Environment - Approved Panel Minutes - 16 November 2006

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Agenda matter

Action

1.

Minutes

The Minutes of 19th October 2006 and 2nd November 2006 were approved.

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2

Matters Arising

The Panel noted that the Planning Review Report was currently being drafted and that the working group would review the work.

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3.

Items to note.

1. The Panel noted officer representation at the Bellozanne Waste

Plant on 25th October 2006 for the Women's Institute Packaging Day  Of  Action. A  letter of  thanks from  the  Jersey  Island

Federation of Women's Institutes was received.

2. Consideration was given to a written question by Deputy G. P. Southern to the Minister for Planning and Environment tabled on 7th November 2006, relating to the building of houses during the

last ten years.

The Panel was particularly interested in the figures quoted in tables within the document but was unsure of the definition of Category A housing and First time Buyers housing. This was to be established prior to the next meeting.

3. An article from the Guardian Newspaper, Green house of the future – built c.1550.' was noted for the Design of Homes Review.

4. An article from the Times Newspaper headed Is this the end of the road for traffic lights?' was noted for the forthcoming energy review.

5. The Panel  considered  the  variety  of  alternatively  powered vehicles available and noted a letter from Deputy Duhamel to the Minister  for  Transport  and  Technical  Services  relating  to  a revision of the regulations allowing such vehicles on the road.

The  Panel  considered  anecdotal  information  relating  to  the efficiency of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Department and decided to put questions to the Minister during questions without

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notice in the States on Tuesday 21st November 2006.

vi) Minutes  of  Chairmen's  Committee  Meeting  held  on  27th October 2006, Meeting No. 31 were noted. The Panel requested that the Chairman's Committee minutes be a regular agenda item notwithstanding the sending of an electronic version.

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(Item 6 19/10/06)

Deep Ground Water.

Information obtained from the Maison de Normandie reveals that tests in sandy zones in Normandy had identified deep ground water  although  tests  at  sea  had  been  contaminated  with  salt water.

All water surveys in France needed to be submitted to the public which was a time consuming process. No water was found on Chausey,  their water  was  provided  from  Granville.  Further information would be provided.

The Panel agreed that the figures were inconclusive and that further information was necessary.

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(Item 4 02/11/06)

Homes and Lifestyle Show.

The Chairman thanked the Panel for the time invested in manning the  stand.  It  was  agreed  that  this had  been  an  excellent opportunity for public engagement.

The Panel was encouraged by the positive feedback from visitors to  the  stand,  the  opportunity  to  present Scrutiny to  a  wider population and to explain the rôle of the Environment Panel.

Orchid personnel provided positive feedback as a result of the Panel's innovation in taking Scrutiny to the public. The Panel agreed  that  the  approach  was at  the  forefront  of  public engagement.

The overall message received by the Panel throughout the show was that the people of Jersey were ready to recycle in a far more serious manner than it was currently.

It was noted that the Transport and Technical Services stand was advertising that 85% of the Islands refuse was recyclable and that the current target was 32%. The Panel questioned the large gap between the figures.

Over 40 individuals had signed the comments book which was currently with the Chairman. The Panel was pleased with the stand  which  effectively  reflected  its  areas  of  responsibility. Officers were thanked for preparing the stand.

It  was  noted  that  Channel  Television has  been  presenting  a series relating to waste entitled "What a Waste".

A copy of the programmes was to be purchased or obtained for the Panel.

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(Item 6 02/11/06)

Design of Homes, Public Submission Forms.

Public submission questionnaires had been developed with the assistance of Idea Works and Orchid and were accepted by the Panel.

The  Panel  agreed  that the  cost  of  providing  the  form  on  its website  in  an  interactive  format  should  be  investigated.  The document was designed to be completed within two minutes and

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had been supported by the States Statistics Unit. The format had been designed to target the 20 to 30 year old age groups.

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Design of Homes, Planning Consult on Design Statements.

A news release entitled Planning Consult on Design Statements' from the Planning and Environment Minister's Department was considered. The Panel noted that the Minister was attempting to raise the standard of design of new buildings in Jersey, all types of  design  from  traditional  through  to  modern  architectural schemes  having  regard  for  their  context  were  and  would  be encouraged.

