Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no substitute members.

If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

§  if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

§  you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

*(a)     Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

(b) Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

(c) Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between you or your partner (or a body in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council.

(d) Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

(e) Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or longer.

(f) Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have a beneficial interest.

 (g) Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital. 

This applies to all members present at the meeting.

Councillor Court declared a personal interest in Item B1 as the organisation he worked for represented electric vehicles and a number of staff there worked on charging points.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 3 November 2016 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

Public questions would be taken during the relevant agenda item.

There was no chair’s report.

Will Umney, Principal             Planner, Spatial Planning and Transport and Peter Hazzard, Parking Projects Manager, Traffic and Parking Services gave a presentation on Islington Council’s promotion of electric vehicles. In the presentation and discussion the following points were made:

·         The Office for Low Emission Vehicles had awarded London £13million for the Go Ultra Low City Scheme to drive up the uptake of ultra low emissions vehicles.

·         A Londonwide delivery partnership would be established to provide, manage and maintain charging infrastructure in residential areas.

·         Car club bays would be retrofitted with electric vehicle (EV) charging points via the partnership responsible for residential charging infrastructure.

·         The funding would support the increase of rapid EV chargers and Neighbourhoods of the Future. These were local schemes to prioritise and encourage the uptake of ULEVs.

·         There would be £20m available from the Mayors Air Quality Fund for London between 2013 and 2023.

·         Various zero emission projects were taking place to promote electric vehicles including free trials and encouraging electric delivery vehicles.

·         Current on street charging infrastructure in Islington consisted of Hall Street (a single 7KW space), Highbury Crescent (a double 7KW space), Tufnell Park Road (a single 7KW space), Hemingford Road (a single 3KW space), Farringdon Lane (a single 3KW space) and Tolpuddle Street (a double 7KW space).

·         7KW was the maximum level that could be reached using cables from the road. A 7KW charger could charge a car in 6-8 hours and a 3KW charger would charge a car fully overnight.

·         There was an app users could use to see whether each charging point was working and available for use.

·         Users could sign in via a card. To obtain one if they had a hybrid car currently cost £20 a year but was free if they had a vehicle that was fully electric. Members suggested that this figure could be increased.

·         Proposed infrastructure expansion would effectively double the amount of on street charging points in Islington.

·         Hall Street would have a single 7KW space operational in September 2016.

·         Subject to consultation there would be a rapid charger (22KW) on Sheringham Road. The rapid charger could charge a Tesla fully in 25 minutes and a new spur would be run from the nearby school which meant 22KW was achievable. This would be funded by DEFRA. As a build out would be necessary, a member suggested that this could also be used for cycle parking.

·         Additional spaces on St Luke’s Close, Banner Street and Cahill Street were likely to be operational this financial year as consultation had been completed and a Lever Street charging point was being discussed with the Executive member.

·         Using Hall Street as an example to illustrate costs – the Feeder Pillar cost £6,000-£7,000 to supply and install, a 7KW Charging Pillar cost £8500 to supply and install, changes had to be made to the street e.g. signs and lines and additional costs such as consultation cost £3000-£5000.

·         The on street charging infrastructure contract was advertised on the portal in October 2016 and 7  ...  view the full minutes text for item 84.

Ben Johnson, Career Grade Planner gave a presentation on policy. In the presentation and discussion the following points were made:

·         In the current policy there were four town centres (TC) and central activities zones (CAZ) (Angel, Archway, Nags Head and Finsbury Park). There were also 40 local shopping areas. Existing retail was protected across the borough and new, small shops of 80sqm or less were supported.

·         Town centres were identified in the Mayor’s London Plan.

·         Retail uses were directed to town centres in the first instance. This reflected government policy.

·         Core retail areas were protected in relation to primary frontages (where the aim was to maintain 70% retail) and secondary frontages (where the aim was to maintain 50% retail).

·         Specialist shopping areas covered areas of unique function e.g. Fonthill Road and Camden Passage.

·         There was a strong protection and enhancement of cultural uses such as theatres, cinemas and arts venues in town centres and the CAZ.

·         There were 40 areas across the borough designated by the local authority as local shopping areas. These were of differing sizes between 4 units and 200 units. They generally met day-to-day needs and were essential shops or provided essential services although there was also a distinct leisure role. 

