Issue - meetings

The Chairman of the Task Group advised Members that there had been two meetings of the Task Group since the last meeting of the Board. 

The first of these meetings had taken place on 4th April 2013 and had been attended by two Worcestershire County Council Officers: David Balme, Transport Planning Officer and Steve Harrison, Transport Strategy and Policy Team Leader.  This had been an instructive meeting due to the Officers’ expertise.

The second meeting of the Task Group had taken place on 18th April.   During this meeting Members had interviewed the Council’s Head of Planning and Regeneration and the Portfolio Holder for Planning, the Core Strategy, Regulatory and Strategic Housing Services, Councillor C. B. Taylor.  The extent to which air quality issues were taken into account during consideration of planning applications had been discussed in some detail.

The Task Group was keen to consider further information about the health implications of air quality issues, though information requested from Worcestershire PCT prior to the previous meeting of the Board had still not been provided.  Members were also interested in the Air Quality Action Plan consultation, which had been launched on 15th April 2013, and were aiming to discuss this matter further with representatives of Worcestershire Regulatory Services.

The Task Group had struggled to organise meetings during the busy election period and had also encountered some difficulties securing information from relevant expert witnesses.  To provide the Task Group with the time needed to complete the review effectively the Board agreed that the deadline for the exercise should be extended.    

RESOLVED that the deadline for presentation of the Air Quality Task Group’s final report to the Overview and Scrutiny Board should be extended to 16th September 2013.