Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Chris Edge and Brenda Fraser.

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillor David Williams.

No declarations were made

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 10 July 2013 are agreed as a correct record.

The Mayor welcomed Councillor Caroline Cooper-Marbiah to her first meeting of the Council.

The Mayor announced the recent deaths of former Councillors Barbara Bampton and Pat Searle.

The Leader of the Council announced changes to the Cabinet: Councillor Mark Betteridge was leaving the Cabinet and Councillor Judy Saunders would replace him as Cabinet member for Performance and Implementation.  Councillor Mark Allison was appointed as Deputy Leader of the Council.

Councillor Mark Betteridge addressed the Council.

The public questions and the replies given to these are available for inspection on the web page for this meeting.

The priority councillor questions and the replies given to these are available for inspection on the web page for this meeting.

The priority councillor questions and the replies given to these are available for inspection on the web page for this meeting.

The report was moved by Councillor Andrew Judge and seconded by Councillor Stephen Alambritis.

The report was agreed together with the the resolutions passed as set out below.

Motion 1 set out in the agenda was moved by Councillor Janice Howard and seconded by Councillor Simon Withey.

The Liberal Democrat amendment set out in the supplementary agenda was moved by Councillor Iain Dysart and seconded by Councillor Mary-Jane Jeanes.

The amendment was put to the meeting and was LOST with two members voting for the amendment.

The Labour amendment set out in the second supplementary agenda was moved by Councillor Mark Betteridge and seconded by Councillor John Dehaney

The amendment was put to the meeting.

VOTING FOR 30 AGAINST 25 - CARRIED

The motion as amended was put to the meeting and it was:

RESOLVED:

This Council recognises that parking is a key concern for many Merton
residents, whether it is being able to park at their local parade of shops to pick
up a newspaper or parking in one of the borough’s town centres for a more
varied shopping experience.

This council also recognises the importance in difficult financial times of keeping parking affordable, especially for residents living in Controlled Parking Zones, and welcomes this administration’s decision to freeze the cost of resident parking permits for the last three years and to reduce the price of visitor parking permits.

This Council notes that:
• The recent town centre and neighbourhood parade parking surveys highlight the concerns expressed by residents and businesses about both the cost and availability of parking in Merton, and particularly in Wimbledon, Raynes Park and Wimbledon Village. The council undertook these surveys so that, instead of a “one size fits all” approach, we could ascertain the specific parking issues in all of our designated neighbourhood parking parades so that tailored solutions with the backing of both business and residents could be identified in each case.
• There continues to be low occupancy rates in some of the council’s car parks whilst we see some pressure on the limited amount of on street parking available in many of the residential areas that abut our town centres. However, there is much variability in parking availability across the borough, with some car parks having high occupancy rates whilst others are less well used, often because residents are simply not aware they are there.  Council therefore welcomes the administration’s decision to work with the private sector to invest in electronic car park occupancy signs that will direct motorists to car parks where there are spaces.
• The local retention of business rates now means that councils have a direct financial incentive to support business and retail growth in town centres. Vibrant town centres will raise more money for Merton and its council taxpayers and so it makes financial as well as environmental sense to encourage the borough’s residents to support local businesses as much as possible rather than travelling further afield. Therefore, this Council recognises the initiatives already taken to assist local businesses such as free parking for all visitors in council owned car parks for weekends and bank holidays in December 2012.

This Council believes that Merton’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7a

Motion 2 set out in the supplementary agenda was moved by Councillor Mary-Jane Jeanes and seconded by Councillor Iain Dysart.

The Labour amendment set out in the second supplementary agenda was moved by Councillor Andrew Judge and seconded by Councillor Stephen Alambritis.

The amendment was put to the meeting

VOTING FOR 30 AGAINST 2.

CARRIED

The motion as amended was put to the meeting and it was:

RESOLVED:

"This Council seeks to encourage cycling and walking to improve residents' health and wellbeing. It acknowledges the excellent work done by officers in the preparation of Merton's Expression of Interest for the Mayor's "Cycling Mini-Hollands in Outer London" Fund. Council further notes that the draft bid submitted to the Mayor, and which has been shortlisted for the funding, already includes a commitment to “review our public rights of way network and allow cycle access where possible”.  Clearly such a review must also take into account the needs of other users such as pedestrians, those pushing buggies and using mobility scooters.

This Council notes that cyclists, users of mobility scooters and pedestrians with children in double buggies have complained about some of the chicane barriers on our Public Rights of Way. The complaints are that the barriers are so close together that bicycles and buggies have to be lifted over them and that those using mobility scooters cannot negotiate the chicanes , for example the chicane barrier between Fairway and Coppice Close in West Barnes.

This Council resolves to continue the programme of work in preparation for the mini-Holland bid which includes:-

1)        an audit of all our Public Rights of Way to ascertain how many chicane and other barriers are preventing cyclists, mobility scooter users and those with buggies from using the Public Rights of Way and to ascertain the programme of works to allow access to cyclists in balance with the needs of other users;

2)        applying for funds as part of the bid to alter all such over-restrictive barriers so that they can be used by all cyclists, mobility scooter users and pedestrians with small children;

3)         Ask officers to ensure that any new barriers erected in the borough are installed to minimum dimensions to avoid repeating and perpetuating these problems".

Motion 1 set out in the agenda was moved by Councillor Henry Nelless and seconded by Councillor Diane Neil Mills.

The Liberal Democrat amendment set out in the supplementary agenda was moved by Councillor Iain Dysart and seconded by Councillor Mary Jane-Jeanes.

The amendment was put to the meeting.