The Minister had called for more space to be available within new developments and was to amend the Design of Homes guidance to that effect following consultation with the Panel.

Larger schemes were to provide models. The Panel noted that a design  statement  would  be  required  on  any  development comprising  more  than  100m2  of  new  building  (Gross  internal area). This effectively exempts all residential units, for example the Rue De La Sergente units were understood to be 69m2. The definition of "Development" was to be confirmed.

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(Item 6 02/11/06)

Design of Homes, Public Hearings.

The Panel decided that its hearings for the Design of Homes would be moved to 8th, 9th and 12th January 2007 given the

resources available.

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(Item 6 02/11/06)

Waste, Fact Finding Visit.

The Panel considered its forthcoming fact finding visit to London and Cardiff. It decided that combining the Design of Homes visit to Vienna and  Malmo would minimise  costs for  the  domestic flights and reduce overall time commitment.

Connétable  Le  Brun  and   Deputy  Le  Hérissier  would only participate in the London/Cardiff visit.

The Panel discussed the exchange of gifts for its meeting with its Welsh counterparts and authorised £70 for the purchase of an appropriate gift. In addition the purchase of some individual gifts at  a  cost  of £10 each  was  authorised.  The  Chairman  would authorise the selection.

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(Item 10 19/10/06)

Waste, Display in Containers.

The Panel was advised of the cost of containers for a display in the Royal Square which would be £786.00. However, it was also advised  that  the  containers  placed  in  the Royal  Square  for Architectural Week had resulted in numerous complaints to the Bailiff s' Chambers.

The Panel decided not to pursue the option but elected to obtain details of a stand such as at the French Market'.

The Panel agreed that an exhibition should be run at the end of December or beginning of January to coincide with the release of the Waste Review report. The Panel was mindful of manpower resource implications and would plan accordingly.

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Waste, Krysteline Glass Imploder.

(Item 11 19/10/06)

The Panel noted that the hire period for the Krysteline Glass Imploding machine was due to finish on 19th November 2006.

A report was to be submitted by the Chairman in relation to costs and use of the machine.

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(Item 7 21/09/06)

Waste, Zero Waste.

The Panel noted minutes from meetings of the Zero Waste Trial

Political Steering Group dated 9th, 16th, 23rd October and the 6th November 2006. It received an oral report from the Chairman

who had queried the methodology of data gathering; it noted that this was now being done satisfactorily.

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Waste, Waste Strategy Steering Group.

A written submission to Waste Strategy Steering Group by the Chairman was noted by the Panel.

Consideration was given to the requirement from the Transport and Technical Services Department to have waste dealt with in one single process.

The single process option had reduced the choice of plant and might not be appropriate to the Islands needs. The approach could prohibit recycling rather than encourage it.

Recommendations  within  the Babtie  Fichtner  report were questioned, as  units  which  had  been  found inappropriate for Jersey  had  been  found  suitable  for  use  in  United Kingdom locations.

The Chairman informed the Panel that he had been approached by three companies who wanted to purchase the islands waste from  the Connétable s to  recycle  it  as  a resource. It  was suggested  that  were  this  to transpire,  the  large  Energy  from Waste Plant the Transport and Technical Services Department was interested in purchasing would become impractical.

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Waste, Composting.

The Chairman advised the Panel that at a meeting with the Chief Officer,  Transport  and  Technical  Services  and   Deputy  P.  Le Claire, there had been an acceptance that food waste could be dealt with by other parties within the green waste stream. The Panel noted the move from the previous position where it had been maintained that food composting within green waste was not permitted.

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Energy Review.

This item was forwarded to the next agenda. RD, KB, SP.

16

Press releases.

The Panel agreed that the press was to be given details of the SDUK Conference attended in London on 28th November 2006.

Contact was to be made with the media via Orchid in relation to the Public submission launch of the Design of Homes Review.

The media was to be advised of the Panels participation at the Homes and Lifestyle Show.

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