·         Noise monitoring at the site confirmed compliance with Planning conditions at five of the six locations

·         The non-compliance at the sixth location occurred at a wind speed of seven miles an hour only

·         The Operator had proposed a strategy to mitigate this problem

·         Calculations undertaken by the Council’s acoustic consultant to verify the potential effectiveness of the strategy utilised data gathered in previous noise monitoring exercises associated with the site

·         Officers were satisfied that the proposals would provide compliance and proposed advising the Operator to implement the solution in full

·         The exceedance of 1.5 decibels of noise was not an audible sound to the human ear

·         The final report had been circulated more widely than normally to ensure all stakeholders had the opportunity to present their comments

·         Rose Ash Parish Council had submitted late comments on the final report to the Service Lead – Environment Protection Officer who requested to share their response

·         In summary the Parish Council advised that all they wanted was for North Devon Council to carry out recommendations that ensured compliance with the Planning Inspectorate’s conditions

·         Officers had secured the co-operation of the Operator to implement this strategy – which would result in compliance – as well as the highest level of environmental protection it was currently possible to obtain

·         Devon County Council had confirmed that they had a duty to investigate the event that occurred last August 2020 in Barnstaple which was identified as a flooding event

·         Devon County Council took the lead in the investigation with assistance from South West Water, Devon County Highways and the Environment Agency

·         A wide area had been affected with no one specific location

·         The event happened at a point of the six year agreement with Defra was coming to an end so was a good opportunity to add Barnstaple into their new strategy which was endorsed by Devon County Council’s Cabinet at its meeting in February 2021

·         It normally took five years from the point of a flooding event taking place to a strategy being put in place but that it was hoped Barnstaple would be included for the 2022/2023 year

·         A Section 19 report was a very high level report and the risk areas highlighted would be included in any new strategy drafted

·         Other locations not highlighted on the map such as Bishops Tawton were being managed by other Risk Management Agencies such as the Environment Agency

·         Due to funding issues their scheme was currently on hold

·         The sewage system would be looked at by South West Water who were aware of the issues and were working with consultants to find solutions

·         New housing developments had to ensure there was no run off of rain water from their development, Devon County Council had drawn up its strategy for new developments in conjunction with the national strategy so no new development would increase run off and this was taken very seriously

·         Retro fitting on established highways was not something Mr Hutchings was aware of but that rain gardens were being created in schools with several schools in Barnstaple identified to take part in this project

·         This report sets out five programmes of work to support the promotion of home energy efficiency

·         This would give the Council the ability to gain Eco grants and offer home efficiency grants to households in the area

·         Domestic energy usage accounted for a huge amount of Carbon emissions in the region of 138,000 tonnes per annum and this programme would further support the Council’s ambition of becoming Carbon Neutral

·         The Carbon Action Team had scrutinised the Home Energy Efficiency report and requested that three comments be brought to the attention of the Committee, firstly the opportunity to maximise the introduction of renewables by offering less carbon intense forms of heating, secondly to maximise using local supply chains and thirdly for the Officers to keep an eye on any unintended consequences of this programme.  The housing market was currently very fragile, therefore, any detrimental actions arising as a result of the Council’s activities would be kept under review

·         Would like the three comments to be addition recommendations put forward to the Committee

·         Assurance was given that rural housing pockets would be offered the services and interventions being delivered to make their homes energy efficient

·         There are challenges to removing gas boilers and fitting heat pumps but that a programme of retro fitting would be undertaken shortly in conjunction with 361 Energy

(i)            that the five point programme be adopted as set out in paragraph 4.5 of the Officers report,

(ii)          that the cross sector framework to address fuel poverty as set out in Appendix A be noted,

(iii)         the opportunity to use renewables was maximised

(iv)         the use of local supply chains, and

(v)          any detrimental outcomes as a result of the Council’s programme be scrutinised

·         This report arose from a recommendation that came from Licensing and Community Safety Committee on 9^th February 2021

·         The recommendation was for a continuation of derogations approved by the Chief Executive last March 2020 in respect of the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy and are proposed due to the continuing effect of Covid-19 restrictions to business

·         The recommendations cover two areas the first being the maximum age of a vehicle and secondly Licence fees, whereby should a driver surrender their licence over concerns due to transporting passengers and the re-applies their fee would be calculated on a pro rata rate up to 1^st July 2021

