Arts and Leisure’s apologies for this item. The Head of Strategic Cultural Projects introduced a report which had been submitted to the Executive on 24 November 2010. The Executive agreed to changes to the proposed developments to the relocation of the Library Theatre, and the report was submitted to the Committee to inform members of the developments. The Committee welcomed Dave Moutrey, the Chief Executive of the Cornerhouse to the meeting. The crux of the changes to the developments were that the site that had been identified as the new home of the Library Theatre was not suitable, and a new site had been identified to house the Library Theatre and the Cornerhouse. The new site 3 Manchester City Council Minutes Communities and Neighbourhoods Overview and Scrutiny Committee 14 December 2010 would be an integrated cinema, gallery and theatre space on First Street. Following approval by the Executive, the proposals were now under consultation. The Committee welcomed the changes to the development. Decision: To note the report. [Councillor Morrison declared a personal interest as a member of the Management Board of the Cornerhouse Arts Centre] CN/10/74 Manchester – A Certain Future Progress Report The Head of Environmental Strategy introduced a report which provided an update on the progress being made on the implementation of Manchester – A Certain Future (MACF), the city’s climate change action plan. The report also included information on the ways in which the Council was approaching the concept of peak oil, which is the point at which the maximum rate of production of oil world wide is reached, following which production begins to fall. The Committee thought this topic warranted scrutiny following the suggestion of Joel Prittie from Transition City Manchester. The Committee welcomes Mr Prittie to the meeting. Mr Prittie informed the Committee that the concept of peak oil was often misunderstood. He explained his aim was to raise awareness of the issue and informed the Committee of various resources they could access in order to learn more about it. The Executive Member for Environment told the Committee that there was no real consensus over when peak oil would occur, but it would form part of the Council’s approach to climate change in the future. The Chair asked if the recession would lead to a decrease in the use of oil, which the Executive Member for Environment confirmed. The Head of Environmental Strategy said it was the intention of the Council to develop a policy on peak oil as part of the review of MACF, which would include the involvement of local environmental groups. The Head of Environmental Strategy informed the Committee that the number of organisations which had produced their own climate action plans was disappointing but confirmed they were continuing to put pressure on the 130 organisations who had committed to producing their own plans but had yet to do so.