Live broadcast to start at 7pm and avaliable for repeat viewing.

Apologies were received from Cllr Wiles with Cllr Pound substituting. 

The minutes of the Clean & Green Committee held on the 26^th June 2023 were APPROVED as a true record.

The report began on page 9 of the agenda and highlighted the work the teams have done.

Kim Anderson gave a verbal update regarding an update on the Footways, Cycleways & Bridleways Task & Finish Group who met on 8^th September 2023.  The group discussed terms of reference; how to improve and open up country parks for better use for residents, cyclists and walkers.  Key actions from the meeting were:

• Provide an update from the public consultation of the Local Walking and Cycling Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP)
• Review of the current cycle parking in Brentwood, Shenfield and Ingatestone & KGPF
• Footway development - ward members to identify well known cut throughs on COUNCIL land that could be developed as future footpaths
• Key contact list at ECC

Jonathan Woodhams updated the Committee on the successful applications for Brentwood for Project Minerva and Safer Streets funding.  Brentwood Borough Council were successful in obtaining all that was applied for which in total is in excess of £200,000.  The brief details are:

Project Minerva:

·         Extra CCTV in Shenfield and near Coptfold car park for Brentwood

·         Best Bar None in our licensed premises – Scheme to train, assess and accredit annually our licensed venues to adhere to appropriate behaviours and trading standards, to train venue staff on anti-spiking, conflict management, drugs, crowd management etc and for venues to be responsible for pubic area outside premises.

Safer Streets:

·         4 x Extra solar powered CCTV masts and cameras for fly tipping enforcement for Brentwood

·         20 Battery operated re-deployable temporary cameras for fast time response for Brentwood

·         £20k towards a new community trailer for Brentwood

·         4 more public space cameras for Brentwood

·         Border posts for Hawksmoor Green to prevent motor vehicle ASB

·         Anti bleed kits in every licensed premises in Brentwood and 20 kits for police response cars.

·         Taxi Marshalls for Brentwood High St at peak times of the year

·         Women’s Safety Charter for Brentwood, engaging with businesses, educational institutions and licensed premises to raise awareness, produce women’s safety pledge, accompanying marketing and promotion and bespoke videos for both boroughs.

·         Safer Together, Women’s Safety Legacy for Brentwood working with all secondary schools with theatre company conducting interactive outreach sessions with pupils about women’s safety. Also engaging and working with night time economy on women’s safety and attitudes including interactive quiz. Working with communities in both boroughs producing a gala evening and public show in both boroughs.

The Chair and Committee thanked Jonathan Woodhams for his hard work to obtain the successful funding and appreciates the work that went into this. 

Brentwood In Bloom was linked to the Anglia in Bloom competition which encourages all communities across the region to participate in the unique horticultural and environmental initiatives and demonstrate that their efforts are making a difference to their local surroundings. There is an opportunity that the new Business Improvement District (BID) may well want to support part of this initiative as part of their priorities. There may also be opportunity from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to provide a small grant programme to support entries.

Following a full discussion, Cllr Aspinell MOVED and Cllr Russell SECONDED the recommendations in the report. A vote was taken and it was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY that:

Members were requested to:

R1: For Officers at the Council to work with the new BID Manager and Chamber of Commerce to look at options to support a new Brentwood in Bloom initiative.

R2: For Officers to report back to a future Committee on the options and any Brentwood Borough Council resource implications.

Reason for Recommendation

The Brentwood in Bloom initiative ceased around 2016 due to the lack of entries and volunteers to be part of the working group to help promote, judge and allocate prizes to the winning entries. Resource requirements on possible options will be identified and reported back to a future committee.

A report went to the Policy, Projects and Resources Committee on 20 November 2018 which recommended that the existing allotment sites (as listed in Appendix A of the report) are given Statutory status and new agreements with the relevant Horticultural Societies are agreed. There are currently 10 allotment sites across the Borough as indicated on site plan Appendix A. Officers will work with the relevant Horticultural Societies to understand whether additional sites need to be developed or whether the existing sites are meeting the current demand.

Following a full discussion, Cllr Aspinell MOVED and Cllr Fulcher SECONDED the recommendations in the report. A vote was taken and it was RESOLVED that:

Members were requested to:

R1: Delegate authority for the Director of Environment together with the Leader of Council and the Horticultural Societies to:

A) identify possible new allotment sites

B) undertake a review of existing allotment sites to determine the capacity and unmet demand.

