Environment - Approved Panel Minutes - 1 June 2006

Item (Ref Back)

Agenda matter

Action

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Minutes

The Minutes of the meeting held on 18th May 2006, having been circulated previously, were taken as read and were confirmed.

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Item 8, 18/05/06

Item 9 18/05/06

Matters arising

Making the Most of Jersey's Coast.

The Panel discussed the Coastal Zone Management Scheme and reiterated  concerns  regarding  possible  resource  implications. Although it was acknowledged that the consultation period had expired,  officers  were  requested  to  establish  whether  further submissions would be accepted and whether it would be possible for the Panel to discuss the draft with the Minister for Planning and Environment.

Water Pollution Complaint

The Panel noted that letters to various parties including: Mr. M. Pollard,  former  Constable  of  St.  Peter;  Mr.  P.  Rondel,  former Deputy of St. John , and the Environment Department, concerning the alleged water pollution issue in St. Peter had not yet been sent due to demands placed on officers arising from the three current reviews. The Panel required that the matter be progressed prior to its next meeting. Deputy P.V.F. Le Claire had been invited to provide the Panel with copies of any documentary evidence in his possession regarding the alleged problem.

IC

IC

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Item 3(d) 18/05/06

Homes and Lifestyle Exhibition

The Panel confirmed that it intended to use a stand at the Homes and Lifestyle Exhibition to address the public on matters relating to the Panel's ongoing work, to give publicity to the many areas of the Panels' remit and to advocate the principles of Scrutiny in general.  The  Panel  approved  the  selection  of  stand  A7  at  a confirmed cost of £988 on the basis of its prominent position within the  hall.  It  instructed  officers  to  finalize  the  necessary arrangements.

MR

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Scrutiny Officers - rôle

Mrs Tremellen-Frost, Scrutiny Manager, attended the meeting and presented  a  paper  entitled Rôle  of  Scrutiny  Officers'. The background to this had been a complaint from outside the Panel that officers had, on occasions, taken actions which were "political" and beyond the rôle of an officer. Having monitored the situation for a period of time, the Scrutiny Manager advised that there had been various occurrences across the Panels which had prompted the  matter  being  raised  at  individual  Panel  meetings.  These situations were noted as detailed in the Manager's paper. It was noted that Scrutiny Manager was attending a meeting of each Panel to consider this issue.

A general discussion ensued relating to areas including meetings with and without Scrutiny Officers in relation to the collection and collation of evidence, storage of information and evidence being centralised  in  the  Scrutiny  Office  and the Scrutiny  Officer Job Description. It also considered the degree of Officer advice to the Panel, officers and members levels of expectation in respect of this and responsibilities for the management of reviews.

Having considered and noted the aforementioned paper, Panel members  explained  that  they  had  no  concerns  regarding  the officer support. If officers had any matters which they believed to be of the benefit of the Panel, or if they perceived any difficulties, they should feel comfortable in making these known to the Panel.

None

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Items to Note

The Panel noted the following matters for information

1. Former Jersey  College  for  Girls – Removal of Covenant
2. Amendments to Road Traffic (St Peter) (Jersey) Order 1992 regarding

La Rue du Craslin and La Ruelle es Ruaux.

3. Ministerial Registration and Listing Advisory Group.

6. Avian Influenza.
7. P60/2006 Provision of Pedestrian Crossings.

In relation to item i), the Panel noted the view, expressed by the Chairman, that the Former Jersey College for Girls Site could be split into two parts. It was considered that members outside of the Executive  were  short  of  office  space  and  that  the  building  in question could be used to alleviate the problem.

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Item 6 04/05/06

Item 8

Work Programme – Planning Process

The Panel considered a progress report, dated 25th May 2006 and prepared by the Scrutiny Office.

The Panel endorsed the need for public hearings to be held. In view of a perceived reluctance of potential witnesses to make submissions, the Panel agreed that it was not minded to compel any witnesses to attend public hearings. It was agreed that the purpose of the first round of public hearings should be to establish more clearly the broad extent of any issues affecting the planning process. A second round of hearings might then be used to drill down into the detail of those issues.

The Panel approved the list of witnesses as recorded in the report and further agreed that Deputy C. H. Egré of St. Peter should be invited to attend on the basis of his acknowledged experience in monitoring a number of significant recent developments. It was considered that witnesses should, if possible, be interviewed over

IC

24/01/06

a period of 4 days between Friday 23rd June and Monday 17th July 2006. The officers were instructed to produce a draft schedule of interviews for final approval by the Panel at its next meeting.

Panel Members noted that files containing background information and copies of written submissions had been produced for Planning Process  Working  Group  members.  It  agreed  that  similar  files should  be  produced  and  made  available  to  the  remaining members  of  the  Panel  for  their  consideration.   Deputy  G.C.L. Baudains  requested  that  individual  members  draw  up  draft questions for each witness to be interviewed and, further, that any draft  questions  should  be  forwarded  to  the  Scrutiny  Office  for collation and subsequent consideration by the Panel.

The Panel discussed its method of working on this and other reviews and noted that it had previously agreed that the Chairman should chair any hearings, although the lead member of the review would lead the questioning. It was agreed that this method would be  evaluated  after  the  first  full  public  hearing.  The  Chairman requested that Panel Members make every effort to attend public hearings.

IC IC

Panel Members / IC

Panel Members

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Item 5 18/05/06

Work Programme – Design of Homes

The  Panel  considered  a  briefing  document,  prepared  by  the Scrutiny  Office,  concerning  progress  made  on  the  Design  of Homes  review.  It  recalled  that  the  Design  of  Homes  Working Group had agreed to invite Mr. D. Mason, Architect, to propose a series of site visits to the United Kingdom and Europe to view examples of best practice in home design.

The Panel welcomed Mr D. Mason, Architect. Mr D. Mason gave a presentation to the Panel concerning a series of proposed site visits encompassing sustainable developments in: London, U.K.; Milton Keynes, U.K.; Vienna, Austria and Malmo, Sweden. It was suggested that the four locations could be covered in two trips. The first would take place in August, while the second would take place during September.

On the matter of detailed financial and logistical arrangements, Mr.

D.  Mason  requested  that  the  Panel  take  full  responsibility  for organizing and paying for flights, accommodation and transport for all those attending, including himself. He added that he would expect to be given permission to conduct a full dry run of the proposed itinerary on his own and in advance of the formal visits. All expenses incurred as a result of such visits would also be charged to the Panel.

Mr Mason, having been thanked by the Panel for his attendance, withdrew from the meeting.

The Panel agreed that the trip would be invaluable to its ongoing review and that it was minded, subject to detailed consideration of the full cost of organizing the visits, to instruct its officers to make the necessary arrangements. It further agreed that Mr. D. Mason should be invited to accompany the Panel on the visits as an expert adviser, and that an invitation should also be extended to the Minister for Planning and Environment. The Panel agreed that the Chairman should write to Mr. D. Mason requesting written clarification of his terms of engagement.

The Panel noted two books used in the presentation namely "The Phaidon  Atlas  of  Contemporary  World  Architecture" and "Architecture  of  Happiness  by  Alain  de  Botton". Officers  were instructed to enquire as to the cost and the availability of both books in order that the Panel could consider procuring copies to assist with the review.

IC / MR

RD / IC