Agenda item

Up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item.

 

Any member of the public or councillor may participate in Public Forum. Public Forum items must relate to the remit of the committee and should be addressed to the Chair of the committee.

 

Members of the public who plan to attend a public meeting at City Hall are advised that you will be required to sign in when you arrive. Please note that you will be issued with a visitor pass which you will need to display at all times.

 

Please also note:

 

Questions

1.      Written public questions must be received by 5.00 pm, at least 3 clear working days prior to the meeting. For this meeting, this means that questions must be received at the latest by 5.00 pm on Monday 19^th August. Please email questions to policycommittees@bristol.gov.uk

2.      Any individual can submit up to 3 written questions.

3.      Written replies to questions will be available on the Council’s website at least one hour before the meeting.

4.      At the meeting, questioners will be permitted to ask up to 2 oral supplementary questions.

 

Statements

1.      Written statements must be received at latest by 12.00 noon, at least 2 working days prior to the meeting. For this meeting, this means that statements must be received at the latest by 12.00 noon on Wednesday 21^st August. Please email statements to policycommittees@bristol.gov.uk

2.      Statements, provided they are no more than 1,000 words in length, will be circulated to all committee members and will be published on the Council’s website at least one hour before the meeting.

 

Petitions

1.      Details of the wording of any petitions, and the number of signatories to petitions must be received at latest by 12.00 noon, at least 2 working days prior to the meeting. For this meeting, this means that petition details must be received at the latest by 12.00 noon on Wednesday 21^st August. Please email petition details to policycommittees@bristol.gov.uk

2.      At the meeting, individuals presenting petitions may be required to read out the objectives of the petition.

 

When submitting a question or statement please indicate whether you are planning to attend the meeting to present your statement ask your question

 

It was noted that 18 public forum questions had been submitted to this meeting as follows:

Q1. Bob Radford: Allotment rents and tenancy agreement

Q2. Ruth Hecht: Allotment rents and tenancy agreement

Q3. Richard Curtis: Allotment rents and tenancy agreement

Q4. Tim Beasley: Allotment rents and tenancy agreement

Q5. Sarah Freeman: Allotment rents and tenancy agreement

Q6. Catherine Potter: Allotment rents and tenancy agreement

Q7. Roger Mellors: Allotment rents and tenancy agreement

Q8. Joanna Mellors: Allotment rents and tenancy agreement

Q9. Lorna Lindfield: Allotment rents and tenancy agreement

Q10. Dave Adlam: Allotment rents and tenancy agreement

Q11. Debbie Wyatt: Allotment rents and tenancy agreement

Q12. James Jones: Healthy weight and diet

Q13. John Daw, Woodcroft community orchard: Allotment rents and tenancy agreement

Q14. Vanessa Harvey-Samuel: Allotment rents and tenancy agreement

Q15. Tess Price: Allotment rents and tenancy agreement

Q16. Hugh Holden: Allotment rents and tenancy agreement

Q17. Nathalie Griffin: Allotment rents and tenancy agreement

Q18. Cllr Lorraine Francis: Allotment rents and tenancy agreement

 

In response to a supplementary question on Q1, the Chair advised that at this meeting, the Committee would be considering a proposal to invest in allotments and food growing.  He also confirmed that he had met with stakeholder groups in advance of this meeting to discuss the allotments rent issue; a number of issues raised through these discussions were addressed in the report.

 

In response to a supplementary question on Q2, it was noted that the report on allotment rents as submitted to this meeting had been developed in liaison with the Chair and Vice-Chair; lead members of all the political groups had been appraised of the report content prior to publication.

 

In response to a further supplementary question on Q2, the Chair confirmed that paragraph 7 (of the report included on the agenda concerning allotment rents) set the direction of travel for taking forward this issue over the next 12 months, i.e. the intention was for the service to undertake stakeholder engagement on the review of the current fees and charges structure; this review would consider options which were fair and proportionate for individual allotment holders and collective food growing groups and would take into account the legal notice required for introducing rental increases as defined within the Allotment Act.

 

In response to a supplementary question on Q8, officers outlined the rationale for reviewing the allotment rent/pricing structure; the approaches taken by other local authorities had been examined as part of this.

 

In response to a supplementary question on Q11, it was noted that the issue of the capital sum available from the sale of statutory allotment land at Brislington was referred to in the report included at agenda item 8 (Investment in allotments and food growing).

 

In response to a supplementary question on Q12, it was noted that whilst the wider issues around healthy weight were of ongoing interest to the committee, the decision to be considered at this meeting under agenda item 10 (Commissioning of targeted healthy weight services for adults, families and children) was essentially a procurement decision. 

 

In response to a supplementary question on Q14, it was noted that through the process of the development of the report brought to this meeting on allotment rents, the Chair and lead members had sought greater clarity about the financing of the service.  It was also noted that since the publication of the original agenda papers for this meeting, a supplementary document had been published setting out additional financial information on expenditure on allotments and smallholdings.  

 

In response to a supplementary question on Q15, the Chair stressed his commitment to ensuring effective engagement and consultation arrangements on an ongoing basis with allotment stakeholders as part of moving to a fit-for-purpose allotments service.

 

It was noted that 49 public forum questions had been submitted to this meeting as follows:

1. Richard Matthews: Allotment rents

2. Ben Davidson: Allotment rents

3. Bob Radford: Allotment rents

4. Harry McPhillimy: Allotment rents

5. Bea Angus: Allotment rents

6. Richard Curtis: Allotment rents

7. Jo Pengilley: Allotment rents

8. Ruth Hecht: Allotment rents

9. Cllr Bador Uddin: Allotment rents

10. Sarah Rogers: Community Resilience Fund

11. Michaela Andrews: Healthy weight / diet

12. John Daw: Allotment rents

13. Tom Bosanquet: Allotment rents

14. Rob Acton-Campbell: Funding for area committees

15. Emma Lynsay: Allotment rents

16. Cllr Rob Bryher: Funding for area committees

17. Christopher Faulkner Gibson: Allotment rents

18. Bristol Allotment Forum, rules review sub-group: Allotment rents

19. Sarah Freeman: Allotment rents

20. Cathy Spence: Allotment rents

21. Penny Russell: Allotment rents

22. Abdullahi Farah: Community Resilience Fund

23. Stuart Lindsay: Allotment rents

24. Dave Adlam: Allotment rents

25. Alexander St Jean Dick: Allotment rents

26. Jenny Poppy: Allotment rents

27. Ena Yarde: Allotment rents

28. Sally Wyatt: Allotment rents

29. Len Wyatt (Bristol Parks Forum): Finance report

30. Sophia Foster: Allotment rents

31. Joanna Mellors: Allotment rents

32. Tamara Evans Braun: Allotment rents

33. Katy Ladbrook, on behalf of Allotment Forum Subgroup for Rents and Allotment Forum Subgroup for Value for Money: Allotment rents

34. Vanessa Harvey-Samuel: Allotment rents

35. Caroline Dalcq: Allotment rents

36. David Baines: Allotment rents

37. Ellen Rowland: Allotment rents

38. Bridget Ely: Allotment rents

39. Tess Price, Troy Tanska, James Martin, Dom Francis: Allotment rents

40. Gem Lindsey: Allotment rents

41. Chris Dowell: Allotment rents

42. Jordan Smith: Allotment rents

43. Ana Sanchez: Allotment rents

44. Tim Beasley: Allotment rents

45. Ian McCaig: Allotment rents

46. Karen Zahra Coles: Allotment rents