Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Cllr David Payne. Apologies had also been received from Cllr June Nelson, and Cllr Peter Curling substituted.

It was confirmed that all items on the agenda were marked Part 1 and were therefore considered in public.

The Chairman of the Committee welcomed Sirous Ordoubadi and Wayne Greenshield from the Planning and Enforcement team to the meeting. Officers explained that their roles involved opening notice under NRSWA 1991, inspection, traffic management, routine inspection and highways planning.

Officers said applications for cabinets were usually received electronically from mobile operators e.g. Vodaphone and 3, and utility companies e.g. BT and Virgin. The applications described the exact location of the cabinet in relation to the phone mast (if applicable) and footway. The width of the cabinets was 1.5m, increasing to 2.2m when the cabinet door was open. The preferred location for a cabinet was on the grass verge; however Officers said there had been applications for cabinets to be positioned closer to the road then the grass verge. Cabinets had to be located 1.5m away from the road, with an absolute minimum distance of 1.2m. Officers relied heavily on the Council’s GIS system. However, if there were unknown factors and the GIS system could not be used then site visits were undertaken. Officers said 20% of applications required a site visit.

Officers informed Members that they did negotiate with operators to ensure the most suitable position for the cabinet was chosen. Companies were usually flexible with the location of cabinets.

The Committee asked Officers about the process following the planning stage of the application. Officers said the company would now apply for works on the public highway to be undertaken. This application was processed online via software used nationally which all utilities companies were privy to. In this application the company would specify when the work would be carried out, what work was to be performed, traffic management issues, the date and time of the work and checks to be undertaken at the site. Council Officers would perform spot checks on the site within a 2 year guarantee period. During this time if there was a fault with the site the operator would be contacted to fix the fault. If the fault posed a danger to the public there was a 2 hour time limit within with the site must be accessed by the operator. For non-dangerous damage there was a 10-day time limit. For dangerous damage, a Council Officer would stay at the site until the operator reached. If the operator did not reach within the time limit they would be charged. The operator would also be charged for the make-safe actions taken on the site, officer time, traffic management issues and any other inconvenience caused.

Officers stated that approximately 250 applications were received for cabinets used in conjunction with phone masts and cabinet repairs each year. Officers stated that the 3-Officer strong team undertook over 200 site visits each year to check for site safety and cabinet maintenance.

The Committee asked Officers about the BT and Virgin broadband boxes. Officers said Planning Advisors only had an influence over the placement of a cabinet when it was being located within a conservation area. Otherwise, all applications were considered by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

Resolved:

The Committee noted that Cabinet would be receiving an update on the Hillingdon Khat report in January 2012.

The Committee noted the Forward Plan.

Resolved:

The Committee noted the Work Programme.