·         A1 units were protected but Local Shopping Areas had more flexibility of uses than town centres. There was no threshold of A1 units to try and retain.

·         The Finsbury Local Plan covered the CAZ in the south of the borough. There was a broad mix of uses in this area but significant development pressure. There was a global employment function (e.g. office space) but a need to provide services for local residents also.

·         The local plan review updated the evidence base, continued the protection of core retail areas in some form but with recognition of the changing retail landscape. Development in town centres would be prioritised in the first instance and the specific role of each centre would be recognised. The Local Plan was currently out to consultation which had started on 25 November and would run for three months. 250 groups on the planning policy database had been asked to contribute as had other groups and in addition posters and leaflets were distributed. If members were aware of any other groups that could be consulted, they could inform officers. The last review had received approximately 400 responses. The consultation gave people the opportunity to make suggestions about Islington’s future and how it should develop in the next 15 years.

·         In response to questions about the status of Essex Road and a comment about the number of DIY shops along the road, the officer advised that part of Essex Road was part of the Angel Town Centre and further down the road there were two local shopping areas. DIY shops were classed as A1 so would be protected where there was a threshold.

·         In Whitecross and Exmouth markets there was a 35% threshold for A1 use so the council would seek to resist planning applications for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 85.

Julie Billett, Director of Public Health gave a presentation on referrals to SHINE. In the presentation and discussion, the following points were made:

·         SHINE was a one stop shop established to tackle fuel poverty and reduce seasonal deaths and hospital admissions in Islington.

·         It worked in partnership across the borough to deliver a package of interventions designed to improve seasonal health and wellbeing.

·         The project had been running since the winter of 2010/11 and in that time had helped over 11,500 vulnerable residents across thousands of interventions.

·         Referral analysis showed that 47 NHS services and groups were identified as referring to SHINE. Each year there were a similar proportion of referrals from the NHS.

·         There were 49 GP referrals from 16 of the 34 Islington practices, mostly in 2014/15 and 2015/16.

·         There were 48 referrals from the dementia navigator service in 2014/15 and 2015/16. The dementia navigator service was a non-clinical service.

·         There were 39 referrals from health visitors who had contact with every family in the borough with a new child, 11 iCope (talking psychological therapy) referrals all in 2014/15 and 2015/16. There was a decline in referrals in 2014/15 and 2015/16 from most other services.

·         Non-NHS referrals came from services such as housing, caretakers, council staff and the voluntary and community sectors.

·         The low percentage of NHS referrals could be due to a council run service not being a classic place for health professionals to refer patients. The challenge was to get health professionals to think of SHINE as a place to refer people. Health professionals had pressure on their time and in short appointments were often unable to explore the wider influences and determinants around the health condition being presented.

·         Seven training sessions were held in March and April 2016 on health and housing for primary care practitioners. This was part of the Islington Community Education Provider Network (CEPN) working with the Recovery College. This was multi-disciplinary training aimed at breaking down barriers between disciplines.

·         Around 60 front line health practitioners, including GPs and health visitors were present over the sessions.

·         A training session had been delivered for over 15 Age UK locality navigators.

·         Two sessions had been delivered for Children’s Centres in September and this included health visitors. Approximately 30 people were present over the two sessions.

·         A quarterly SHINE newsletter was distributed to many NHS staff.

·         SHINE was included in Making Every Contact Count (MEDD) with 436 Islington staff completing online training and 150 Islington health and social care staff completing ½ day training to date.

·         Making Every Contact Count was launched in June 2016. It made use of conversations staff had with residents every day. It delivered additional support and advice where appropriate to help local people improve their wellbeing in relation to healthy living, money worries, debt and fuel poverty, unemployment and housing concerns. SHINE was an integral part of MECC.

·         Receptionists, nurses and the wider primary care workforce could all refer to SHINE.

·         Feedback on individuals’ progress to referrers was a positive  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.

RESOLVED:

That the work programme be noted subject to the following amendments:

-       That TfL would be attending the meeting on 9 March for a review of the Holloway Road closure. The chair would advise colleagues that TfL would be attending.

-       That an item to be considered as a possible item for a future agenda be the money the Mayor for London was making available for Local Implementation Plans and projects officers could bid for money for.

-       That the presentation on the use of barbecues in public open spaces be moved from 9 March 2017 meeting to 23 January 2017 meeting.