Agenda, decisions and minutes

The agenda and reports associated with this minute can be foundhere.

Please note that if any changes are made to this minute at the point of approval, these will be outlined in the subsequent minute and this document will not be retrospectively altered.

There were no declarations of interest nor transparency statements made.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 31 October 2023 for approval.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the minute as a correct record.

The Committee had before it the planner of Committee business, as prepared by the Interim Chief Officer – Governance (Legal).

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to agree to remove item 4 (Road Safety Plan Annual Update), and to request that officers circulate the service update as outlined in the planner;

(ii)       in relation to item 38 (Den Burn Restoration Project), to note that officers would provide a service update in respect of funding and land ownership discussions; and

(iii)      to otherwise note the planner.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which presented the status of appropriate key performance measures relating to the services falling within its remit.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee note the report and provide comments and observations on the performance information contained in the report Appendix A.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that the Environmental Manager had offered to discuss the Green Thread and work of the various groups in more detail with Members should they wish to contact him, and that a service update would also be circulated in due course;

(ii)       in relation to the discussion as to whether the target for sickness absence should be reviewed in respect of Environmental  / Roads teams, to note that the Chief Officer – Operations and Protective Services would discuss this further with People and Organisational Development and Data colleagues; and

(iii)      to otherwise note the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which presented the annual air quality monitoring results for 2023.

Members asked a number of questions in respect of the report.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee note the findings of the 2023 Air Quality Progress Report

(APR) for Aberdeen City Council.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that officers would provide a service update on the Intelligent Transport System; and

(ii)       to note the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which set out the annual report on the Northern Roads Collaboration Joint Committee.  The report advised that the Joint Committee had not met since May 2022, however officers considered that it provided an opportunity for knowledge sharing and collaboration opportunities across the partners, and therefore sought approval to contact the other members in relation to the Joint Committee reconvening.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the role of Aberdeen City Council in the Northern Roads Collaboration Joint Committee; and

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer - Operations and Protective Services to write to all members in relation to the continuation of the Northern Roads Collaboration Joint Committee.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 14 of the minute of the meeting of 31 October 2023, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which  provided an update on the feasibility of, and timescales and resources for, updating the Strategic Car Parking Review, and sought approval from Members to commence this exercise.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the likely costs and timescales for undertaking an update to the Strategic Car Parking Review (SCPR); and

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to proceed with updating the SCPR as soon as possible, as funding permitted, and report the outcomes back to this Committee by the end of 2024.

The Convener, seconded by Councillor McLellan, moved:-

That the Committee approve the recommendations as set out in the report.

Councillor Massey, seconded by Councillor Farquhar, moved as an amendment:-

That the Committee:-

(a)      note the likely costs and timescales for undertaking an update to the Strategic Car Parking Review (SCPR); and

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning to report back to this Committee in 6 months’ time to seek approval to proceed with updating the SCPR.

This is:

1.    to allow the implications for the 24/25 Council budget to be fully understood;

2.    to understand the final funding requirement to the Council once any successful bid for external funding is known; and

3.    to allow the full feedback from the Draft Transport Strategy consultation to be available and understood.

On a division, there voted:- for the motion (11) – the Convener; Councillor Delaney, the Depute Provost; and Councillors Al-Samarai, Ali, Blake, Bonsell, Clark, Crockett, Henrickson, Hutchison and McLellan; for the amendment (2) – Councillors Farquhar and Massey.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that officers would report back to Committee once the outcome of the application for funding to NESTRANS was known; and

(ii)       to adopt the motion.

-       COUNCILLOR MIRANDA RADLEY, Convener