Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 February 2014 were approved as an accurate record.

Kevin Dawson, Head of Resilience, gave a presentation which highlighted the need to involve and engage Parish Councils within emergency planning. The following key points were highlighted within the presentation:

·         The role and responsibilities of the Resilience Service and the role which the Parish Council’s had to play in this;

·         The different levels of responsibilities between lower tier authorities and unitary authorities;

·         An overview of the background to emergency planning and the role of a Peterborough City Council Resilience Officer;

·         Incident timelines and the point at which the resilience service would become mobilised;

·         An overview of the Peterborough City Council emergency management structure, these being mirrored by other Responsible Authorities;

·         The emergency plans in place and the multi-agency approach to these plans;

·         The changes in flexibility around business continuity plans;

·         An overview of the incidents and responses/notification from 2010 – 2013 a number being in relation to the railways and possible suspect packages;

·         Parish Councils could help in a number of ways, being the ‘eyes and ears’ and providing rest shelters;

·         There were a number of tools available in relation to resilience planning and the creation of ‘emergency plans’ was instrumental to the consistent approach to any emergency situation;

·         The Plans would include emergency contact numbers, key locations and buildings, lists of community organisations and various other contact details. The Plans would be readily available throughout the parishes;

·         The Plans could be updated on a yearly basis;

·         Parish Councils were encouraged to complete a plan and assistance and advice would be available to talk through any issues or queries;

·         ‘Peterborough Prepared’ this being a new ‘brand’ and website to promote Community Resilience. The use of social media was to be encouraged and the Parish Plans could be placed onto the new website; and

·         A further presentation would be brought back to the Parish Council Liaison meeting following implementation of the new website.

Responses to questions from Members included:

·         There was a need to promote business as usual during the forthcoming EDL march. The march was expected to be smaller than last time;

·         There were reserves available for minor incidents and major incidents would require mutual aid from the Government. Equipment costs incurred by volunteers could be absorbed by the Council;

·         The installation of natural gas transmission mains pipes would most likely be a planning issues on which the Resilience Team would be consulted. The main issues relating to these pipes would be structural damage and noise from rupturing. The pipeline plan outlined how an incident could be dealt with and there were plans in place should there be an incident;

·         It was unlikely that the Resilience Team would be able to have any influence over the installation of reduced rate emergency lines within village halls etc. in the event of an emergency, communication arrangements would be made;

·         Cross boundary working had been an area of proposed further exploration e.g. with Lincolnshire;

·         Prior to volunteer appointments within the Plan (e.g. emergency contacts with electrical equipment for use) it was advisable to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Alan Lord addressed the meeting and sought responses to a number of queries he had in relation to a parish pilot in Paston. He advised that there had been extensive consultation undertaken with the local community about what they believed was needed in the ward and a business plan had been produced and was now with the Council. An interactive session was held, and Members were invited to respond and give their opinions, views and insights into a number of issues relating to Parish Councils. Responses included:

·         Many became involved with Parish Council work to help the community in which they lived;

·         The benefits to residents, including Parish Council’s being a focal point for them; getting to know their Parish Councillors; giving people a voice and giving them a link to the City Council;

·         Being responsible to the electorate and behaving in an appropriate manner;

·         Democratic compliance and ensuring that funding was spent wisely in order to ensure the community benefitted;

·         The majority of rural Councillors were not political however urban Councillors tended to be more so;

·         Parish Councillors were usually elected around the same time as City Councillors;

·         Party politics did not come in to Parish meetings as this was not relevant to the work of a Parish Council;

·         Most Parish Council meetings had public sessions and if there were big issues, additional meetings could be called. All Parish Council’s had annual meetings;

·         Parish Councillors were constantly consulting with their parishioners on schemes such as village plans and this was fed back to the city council. This was done via a myriad of mediums including notice boards, emails and leaflets etc.;

·         Training could be provided on issues such as Planning etc.; and

·         One of the more important aspects was to ensure the appointment of a good, qualified clerk.

Mr Lord thanked Members for their input and a number of invitations were extended to him to attend Parish Council meetings for further information should he require it.

It was requested that the contractor responsible for emptying bins be asked to attend a future Parish Council Liaison meeting, however it was stated that this was a general issue and not just a parish issue.

Members requested that someone attend a future Parish Council Liaison meeting in order to discuss issues and developments surrounding broadband in rural communities.

Members raised concerns regarding issues related to parking in Hampton, specifically that there was not enough space, this being compounded by the number of houses in multiple occupation that there were in the area. It was explained that the roads had been built adhering to national guidance.

There was also an issue relating to Thornhaugh car parking passes as the dates were incorrect. This would be investigated.