Reason for Recommendation

Allotments promote our green environment encouraging wider biodiversity, a reduction in ‘food miles’ compared with similar produce in local supermarkets, the opportunity for local people to get out in the fresh air, as well as the mental health benefits of being in an area of green spaces and the encouragement these sites provide for social interaction.

(Cllr Russell declared a non-pecuniary interest that he is an allotment holder.)

The report provided options for sites bought forward by Clean and Green Committee for the trial of “rewilding” areas of parks and verges.

Cllr Aspinell removed R1 from the recommendations (R1 - To agree the trial sites detailed below for rewilding and the changes in management for these areas during the trial period) and it was agreed that this would come back to a later committee.

Following a full discussion, Cllr Aspinell MOVED and Cllr Barber SECONDED the recommendation in the report. A vote was taken and it was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY that:

Members were requested to:

R1 - To agree the trial sites detailed below for rewilding and the changes in management for these areas during the trial period.

R2 - To agree the additional planting of up to 80 standard avenue trees at Hutton Recreation Ground, fully funded through Thames Chase Trust partnership.

Reasons for Recommendation

Officers have reviewed the sites bought to the committee by its members and have assessed the suitability of each site.

The below information sets out what is achievable at minimal cost with little impact on resource for the Green Spaces operational teams.

The report sought approval to undertake consultation to develop a vision statement for Hutton Country Park. This will be the keystone of developing a 10-year management plan for the site that aligns with the strategic objectives of the Council’s Corporate Strategy.

Following a full discussion, Cllr Aspinell MOVED and Cllr Fulcher SECONDED the recommendations in the report. A vote was taken and it was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY that:

Members were requested to:

R1. To delegate authority to the Director of Environment to undertake consultation on the development of the Hutton Country Park Management Plan.

Reason for Recommendation

To ensure a long-term strategic plan is developed for Hutton Country Park that aligns with the Council’s broader corporate aims.

The Keep Britain Tidy offer of support to deliver Better Street Programme would cost approximately £25,000. There is concern that the programme is better suited to urban/city environments and would not be as effective in rural locations. However, it may prove useful for addressing fly-tipping in flatted schemes, which is currently an under recorded problem.

Given the significant cost of the scheme, it is proposed that an initial inception meeting is held with Keep Britain Tidy to scope out the capacity of the Council to deliver the majority of the programme without assistance. This project plan would be brought back to the Committee for consideration.

Following a full discussion, Cllr Aspinell MOVED and Cllr Fulcher SECONDED the recommendations in the report. A vote was taken and it was RESOLVED that:

Members agreed:

R1. To arrange an inception meeting with Keep Britain Tidy offer of support, to scope the specific needs of the Council.

R2. To present a costed project plan based on the deliverables of the Better Street programme to the Clean & Green Committee for consideration.

Reasons for Recommendation

To ensure value for money is fully considered before committing to the Better Streets Programme.

To provide costed project plan against which certainty of delivery can be assessed.

To help address fly-tipping within the Borough, particularly in the urban areas and flatted schemes.

The public toilets in Brentwood Highstreet had recently experienced high levels of vandalism and anti-social behaviour. Initial scoping for the modernising of the facilities to reduce risk of vandalism suggests that it would not be financially feasible to undertake, with the installation of new smaller facilities or conversion of the Changing Places facility being presented as the only feasible options. It has not been established what the footfall of the toilets currently is, therefore, it is proposed that they are re-opened, and monitoring is undertaken to determine the size of facility that the public require.

Following a full discussion, Cllr Aspinell MOVED and Cllr Russell SECONDED the recommendations in the report. A vote was taken and it was RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY that:

Members agreed:

R1. To approve the necessary repairs to the existing toilet facility and reopen to the public.

R2. To approve installation of counters to monitor use, and report back to Committee, seeking final decision on the future of the toilets.

Reason for Recommendation

To establish existing use of the public toilets before arriving at an any final decision, so as to gauge impact of any potential closure or alteration.

To follow.

The report set out a summary of the Climate Emergency Working Group meeting, agreeing to its scope and frequency of meetings. The main aim of the group will be to keep on track the progress of Environment Strategy action plan, with one exception, that the Council is now to achieve carbon net-zero by 2030, rather than 2040 as set out in the Strategy, reflecting the subsequent declaration of a Climate Emergency and the alteration of the net-zero target to 2030.

This report was for information only and no voting was required.

There were no items of urgent business to discuss.

The meeting concluded at 8:40pm.