VOTING FOR 27 AGAINST 30

LOST

The Labour amendment set out in the second supplementary agenda was moved by Councillor Mark Betteridge and seconded by Councillor John Dehaney

The amendment was put to the meeting.

VOTING FOR 30 AGAINST 27

CARRIED

The motion as amended was put to the meeting and it was:

RESOLVED:

This Council recognises that for too long vital local assets such as car parks, pubs and libraries have been lost without proper consideration being given to the effect on the community in Merton.

Recent efforts by residents to try and save Wimbledon Library, the P4 car park and Morden Tavern by having them listed as ‘assets of community value’ under the provisions of the 2011 Localism Act clearly demonstrate the willingness and determination of local people to protect the borough’s assets for the benefit of future generations. However time and again, residents and community groups have come up against what can sometimes be perceived as council bureaucracy and a lack of transparency with regard to management of the council’s assets.  However Council acknowledges that the current system allows for decisions on applications for listing to be taken by a non-political group of officers, in consultation with the Cabinet member and local ward councillors, and that decisions are taken in line with the requirements of the Localism Act which outline the specific requirements for a nomination to be accepted; Council cannot operate outside of these legal requirements.

This Council believes that Merton should seek to help not hinder residents and community groups in their efforts and as such, in line with the clear provisions of the Localism Act, the Council already takes responsibility for holding the list of assets around the borough which local people would like to see protected and that comply with the requirements of the Act. This Council also notes that any unfunded capital projects over £500k that are not already in the approved budget need to be agreed by full Council.  Council acknowledges that requiring Council approval of transactions of below this agreed amount would reduce the authority’s financial agility and its ability to get the best value for council taxpayers’ money and assets.

This Council therefore resolves:

a)     Actively to encourage and support Merton’s residents, businesses and community groups to come forward with proposals for local sites to be included on the list of Merton’s ‘assets of community value’. 

b)     To request Scrutiny to review the current decision making process and the Strategic Property Asset Group to ascertain whether this is the most appropriate approach to considering these proposed sites and to put forward recommendations for change if required.  However, Council reiterates the principle that local ward members should continue to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8a

Motion 2 set out in the agenda was moved by Councillor Suzanne Evans and seconded by Councillor Richard Hilton.

The Labour amendment set out in the second supplementary agenda was moved by Councillor Andrew Judge and seconded by Councillor Mark Betteridge.

The amendment was put to the meeting and agreed.

The motion as amended was put to the meeting and it was:

RESOLVED:

Council is aware that by 1st January 2015 all rubbish collections must comply with the European Waste Framework Directive and the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 and the Waste (England and Wales) ( Amendment) Regulations 2012 which provide that there will be an obligation to collect waste paper, metal, plastic and glass separately where separate collection is:

• Necessary to ensure that waste undergoes recovery operations and to facilitate or improve recovery; and
• Technically, environmentally and economically practicable

However, it is DEFRA’s view that the commingled collection of recyclables meets the expectations set out in the Framework in that the materials are collected separately from other waste streams. The Campaign for Real Recycling contested this interpretation and successfully applied for a Judicial Review.  However, on 6 March 2013, Mr Justice Hickinbottom gave judgment that whether or not source segregated collection is practicable and necessary will depend on the particular local circumstances attributable to any local authority, the technology used and the methodology of collection.

Any local authority which has co-mingled waste collections should consider the particular circumstances of the locality and whether or not that collection is compliant now that the requirements for the Regulations have been clarified. 

There is therefore no need to change the current collection methodology and introduce source segregated collections at the kerbside.

As a result there should be no impact on the frequency of waste collections as a result of the new regulations since Merton Council is able to satisfactorily deal with co-mingled recyclable waste.

The convenience of weekly bin collections and single, mixed-bin recycling collections are valued by residents in Merton and this Council therefore resolves to continue to: -

1. Maintain a weekly bin collection beyond 1st January 2015

2. Continue the practice of collecting recyclables by way of a single mixed-bin recycling system beyond 1st January 2015

Motion 3 set out in the agenda was moved by Councillor Russell Makin and seconded by Councillor Agatha Akigyina.

The Liberal Democrat amendment set out in the supplementary agenda was moved by Councillor Iain Dysart and seconded by Councillor Mary Jane-Jeanes.

The amendment was put to the meeting and was LOST.

The Conservative amendment set out in the second supplementary agenda was moved by Councillor James Holmes and seconded by Councillor Samantha George.

The Conservative amendment was accepted by the movers of the motion.

The motion as amended was put to the meeting and it was:

RESOLVED:

This Council agrees to support the Croydon, Merton and Sutton Credit Union by use of the following:

a)   Encouraging all Councillors and council employees to participate in the scheme

b)   Advertising as widely as possible to the residents of Merton the benefits of joining a credit union

c)  Discouraging “payday loan” companies from advertising on any of its properties and exploring ways of blocking access to such websites via its IT systems.

d)  Working with the borough’s schools to deliver improved financial literacy education in line with the Government’s recent proposals to make financial literacy a statutory part of the National Curriculum, following the submission of an e-petition signed by more than 118,000 people nationwide.

RESOLVED: That the Council notes the taking of an urgent key decision requiring the waiving of the call-in procedure.

RESOLVED: That the Council notes the changes made under delegated powers since the last meeting of the Council and the nominations to seats from the Merton Coalition.

Petitions presented:

Councillor Mary-Jane Jeanes on behalf of residents of Rookwood Avenue

Councillor Andrew Judge on behalf of residents regarding ‘Save Abbey Police Office’

RESOLVED: That the Council notes the advice given by officers in respect of petitions presented to the meeting of the Council held on 10 July 2013.

Councillor Stephen Alambritis advised the meeting that the main theme for the mext meeting would be “Education with a focus on school expansions”