Issue - meetings

The Cabinet is requested to consider the agenda report and its two appendices and to make the following resolutions:

(1)  That it notes the findings of the Post Project Evaluation and considers any comments and recommendations which it might wish to make to the Council.

(2)  That it considers the recommendation made by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee that officers make a further application to Southern Water for the connection of the Transit Site to the mains drainage system.

RESOLVED

(1)  That the findings of the Post Project Evaluation be noted and that there are no comments and recommendations to be made to the Council.

(2)  That officers be authorised to investigate further alternative methods of foul water disposal and in liaison with West Sussex County Council and district and borough partners to proceed with an appropriate solution if it provides the appropriate level of payback.

The Cabinet considered the report and its two appendices circulated with the agenda (copies attached to the official minutes).

The report was presented by Mrs Lintill.

Mr Hansford and Mr Bacon were in attendance.

Mrs Lintill alluded to sections 3, 5 and 8 of the report, which reviewed the successful first 12 months since the completion of the Gypsy Traveller Transit Site at Westhampnett, its management and the management of unauthorised encampments on a multi-agency basis. The Post Project Evaluation was in appendix 2 to the report.

Mr Bacon referred to para 8.2 of the report and provided a technical assessment of the feasibility of making a connection to the main foul water drainage system (para 8.2 of the report).

In response to Mr Bacon’s advice, Mr Dignum felt that the Cabinet’s response to the recommendation in para 2.2 ought to enable officers to investigate the matter further. Mr Over suggested that the Cabinet should ask officers to assess the costs including the payback period of connecting to the mains.

Mr Hansford commented on how it had been critical to deliver the project on time in order to access the significant amount of Homes and Community Agency funds that would thereby be available. The project management required for this scheme was significant and its success since its inception was self-evident from the summary in para 5.3 of the report. Importantly the project had led to an enhanced ability to deal with unauthorised encampments and had also achieved both a consistency of approach across Chichester District and West Sussex and provided stopping facilities for the Gypsy and Traveller community.

Mr Dignum acceded to a request by Mr M N Hall, the CDC ward member for Boxgrove, to address the Cabinet. Mr Hall said that he was involved with a local liaison group for the Transit Site and he was pleased to report that many problems had been successfully addressed. Good communication, control and management were important to the success of the project.

At Mr Dignum’s request Mr Over had drafted an alternative form of words for the resolution in response to the recommendation in para 2.2, the text of which appears below in the resolution. 

Decision

The Cabinet resolved unanimously by a show of hands to make the following resolution, which included the alternative form of wording for the recommendation in para 2.2.

RESOLVED

(1)  That the findings of the Post Project Evaluation be noted and that there are no comments and recommendations to be made to the Council.

(2)  That officers be authorised to investigate further alternative methods of foul water disposal and in liaison with West Sussex County Council and district and borough partners to proceed with an appropriate solution if it provides the appropriate level of payback.

The committee is requested to note the findings of the Post Project Evaluation and to consider any comments or recommendations that it may wish to make.

The committee considered a report by Mr J Bacon and Mr S Hansford (copy attached to the official minutes).

Mr Bacon and Mr Hansford introduced the report and Ms Esther Quarm, Gypsy and Traveller Team Manager, West Sussex County Council attended to answer questions in relation to the management of the site.

The committee made comments including those that follow. It:

·         Queried the cost of running the site – All authorities contribute to the running of the transit site. The cesspit emptying costs were £15,500 per annum, electricity £3,500 and the total rent collected £17,000. This year there had been a surplus of £43,000 which it had been agreed would be held over as a sinking fund for future maintenance costs.

·         Travellers are well looked after by a number of agencies who visit the site.

·         The figures are high for 2016-17 in comparison to last year as the summer period is the main travelling period for travellers.

·         The total number of dwell days has gone down significantly from 611 in 2014/15 to 78 in the current year.

·         The average length of stay is roughly 6 weeks, although some families stay only a few days. DCLG guidance and regulations state that the maximum stay can be up to12 weeks.

·         Queried the reason why the transit site was not connected to mains waste – the Council did apply to Southern Water but connection to this site was refused due to capacity issues in the pipework. All foul water is emptied into two cesspits on site.. Following the discussion held with Southern Water earlier at agenda item 6 it was suggested that the council reapply to Southern Water for a connection at this site.

·         The number of encampments/lived-in vehicles was higher than last year. There has been an increase in van dwellers (homeless people who have chosen to live in vehicles).

·         Court appearances by Ms Quarm had reduced significantly since the introduction of the transit site, which had brought significant savings.

RESOLVED

1)      That the findings of the Post Project Evaluation be noted.

2)      That Officers approach Southern Water to ask that they reconsider a mains waste service connection at the transit site.