Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Committee Rooms 2 & 3, Trafford Town Hall, Talbot Road, Stretford M32 0TH

Contact: Harry Callaghan, Governance Officer 

Items
No. Item

18.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 212 KB

To receive and, if so determined, to agree as a correct record the Minutes of the meetings held on 10 July 2023, 12 July 2023, and 20 September 2023.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meetings held 10July 2023, 12 July 2023, and 20 September 2023, be agreed as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

19.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members to give notice of any interest and the nature of that interest relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the adopted Code of Conduct.

Minutes:

No declarations were made.

20.

QUESTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC

A maximum of 15 minutes will be allocated to public questions submitted in writing to Democratic Services (democratic.services@trafford.gov.uk) by 4 p.m. on the working day prior to the meeting. Questions must be relevant to items appearing on the agenda and will be submitted in the order in which they were received.

Minutes:

No questions were received.

21.

WEEDING PROGRAMME, RE-WILDING AND GREEN SPACES REVIEW pdf icon PDF 3 MB

To receive a report from the Head of Highways, Transportation and Greenspaces and the Greenspace and Streetscape Operations Manager.

Minutes:

The Executive Member for Highways, Environmental and Traded Services introduced the report which had been circulated with the agenda. Due to considerable changes to the weed spraying programme over recent years, the Executive Member felt the timing of the report was pertinent.

The Senior Environmental Contract Manager spoke to the presentation and pulled several key themes.

Firstly, since agreed at the Executive in June 2020, the Council had committed to reducing the usage of glyphosate as part of the weeding programme. Furthermore, the Council had introduced an ‘opting out’ spraying scheme, where residents were able to adopt tree pits that were then not sprayed. The annual quantities glyphosate used on the highways had reduced by 50% since 2018. The Committee were also referred to the services role in Trafford Council’s sustainability commitment, which had seen it stop weed spraying in all public parks, green spaces, and cemeteries, looking to introduce more wildflower and meadow areas.

The alternatives to spraying weeds were also mentioned, which included weed brush machines and hot water weed control on hard surfaces. This was on a low scale currently. 

The different weeds found in Trafford were shared, with weed control primarily undertaken to prevent longer term damage to hard surfaces and infrastructure. The weed control programme timelines were also shared, usually starting in mid-May to June, as they were only effective in dry weather.

A review of the weed spraying programme was done in 2023, with the work being spread across Trafford’s twenty-one wards. The work began in the North of the Borough down, due to the densely housed nature of the area. It was recognised that this does place the South at a disadvantage, with the programme usually ending in October. However, this was also down, partly, to delays in weed treatment when contractor procurement was delayed or unavailable. Challenges could be faced due to Trafford’s contract being less lucrative than neighbouring authorities, and availability in contactors reducing due to national reductions in weed spraying programmes.

The plans for the future were shared. This included two weeding teams, starting in the north and south of the borough at the same time. The team in the north would also oversee the programme in the west, with the team in the south working on central. Further, there was an expectation that, despite glyphosate currently being deemed safe and effective, this may change. The Council considered that it was more appropriate to set a performance led programme for weed control, rather than increasing the number of chemical applications, as this would cause a detrimental effect to the environment.

Finally, the Council’s re-wilding initiatives were shared. This included use of parks, greenspaces, and verges for wildflower meadows. This had been adopted by some parks in the borough already. There had also been appetite to implement this initiative on roundabouts as well. 

The Chair thanked the Executive Member, the Senior Environmental Contract Manager, and all other officers for the update and offered Councillors the opportunity to ask questions.

Councillor Axford  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

22.

ALLOTMENTS UPDATE pdf icon PDF 399 KB

To receive a report from the Head of Climate Change and Sustainability.

Minutes:

The Head of Climate Change and Sustainability provided an overview of the report which had been supplied with the agenda. The Committee were informed of the key themes within the report.

The Council recognised that the service was crucial in improving community cohesion. The Allotments Officer in attendance was hired in September 2023 to oversee the service and gave opportunity for more discussions to take place over the priorities of the service.

