Agenda item

Two questions were received:

1)        Question from Councillor Gorton to the Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Environment:

“Leaving out a waste bin on the pavement days after a collection has been made is a practice which the Borough Council would want to discourage. Bins left out in this way block pavements with the result that passers by are often obliged to walk in the road. I understand that as a last resort local authorities can issue a fixed penalty if a bin is persistently left on a pavement. The issuing of a fixed penalty must be a last resort which is only applied when persuasion has failed. Can the Portfolio Holder outline the action or actions the Borough Council proposes to take to encourage householders to be good neighbours and not leave their bins out on pavements days after a collection has taken place? “

The Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Environment stated that there had been a long standing issue in some areas of the Borough where wheelie bins were left out in the street between collections, thus causing an obstruction.  The Councils Mobile Multi Function Team and the Recycling and Waste Team were now working to raise awareness with households and had put together a three stage process of education, warning and ultimately, a fixed penalty notice.

Education would be in the form of written literature and possibly a verbal or first written warning. The street or repeat offender households could be leafleted.  This would explain the range of waste collection and recycling services and also to place their bins on the street at certain times for collection, removing them afterwards.

Stage two would be a warning, which would be a repeat of the education process but also a Notice of Intent of any repeat offence.

Stage three would be a Fixed Penalty Notice of £60.  The MMF Team worked on these when it was founded in 2023, reviewing issues such as dog fouling, fly tipping and residents duty of care regarding their waste management.  The Fixed Penalty fees and charges would be decided by Cabinet, then reviewed, debated and amended where necessary and endorsed by the Licensing and Public Protection Committee. 

At present, education seemed to be working, with no Fixed Penalty Fees having been issued.

Councillor Gorton asked a supplementary question:

“Could the Portfolio Holder give assurance that resources would be available to underpin the action that had been outlined?”

The Portfolio Holder confirmed that resources would be provided.

2)        Question from Councillor Brockie to the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Town Centres and Growth:

“Capital & Centric’s business model based on ‘Driving value through ownership’ has clearly been successful for them, and will hopefully be successful for Newcastle. It is accepted that the projects and their costs and benefits will be put through consultation and scrutiny. With ‘ownership’ comes responsibility - and at the moment we still own these sites. Selling them, and others, off to relieve ourselves of debt may or may not be appropriate in future-proofing ourselves financially. To make these decisions, can we be assured that the progression of the projects will be offered for scrutiny with full disclosure of any changes and modifications which arise in the course of realisation?”

The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Town Centres and Growth stated that the Capital&Centric proposals had been taken through a special, all members briefing on 5 February and proposals and suggestions for all elements of regeneration of the town centre were taken to every Economy and Place Scrutiny Committee.  The paper on the regeneration plans for the town centre had also been discussed this evening at this meeting.  Proposals would continue to be put forward for future scrutiny, as had been done throughout the development.

Councillor Brockie asked a supplementary question:

“Was it possible to have a meeting at some stage, where all Councillors could actually get to meet Capital& Centric and share the vision as it was felt that not enough information had been received and it should be approached with caution, if not suspicion”

The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Town Centres and Growth stated that Capital&Centric were an excellent company. They were visionary and their ideas for the town centre were superb and he had no qualms about recommending them.

Watch the debate here