Agenda and minutes
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Contact: Andrew Randell Email: a.randell@somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk
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Apologies
To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillor Aldridge.
Councillor Whetlor attended as a substitute for Councillor Aldridge. |
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Minutes of the previous meeting of the Scrutiny Committee
To approve the minutes of the previous meeting of the Committee. Minutes: (Minutes of the meeting of the Scrutiny Committee held on 17 July circulated with the agenda)
Resolved that the minutes of the Scrutiny Committee held on 17 July be confirmed as a correct record. |
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Declarations of Interest
To receive and note any declarations of disclosable pecuniary or prejudicial or personal interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.
(The personal interests of Councillors and Clerks of Somerset County Council, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes.) Minutes: Councillor Whetlor declared an interest as a resident of Watchet in relation to item 7.
Members present at the meeting declared the following personal interests in their capacity as a Councillor or Clerk of a County, Town or Parish Council or any other Local Authority:-
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Public Participation
The Chair to advise the Committee of any items on which members of the public have requested to speak and advise those members of the public present of the details of the Council’s public participation scheme.
For those members of the public who have submitted any questions or statements, please note, a three minute time limit applies to each speaker and you will be asked to speak before Councillors debate the issue. Minutes: The following members of the public made statements below in relation to 5G Technology:-
Sue Pilkington
Some of the 5G tech will be mounted on 4G masts we already have but the full blown roll out to support the Internet of things will require many many more masts and small cells which are planned to placed very close together and mounted on our houses, offices, public buildings. (They will be more heavy duty Most community light poles are not strong enough to hold the 5G equipment so they will be replaced by much taller wider poles with cell antennas .This is called “hardening” the poles but basically it means the poles will be much wider and thicker metal. )
The 5g 26GHZ
and above require masts much closer together as the signals don't
travel as far meaning masts every 300m or so. This bandwidth is
being sold off later this year. Man-made electromagnetic spectrum ranges from 100KHz to 300GHZ, this spectrum is divided into bands, which are auctioned off by the Governments to the highest bidder. The current bands we are using for 3 and 4G are saturated, meaning we have used them all up due to so many wireless devices. So higher available bands are being sold to the telecoms so we are moving from sub-millimetre into millimetre waves. The new infrastructure is costing LOTS of money, so to re-deem the costs the telecoms industry needs new products to sell to re-coup their investments. Hence the Internet of things and smart technology. So the argument that 5G technology is good for the planet because they are energy efficient doesn't really stand up, due to the massive amount of infrastructure and manufacturing, by one estimate, four hundred times more towers than are currently deployed (see 1)
The 5g technology is totally different to 4g, is utilises phased arrays and beam forming. This tech has been used in military applications and in crowd control devices.
We know
there are cancer clusters around masts and they devalue your
property by as much as 20% according to
research. Millimetre
waves haven't been used in human populations before and there has
been no testing done, so this to me is very concerning. No
consideration has been taken for people that suffer with
eilectrsenstivity (see 2), which is a recognised condition in
Sweden. Planning laws are being revised such that telecoms have a right of access to property and one cannot object to their placement. This is being decided without our consent or consultation.
The signals don't travel through wet trees and therefore if the small cells cannot be placed to achieve a clear line of sight they will be felled. One solution to this is to have extremely high masts as high as Nelsons column bar 2 meters which is being discussed in the news this week.
As well as being unsightly and I am sure very unwelcome right on your doorstep, we have to remember All of this infrastructure will be beaming out ... view the full minutes text for item 27. |
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Scrutiny Committee Action Plan
To update the Scrutiny Committee on the progress of resolutions and recommendations from previous meetings of the Committee. Minutes: (Copy of the Scrutiny Committee Action Plan, circulated with the agenda).
Resolved that the Scrutiny Committee Action Plan be noted. |
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Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan
To receive items and review the Forward Plan. Minutes: (Copy of the Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan, circulated with the agenda).
Councillors were reminded that if they had an item they wanted to add to the agenda, that they should send their requests to the Governance Team.
Resolved that the Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan be noted. |
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Watchet Harbour Update. Presentation of the Localities Manager (Verbal Update).
Minutes: The Localities Manager provided a presentation with the Mud Working Group in relation to Watchet Harbour.
During the discussion, the following points were made:-
· Previous solutions were discussed when Watchet was still a commercial Harbour. · The economic benefits of the Harbour were considered along with the economic findings of the Mud working group. · Previous enquiries made in relation to Hinkley funding had been unsuccessful. · The Health and Safety impact of the Harbour users was considered. Risk assessments had been undertaken and it was likely that the Harbour Master would be increasing their contracted hours. · A full depth dredge and water injection dredge was estimated to cost £500k. This maintenance would be from the dredger acquired from the Marina operator with Somerset West and Taunton to borrow the dredger to undertake work on the outer harbour.
Resolved that:-
The Scrutiny Committee thanked the Localities Manager and working group and officer for their ongoing work and noted the update. |
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Additional documents: Minutes: The Section 151 Officer and Finance Business Partner presented the Financial Monitoring Report.
During the discussion, the following points were made:-
· An increase in the members allowances budget was considered · An increase in the Deane Helpline service was due to the increased levels of pay for those on standby. The work of The Deane Helpline was commended. · A £300k overspend for homelessness services was considered, this was a similar situation to the previous year. · Concerns were expressed over a loss of pest control provision, further clarification was requested if this was a Councillor decision. · A comparison was requested over previous quarters and years in future reports. · Concerns were expressed over Councillors access to accounts and lack of interim budget updates between quarters. · Activity in the Capital Programme was considered, budget changes above £50,000 would be included for transparency. If underspends were encountered in the HRA, the budget would get rolled over in to the next financial year.
Resolved that:-
1. It is recommended that Scrutiny notes the Council’s forecast financial performance for 2019/20 financial year as at 31 July 2019. 2. It is recommended that Scrutiny notes the planned request to Full Council to approve the Housing Director / Head of Function, in consultation with the Housing Portfolio Holder, to have delegated authority to approve changes to the budgeted spend for all of the HRA capital schemes, whist remaining within the approved capital programme for 2019/20. The reason for this is help address flexible delivery of the programme in year.
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Minutes: The Business Intelligence and Performance Manager presented the Corporate Performance Report and Update.
During the discussion the following points were made:-
· The shortage of planning staff and difficulties of recruiting in this area was discussed. · Processing of planning applications at the end of July was at 80% so there had been significant improvement in the service.
Resolved that:-
The Scrutiny Committee noted the new report being developed which would bring together finance information, risk monitoring and performance reporting. The first report would be produced for the end of November (month 8). |