Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Clive Springett.

The following substitution was declared:

Councillor Patricia Warby for Councillor Clive Springett.

Members of the public who live or work in the Borough are invited to put one question or statement of not more than 3 minutes duration relating to items on Part 1 of the agenda only. If a question is asked and answered within 3 minutes the person who asked the question may ask a supplementary question that arises from the reply. A person wishing to speak must register to speak at least 15 minutes before the meeting is scheduled to start. There is an overall time limit of 15 minutes for public speaking which may be extended at the Chairman’s discretion.

There were no questions/statements from members of the public.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 31 October 2018 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 31 October 2017 were unanimously accepted by the Committee as an accurate record and signed by the Chairman.

Report No: LIC/SE/18/002

[Councillor Beccy Hopfensperger arrived at 5.05pm during the discussion and subsequent voting on this item]

The Committee received Report No: LIC/SE/18/002, which asked members to consider the proposed hackney carriage fare alignments.  It was reported that Section 65 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 enabled St Edmundsbury Borough Council, at its discretion to fix and vary the tariff for Hackney Carriages that were licenced by the Council.

Under the Council’s Constitution, the Committee could set or refuse hackney fares, and reviewed annually.  However, on this occasion, the review was anticipating the alignment of the fares in respect of the “Single Council approach”. 

The tariffs for both St Edmundsbury Borough Council and Forest Heath District Council differed widely.  Therefore, it was proposed that fees should be aligned in two stages, which was set out within the report.  A number of appendices were also attached to Report No: LIC/SE/18/002, as follows:

(Appendix 1) – Current fare cards;

(Appendix 2) – Proposed fare cards;

(Appendix 3) – Fare comparisons;

(Appendix 4) – Consultation form to all West Suffolk Drivers; and

(Appendix 5) – Consultation raw data.

The Committee was asked to consider the following two options (see below), which were aimed at staging the changes to fares in a way that the Council could achieve its goal of aligning fares for a Single Council without negatively affecting the trade.  It was also asked to consider which fares would be preferable to the public and the trade by April 2019:

Option 1:Approve the advertising of the proposed new Hackney Carriage fares for St Edmundsbury; or

Option 2:Approve the advertising of the proposed new Hackney Carriage fares devised for St Edmundsbury, and recommend which set of fares to be considered for Stage 2 to be in place for Single Council on 1 April 2019.

The  Licensing Team Leader wished to stress to members that the proposed fare figures (Appendix 2) had been pulled together by members of the hackney trade (the trade) and not council officers.  She explained in detail that the council had engaged with the trade at an early stage by asking the trade to come in and help the council to look at aligning the fares and the amount of tariffs, as far as possible, in a joint effort to close the current gaps for running miles prices/flags between the Forest Heath trade and St Edmundsbury trade, prior to Single Council.  The fares being proposed by the trade had also been scrutinised and overseen by the councils meter agents (Digitax and Panther Taxis), who calibrated all hackney meters for the council prior to being presented to the Committee.

The Committee considered the report in detail and asked a number of questions, to which responses were provided.

Some members expressed their disappointment that the proposed fares were still worked out in yards and not miles which was confusing, including the initial waiting times; that the whole fare structure was wrong; and were not happy with the suggested increases and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89.

Report No: LIC/SE/18/003

The Committee received Report No: LIC/SE/18/003, which updated members on the findings of the external consultation on proposals to declare an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) on Sicklesmere Road, Bury St Edmunds.  Based on the statutory guidance under the Regulations and following discussion with key stakeholders, consultation was undertaken with both statutory and non-statutory consultees including the relevant District and County Councillors, properties within the proposed AQMA, Suffolk County Council Highways and the planning officer and planning agent for the Abbotts Vale development.  The consultation provided respondents with the opportunity to make any representation with respect to the proposed designation. 

The results of the external consultation were set out in the report, and based on the outcome of the consultation, the Committee was asked to approve the declaration of the AQMA designation on Sicklesmere Road, Bury St Edmunds as laid out in the Order attached as Appendix A to the report.

The Committee considered the report and asked questions to which responses were provided. 

Councillor Sarah Broughton informed the Committee that she supported the proposal for an AQMA on Sicklesmere Road.  She explained that her ward of Great Barton had an AQMA and the Steering Group was working well in supporting the development of the AQMA Action Plan.

Councillor David Nettleton responded by stating that the council should be looking at the symptoms, and not the disease.  He explained that there would be more AQMA’s needed in the future if the council did not start tackling the cause, by taking urgent action to reduce the use of cars. 

It was then proposed by Councillor Sarah Broughton, seconded by Councillor David Nettleton and with the vote being unanimous, it was

          RESOLVED:

That based on the review and findings of the consultation, the declaration of the Air Quality Management Area designation on Sicklesmere Road, Bury St Edmunds, as shown in Appendix A to Report No: LIC/SE/18/003, be approved.