Agenda and minutes

It was noted that Councillor Gollop was previously elected Chair of the Area Committee.

Councillor Geater sent his apologies to the meeting.

To receive any Declarations of Interest from Members of Council that are relevant to any items on the Agenda.

Councillor Steve Smith informed the meeting that he had previously been the CEO of Young Bristol.

The minutes of the 20 July 2022 were agreed as a correct record.

It was clarified that a full proposal for each of the bids were invited following a Councillor prioritisation exercise.  Although it was unlikely that 100% of bids could be supported Councillors had wanted to ascertain if a lower level of funding award was possible.

Members of the public may make a written statement or ask a question as long as it is about a matter for which this committee has responsibility. Your statement or question will be sent to the Committee and be available in the meeting room one hour before the meeting.

Please submit to democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk. The following requirements apply:

· The statement is received no later than 12.00 noon on the working day before the meeting (Tuesday 22^nd November 2022).

· The question is received no later than 5pm three clear working days before the meeting (Thursday 17^th November 2022).

The following public forum statements were received and circulated to the Committee prior to the meeting.  Public forum statements 1, 2 and 4 were in attendance.

The Committee heard further statements from residents attending the meeting in support of the St Johns Primary School proposal and in support of the Brandon House Community Room.

With reference to the topic of Avon Crescent re-routing, Councillors requested further information from officers regarding when road priorities would revert back to the original rules when contractors left the site.

Mark Sperduty confirmed that officers were still waiting from a response from planning officers.  He agreed to speak to the Structures Team to ascertain plans for the future however, he stated that what was requested could not be achieved through a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO).  When the works taking place had been completed, the TTRO in place will cease to be applicable.

The Area Committee expressed their collective support for the matter and asked the Ward Councillor to continue to try to progress the issue, perhaps exploring the possibility of a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) using CIL grant funding.

Speaking as a Cabinet Member, Councillor Don Alexander confirmed that the matter had been through Planning Committee twice with the origin being the Metrobus project.  Cllr Alexander suggested a letter be sent by residents and the Ward Councillor to Dan Norris of the West of England Combined Authority to highlight that it was an unfulfilled promise of the Metrobus Planning Application 2014.  Residents were also invited to write to Councillor Alexander in his role as relevant Cabinet Member to request progress.  Councillor Alexander also offered to take the matter up with the WECA Metro Mayor.

The Community Resources Manager outlined that an overall sum of £268,196.26 was available to Area Committee 1, which broke down as follows:

•            For General AC1 expenditure: £109,081.32

•            For Lawrence Weston ND Plan expenditure: £159,114.94

It was noted that:

1.      If the Committee approved all the requests for CIL funding the Committee would be £78,079.75 overspent, and £134,114.94 would remain for Lawrence Weston ND Plan expenditure.

2.      The figures noted for cost of delivery at the time of the meeting were higher than those quoted in March 2023 due to the rising costs of goods and inflation.

3.      Proposal AC1PO11 was not being progressed as officers were unable to support the proposal.

4.      Proposal AC1PO13 had a query against it as permission needed to be sought from the landowner which was in dispute.  At present, no new or improved infrastructure would be provided.

The Committee discussed whether they agreed, in principle, to overcommit funding in order to support all the projects on the basis that further funding would be available the following year.  Some Councillors highlighted that some projects may not have put forward this year but hoped to be supported next year and on that basis it would be unfair not have funds available.  It was agreed by majority to support a maximum over commitment of £20k.

The projects were discussed in the following order:

AC1PO12 - Brandon House Community Room

Councillor O’Rourke reported the proposal for a room at Brandon House be modified to be used by the residents to come together for uses such as homework sessions, crafts, meetings and to help develop a residents association.  Full funding of £10,506 was requested to bring facilities up to the required standards.

AC1PO04 – Signage for Elgin Park/ Lower Redland Road Junction and AC1PO5 - Enhancement of Road Safety and Air Quality – St Johns Primary School

Councillor Denyer championed the proposal to improve signage and make it harder for drivers to ignore the “no entry” at this junction, and to make changes outside the school entrance to prevent pavement parking in order to improve safety for pedestrians including young children.  There had been a lot of support for the proposals at the Neighbourhood Forum meetings.  The proposal included use of bollards and changes to the shape of the pavement.  The Committee noted that a bid to the School Streets Scheme had not been successful.

AC1PO6 -  Henleaze Tree Replacement

The bid of £15k had been outlined at the time of submission but due to inflation it was noted that the same proposal was now likely to cost £19,791 for the same number of trees.  Councillors were supportive of increasing the amount of the grant as opposed to decreasing the number of trees.  It was noted that the planned sites for the trees had not benefitted from development funding previously.

AC1PO1 – Blaise Outdoor Gym

On behalf of Friends of Blaise, officers had been asked to seek funding from S106 money, and also the Public Health Sports Team.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.