Agenda item

To consider motions referred from council assembly 16 October 2013:

 

• Making Southwark a Carbon Neutral Council
• Green Southwark
• Save our Local Pubs
• Support for Free Healthy School Meals
• Green Flags
• Damp in Peter Butler House
• Clean up Tower Bridge Road
• Making Cathedrals Ward Safer for Residents and Cyclists

RESOLVED:

 

Making Southwark a Carbon Neutral Council

 

That the motion referred from council assembly as a recommendation to cabinet, set out below be noted.

 

That council assembly:

 

·  Recognises the urgent need to plan for a greener, healthier future for Southwark and notes the council’s existing commitment to reduce emissions in the borough by 80% on current levels by 2050.

 

·  Welcomes the council’s energy and carbon reduction strategy which sets out what the council will do to reduce both council emissions and those from the borough as a whole.

 

·  Notes that the strategy sets out the council’s plans to reduce operational emissions from all the council’s offices, schools, libraries and leisure centres.  Council assembly further notes the council’s commitment to encouraging all council staff to work sustainability through monthly workshops and events as part of the council’s green buildings programme.

 

·  Notes that the council itself is responsible for 14.5% of the borough’s total carbon emissions (including council homes), and believes the council should be leading the way in emissions reduction to encourage residents and local businesses to follow suit.

 

·  Welcomes that this winter, Southwark is leading the way by delivering London’s first energy from waste district heating network.  Energy from the SELCHP facility will provide heating and hot water to five housing estates in the north east of the borough, in the process reducing carbon emissions by 8,000 tonnes per annum. 

 

·  Council assembly therefore and calls on cabinet to ensure the borough continues to make progress against its carbon reduction targets and encourages members who have ideas about what more the council could be doing to bring them forward to cabinet to help the borough achieve its goal.

 

·  Welcomes the real energy efficiency improvements that we are making to our housing stock, making use of funding opportunities such as the energy companies obligation to install cavity wall and solid wall insulation.  Council assembly notes that one such project recently completed on 2,200 properties has reduced carbon emissions by around 2,000 tonnes per annum.

 

·  Notes that the council continue to work with a large number of the biggest commercial carbon emitters in the borough through the 200 Club programme of events, providing a forum for encouraging and educating about sustainability and energy efficiency in the work environment. 

 

·  Recognises that as well as minimising impact on the environment, reducing emissions will also cut the council’s energy bill, save money that can be put to good use elsewhere and reduce pollution.

 

·  Believes that the aspiration of the council should be to be carbon neutral but that the environment is best served by setting challenging but realistic carbon emissions targets.

 

·  Recognises that for a borough of the size and nature of Southwark to be carbon neutral, then both the investment and green technology needs to be available.  Council assembly notes that with the government cuts the borough is facing and the green technologies currently available that this is not possible in the next four years. 

 

Green Southwark

 

That the motion referred from council assembly as a recommendation to cabinet, set out below be noted.

 

·  That council assembly welcomes this administration’s commitment to improving Southwark’s environment and notes the progress that has been made since 2010, despite aggressive cuts to local budgets from the government.

 

·  That council assembly believes that a green Southwark not only improves our natural environment, but contributes to the health and wellbeing of our residents, the vibrancy of our communities and the richness of our heritage.

 

·  That council assembly notes that 17 Southwark parks and green spaces are now in receipt of the prestigious Green Flag award – more than in the borough’s history. It congratulates the fantastic work of the council’s parks team, Friends Groups and volunteers who have all made this possible.

 

·  That council assembly notes that Southwark is the 5th best in the whole of England for having sites of importance for nature conservation in positive management demonstrating the council’s commitment to the preservation and enhancement of biodiversity across the borough.

 

·  That council assembly welcomes this administration’s £8 million investment in Burgess Park which has seen 331 newly planted trees, 92,000 plants and shrubs, new play areas and outdoor gym equipment, the planting of St Georges Gardens and of course a world class new BMX track.

 

·  That council assembly believes that in order tackle climate change, the council itself must set an example and therefore welcomes the news that Southwark has achieved a 20.6% reduction of energy use on its operational estate and school buildings since 2009.

