The deadline for questions to be submitted to the Monitoring Officer is 9 December 2019.
Minutes:
Question from Councillor Diana Butler
Visitors to Poole have commented on the poor state of the town and lack of public toilets.
Poole Quay is a major asset for the local economy: including tourism, business, fishing, boating, industry, events and recreation.
If we, as a Council, are striving to improve our communities and increase the viability of our towns – can I request that accessible public toilets are provided for Poole Quay?
Response by Councillor Mark Howell (Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Culture)
Thank you for your question Cllr Butler.
A review of Public Toilets at Poole Quay was carried out and approved by the previous Poole Cabinet in February 2016. Following this review two council owned toilets were closed (Old Orchard and the Watch Station facilities). At this point a community toilet scheme was introduced with six toilets in the town centre area.
Along with other then opposition councillors in Poole, I opposed closure of the toilets. The toilets at Old Orchard were in poor condition due to anti-social activity, but I did not have confidence in the community toilet scheme.
We are committed to improving the offer for visitors to Poole Quay. Since the May elections, the Unity Alliance administration has refurbished and reopened the toilets at the watch station. Having visited the toilets this morning I can confirm these toilets are accessible, including a separate disabled toilet and a ramp up to it.
The privately owned toilets at Dolphin Quays remained open to the public during this period as part of an ongoing planning obligation for the development. There used to be public toilets on this site. When the building was constructed it was a planning obligation that it included toilets that would be available to the public 24 hours a day.
Following regular claims of vandalism the owners of the building (not the original owners) applied for a variation to this condition. During the tenure of the previous Poole administration, a decision was taken by the planning department AGAINST the advice of the environment officers to relax this condition and as a result the toilets are, more often than not, closed to the public. Attempting to reverse this decision would be costly and may not be successful.
Supplementary Question from Councillor Diana Butler
Councillor Butler asked where are the toilets which are open.
Response by Councillor Mark Howell (Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Culture)
Councillor Howell reported that they were next to Poole Bridge.
Question from Councillor Karen Rampton
Residents in Bournemouth Poole and Christchurch who choose to subscribe to the Garden Waste Service will from 2020 be asked to pay £46 for one bin.
In Poole and Christchurch, residents will put their green waste into a 240 litre bin. Residents in Bournemouth will however pay the same amount for the use of a 140l bin.
Would the Portfolio Holder for Environment agree that the principle of providing equitable services and charges across the BCP conurbation is a necessary and fair course of action?
And would the Portfolio Holder agree that the charge for Bournemouth residents for the Green Waste service is inequitable and penalises them?
And what does the Portfolio Holder intend to do to rectify this injustice?
Response by Councillor Felicity Rice (Portfolio Holder for Environment and Climate Change)
the alignment of the annual garden waste collection service price across BCP Council for the 2020 service at £46 per household for one bin
the pro-rota of the Christchurch service collection fee for 2020 at £37.65 per household to reflect the service length from April to December 2020
the retention of the current multiple bin options: a) For Bournemouth residents at a rate of £60 for two 140l bins (280l) and £80 for three 140l bins (420l) b) For Christchurch & Poole residents at the full one bin price (£46 per extra 240l)
A bin replacement programme swapping Bournemouth’s 140l for 240l would incur capital costs of £289,000, plus delivery cost. Consequently, as any major service change for 2020, such as changing bin sizes, may prove to be contradictory to the Government’s direction, it was considered prudent by BCP’s Cabinet to maintain the current bin sizes across BCP.
Officers will be exploring options to deliver greater parity of service as soon as possible, with a timescale that works alongside the Government’s new waste strategy, outcomes of the consultations and associated legislation.
Supplementary Question from Councillor Karen Rampton
Councillor Rampton referred to the payment Bournemouth residents would pay from 2020 and asked about proportional payments for a couple of years until the review was undertaken.
Response by Councillor Felicity Rice (Portfolio Holder for Environment and Climate Change)
It is not possible to align everything across the conurbation all at once and we need to do this in steps. There are other services that are not aligned at present such as the food waste services for example.