Agenda item

Two valid question has been received from a member of the public for this meeting.

 

1.               Question to the Elected Mayor from Ms S Bennett from Whitley Bay

 

It is widely known that St. Mary’s Island car parks are hotspots for anti-social and illegal behaviour throughout the evening and night. The 24-hour vehicle access sees a night time increase in activities such as:

 

·         Gathering of cars.

·         “Dogging” (the practice of watching or engaging in exhibitionist sexual activity in a public place).

·         Racing of cars both up and down reserve road and around the carparks. “Donutting” (where a driver revs the engine hard and puts the car into a spin with tyre rubber burning).

·         Continuous and synchronized blaring of horns.

·         Deliberate hard revving of car exhausts and other exhaust noise enhancing

·         effects.

·         Blatant use of drugs.

·         Playing loud music.

·         Littering.

·         Urinating and defecating.

·         Use of offensive language.

·         Intimidating behaviour to visitors and volunteers working on site.

 

It is not uncommon to have all of these activities occurring in a single evening.  St. Mary’s Island Nature Reserve is a place where people should be able to enjoy the peace and quiet of the natural environment and a place where wildlife is afforded protection from disturbance which surely puts these activities in conflict with the very ethos of a Nature Reserve.

 

We are aware that Northumbria police have carried out operation Dragoon in

conjunction with the DVLA and North Tyneside Council is proposing possible controls on certain activities. However, neither are intended to be a long-term solution to tackling the widespread anti-social behaviour I have mentioned.

 

As this behaviour has been going on for some time my question is - Does NTC intend to address the problem of night-time anti-social behaviour on the

nature reserve and if so how and when?

 

Councillor responded on behalf of the Elected Mayor as follows:

Thank you for your question. We know that anti-social behaviour is a key concern for our residents, as it is for every councillor in this chamber.

The Elected Mayor has established a multi-agency Taskforce earlier this year that promotes a problem-solving approach to anti-social behaviour. As well as having cross-party support, it includes a range of partners such as, Northumbria Police, Nexus, VODA, the Business Forum and Newcastle United Foundation.  The Taskforce has been well-supported by all.

 

I am pleased that the recent data the group has been reviewing shows a significant downward trend and we will keep going with our collective efforts to solve anti-social behaviour.

 

The council is working in partnership with police colleagues and is listening to their views on how we work together to manage the car parks and surrounding public spaces.

 

There is an action plan that covers the nature reserve which includes visiting the lighthouse car park. As part of this plan:

 

·         The Community Protection and Security teams regularly monitor and patrol the island and surrounding areas using mobile CCTV vehicle(s)

·         Where we do witness acts of anti-social behaviour such as littering and noise disturbance, we ourselves will take enforcement action

·         Wardens operating our CCTV vehicle will report any illegal activity to Northumbria Police and share footage to enable enforcement action 

·         In addition, our Security control room will report speeding vehicles directly to the police captured on the fixed CCTV camera covering the approach to the lighthouse via the links road A183

·         The Project Vita team have also added the Lighthouse car park to their list of hotspots.

 

As Chair of the North Tyneside Anti-Social Behaviour Taskforce I will ensure that full consideration is given to what further reasonable steps could be taken to minimise anti-social behaviour in that area and address the perceptions of anti-social behaviour.

 

Ms Bennett asked the following supplementary question:

 

I’d be interested to know what is considered reasonable steps to tackle such anti-social behaviour.

 

Councillor C Johnson responded as follows:

 

Reasonable steps will be anything that could be reasonably taken to stop the initial anti-social behaviour happening. The task force will consider this issue in particular and will take any steps necessary to tackle this behaviour.

 

 

2.               Question to the Elected Mayor from Mr A Steele of Tynemouth

 

In the recent review of the council's Local Plan (North Tyneside Local Plan Five Year Review 2022 - Summary report) there are several references to the Plan not keeping up to date with national policy developments.

 

Despite this, the review considers that the Plan does not 'give rise to serious conflicts or omissions' and is 'broadly aligned [and] flexible enough' not to require review.

