Agenda and minutes

There were none

All Members are required to disclose at this point in the meeting or as soon as possible thereafter, any disclosable pecuniary interest or personal interest in any item(s) being considered at this meeting.

There were none

To sign as a true and correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 21 September 2022

Following a question from Councillor Huggins on item 17, the minutes were not signed, and revised minutes will be available at the next Board meeting.

(NOTE: The Board is required to receive a deputation(s) on a matter which is before the meeting of the Board provided that notice of the intended deputation and its object shall have been received by the Borough Solicitor by Monday 14 November 2022. The total time for deputations in favour and against a proposal shall not exceed 10 minutes)

There were none

(NOTE: The Board is required to allow a total of 15 minutes for questions from Members of the public on matters within the terms of reference of the Board provided that notice of such Question(s) shall have been submitted to the Borough Solicitor by 12 noon on Monday 14 November 2022)

A question was asked by Mr. Paul Dowell as follows:

The Food Safety Service Recovery Plan endorsed at the Jun ‘22 Community and Environment Board reported 244 outstanding Food hygiene inspections (227 in categories A-D and 17 new premises) to be completed by the end of the financial year.  The Environmental Health Team were confident the Recovery Plan, requiring about 30 inspections per month, was deliverable and they would provide a further report to the Board “after the end of the current financial year to report on actual progress against the attached recovery plan.”

The Food Hygiene rating data for Gosport (Extract date 5-Nov-2022 on the FSA website accessed 13 Nov ‘22) identifies 87 venues having been inspected on or after 29 Jun ‘22.  This equates to an achieved inspection rate of 20.5 per month which is slightly lower than the 22.5 per month achieved in FYs 18/19 and 19/20 and well below the reported 30 per month needed to deliver the FSS Recovery Plan.  At the current rate a further 99 inspections will be completed by 31 Mar ‘23, a shortfall of 58 (23.8%) against the original 244 inspections.  With no planned update to the Board before the end of the financial year there appears to be no opportunity to provide assurance that the Recovery Plan is still deliverable.

How many food hygiene inspections remain to be completed by 31 Mar ‘23 and, noting previous performance since June ‘22,  how is it intended to ensure the Food Safety Service Recovery Plan, as presented to the June 22 Community and Environment Board, will be delivered?

Was answered as follows:

So far the Council has met all of the Food Standards Agency recovery milestones. All of the premises which carry out higher risk food preparation activities have been inspected. There are 149 lower risk premises requiring inspection by 31^st March 2023. This remains a challenging target , however it is still hoped that it will be achieved, as stated earlier in the year any shortfall can be prioritised for inspection early in the next financial year if necessary. The Food Standards Agency are monitoring this work closely and are satisfied with our progress to date.

The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the establishment of naturalised flower zones as agreed by the Community Board on Wednesday 8^th September 2021 and seek approval to complete the 70,000 m² of naturalised flower zones proposed in that report.

Consideration was given to a report by the Head of Streetscene seeking approval to complete the naturalised flower zones proposed in the report.

Following a Members questions, officers advised that they would be looking at weather patterns and long term forecasts as well as the particular seed mix being used to ensure sewing at optimum times.

Members were advised that the perennials used in the seed mixes were fairly robust and deep rooted and should be able to recover if walked on.

Members agreed that the rewilding had been well received by the public, who had become more invested in nature and conservation since the lockdown. Officers agreed to consider patterns within the mowing and sowing in larger areas to add interest.

Officers agreed to consider suggestions from Members for other areas to be considered, and would check ownership of the land and whether or not there were already bulbs planted there. They also advised that the replacement trees in Grange Road would be better protected.

Following a Members question, officers advised that they would only be mowing a 2 meter strip along the cycle routes, which would give the appearance of a managed area and allow the rest of the verge to provide natural vegetation for insects and wildlife.

Members wished to congratulate the officers on an excellent report. They found the analysis of seed and soil very thorough, and thought the detail would be valuable if the schemes are to be sustainable. A member hoped that there would be a communication plan developed in order to keep residents informed and explain what they might be seeing.

Officers assured Members that they work closely with the various Friends groups of public gardens and parks, and would continue to connect with them in order to gain their support for the scheme.

In answer to a Members question, the Head of Streetscene explained that when it came to the budget, the cost of set up and sowing may be the same as mowing, but there would be a time saving element as resources could be redeployed to other tasks and projects. He advised that they had taken away lessons from the recent In Bloom Awards and there were actions to be undertaken that would focus energy on sustainability and may result in more awards.

RESOLVED:

That the Board noted the establishment of the initial 9,000^m2 of naturalized flower zones and approved the continued changes to maintenance from managed amenity grass to naturalized flower zones at the locations in the attached appendices.