 

·  That council assembly regrets the failure of the Tory Liberal Democrat government’s to live up to its promise to be “the greenest government ever” after it slashed the budget for helping fuel poor households with their energy bills, failed to ensure that the energy companies meet their obligations on energy efficiency and failed to back a decarbonisation target.

 

·  That council assembly welcomes the cabinet’s commitment to creating a greener Southwark and urges them to continue to ensure that Southwark remains a green borough.

 

·  That council assembly notes the introduction of a tree warden network to Southwark and, for the first time ever, a tree management strategy which records the borough’s current tree stock, aims to increase community involvement in tree management and sets out the council’s vision for trees for the coming years.

 

·  That council assembly welcomes the opening of two new air quality stations in the borough, at the Old Kent Road and Elephant and Castle and welcomes this reversal of policy from the previous administration.

 

·  That council assembly believes part of a green Southwark is to encourage sustainable forms of transport and notes that the number of people cycling and walking in the borough has increased with the help of key initiatives including free adult cyclist training.

 

Save Our Local Pubs

 

That the motion referred from council assembly as a recommendation to cabinet, set out below be agreed.

 

That council assembly:

 

1.  Recognises the important role local pubs play in the life of our borough by providing a community hub for residents to meet, relax, debate and do business.

 

2.  Notes with regret the decline of community pubs in recent years, as the use of properties for other means has become more financially lucrative.

 

3.  Recognises the community campaigns and their activists who have already successfully managed to get their pubs listed as assets of community value and looks forward to working with those who set up new businesses and create much needed employment.

 

4.  Welcomes the council's groundbreaking approval to bring into force Article 4 planning directions on change of use to help protect our high streets and community assets such as pubs. This makes Southwark the first authority nationally to make such a change.

 

5.  Recognises that highly indebted property companies own over half of Britain’s pubs. These charge high rents to tied tenants of pubs. The Fair Deal for Your Local Campaign estimates that to pay these high rents a pint of lager is on average 80p per pint higher and ale is 65p per pint higher than justified by inflation and like for like changes in taxes since 1987. This is pricing pubs out of the market.

 

6.  Council assembly therefore calls on the government to commit to statutory regulation of the relationship between large scale pub landlords and their tenants which specifically includes a "free of tie" option which will enable them to buy produce on the open market and pay a fair rent for their building.

 

Support for Free Healthy School Meals

 

That the motion referred from council assembly as a recommendation to cabinet, set out below be noted. It was also noted that the Leader had written to the Deputy Prime Minister as requested below.

 

That council assembly:

 

·  welcomes the final stage of the roll out of free healthy school meals to all primary school children in the borough.

 

·  notes the feedback from parents, carers and teachers who are reporting improved attainment, better concentration, fewer discipline issues, and healthy eating both inside and outside of school.

 

·  is encouraged that such positive feedback will be contributing towards the challenge of childhood obesity in Southwark.

 

·  welcomes the commitment from the coalition government that they will be following Southwark’s example and introducing a national scheme of school meals for the youngest children in primary schools.

 

However, council assembly also:

 

·  believes that the government scheme will fall short of what is needed by only providing free school meals for the youngest children.

 

·  notes with concern that the government scheme will mean that primary school children in years 3, 4, 5 and 6 would lose their free healthy school meal unless local councils like Southwark have their own scheme in place and prioritises the budget to do so.

 

·  notes that the Liberal Democrat Group in Southwark has consistently voted to remove the budget for free healthy school meals which would result in children losing this important meal each day.

 

·  notes that free healthy school meals in Southwark have been opposed by Liberal Democrat members who have voted against them and by Bermondsey and Old Southwark MP, Simon Hughes, who was writing to constituents as recently as September opposing Southwark’s plans.

 

That council assembly therefore:

 

·  utterly condemns Southwark Liberal Democrat’s record opposition to free healthy school meals in Southwark for all primary school children.

 

·  asks cabinet to write to the Deputy Prime Minister welcoming his announcement on free school meals for all children in their first three years of school, urging an expansion of the scheme to all primary school children, and offering to work with government to show how Southwark has made this such a resounding success.

 

·  calls on cabinet to continue to deliver free healthy school meals for all primary school children in Southwark.

