Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Parkin, Mrs. Radley, Shorrock, Turner and Williams.

Members are asked to declare an interest in matters for consideration at the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made.

                        (Enclosure)

The minutes of the meeting held on 7^th July 2006 were agreed as a correct record of the decisions taken.

The Head of Environmental Health and Licensing explained that the taxi rank situated on St. Peter’s Hill, Grantham presented several enforcement problems. The road had been blocked because of the number of vehicles, double-parking, litter problems and taxis not making full use of the length of the rank. These issues had been difficult to police.

An Association for Taxi Drivers from the Grantham area had been established. This group has had two meetings, where these issues were discussed with any issues the drivers might have.

A further problem identified was the use of the green as a shortcut to the rank, this did not encourage pedestrians to use the first taxi. Loyalty to a particular firm and disparity of fares also encouraged people to actively choose which taxi they used. Taxis had not been pulling up to the end of the rank. The Head of Environmental Health and Licensing had undertaken some discussion with Lincolnshire County Council over this problem. There had been suggestions that people could be encouraged to use the first taxi in the rank through the introduction of railings.

To tackle the problem of litter CCTV images were used to issue fixed penalty notices. The Council’s mobile CCTV unit and motorcycle rangers would be deployed to help address littering.

Ongoing work on this taxi rank could lead to solutions that could potentially be rolled out across the District.

The Head of Environmental Health and Licensing will provide a verbal update for the Committee on designated alcohol control areas.

The Head of Environmental Health and Licensing gave a brief update report on the introduction of designated alcohol control areas. Consultation had been carried out with Parish and Town Councils across the District and both the District Council’s Community and Healthy Environment Development and Scrutiny Panels had considered the issue. Consultation included intelligence from the District Council’s Community Safety Team for a targeted approach.

Work had been done to identify designated areas for Grantham and Stamford, however, some additions were needed. Bourne and the Deepings still had to be examined closely. Some villages wanted to be considered; proposed zones for those had been identified following recommendations from Parish or Town Councils.

Committee Members strongly recommended that the Head of Environmental Health and Licensing should include the St. Wulfram’s area of Grantham. When areas had been finalised, plans would need to be publicised in local newspapers. Any Parish or Town Council would be able to make recommendations when maps showing proposed designation areas were put forward for public consultation. It was hoped that a report on designated alcohol control areas would be submitted to Cabinet in October 2006 and be forwarded to Council as soon after as possible.

The designation of alcohol control areas was not part of a byelaw. Zones would be Orders made under the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001. The onus would be placed on the Local Authority to designate areas, which would give enforcement powers to the police. Zones would allow police to stop people drinking. They would be able to request the cessation of drinking. If drinking did not cease, alcohol could be confiscated and disposed of and fix penalty notices issued.

The meeting was closed at 12:03pm.