·         The definition of a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) was given in the Housing Act 2004

·         Mandatory licensing rules were brought in under the Licensing Houses in Multiple Occupation (Prescribed Description) (England) Order 2018.  This gave the requirement for a licence to be obtained for all properties with five or more occupants from two or more separate households, who shared a bathroom, toilet or kitchen

·         North Devon currently had 43 licensed HMO’s with an additional 250 now falling under the new regime

·         Of the five prescribed standards it was hoped to implement locally adopted standards

·         Heating; introduction of fixed heating sources with occupier controlled heating to a minimum of 21 degrees when the temperature outside was below zero

·         Personal washing facilities; to ensure a bathroom was not more than two storeys away  from a bedroom

·         Kitchen facilities; depending on whether the accommodation was a bedsit or shared house there were different standards such as the number of appliances and storage units available

·         Waste disposal; the licence holder would be required to provide appropriate external and internal waste storage facilities

·         Due to the volume of applications for licences and the resource implications in processing these the licence period renewal would remain at five years

·         With authorisation from the Committee a six week consultation period would be carried out seeking stakeholders views on the proposals

·         The analysed results would be presented at the July 2021 meeting

·         The report showed minor changes and included requests from Parish Councils

·         Electric Vehicle Bays should only be in use by electric vehicles which were charging

·         The proposed change to the Pier car park had been put forward by Councillor Pearson who was invited to present the rationale for the proposal

Councillor Pearson gave the Committee the following summary:

·         The summer of 2020 saw a high number of visitors to the town of Ilfracombe which caused problems with traffic and parking

·         The plan to part pedestrianise Quay Road and change the short stay Pier car park to a long stay car park it was hoped would help reduce the number of vehicles travelling down Quay Road and therefore ease congestion

·         Ilfracombe Town Council were supportive of this idea and had set aside funds to help implement the changes.  To help towards the cost of additional signage and the creation of the pedestrian friendly space along Quay Road

·         Due to the enforced closure of Leisure facilities because of Covid-19, North Devon Council had previously made payments to support the Leisure centres and help keep them running

·         £217,000 had been paid to Parkwood Leisure with an additional £180,000 in Leisure recovery funding from Sport England

·         Having two lockdowns in quick succession of each other had proven to be more expensive for the Leisure Centres

·         Despite having received payments from the Council and the Leisure recovery funds the Leisure contractor was still running suffering losses on the North Devon contract

·         This further assistance of £59,000 was being sought to cover losses in February and March 2021

·         It was very likely a second round of Leisure recovery funding would be announced which would also be applied for when open

·         An additional £12,000 had been received from Sport England which was being put towards the £59,000 being requested

·         This roadmap was drawn up to look at how the national lockdown and easement would affect us locally

·         Resources had been allocated to respond to local Business’s readying for reopening from 8^th March 2021

·         The Communications Team Explore from your Door had been picked up regionally

·         From 29^th March 2021 Groups of six could meet up outdoors and with the stay at home message changing it was expected there would be longer day trips out

·         From 12^th April non-essential Businesses could re-open which included self-contained accommodation, hairdressers, and Zoo’s

·         An update from the Barnstaple town Manager had indicated that the High Street was very busy

·         To help discharge the Council’s responsibility to house the homeless holiday accommodation had been used for placements which now meant alternatives had to be found

·         If the situation permitted from 17^th May 2021 the anticipated next steps would be for B&B’s to reopen and hospitality venues could serve inside

·         Pop up campsites and car parks were still permitted with no recourse to notifying the local authority

·         A review of all activities was due to take place on 21^st June 2021 with all legal restrictions being lifted

·         The G7 summit event due to take place 11-13 June 2021 could impact North Devon in as much as there could be an increased risk of demonstrations

(a)  That under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item as it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 3 and 4, Part 1 Schedule 12A of the Act (as amended from time to time), namely information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relating matter arising between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and employees of, or office holders under, the authority

(b)  That all documents and reports relating to the item be confirmed as “Not for Publication”

(i)            That under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item as it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 3 and 4, Part 1 Schedule 12A of the Act (as amended from time to time), namely information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relating matter arising between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and employees of, or office holders under, the authority

(ii)          That all documents and reports relating to the item be confirmed as “Not for Publication”