 

Considering this, and referencing sections 3 & 4, particularly around the Plan's commitments to housing - eg 'Presumption in favour of sustainable development', 'Affordable housing', 'Biodiversity net gain', 'Tree lined streets' - and the connection between these elements of housing and the council's commitment to the 'promotion of sustainable development ... and tackling climate change',

 

Why has the council allowed developments with low environmental and design standards to be agreed or considered (eg developments at the Trinity Church and Tynemouth Station sites) saying 'while we would always like to see all new buildings developed with enhanced sustainability measures beyond those required by Building Regulations, it is not for the Council to impose such additional measures through the planning process' when other councils are doing exactly that?

 

Councillor Carl Johnson responded on behalf of the Elected Mayor as follows:

 

The Local Plan sets out a sustainable spatial strategy for development which, among other matters, seeks to reduce the need to travel, protect natural assets and provides positive policy support for the local production of energy from low carbon and renewable sources. It does not contain any specific policy on emissions standards as this was not supported by national policy at the time of its adoption.

 

In reviewing the plan this year, it was recognised climate change is an issue which has come into even greater focus, not least with this Council declaring a Climate Change Emergency in 2019. The improvements in construction techniques and energy efficiency already achieved, mean new homes are substantially more energy efficient than much of the existing stock in North Tyneside. Retrofitting existing housing stock remains a substantial challenge but this is outside planning control.

 

However, the Local Plan remains relevant in terms of existing and emerging legislation and that it continues to ensure that new development is of the highest possible standard.

 

Whilst it currently remains a legislative option for an energy emissions policy to be introduced into any replacement Plan, the 2022 uplift to Building Regulations (expected to achieve a 30% reduction in carbon emissions), the soundness of the spatial strategy and the clear advice on the promotion of sustainable development and tackling climate change mean the Plan continues to support the goals of the Climate Change Emergency. Its policies make a strong and achievable response to climate change while striking a balance between sustainability and economic objectives.

 

In terms of how the government has progressed its zero carbon homes proposals, since this time a consultation document The Future Homes Standard 2019 has set out proposals regarding energy efficiency to be achieved through building regulations.  It clarified that the planning system would not likely to have a role to set energy efficiency standards and that as in the provisions of the Planning and Energy Act, which allowed Local Planning Authority’s (LPA’s) that set reasonable standards would be revoked.

 

There will be annual reviews of the plan and, although the Government expects it will become increasingly less likely LPAs will need to set local energy efficiency standards to achieve a net zero goal as other legislative changes continue to drive further improvements, we will ensure the Plan continues to support our target for a zero carbon borough.

 

Mr Steele asked the following supplementary question:

 

Mr Steele indicated that he missed the full answer to his original question, however stated the building developments that have been going on and looking at plans. I can’t find any indication of high environmental standards, no solar panels, no windmills, no air or ground source heating. If the answer to the original question was there is a cost to those things.

 

I think cost to the credibility of the Councils zero carbon targets, the cost to the residents of the houses, the cost to people who are going to live in their houses in terms of energy bills when we’re facing a cost-of-living crisis and the cost of retro fitting the houses and not to mention the cost to the planet, which I think it intolerable.

 

I wondered is that something the Council is happy to be dealing with?

 

Councillor C Johnson responded as follows:

 

It’s good to hear Mr Steele supports all the things the next Labour Government will introduce to make houses efficient as possible.

 

In regard to Mr Steele’s response. My response was certainly not about cost, we have standards that we want to be as high as possible, energy efficiency standards through the planning process. We always try and work to gain them.

 

The national plan and policy framework as introduced has a viability assessment introduced for every development in North Tyneside. With the viability assessment, that is when developers will often use that opportunity to run down their standards of environmental efficiency in buildings.

 

That is a statutory process the Conservative Government has set out and that we have to follow in terms of energy efficiency standards and in terms of viability process that is where we often fall down.

 

If the viability system is not met. Then that is when we have the opportunity to try and remove them, which I don’t think should be there and hopefully that is something a Labour Government in the future will solve.

 

Mr Steele will be really glad to note, however, that we are building our first zero carbon building in North Tyneside, which is nearly complete. The new North Shields Bus Interchange will be a zero carbon building and when the Council is directly control in the building something, we will always strive to make it to the highest possible standard as possible.