Agenda and minutes

Councillors Harman, Baker, McCloskey and Wilkinson

Councillors Harman, Baker and McCloskey had given their apologies and Councillors Ryder, Wheeler and Willingham substituted for them respectively.  Councillor Wilkinson had also given his apologies.  

Councillor Willingham declared a non-pecuniary and non-prejudicial interest in agenda item 4 (race day arrangements), as in March 2017, in his role as Vice-Chair of the Licensing Committee, he had shadowed Enforcement Officers in their duties during race week. 

Deadline: 12 noon on Wednesday 23 August 2017

No public or member questions had been received.

The agreed approach for this meeting is set out below:

·         Consider the details provided by the racecourse, Cheltenham Borough Council, Gloucestershire County Council and Gloucestershire Constabulary (to follow) and seek *clarification where required

·         Hear from Councillor Parsons about the concerns being raised by residents in his ward

·         Discuss any proposed changes/improvements and understand any budget/resource implications

*if the committee wish to discuss any information contained within the exempt appendix (to follow) then they will have to formally exclude the press and public from the meeting (see relevant text below)

The committee is recommended to approve the following resolution:-

“That in accordance with Section 100A(4) Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the remaining agenda items as it is likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, if members of the public are present there will be disclosed to them exempt information as defined in paragraph(s) 3 and 7, Part (1) Schedule (12A) Local Government Act 1972, namely:

Paragraph 3 – Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Paragraph 7 – Information relating to any action taken or to be taken in connection with the prevention, investigation or prosecution of crime.

The Chairman welcomed representatives from Cheltenham Borough Council, Gloucestershire Constabulary, Gloucestershire County Council and the Jockey Club and on behalf of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee thanked them for their attendance, which was very much appreciated.  He gave a reminder that Councillor Parsons, the ward member for Pittville had raised concerns about the provision of temporary toilets and illegal parking during race events which were growing in popularity.  Whilst acknowledging that increasingly popular racing events were beneficial to the town and its economy, and the effectiveness of the co-ordinated approach to planning for race meetings, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee wanted to consider what, if any, improvements could be recommended.  The Chairman explained that once, as a committee, members understood the special arrangements and popularity of the various events and the scale of any issues, they would move onto discussing any proposed improvements.  And at this stage, would welcome input from the relevant representatives to explain any budget and/or resource implications associated with the improvements being proposed.  He looked forward to a positive and productive discussion of the issue, which he hoped would be beneficial to everyone. 

To clarify their understanding of the information that had been circulated with the agenda, members, including Councillor Parsons, asked the following questions:

·         Was it true that with no custody suite in Cheltenham, anyone that was arrested needed to be transported to the custody suite at Waterwells?  Sergeant Ellson confirmed that this was indeed the case.

·         The permanent parking restrictions which had been imposed throughout the ward of St. Paul’s had proved successful, but there was a request that enforcement officers visit this area more regularly during the March festival.  Jim Daniels confirmed that this would be possible. 

·         Was Gold Cup, with 70,000 attendees, far bigger than any other event held in Gloucestershire and if so, had consideration been given to how other similarly large scale events were approached and managed?  Gold Cup was undoubtedly the largest sporting event in Gloucestershire.  David McKinnon, as part of the Jockey Club, which managed venues which held major events including the Grand National, regularly reviewed how other events were managed.  Sergeant Ellson noted that the International Air Tattoo attracted the largest number of attendees of any event in Gloucestershire, but that this was not an event in which he was directly involved. 

·         The permit schemes which were introduced as part of the traffic management measures worked well, but did enforcement officers check that residents were parked outside of the property to which the permit had been issued?  Jim Daniels explained that enforcement officers simply checked whether a valid permit was held and that there were no restrictions on where residents could park within the permit zone i.e. residents were not required to park their vehicle outside of their residence.

·         The racecourse held briefings before and debriefs after, all race events, but did David MacKinnon feel that the structure of consultees for these briefings was adequate or did he want to see any changes?  The relationship with stakeholders  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Having discussed any proposed changes/improvements and associated resource and budget implications, the committee members will decide if and what action they wish to take  

The committee would take no further action but did request a briefing from Louis Krog, the Business Support and Licensing Team Leader, which summarised the outcome of any discussions held with the racecourse in relation to the provision of toilets for the Open, in November 2017. The Business Support and Licensing Team Leader would inform and consult the relevant Cabinet Member (Cllr McKinley) on the matter going forward.