Agenda item

So as to provide the best opportunity for the Committee to provide the public with the fullest answer, questions from the public should be submitted by 12.00pm Tuesday 17 September 2019

Where relevant notice of a question has not been given, the person presiding may either choose to give a response at the meeting or respond by undertaking to provide a written response within three working days.

Questions should be submitted to Democratic Services democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk

(Note: Public Question Time will operate for a maximum of 30 minutes.)

A resident asked the following question Information available on sites such as uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.hyde-housing.co.uk for homes built and managed by Hyde Homes and a television program and press releases about homes built by Persimmons give rise to great concerns about the proposed building programmes in Adur by these two companies. The information available on these two companies raised issues about the poor levels of construction and management. In the August 23 edition of kentonline.co.uk you can read about a home in a newly built estate in Canterbury, built by Persimmon where part of the frontage fell down, 40 other things were found to be wrong and other homes on the estate were also at risk. Houses built by Persimmon in Deal and Aylesham were found to be missing vital fire safety barriers.How many building control officers does the council have and is this an adequate number to inspect the homes on a regular basis during the building process to ensure that building standards are being followed? Will you be relying on the developers doing their own inspection and if so, given this history of Persimmon in particular, do you believe that this will be adequate? The Chairman stated that to date the Committee has not been involved in awarding of the contract referred to in your question. The Joint Strategic Committee considered the proposal to sell land at Adur Civic Centre to Hyde Housing Group on 9 July 2019.  The report the Committee looked at is on the Councils’ website and outlines how the recommended preferred bidder was arrived at. I understand this refers to the selection criteria which included due diligence and track record of delivery. On a more general note, residents could submit requests for the Committee to scrutinise specific issues. The Council had seven building control staff and was sufficient staff to deal with the number of building regulation applications submitted to the Council.  The staff were very experienced and had an excellent track record of ensuring that developments comply with the building regulations.  However, the Council was in competition with the private sector and a number of national house builders choose not to use Local Authority Building Control but use Approved Inspectors to oversee their projects.  It should also be noted that Building Control checks compliance with the Building Control regulations but would not address issues regarding quality of finish and general issues relating to quality of build (unless this contravenes the regulations).  The National House Building Council (NHBC) provides protection for homebuyers of new properties in the form of warranty and insurance schemes and can be used where building defects are identified. As a supplementary it was asked if the Building Control team could carry out supplementary inspections in addition to those of a private firm and was told the question would be referred to the appropriate body

A resident asked the following question: The Annual Status Report published in June 2019 has data for 2018. It states that the highest level of No2 recorded was 33ugm3 which reduced by calculation to 27.1ugm3.

The readings  for the monitoring machine in Shoreham High Street, as per Sussex Air, show for August 2019 the following:

19 days over 40ugm3

9 days over 50 ugm3

1 day (22/8) 76.8 uvm3

Accepting there will be calculated reductions it would appear from these readings there is clearly an increase in what was reported in the June report.

With the increase in developments that will take place and thus increase traffic movements along the High Street what proposals and action is the council taking to address the traffic flow in this part of the town? The Chairman relayed that In assessing individual planning applications the traffic impact of the developments are assessed and every opportunity is taken to reduce traffic movements by encouraging more sustainable modes of transport. Major developments proposed at the Western Harbour Arm are accompanied by Transport assessments and Travel Plans which include a number of measures to reduce future vehicle movements including car clubs, reduced parking provision and contributions towards improving public transport and off site highway improvements. The Local Plan and the recently adopted Joint Area Action Plan are supported by a Transport Plan and all new major developments make financial contributions towards securing highway improvements to mitigate the impact of congestion. In dealing with all major development proposals the Council requires an Air Quality Emissions Assessment and this provides a calculation for assessing and mitigating any adverse impact on air quality.  Where an impact is identified the developer is required to provide either a financial contribution to implement mitigation measures. The County Council is currently working with Adur District and other stakeholders to develop a new Sustainable Transport Improvement Plan (STiP) for the District which will look at a wide range of measures to encourage more sustainable transport across the District.  This work is being undertaken in parallel with a Local Walking and Cycling Improvement Plan (LCWIP).  As a point of clarification and for information for the Committee we have also received advice about air quality, that: the national air quality objectives state the hourly objective (1 hour mean) of 200ug/m3 shall not to be exceeded more than 18 times a year.

After reviewing the hourly data we can advise there are no exceedances of the hourly mean objective which is 200ug/m3. However the highest value for August 2019 is certainly higher than that for 2018.

According to the Sussex-air website’s 24 hour mean readings for August the highest reading was 30ug/m3.  Comparing the means for August 2018 with August 2019 shows a decrease in 2019 of almost 3ug/m3 - 24.1 in 2018 and 21.6 in 2019.

The resident was told that an officer would be in contact regarding the figures as there was some dispute over what the figures related to.

A resident asked the following question: The resident referenced the ‘report air quality annual status worthing 2019. It was stated that the author admitted a number of large developments in Worthing and Adur would impact air quality and would bring challenges as well as opportunities for improvement. It was what are these opportunities given an increase in the number of vehicles. The resident was told that a response would be sent within three working days

A resident asked the following question: in relation to housing for the elderly it was stated that there would be an increase in the need for housing for those over 55. Inappropriate housing could cause health conditions, new housing along the A259 was primarily flats without communal areas which was thought to be inappropriate. Arun District Council had undertaken a consultation on provision of housing for elderly and people with disabilities, did Adur District Council have any plans to carry out  a study on the provision for housing for the elderly or had a study been carried out? What were the plans for homes for the elderly, when would they be executed and would information be publicly available? What percentage of the housing stock was currently suitable for elderly people  The Chairman stated that a response would be provided within three days.