 

Green Flags

 

That the motion referred from council assembly as a recommendation to cabinet, set out below be agreed.

 

That council assembly:

 

1.  Notes that Southwark residents benefit hugely from the many green spaces across the borough, and believes the council should do as much as possible to promote our parks to maximise use.

 

2.  Further notes the great progress which has been made in this respect over recent years with Southwark having now been awarded a total of seventeen green flags across the borough.

 

3.  Notes that the council can only apply for flags in parks it owns and maintains and so parks such as St Francis would not be eligible.

 

4.  Calls on the cabinet member for transport, environment and recycling and his team to commit to nominating other parks in Southwark for the Green Flag awards for 2014/15, including Nursery Row, Mint Street and Surrey Square which are all wonderful assets to their neighbouring communities.

 

5.  Council assembly further calls on the cabinet member to consider other parks for future rounds of green flag awards including Goose Green and Dawsons Heights as well as Camberwell Green, Nunhead Green and Pasley Park. 

 

Damp in Peter Butler House

 

That the motion referred from council assembly as a recommendation to cabinet, set out below be noted.

 

That council assembly notes that in the last three years, the council has received three formal complaints regarding damp in Peter Butler House – two which were due to condensation and one due to a defective balcony all of which have now been resolved.

 

That council assembly notes that officers have commissioned a survey to assess all dwellings within the block to identify any underlying issues and necessary remedial actions and welcomes the council’s commitment to this.

 

That council assembly calls on the cabinet member for housing management to consider the outcome of the survey and take any remedial action necessary.

 

Clean Up Tower Bridge Road

 

That the motion referred from council assembly as a recommendation to cabinet, set out below be noted.

 

1.  That council assembly welcomes the efforts of the Tower Bridge Road Business Alliance to improve Tower Bridge Road.

 

2.  That council assembly welcomes the investment made through the community restoration fund that supported the creation of the Alliance and its initial activities.

 

3.  That council assembly congratulates the Alliance on the success of its recent projects, funded through the cleaner greener safer budget, particularly the decoration of shop shutters, which have helped to improve the appearance of the street and allowed businesses to see the benefits of working with the Alliance.

 

4.  That council assembly welcomes the high standards in street cleaning across the borough and the record public satisfaction with street cleanliness.  It further welcomes the council’s economic wellbeing strategy which sets out the council’s plans to further improve partnership working with businesses to ensure that the council fully considers the different needs and expectations of businesses, their customers, local communities and residents when delivering basic services.

 

5.  That council assembly calls on the cabinet to:

 

·  continue to ensure that the planned improvements to Tower Bridge Road by Transport for London respond to the needs of local businesses and results improve the general appearance of the street.

 

·  Implement plans in the economic wellbeing strategy so that businesses on Tower Bridge Road and elsewhere in the borough can have more input into ensuring that local services meet their needs.

 

Making Cathedrals Ward Safer for Residents and Cyclists

 

That the motion referred from council assembly as a recommendation to cabinet, set out below be agreed.

 

That council assembly:

 

1.  Recognises the large number of developments that are either under construction or soon to be under construction in Cathedrals Ward and other areas of the borough and that this brings with it significant construction traffic and logistical challenges.

 

2.  Notes that all construction sites in the area have to have agreed construction management plans in place to demonstrate how deliveries will take place. This often results in a local road closure or a pit lane being installed to ensure HGV's can safely access and unload next to sites.

 

3.  Notes that construction management plans must take account of the safety of other road users around the site including pedestrians and cyclists and that this is rigorously enforced.

 

4.  Notes that all contractors have logistics companies working for them who arrange delivery slots so there should not be any local parking - all deliveries are just-in-time.

 

5.  Notes that for very large projects contractors may need to rent a logistics site such as holding bays on Druid Street for the Shard and London Bridge Station.

 

6.  Notes that the council takes action against any contractors caught parking up locally such highways inspectors taking action against parking on Hopton Street.

 

That council assembly therefore calls upon cabinet to:

 

7.  Instruct officers to work with contractors to assist them in finding suitable sites to use as waiting areas for construction vehicles which arrive before their allotted time and to continue to rigorously enforce against any use of local streets for circling or parking of vehicles.