BRAMHALL & CHEADLE HULME SOUTH AREA COMMITTEE Meeting: 13 June 2019 At: 6.30 pm PRESENT Councillors Brian Bagnall, Helen Foster-Grime, Linda Holt, Mark Hunter, Mike Hurleston, John McGahan, Alanna Vine, Lisa Walker and Suzanne Wyatt. 1. ELECTION OF CHAIR RESOLVED – That Councillor Linda Holt be elected Chair of the Area Committee for the period until the next Annual Council Meeting. Councillor Linda Holt in the Chair 2. APPOINTMENT OF VICE-CHAIR RESOLVED – That Councillor John McGahan be appointed Vice-Chair of the Area Committee for the period until the next Annual Council Meeting. 3. MINUTES The Minutes (copies of which had been circulated) of the meeting held on 11 April 2019 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair. 4. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Councillors and officers were invited to declare any interest which they had in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting. The following interest was declared:- Disclosable Pecuniary Interest Councillor Interest Lisa Walker Agenda Item 6 (vi) – ‘Open Forum - Proposals to improve air quality for Greater Manchester’ as she was employed by OVE Arup & Partners International Ltd. Councillor Walker left the meeting during the consideration of this item and took no part in the discussion. 5. URGENT DECISIONS No urgent decisions were reported. Bramhall & Cheadle Hulme South Area Committee - 13 June 2019 6. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT (i) Chair's Announcements The Chair reported that the Bramhall Festival was due to take place on Saturday, 29 June 2019. (ii) Public Question Time Members of the public were invited to put questions to the Chair of the Area Committee on any matters within the powers and duties of the Area Committee, subject to the exclusions set out in the Code of Practice. Two public questions were submitted as follows:- Relating to the maintenance of land adjacent to the Stanley Green roundabout. RESOLVED – That the Corporate Director for Place Management & Regeneration be requested to respond to the questioner in writing. Relating the results of the consultation with regard to the provision of new parking restrictions on Bramley Road, Bramhall. In response, it was stated that respondents to the consultation were evenly split on the proposals and that further analysis of the responses was underway to identify if there were any alternative measures that could be implemented to ameliorate the concerns of residents. (iii) Neighbourhood Policing Inspector Rob Hawksley (Greater Manchester Police) attended the meeting to answer questions from Councillors and members of the public in relation to Neighbourhood Policing issues within the area represented by the Bramhall & Cheadle Hulme South Area Committee. The following comments were made/ issues raised:- It was noted that the number of burglaries in the area had reduced significantly and the thanks of the Area Committee were extended to the police for their sustained efforts in tackling this issue. Members had received positive feedback in relation to the use of the ‘live chat’ facility on the police website as means of mitigating against long delays on the 101 non- emergency number. Following a statement that the Cheadle, Gatley and Bramhall neighbourhood policing area was now considered to be fully-staffed, concern was expressed in relation to the allocation of policing resources to the Cheadle Hulme area in the light of previous assurances from the Mayor of Greater Manchester that following the council tax settlement, additional police officers would be assigned to the Stockport area. RESOLVED – That Inspector Rob Hawksley be thanked for his attendance. Bramhall & Cheadle Hulme South Area Committee - 13 June 2019 (iv) Public Realm Emma Warrington (Public Realm Inspector) attended the meeting to report on current issues and to answer questions from Councillors and members of the public in relation to environmental and highways issues within the area represented by the Bramhall and Cheadle Hulme South Area Committee. The following comments were made/ issues raised:- It was noted that some areas of Cheadle Hulme had been omitted from the spring weedspraying schedule due to poor weather, and it was important that this did not recur in the summer. The process for clearing private land of litter was discussed with particular regard to land adjacent to the former Royal Bank of Scotland in Cheadle Hulme. There had been a number of complaints received by members in relation to the general standard of grass cutting in the area. RESOLVED – That Emma Warrington be thanked for her attendance. (v) Petitions One petition was submitted signed by 12 signatories calling on the Council to take action to either sell the building for development or ensure regular cleaning of the site is undertaken. The Area Committee also considered a report submitted by the Property Services Manager which provided further information on the current status of the property and the efforts being taken by the Council