Challenges faced by the service were shared with the Committee, including that the rental fee for an allotment in Trafford remaining static since 2015 whilst over costs associated with the service had risen.

Other themes that were shared from the report included increasing issues of flooding and extreme heat over recent and forthcoming years, the current waiting list for an allotment in Trafford of 540, and plans being put in place to increase access to allotments moving forward.

Opportunities were being developed as part of an Allotments strategy which was currently in development. This involved improving the services approach to communications, its website, a review of current internal processes, and developing networking and training within the service and for those that used it. There was also a desire from the service to tap into ongoing work being done across the Council on improving food cultivation, with the service hoping to play a role in improving this area within the borough.

The Chair thanked the officer for the report and opened the floor for questions from the Committee.

Councillor Frass asked if due to the allotments service being funded through the rent, was there any scope to expand sites or to look at Council owned plots which could be turned into new sites. The Head of Climate Change and Sustainability responded that there were no plans currently to increase the number of allotments in the borough. However, there were aims to increase the number of communities growing collectives and promoting local growing groups. The officer would take away looking at using Council land to discussions on the development of the strategy.

Councillor Frass asked further what was being done around dealing with the issue of flooding, highlighting issues on sites in his allotment. The Head of Climate Change and Sustainability recognised the issue. Referred to the strategy and how this would be discussed as part of this, as well as work that was done with Amey and their drainage engineers who monitor the issue.

Councillor Winstanley enquired as to how the Council would help to build networks between different allotments sites and how they would encourage residents to get involved. The Head of Climate Change and Sustainability said that this was not something that had been thought about yet but was something to be considered. The service was keen to work with allotment committees and wanted to make sure tenants were not excluded from communications. Councillor Winstanley asked whether the service had the contact details of allotment tenants. The Allotments Officer responded that they did have contact details, but  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

23.

BUDGET SCRUTINY REPORT pdf icon PDF 301 KB

To consider and agree a report of the Chair of the Committee.

Minutes:

The Chair introduced the report and asked Member if they had any questions or comments.

None were raised and the Committee agreed the report for submission to the Executive.

          RESOLVED:

1)    That the report be noted, and the recommendations agreed.

2)    That the report be submitted to the Executive for approval.

 

24.

EVENTS AT OLD TRAFFORD TASK AND FINISH GROUP INTERIM REPORT

To consider the interim report.

Minutes:

The Chair updated the Committee as to why the report had not been brought to the Committee in the agenda. The Chair informed Members that they would receive the report the following day and were asked to provide any comments to the Chair and the Democratic Officer by the end of the week. The Chair would then approve the report for submission to the next meeting of the Council’s Executive.

Councillor Carter asked for the report to apply pressure to Manchester United around increasing the viability of active travel on a matchday, citing the new ownership of the club and their involvement in cycling. The Chair responded that the Council could not force the football club to do something but would consider this response as part of the recommendations.

Councillor Holden understood the pressure to improve cycling to matches, however, felt it would fall low on the new ownership’s priority list. Councillor Carter responded that the purpose of a task and finish group was not to improve Manchester United but rather to improve the impact on residents who must put up with the consequences.

The Democratic Officer asked for any comments on the report to be with the Chair and the Officer by the end of the week.

          RESOLVED:

1)    That the update from the Chair be noted.

2)    That Members respond to the Chair and Democratic Officer with comments on the report.

3)    That Members delegate approval of the report to the Chair.

 

25.

WORK PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 377 KB

To consider the work programme for the remainder of the municipal year.

Minutes:

Councillor Axford asked whether the outcomes of the trial and consultation of temporary stopping areas for Travellers could come to a future meeting.

Councillor Axford asked further about reported mould in L&Q properties and whether there had been any feedback to an email sent in December. The Chair responded that he would chase this up.

          RESOLVED

1)    That the outcome of the trial and consultation come to Scrutiny in the future.

2)    That the Chair respond to Councillor Axford’s email on reported mould found in L&Q properties.