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THE DISTRICT COUNCIL OF TANDRIDGE
COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE
Minutes and Report to Council of the meeting of the Committee held in the Council Chamber,
Council Offices, Station Road East, Oxted on the 8th November 2012.
PRESENT:
Councillor Elias (Chairman), Cannon (Vice Chairman) and Councillors Bangs,
Childs, Dempsey, Mrs. Dunbar, Gosling, Mrs. Thorn, Mrs Vickers and Wall.
ALSO PRESENT:
Councillors Compton and Mrs. Parker.
146. MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting held on the 13th September 2012 were confirmed and signed by the
Chairman.
147. EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC
R E S O L V E D - that, pursuant to Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972
(as amended) members of the press and public be excluded from the meeting during
consideration of the under mentioned Minute on the grounds that:
(i)
it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraph
detailed below of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act; and
(ii)
the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in
disclosing the information.
Minute No.
150
Nature of Exempt Information
Paragraph 3
148. PETITION SUBMITTED UNDER STANDING ORDER No. 29 –
REQUEST FOR ALLOTMENTS IN STAFFORD PARK, CATERHAM
A petition had been received from a Caterham resident in support of the following:
“We should like the Council to consider providing allotments in Stafford Park, Caterham
for community use. We appreciate that the Council will not be able to spend any money
on this project. An Allotment Society will be formed by plot holders and an application
made to Awards for All to raise funds for this community project.”
In accordance with Standing Order 29 (6)(ii), the subject matter of the petition stood referred to
the Committee’s 14th March 2013 meeting at which an Officer report would be considered.
- 205 COUNCIL DECISIONS
(Subject to ratification by Council)
149. PROPOSED NEW CAR PARKING ARRANGEMENTS - KING
GEORGE V PLAYING FIELD, MILL LANE, HURST GREEN
(Minutes 227(10/11) and 43 (11/12))
The Committee had previously agreed measures to enable a limited amount of all day ‘permit
parking’ at the above location. This followed representations from local Ward Members and
sought to mitigate the impact of on-street (mainly commuter) parking in the vicinity of Hurst
Green station. Planning permission for the necessary works had since been obtained.
A statutory consultation had also been undertaken which resulted in one objection from a local
resident. This required the Committee to reconsider the matter and a report was duly submitted
which addressed the individual’s concerns. The Committee concluded that that the scheme
should go ahead in accordance with its previous recommendation.
Regarding the wider issue of commuter parking, Officers would write to Network Rail to explore
the possibility of increased parking provision at both Hurst Green Station and more generally
across the District.
R E C O M M E N D E D – that the proposals approved by the Committee in June 2011,
as detailed below, be re-affirmed:

25 permits to be made available at a price equating to the charges at Gun Pit
Road, Lingfield; Town End, Caterham; and Whyteleafe Recreation Ground (£243
for 2012/13);

the issuing of permits to be managed by Reigate & Banstead parking services
under the existing parking agreement between the two Authorities;

use of the car park to be restricted to four hours free parking between 7am and
5pm (as per the parking arrangements in Oxted, to deter all day free parking) with
the exception of vehicles displaying a disabled person’s badge or a long term
parking permit;

no restrictions applying on evenings, weekends and bank holidays; and

lighting being installed on the grounds of health and safety.
150. COMBINED CONTRACT FOR THE GROUNDS MAINTENANCE OF
PARKS, OPEN SPACES AND HOUSING SITES (Minutes 103 & 125)
Tenders for this service had been sought via the Improvement and Efficiency Social
Enterprise’s procurement framework. Reports to both this and the Housing Committee
during the previous cycle of meetings indicated that the process may not achieve a suitably
competitive outcome. A contingency arrangement had therefore been agreed whereby the
existing contractor could continue to provide the service on a twelve month interim basis.
However, the subsequent tender evaluation had concluded that, after all, the bids received
offered the opportunity for satisfactory value for money. Consequently, the Committee was
advised that it would no longer be appropriate to pursue the aforementioned fall-back
position.
- 206 The contract specification also included sites under the remit of the Housing Committee.
Given that there was no Housing meeting scheduled during the present cycle and, in view of
the need for the contract to be awarded by mid January 2013 at the latest, it was deemed
acceptable for the matter to be determined by Full Council on 17th January based on a
single recommendation from Community Services.
R E C O M M E N D E D – that the grounds maintenance contract for parks, open
spaces and housing sites be awarded to Quadron for a period of five years from 1st
March 2013 in the combined sum of £313,600 per annum (subject to annual
inflationary uplifts from 1st March 2014 onwards) with an option to extend the contract
by up to two further years.
COMMITTEE DECISION
(Under powers delegated to the Committee)
151. WASTE AND RECYCLING SERVICE CHANGE – PROGRESS
REPORT – NOVEMBER 2012
The new service had taken effect from 2nd October 2012 and Members considered a progress
report which included information about:

the positive effect upon the Council’s recycling performance (increasing from 34% to
over 50%);

the significant tonnage of food waste being collected each week;

on-going communications initiatives;

the provision of recycling containers and the logistics of dealing with the requests for:
-
additional containers;
containers to be exchanged; and
recycling sacks instead of containers;

progress with establishing collection methods and container solutions at flats;

the decision by the Surrey Waste Partnership to fund a trial nappy collection scheme in
Mole Valley (in conjunction with Biffa Waste Services) to test how a standard collection
scheme might work across Surrey using a contractor (this followed the Partnership’s
unsuccessful bid for Government funding towards such a trial across a wider area); and

the fact that Surrey County Council, as Waste Disposal Authority, was reviewing medical
waste collection schemes and disposal routes across Surrey with a view to
standardising arrangements.
Officers responded to a range of questions from Members in connection with the report.
R E S O L V E D – that the position be noted.
Rising: 8.45 p.m.