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Sir Bob Russell addressed the Cabinet pursuant to the provisions of Meetings General Procedure Rule 5(1) to express his concern about the reduction in funding to Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB). Council funding had fallen from £100,000 in 2017 to £25,000 in 2019 The CAB provided a crucial service to residents and he could not understand why a this administration would reduce its funding. The shortfall could be made up through the funding allocated for Councillors allowances.
Councillor Lilley, Portfolio Holder for Communities, Public Safety and Licensing and Councillor King, Portfolio Holder for Resources, explained that the Council had to take difficult decisions about which third sector organisations it could support. CAB also received £25,000 from Colchester Borough Homes and from another funding stream from the Council so it received approximately £70,000 per annum in total. Funding to such organisations was also now allocated over a three-year period, which provided greater certainty and helped them to seek funding from other sources
Bella Greenwood, Grace Parker, Ida Abraihan and Kemal Cufoglu addressed the Cabinet pursuant to the provisions of Meetings General Procedure Rule 5(1) about issues relating to glyphosates. Concerns were raised about the potential harmful effects on humans and wildlife. There were potential links to cancer and to respiratory diseases. Where they were used, warning signs should be used so residents were aware of the possible health issues. There also needed to be a change in the public perception of plants and weeds as they played an important role in maintaining biodiversity, and the Council had a role to play in public education on this issue. The Green Party had established a Glyphosates Working Group in the summer of 2019 to publicise research on glyphosates and campaign for a ban on their use in the Colchester area. A copy of their report was presented to the Cabinet. It was highlighted that the use of glyphosates in public places was banned in several European countries. The report called on the Council to stop using glyphosates and work with other local authorities to stop their use also.
Councillor Cory, Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Strategy, responded and thanked all the speakers. He explained that the Conservation and Environmental Sustainability Task and Finish Group was looking at the issue and he invited the speakers to attend a future meeting of the Group. The Group had agreed in principle to stop the use of glyphosates and was looking at potential alternatives. The Council was using its procurement processes to drive social value and environmental improvements, and it could look to prevent sub-contractors using glyphosates. He welcomed the report from the Glyphosates Working Group, which would be looked at, and in particular highlighted the points made about the importance of signage.
Councillor J. Young, Portfolio Holder for Culture and Performance and a member of Essex County Council, highlighted that Essex County Council’s position on the use of glyphosates was beginning to change. It now used vinegar to remove most weeds and only used glyphosates for the most resilient weeds, such as Japanese Knot Weed.
Councillor Goacher attended and with the consent of Chairman addressed the Cabinet. He congratulated the Council on being recognised by Friends of the Earth as being among the ten most environmentally friendly councils in the country. He also asked for an update on the condition of the River Colne and for confirmation on where material that was collected as part of recycling collections, but was not actually recycled, was disposed of.
Councillor Goss, Portfolio Holder for Waste, Environment and Transportation explained that he had spoken to the Environment Agency about issues relating to the River Colne. They had confirmed that they received funding to remove weeds where this posed a danger to wildlife and had acted to remove weeds from the river at Middle Mill and at the Castle Park. It was legally responsible for, and received funding for, dealing with flood risks. It was appreciated that the Environment Agency had suffered funding cuts in recent years. The Environment Agency had undertaken to look at the River Cole again and would advise if it believed that wildlife was in danger. The current conditions of the river were partly caused by the fact there had been drought conditions for the last 18 months and it was anticipated that the river would start to improve naturally as rainfall increased and as there was less sunlight. The Council had approached some contractors who worked for the Environment Agency for an estimate of the costs involved in improvement works should this become necessary. A written response would be sent on the issue raised about the disposal of waste material.
Councillor Barber attended and with the consent of the Chairman, addressed the Cabinet to ask that the Council consider widening the scope of those notified about works on trees covered by a Tree Protection Order. Currently only properties adjacent to the tree were notified, which sometimes led to problems when contractors arrived to begin work It would also be useful if ward councillors were notified as a matter of course. He was content to receive a written response.
Councillor Lilley, Portfolio Holder for Communities, Public Safety and Licensing, indicated that he would look at the issue and provide a written response.