Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Wednesday, 11th September, 2019 6.30 pm - Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Offices, Farnborough

Contact: Administrator, Adele Taylor  Tel. (01252) 398831, Email.  adele.taylor@rushmoor.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

17.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 90 KB

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 18th July, 2019 (copy attached).

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 18th July, 2019 were agreed as a correct record.

18.

Parking Issues at Aldershot Lido pdf icon PDF 479 KB

At the request of Cllr Sophie Porter, to consider a review of parking arrangements near the Lido. Cllr Porter will present the results of a survey (copy attached), which was undertaken to gain insight into parking issues around the Lido and the Committee will be asked to consider cost effective parking plans/options for the area surrounding the Lido.

Minutes:

At the request of Cllr. Sophie Porter, the Committee was asked to consider a review of parking arrangements near the Aldershot Lido. A survey had been carried out as a result of a number of complaints received from residents relating to issues with parking in the area. The survey was carried out to identify the issues faced by people who used the Lido and the experiences of people who lived in close proximity to the facility.

 

A number of key issues were identified from the survey results, in particular:

 

·         Parking was challenging for residents who lived near the Lido on busy days

·         Limited awareness about where to locate overflow parking facilities

·         Safety concerns regarding access for emergency vehicles

·         Users less likely to attend due to parking issues

·         Users of the indoor pool and/or gym struggled to park in the summer months

·         Both users and residents would like to see the issue resolved

 

Possible solutions were also identified by people who completed the survey, these were as follows:

 

·         Gauge interest from residents to allow users to park on their driveways

·         Devise a map showing all available parking spaces, including the overflow car park to be displayed on the website and via social media

·         Explore the potential to build a multi storey car park which could be used all year round by the various activities taking place and clubs in the vicinity

·         Explore the potential to use the Aldershot Park green space as alternative parking on busy days

·         Explore a park and ride option with Stagecoach from the town centre

·         Consider traffic enforcement routes on busy days

·         Consider pre-paid tickets with an earlier opening time to stagger user parking

 

The Committee discussed the findings of the survey. It was suggested that a multi-storey car park could be considered in the longer term as this could be utilised by rugby, football, cricket and gymnastics clubs, located in the area, throughout the year. In the shorter-term, it was suggested that a stakeholder meeting could be arranged to discuss and gather data and work together to try and avoid similar situations occurring on busy days going forward. It was also suggested that consideration could be given to approaching local businesses to sell their parking spaces on weekends to users. The potential of using the parking facilities at the Crematorium at the weekend could be viewed as insensitive to Crematorium visitors.

 

In response, it was advised that the Lido was open for 90 days per year and during Summer, 2019 had reached over 1,000 visitors on ten occasions. There was a review of leisure facilities currently underway by the Council, which included the Aldershot Lido and Indoor Pools Complex and parking would be considered as part of the review. The issues surrounding communications would be raised with the relevant officers and stakeholders to ensure more consistency and clear messages around parking were given moving forward. The potential for a feasibility study on the provision of a multi-storey car park in the area would need to be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

19.

Westgate Leisure Park

At the request of Cllr Keith Dibble, to consider the issues relating to occupants at the Westgate Leisure Park. Cllr Dibble has referred to the failure to retain tenants and the impact this has on the regeneration of Aldershot Town Centre.

 

Minutes:

At the request of Cllr. Keith Dibble, the Committee was asked to consider the issues relating to occupants at the Westgate Leisure Park, Aldershot. The request had referred to the failure to retain tenants and the impact this was having on the regeneration of the town centre. It was noted that a meeting was scheduled to be held with Legal and General, the owners of the site, in early October and the Committee was asked to raise any concerns/issues they may have to be expressed at the meeting.

 

The Committee discussed the issue and highlighted a number of areas to be raised at the forthcoming meeting. These were:

 

·         Do the tenants have preferential leases? i.e. are there incentives for existing and potential tenants

·         For the original users, were the agreements based around a business case for a fixed period?

·         Is the landlord taking action to ensure the remaining four tenants remain?

·         What action is being taken to market the vacant units?

·         How well does the provision of a gym fit with the original concept for Westgate?

·         Was there a master plan for restaurant provision at Westgate and how well has it worked?

·         Why have some restaurants performed better than the others?

·         Social media shows a perception that the parking arrangements (at Morrisons) have the effect of stopping people visiting Westgate. Is this issue being addressed?

·         The incentives for cinema goers to visit restaurants seem to be no longer available – is this right and is anything being done to promote them for the future?

 

The Committee agreed to request that these issues be raised and an update on the situation was requested at a future meeting once Council Officers had met with Legal and General.

20.

Task and Finish Group - Updates

To receive an update on the work of the following Task and Finish Groups:

 

·         Registered Providers Task and Finish Group – Cllr Diane Bedford

·         Educational Improvement Task and Finish Group – Cllr Lee Jeffers

Minutes:

The Committee received the following updates.

 

Registered Providers Task and Finish Group - The Chairman of the Group (Cllr. Bedford) reported that the Registered Providers Task and Finish Group had met and agreed on the providers that would be reviewed during 2019/20. A list of the meeting dates would be circulated to the Group.

 

Educational Improvement Task and Finish Group – The Chairman of the Group (Cllr. Jeffers) reported on the meeting that was held on 24th July, 2019 at which the name of the Group had been changed to Educational “Improvement” from Educational “Attainment” as it was felt more appropriate. It was noted that the Group had been updated on the context and background to the purpose of the Group and information had been provided on education levels, Ofsted gradings and KS2 results across the Borough. Members were also apprised of what initiatives the Council were working on in partnership with schools, colleges and the Garrison to assist schools to help improve attainment levels.

 

The Group had requested further information including, detail on the provision of sport within schools, feeder schools and movement of pupils at secondary level outside the area and progress of the projects already established to assist schools. A further meeting of the Group would be held after the preliminary 2018/19 GCSE results were released in October 2019.

21.

Work Plan pdf icon PDF 137 KB

To review the current work programme (copy attached).

Minutes:

The Committee noted the current work plan and noted that a new date would be advised for the scrutiny training.