Agenda and minutes

To agree the procedures for the operation of hybrid meetings.

RESOLVED –

THAT the guidance on hybrid meetings be agreed.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Izzy Lenga.

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillors Cameron Aref-Adib and Nina De Ayala Parker.

Members will be asked to declare any pecuniary, non-pecuniary and any other interests in respect of items on the agenda.

There were none.

Webcasting of the Meeting

The Chair to announce the following: “In addition to the rights by law that the public and press have to record and film public meetings, I would like to remind everyone present that this meeting will be broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and can be viewed on our website for six months after the meeting.  After that time, webcasts are archived and can be made available on DVD upon request.

If you are seated in the room it is likely that the Council’s cameras will capture your image and you are deemed to be consenting to being filmed and to the use of those images and sound recordings for webcasting and/or training purposes.”

Any other announcements

Due to issues with the technology the meeting was not webcast.

Requests to speak at the Committee on a matter within its terms of reference must be made in writing to the clerk named on the front of this agenda by 5pm two working days before the meeting.

The Chair advised that two deputations and a written submission had been accepted, copies of the deputation statements and written submission had been included in the supplementary agenda.

The written submission and one of the accepted deputations related to Agenda Item 8 Dockless Parking Bike Hire Management and would be taken when that item was reached on the agenda. The written submission was from Hamish Birchell who was unable to attend to give a deputation due to work commitments. The deputation was from Paul Braithwaite

The other deputation related to safety concerns around Primrose Hill Park and the need for a coordinated response from the authorities responsible for the area.

Primrose Hill Park

The deputation was presented by:

·       Eleanor Sturdy (Chair of Primrose Hill Safer Neighbourhood Panel)

·       Councillor Anna Burrage Primrose Hill Ward Councillor

·       Councillor Matt Cooper Primrose Hill Ward Councillor

The following responses were given by the deputees to Members questions:

• Eleanor Sturdy had not been allowed to attend Safer Park’s Panel meetings as it was closed to the public. Getting regular crime statistics on Primrose Hill was difficult and the Panel did not appear to take into consideration local residents concerns regarding safety and the ongoing issues.
• The Safer Parks Panel did not appear to be interested in Primrose Hill matters.
• The Department of Culture appeared to be the ultimate arbitrary of who had responsibility for Primrose Hill Park.
• The Park was policed by the Royal Parks Police who were stretched across all the London Parks and were not equipped to manage Primrose Hill Park. This was because the level of Parks Policing was reduced in 2015 from 24-hour cover to up to 11pm. At bank holidays and major events, the Parks Police were often deployed elsewhere, reducing coverage of the park.
• The park would be better served if it were to be managed by the Council.
• Each organisation had their own system for capturing and reporting information, there was little consistent sharing of information about risks to the public. It appears information was only circulated/shared when those with the information remembered to share it.
• There needed to be a system in place to collate all the information so the responsible authorities were aware of all the issues and problems generating a fuller picture of crime and anti-social behaviour in the area.
• The problems with crime and anti-social behaviour had increased since 2015 and appeared to coincide with Police cuts.
• The issues had been escalated to local ward Councillors who had made representations to Royal Parks.
• Royal Parks had indicated that the problems would diminish, the summer of 2020 the situation was quite bad, it recent months the drug problem in the area appeared to have gotten worse with drug dealers being attracted to the surrounding area.
•  With regards to information sharing, different parts of the Metropolitan Police could share information between each other, the barrier was with sharing the information with the Council Community Safety team. There were similar problems at Hampstead Heath with City of London  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

There was none.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 20^th February 2023.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 20^th February 2023 be signed as an accurate record.

Report of the Director of Environment and Sustainability.

The Camden Transport Strategy (CTS), adopted by the Council in 2019, sets out a range of policies and measures to reduce inessential motor vehicle trips in the Borough, and to boost healthier, more sustainable modes of travel including walking and cycling. Cycle hire systems are one such measure that the strategy and supporting Cycling Action Plan commits to.

Currently, and in line with the CTS, the operator “Lime” has an agreement with the Council to operate dockless bike hire (DBH) services in the Borough. It is, at the time of this report, the only operator with such an agreement. However, contracts were awarded to two DBH operators on 25^th April 2023 following the conclusion of a competitive tendering exercise. Parking management is a key part of the operations. Whilst usage of Lime bikes has continued to grow rapidly, and in doing so supporting our objectives to shift more trips to cycling, Officers and Members have also received numerous complaints about Lime bikes being poorly and inappropriately parked on pavements and other areas reserved for pedestrians. This can have a negative impact on the public realm, while being detrimental to pedestrian comfort and safety.

The Culture and Environment Scrutiny Committee has therefore asked for the parking management issues being raised to be discussed in further detail. This report discusses the issues being raised and mitigation measures being put in place by Lime, and the Council, to help address them.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Environment and Sustainability.

The Committee noted the written submission of Hamish Birchall on sustainability concerns regarding the e-scooter and e-bike hire trial and listened to Paul Braithwaite’s deputation.

Councillor Linda Chung with the agreement of the chair also addressed the Committee informing the Committee that she objected to the contemptuous way in which the dockless bikes were dumped with an apparent lack of impunity. There appeared to be a lack of enforcement and there was nothing in the officer or contractors report on firm plans for enforcement.

The following responses were given by the deputee to Members questions:

• Other boroughs such as Wandsworth and Westminster Councils had taken further action to enforce parking of dockless bikes in parking bays by insisting that the user continued to pay until the bike was returned to a bay.
• It was disappointing that Lime had proposed using the existing cycle racks which would deprive cyclists of precious spaces.
• The statement that lime bikes replaced car journeys by 1 in 4 appeared to be very exaggerated and it would be good to see Lime’s evidence of this.
• It was a failure on the part of the Council to manage the Lime operation, the Santander operation was a well-run alternative.
• A lot of secondary school children had great fun in trying to hack the bikes and it was a great nuisance for visually impaired and disabled people in how the bikes were dumped aimlessly.
• He was not a therapist or a doctor and could not say for certain that the bikes had health benefits.

The Head of Transport Strategy and Projects made the following comments in response to the deputations and members questions:

·       The Dockless Bike Hire Scheme (DBH) was in line with the Council’s policy objectives which aimed to develop and implement a range of initiatives that promoted and provided attractive and safe alternatives to private cars and other forms of motor traffic.

·       As part of the Council’s Transport Strategy it also aimed to support, promote and expand cycle hire systems.

·       Cycle hire systems, both docked and dockless were an important part of the Council’s mix of high quality, sustainable travel options that provided alternatives to overcrowded public transport systems and private motor vehicles.

·       The increased use of these systems indicated the popularity amongst users, both residents and visitors to the borough.

·       There was evidence that more and more boroughs were beginning to adopt a similar cycle hire systems approach as Camden.

·       The Council was aware of poor bike parking compliance and was in regular discussions, working with the operator to resolve the issues.

·       The Council was proposing to create 18 new DBH parking bays and extend 4 existing DBH parking bays at various locations across the borough. The Council was also planning to increase the number of DBH parking bays in the borough to 280 by Spring 2025.

·       The contracts the Council had entered to with the bike operators had provided significant financial benefits  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Report of the Executive Director Supporting Communities.

This paper provides an update on the work programme for the Committee for the year 2023/24 and tracks actions from previous meetings.

Consideration was given to the report of the Executive Director Supporting Communities.

Resolved:

That the report be noted.

There was none.