Agenda and minutes

No apologies were received.

No declarations were made.

RESOLVED that:

The minutes from the meeting held on the 31^th August 2022 were approved as a correct record.

The Panel considered a presentation by The Assistant Director of Highways and Waste, which outlined the street lighting LED replacement project across North Northamptonshire.

During discussion, the principal points were noted:

·         Members expressed concern regarding the correlation between street lighting and community safety and queried whether collaborative work was ongoing, between the local authority and Safer Communities.

·         Members queried whether whole units of street lighting would have to be completely replaced to allow for LED upgrades, rather than retrofitting existing units with new bulbs.

·         Members queried whether replacing lights would LED would affect maintenance costs.

In response, The Assistant Director of Highways and Waste clarified that:

·         Collaborative working with community organisations to increase safety would be possible however, lighting in certain areas had been provided by former legacy local authorities. To increase lighting in these areas would require the addition of new lighting columns, which required a budget.

·         Not every street light across North Northamptonshire could be centrally controlled. When the lighting had originally been installed through the PFI contract, the cost associated with LED bulbs was not deemed viable for all lights. 4-6 thousand LED lights existed countywide. Retrofitting existing lanterns was as expensive as replacing them altogether. 

·         The finance model adopted by the local authority would have an allowance for reduced maintenance costs for LED lights. The average annual maintenance cost per unit was £30-40.

RESOLVED that:

The report be noted.

The Panel considered a presentation by The Grounds Services Manager, which outlined the local authority’s work in relation to flooding.

During discussion, the principal points were noted:

·         Members queried how after the five year period, the project would impact other areas around Northamptonshire. The Panel also questioned whether work was ongoing regarding emergency flood risks.

·         One member queried whether the West Northamptonshire team would assist with work in North Northamptonshire.

·         Members requested details regarding the timeline of additional flooding work across the county.

·         Members queried whether the local authority had identified the most at-risk properties, for flooding assistance.

In response, The Grounds Services Manager of Highways and Waste clarified that:

·         All lessons learned during the project would be shared with colleagues across Northamptonshire. Innovative projects regarding flooding would continue to be promoted.

·         The West Northamptonshire team would assist with flood work in Harpers Brook, in Corby.

·         The project had been a learning programme - the two catchments, which had been picked up through modelling, were the most at risk from flooding.

·         The local authority had used modelling to determine the most at-risk homes from flooding. This scientific approach was considered to be the fairest, to determine which properties would require emergency assistance. This process was ongoing.

RESOLVED that:

The report be noted.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Climate Change, Environment and Growth Executive Advisory Panel would be held virtually, via Zoom, on Wednesday 26^th October at 9:30am.