Agenda item

Councillor Tim Mitchell (Cabinet Member for Environment and City Management) to update the Committee on current and forthcoming issues in his portfolio.

4.1      Councillor Tim Mitchell provided an update of the Environment and City Management Cabinet Member portfolio.  Councillor Mitchell advised the Committee that the Greener City Action Plan (GCAP) annual report was currently in preparation and the report would highlight all the work done on the Greener City agenda over the last 12 months. With regard to the Marylebone Low Emission Neighbourhood (LEN), Councillor Mitchell informed the Committee that following the LEN Stakeholder meeting in September and a core steering group meeting in October there was continued good progress. Councillor Mitchell discussed the update for Highways and Transport, advising the Committee that the current Experimental Traffic Order (ETO) for the trial of up 20 to 40 mph and now needed to evaluate how to grow the programme borough-wide. 

4.2      Councillor Mitchell also updated the Committee on the WCC Planned preventative maintenance carriageway 2018/19 - lighting and road management.  With regard to cycling, Councillor Mitchell advised that the cycle hangar trial in Ilbert Street had been a success with all spaces occupied and a significant number of residents on a waiting list.  Councillor Mitchell provided an update on public realm schemes, advising that the major public realm schemes were progressing on time and on budget.  He said that the works at New Bond Street were progressing well and the Baker Street Two Way was near completion and would switch over in spring 2019.  Councillor Mitchell also advised that he had been working alongside the New West End Company.

4.3      With regard to Electric Vehicles, Councillor Mitchell advised the Committee that WCC continued to expand the lamp column charging option for residents and had secured £300,000 in funding through the Go Ultra Low Cities Scheme (GULCS) for resident’s charging.  The roll out to date had been funded by TfL LIP funding and would pay for approximately 100 points, with plans to introduce a further 150.   Finally, Councillor Mitchell informed the Committee that WCC parks and gardens had been awarded Gold standard in the majority of the locations entered for the London in Bloom competition; that had resulted in the award of Borough of the Year for the second year running, and the team would be busy over the next 4-6 weeks, as they were expected to clear approximately 1000 tonnes of leaves from our streets.

4.4      Responding to the report, Councillor Taouzzale raised a query with regard to Zip Cars and further queried the current guidelines; he referred to the requirement for drivers to have held their licence for a minimum of two years.  Councillor Taouzzale felt that it was expensive for a young person to buy and insure a car, making a ZIP Car affordable and a better choice for short trips. Councillor Taouzzale queried what provision had been put in place for younger drivers.  In response to Councillor Taouzzale’s queries, Councillor Mitchell advised that he would take the query back for a response and also offered that there could will be a different structure for younger drivers and made reference to the new extended Zip Car ‘flexi service’ that had been running since the summer.

4.5      In responding to the report, Councillor Barnes advised that he was unaware that the council had suspended the charges for broadband providers, which he welcomed and found helpful.  Councillor Barnes also queried whether the council had plans for introducing hydrogen charging points.  Councillor Mitchell responded to the queries, advising that he was keen to work with all public utilities to minimise the disruptions that works cause, he felt that with the work taking place in Soho, had been particularly important.  With regard to the hydrogen query, Councillor Mitchell made reference to a petrol station of the future with rapid charging and hydrogen charging, Councillor Mitchell advised that he believed hydrogen would replace petrol and diesel in the future, but did not see it as something the council would be doing themselves, at the current stage.

4.6      With regard to the report, Councillor Arzymanow queried if there was an update available for the ‘Don’t be idle’ campaign. In response Councillor Mitchell advised that there were two aspects to the campaign, the first being the air quality action days, run by air marshals, parking marshals, local volunteers and businesses, who work specifically on informing the public.  Councillor Mitchell advised that the second part was focused on businesses, the ten top businesses with fleets that were adding to the issue of idling vehicles would be identified, such as couriers.  Councillor Mitchell advised that the Leader would write to such businesses and asked them to make pledges regarding the training of staff and the upgrading of fleets, moving away from use of diesel vehicles.  Councillor Mitchell informed the Committee of his visit to a new courier depot which used medium and small sized electrical vans. He advised that the market was limited and there was a small amount of these vehicles available and that was why the council was still considering different options for its own refuse fleet.  

4.7      Councillor Arzymanow asked a follow up question regarding the ‘Don’t be idle’ business fleet element of the campaign and queried whether it would include coach operators, making reference to Dorset Square.  Councillor Mitchell advised that coaches’ would be included, but it would be dealt with by TFL.

4.8      Councillor Green raised a query regarding the future for electric vehicles, advising that there was a large demand for electrical charging points.  He explained that not all charging points were equal, in particular the lamp post charging points require expensive cables and the connection fee was three times the rate of the dedicated EV only bays, which had led to a higher demand for the bays. Councillor Green asked if the enforcement services could monitor it more closely, as there was a maximum 4 hour stay and it was not always being adhered to.  Councillor Green also asked that with regard to the future structure, the council review the usage of the different EV charging points which were provided by different companies, ensuring that there was a mix of charging points for the variety of EV that exist. 

4.9      Responding to the queries, Councillor Mitchell advised that market was not mature yet and the approach of the council was to use a mixture of different providers, who use slightly different technology; as it was not yet clear who would be the winner.  Councillor Mitchell discussed the Tesla model, where after the free allocated charging time was finished, if the EV remained connected to the charging point, then a charge would be incurred.  Councillor Mitchell advised that he would come back to the Committee with regard to the enforcement of the 4 hour bays and added that there might well be a technological answer to the issue.

4.10    Councillor Guthrie McKie raised concerns regarding fly tipping, he advised that it was as a major concern for members.  Councillor McKie felt that some wards at the edge of the borough may have larger amounts of fly tipping because of cross borough activity.  Councillor McKie referred to a number of large household item, often dumped by builders moving from one part of London to another.  He advised that he and other members received numerous e-mails and there needed to be an electronic solution along with more regular vehicles clearing fly tipped sites.  Councillor Mitchell advised that it was an issue which the council were very concerned with, however having reviewed the data over the last quarter, it revealed that there had been fewer reports of fly tipping.  Councillor Mitchell also added that in areas where fly tipping had been prevalent however, still remained prevalent.

4.11    Councillor Mitchell informed the Committee that he had met Councillor Adams and council officers to discuss organising a dedicated team of six officers to work over the next three months on a series of initiatives to tackle fly tipping.  He said that the team would tackle a number of problematic sites, with the intention of addressing behavioural change.  Councillor Mitchell also advised that the team would be reviewing the further use of Close Circuit Television (CCTV), although CCTV was a deterrent and does not provide the evidential quality needed for prosecutions.  Councillor Mitchell added that more flatbed vans would be available to move larger dumped household items. Councillor Mitchell advised the Committee that the big black bins were emptied three times per day and he agreed with Councillor McKie with regard to the outer wards, advising that it could be because the council offered such a good refuse collection service. 

RESOLVED: The Committee noted the report.