to secure its redevelopment within an acceptable timescale. The following comments were made/ issues raised:- While the written response of the Property Services Manager was welcomed, concern was expressed in relation to extremely slow progress that had been made in relation to the disposal of this property. It was stated that progress needed to be made with extreme urgency towards a satisfactory resolution of the negotiations between the Council and Network Rail to secure the redevelopment of the site. It was queried how much Network Rail was seeking in order to obtain their consent to a variation of the covenant over the site, and whether this charge was reasonable if it brought about the redevelopment of the site. RESOLVED – (1) That the Deputy Chief Executive be requested to use all reasonable efforts to urgently secure the redevelopment of the site at 33 Swann Lane, Cheadle Hulme. (2) That the Chair be requested to write to the Cabinet Member for Resources, Commissioning and Governance to requesting urgent action on the part of the Council to secure the redevelopment of the site at 33 Swann Lane, Cheadle Hulme. Bramhall & Cheadle Hulme South Area Committee - 13 June 2019 (vi) Ward Flexibility Funding - Holiday at Home David Langton attended the meeting and submitted an application on behalf of the Holiday at Home group for ward flexibility funding towards the cost of events for seniors in Bramhall, Cheadle Hulme and Woodford. RESOLVED - That approval be given to the award of a grant of £850 from the Ward Flexibility Budget (£300 from each of the Bramhall North and Bramhall South and Woodford ward allocations and £250 from the Cheadle Hulme South ward allocation) to Churches Together in Bramhall and Woodford towards the cost of a ‘Holiday at Home’ scheme. (vii) Ward Flexibility Funding - North Park Seniors David Langton attended the meeting and submitted an application on behalf of the North Park Seniors Group for ward flexibility funding towards the cost of monthly meetings at Parkside Social Club and trips out. RESOLVED - That approval be given to the award of a grant of £450 from the Ward Flexibility Budget (Bramhall North ward allocation) to North Park Seniors towards the cost of materials for monthly meetings of the Group. (viii) Ward Flexibility Funding - The Big Bramhall Free Tea Party Wendy Green attended the meeting and submitted an application on behalf of ‘I Love Bramhall and I Love Cheadle Hulme’ for ward flexibility funding towards the cost of holding ‘The Big Bramhall Free Tea Party’. RESOLVED - That approval be given to the award of a grant of £500 from the Ward Flexibility Budget (£250 from each of the Bramhall North and Bramhall South and Woodford ward allocations) to ‘I Love Bramhall and I Love Cheadle Hulme’ towards the cost of holding ‘The Big Bramhall Free Tea Party’. (ix) Open Forum - Proposals to improve air quality for Greater Manchester A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) and attended the meeting to make a presentation in respect to proposals to improve air quality in Greater Manchester. The following comments were made/ issues raised:- Concern was expressed in relation to the impact of any charging regime on charity groups operating in the area. It was stated that while the current proposals stated that cars ‘were out of scope’, it was not inconceivable that once the scheme had been implemented, cars could be readily incorporated within the scope of the scheme impacting all residents in Greater Manchester. The cost of introducing the ANPR camera network necessary to police the Clean Air Zone would be incredibly expensive. Bramhall & Cheadle Hulme South Area Committee - 13 June 2019 The cost of the daily penalties for commercial vans and vehicles would ultimately be passed on to residents through increased charges for services. It was important that residents and businesses were encouraged to respond to the public consultation. The scheme was designed to tackle nitrous oxide emissions, however a large scale transition to petrol vehicles would result in more carbon dioxide emissions. RESOLVED – That the report be noted. 7. DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS Development applications were submitted. (NOTE: Full details of the decisions including conditions and reasons for granting or refusing planning permission and imposing conditions are given in the schedule of plans. The Corporate Director for Place Management & Regeneration is authorised to determine conditions and reasons and they are not therefore referred to in committee minutes unless the committee makes a specific decision on a condition or reason. In order to reduce printing costs and preserve natural resources, the schedule of plans is not reproduced within these minutes. A copy of the schedule of plans is available on the council’s website at www.stockport.gov.uk/planningdecisions. Copies of the schedule of plans, or any part thereof, may be obtained from the Place Directorate upon payment of the Council’s reasonable charges).