Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no declarations of interest stated.

To consider the Minutes of the previous meeting.

Resolved:     That the Minutes of the meeting held on the 6 February, 2024 be

agreed as a correct record.

Resolved:     That the Minutes of the meeting held on the 6 February, 2024 be agreed as a correct record.

That the contents of the update report be noted.

The Leader introduced the report on Walleys Quarry problematic odours and the recent suspension notice.

The Chief Executive provided an update on the situation, stating that February had been a bad month, with over 1000 complaints being received and the Environment Agency’s (EA) complaints had also been significantly higher.

Throughout February, it had been MMF1 consistently showing that hydrogen sulphide levels for one third of the time each week, had been above the annoyance threshold.  MMF9 had shown more variety, still with high figures but not reaching the levels and consistency of MMF1.

At the beginning of March the EA issued a suspension notice on the site whilst works were carried out.  Walleys Quarry did the required work in just over one week and the site was reopened for the receipt of waste products.

A special meeting of the Council was held on 14 February, 2024 to discuss the issues at Walleys Quarry and the actions from that meeting were outlined at paragraph 2.11 of the report.  There was discussion at the meeting regarding two potential Judicial Reviews; firstly, the EA’s decision not to bring forward a Suspension Notice.  However, this had now been done, with work ceasing for just over one week whilst remediation works were undertaken.  The second potential Judicial Review was around the Secretary of state’s decision to not grant a public inquiry into the performance of the EA.  The Council’s Monitoring Officer had outlined the complexities of this and the information was appended to the report.

Paragraph 2.26 outlined the process that would need to be undertaken in terms of the Abatement Notice.

Councillor Fear expressed his disappointment at the increase in complaints during February and asked, if that were to happen again, was that evidence that Best Practical Means were not being used.

The Chief Executive advised that there were two aspects of a challenge of Best Practical Means, one being that they only applied to ‘normal’ operations.  The other issue, by the nature of Best Practical Means, it meant that there was the prospect of the operator using the best techniques available at the time but there still being an odour off-site.  There was also the issue of affordability.

Councillor Fear stated that an adverse event would be presumptive evidence that Best Practical Means was not happening.  Councillor Fear commented on the notion that if the operator claimed that it was too expensive to put it right then they did not have to and asked if there was any documentation that would give a sense of proportionality, giving the limit of expenditure that was deemed to be excessive.

The Council’s Service Director – Regulatory Services advised that in terms of the cost element there were industry standards guides in relation to what constituted Best Practical Means.  The economics of it also had to be taken into account; the available technology available and the practicality of delivery.

The Leader stated that the EA had not listened and had not dealt with Walleys Quarry and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

(i)           That the progress on the Digital Infrastructure project as part of the Newcastle Town Deal, be noted;

(ii)          That the Deputy Chief Executive in conjunction with the Portfolio Holders for Finance, Town Centres & Growth and One Council, People & Partnerships, be authorised to progress the Digital Infrastructure project to the next steps of procuring a partner to deliver a fibre network within the Newcastle Town Deal area;

(iii)         That the Deputy Chief Executive in conjunction with the Portfolio Holders for Finance, Town Centres & Growth and One Council, People & Partnerships, be authorised to examine the invest to save potential of connecting key Borough Council sites to the fibre network to release the full benefit from this investment;

(iv)         That a further report on the digital inclusion element of the project be considered by a future meeting of Cabinet.

The Leader introduced a report giving update on progress made with the Newcastle Town Deal Digital Infrastructure Project.  The rollout was going at pace and the report outlined the process for bringing it about.  There would be a series of digital hubs around the Borough, hopefully based around community centres.

The Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Culture and Heritage stated that having the discussions with community centres was currently being looked at and the capacity to facilitate the project.

Resolved:     (i)         That the progress on the Digital Infrastructure project as

part of the Newcastle Town Deal, be noted;

(ii)          That the Deputy Chief Executive in conjunction with the Portfolio Holders for Finance, Town Centres & Growth and One Council, People & Partnerships, be authorised to progress the Digital Infrastructure project to the next steps of procuring a partner to deliver a fibre network within the Newcastle Town Deal area;

(iii)         That the Deputy Chief Executive in conjunction with the Portfolio Holders for Finance, Town Centres & Growth and One Council, People & Partnerships, be authorised to examine the invest to save potential of connecting key Borough Council sites to the fibre network to release the full benefit from this investment;

(iv)         That a further report on the digital inclusion element of the

project be considered by a future meeting of Cabinet.

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That the Deputy Chief Executive in consultation with the Portfolio Finance, Town Centres and Growth, be autorised to enter into a contract with Zest Eco Ltd for the installation, management and maintenance of electric vehicle charging points at Castle Car Park.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Town Centre’s and Growth introduced a report awarding the contract for the provision of Electric Vehicle Charging Points at Castle Car Park to Zest Eco Ltd.

Zest Eco would be liable for the provision, management, maintenance and replacement of the EV chargers with no cost to the Council.

The Leader stated that the existing car park at the Midway did not facilitate EV charging or ‘pay on exit’ and that had been a key driver for the building of the new car park.  

Resolved:     That the Deputy Chief Executive in consultation with the Portfolio

Holder for Finance, Town Centres and Growth, be autorised to enter into a contract with Zest Eco Ltd for the installation, management and maintenance of electric vehicle charging points at Castle Car Park.

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That the Tree and Biodiversity Management Plan be approved.

The Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Environment introduced a report seeking approval for the adoption of the tree and biodiversity management plan, setting out the Council’s approach to managing its tree stock.

Members’ were advised of the six main objectives of the plan which were outlined at paragraph 2.6 of the report and the current progress was outlined at paragraph 2.9.

The Leader stated that the plan set out how the trees and wildflower meadows in the Borough would be maintained. The Leader also stated that it was worth noting that a percentage of newly planted trees would not take or could be damaged within their first year and would need to be replaced.

Resolved:     That the Tree and Biodiversity Management Plan be approved.

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(i)               That the progress on the project to deliver Football Changing facilities at the Wammy, be noted.

(ii)             That the Deputy Chief Executive, in consultation with the Portfolio Holders for Finance, Town Centres & Growth and One Council, People & Partnerships, be authorised to complete post tender negotiations and to progress all legal agreements to enable appointment of a contractor to construct the Football Changing Facilities at the Wammy.

(iii)            That the Deputy Chief Executive, in consultation with the Portfolio Holders for Finance, Town Centres & Growth and One Council, People & Partnerships, be authorised  to construct the Football Changing Facilities at the Wammy.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Town Centre’s and Growth introduced a report giving an update on the new changing facilities and, to recommend the awarding of a construction contract to the successful bidder as outlined in the confidential appendix which would be considered in closed session at the end of this meeting.

Resolved:     (i)         That the progress on the project to deliver Football

Changing facilities at the Wammy, be noted.

(ii)          That the Deputy Chief Executive, in consultation with the Portfolio Holders for Finance, Town Centres & Growth and One Council, People & Partnerships, be authorised to complete post tender negotiations and to progress all legal agreements to enable appointment of a contractor to construct the Football Changing Facilities at the Wammy.

(iii)         That the Deputy Chief Executive, in consultation with the Portfolio Holders for Finance, Town Centres & Growth and One Council, People & Partnerships, be authorised  to construct the Football Changing Facilities at the Wammy.

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(i)            That the Sport England capital grant from the Swimming Pool Fund is

in principle accepted by the Council to support the eligible projects at Kidsgrove Sports Centre, be noted.  

(ii)          That the Duty Chief Executive in consultation with the Portfolio

Holder for One Council, People & Partnerships be authorised to sign all necessary agreements to enable the grant to be passported to Kidsgrove Sports Centre.

The Leader introduced a report outlining the awarding of grant funding for Kidsgrove Sports Centre from the Sport England Swimming Pool Fund.

The Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Culture and Heritage welcomed the funding and stated that the fitting of solar panels at the Sports Centre would go a long way to working towards net zero carbon emissions in the Borough and would also provide energy savings and reduce running costs.

Resolved:     (i)         That the Sport England capital grant from the Swimming

Pool Fund is in principle accepted by the Council to support the eligible projects at Kidsgrove Sports Centre, be noted.  

(ii)          That the Deputy Chief Executive in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for One Council, People & Partnerships be authorised to sign all necessary agreements to enable the grant to be passported to Kidsgrove Sports Centre.

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That the Forward Plan be received and noted.

The Leader went through the Cabinet Forward Plan.

Resolved:     That the Forward Plan be received and noted.

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Members were advised that this was the last meeting of the outgoing Chief Executive, Martin Hamilton.  The Leader thanked him for everything he had done and wished him well for the future.

Cabinet Members added their thanks and best wishes to Martin.

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To resolve that the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following reports, because it is likely that there will be disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Local Government Act 1972.

That the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration if the following matter because it is likely that there will be disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs contained within Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act, 1972.

Resolved:-                That the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration if the following matter because it is likely that there will be disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs contained within Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act, 1972.

That the confidential appendix be received.

Consideration was given to the confidential appendix relating to the Contract Award for Wammy Football Changing Room Development item.

Resolved:     That the confidential appendix be received.