Agenda and draft minutes

To note the names of apologies given and deputy members who are attending the meeting in place of appointed members.

Apologies for absence were received as set out above.

To receive any disclosure of interests from Councillors and Officers in matters to be discussed.

  Note: Councillors are reminded of their obligations to declare disclosable      pecuniary interests (DPIs), other registerable interests (ORIs) and non-     registerable interests (NRIs) in accordance with the Council’s Code of     Conduct.

If you require advice, please contact the appropriate Democratic Services Officer, prior to the meeting.

There were no declarations made at this meeting.

There were no announcements made at this meeting.

Minutes of the previous meeting held on 3 December 2024.

          RESOLVED:

                     That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 3 December 2024 be approved and adopted.

To receive and note questions asked and statements made from members of the public on matters which fall within the remit of the Committee.

NB members of the public are required to register with Democratic Services
three clear working days before the meeting

(contact: democracy@winchester.gov.uk  or 01962 848 264).

Andy Eymond (Chair of Sport Winchester) addressed the committee regarding item 6 (Sports Facilities Assessment and Playing Pitch Strategy 2025) and their comments are summarised under the relevant minute below.

Andy Eymond (on behalf of Sport Winchester) addressed the Committee on this item, speaking in support of the strategy.

In summary, Andy Eymond made reference to the following points which were responded to accordingly by the Cabinet Member and relevant officers:

·       Sport Winchester were a registered charity representing sports clubs and organisations primarily in the Winchester City area.

·       Sport Winchester aims to deliver the best possible sporting facilities for the present and future.

·       The representative welcomed the resources the council was investing in the strategy, noting that not every council undertakes such an effort.

·       They emphasised the importance of improving the assessment of sports needs across the city and believed more evidence would lead to better outcomes.

·       The goal was to make the report as strong as possible by contributing data, references, and feedback, and by involving sports clubs.

·       Two areas where participation was rapidly increasing are women and girls’ sports and accessibility for people with disabilities or mental health challenges, but current facilities did not adequately meet these needs.

·       They offered support to make the report as strong as possible.

·       They believed the summary reports presented had room for improvement.

The Cabinet Member for Community and Engagement introduced the item and emphasised that this was not a completed strategy but an update on the work carried out by Continuum Sport and Leisure to date and discuss the next stages. The views of the committee were sought in response to specific questions as follows:

(a)       Do the emerging themes match members’ perception of the key issues    relating to sports provision across the district?

(b)       Are there any significant issues or concerns that have been        overlooked?

(c)       Do members know of specific (significant) demand that is not reflected   in this?

The Chairperson welcomed Caroline McRoyall and Jack McGee of Continuum Sport and Leisure to the meeting whom, together with the Service Lead: Communities and Wellbeing and the Contract Manager, provided a presentation and answered questions thereon. In summary, the presentation highlighted the following points:

(i)         An assessment of the need for playing pitches, sports, and recreation    facilities, and opportunities for new provisions.

(ii)        It sought to comply with statutory policies and guidance, audit existing      provisions, identify current and projected local needs, assess deficits     and surpluses, protect and enhance facilities, and inform decision-        making processes.

(iii)     Progress to date included completion of Stage B and near completion of Stage C.

(iv)     Stage B involved 66 site visits, consultations with facility providers,           town/parish councils, sports clubs, and National Governing Bodies     (NGBs), as well as a review of club affiliation and booking data.

(v)       Stage C assessed the need for playing pitch sports, calculated likely future demand, and identified key priorities.

(vi)     Emerging themes and priorities include maintenance (pitch       improvements), capital (new facilities/refurbishments), lease/security       (secured facility use), and community use (enabling wider use of sites).

(vii)         The council's role was to oversee the strategy and support project   delivery, while NGBs and Sport England will agree on key priority         projects to enable external funding.

(viii)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency and the Corporate Head of Service: Place provided a verbal update on waste and recycling outlining the current position and next steps to be taken.

The committee noted that £50.5 million investment in new recycling infrastructure was approved by Hampshire County Council. This would enable the collection of pots, tubs, trays, and cartons going forward, with this project expected to take around 2 ½ years to build, and a potential completion around October 2027. Hampshire had informed DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) that they are likely to be delayed in meeting the Government's April 2026 deadline for collecting pots, tubs, trays, and cartons on this basis. In addition, the Government was still planning to implement a deposit return scheme by October 2027. In total these new recycling options could improve recycling levels by approximately 10%.

It was reported that food waste recycling was planned to be phased in at every household property by March 2026. Nine food waste vehicles had been ordered, with collections aimed to start on a round-by-round basis during October 2025. It was anticipated this would generate a further 10% improvement to the recycling rate. The committee noted that the council had one fully electric vehicle that was currently being tested and trialled within the local area. The Corporate Head of Service: Place advised that an update on food waste progress would be reported back to the committee at its meeting in September 2025.

Winchester had received an indicative figure from the Government that it expected a net figure of £830,000 in the year 2025/2026 from extended producer responsibility.

Councillor Learney discussed Project Integra, a partnership created to manage waste and recycling across Hampshire and reminded the committee that in early 2022, the council had agreed to a twin stream waste collection system. At its recent meeting, Project Integra had discussed costs but failed to reach an agreement, with some districts hesitant to switch to twin stream collections based on initial costs. Hampshire County Council had agreed to hold one-to-one meetings with districts in this regard. The council supported a move to the materials recycling facility (MRF) project and encouraged other authorities to adopt twin stream collections.

The committee proceeded to ask questions and comment on the following matters which were responded to by the Cabinet Member and the Corporate Head of Service: Place.

(i)         Residual waste that currently goes to incineration would not be      affected by twin streaming. It was recognised that there was significant     work to be carried out on waste reduction to establish how much more         could be taken from residual bins.

(ii)        Food waste processing through an anaerobic digestion facility and          biogas: It was noted that disposal was a      Hampshire County Council           responsibility.

(iii)     Food waste vehicles: These would be fuelled using HVO (hydrotreated     vegetable oil) due to insufficient capacity at the depot for a fully electric     fleet.

(iv)     With twin stream, all containers including glass would go into the    recycling bin, with the glass  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Councillor Power raised a proposal that a working party be established (to operate similarly to historic Informal Scrutiny Groups), with terms of reference, to investigate the following matter:

(i)             How the council could better facilitate the generation of phosphate credits in order to, not only improve water quality in the Upper Itchen, but allow the delivery of housing numbers.

In response, the Strategic Director reminded the committee of its own terms of the reference to have a strategic overview of the Council Plan and advised that councillors would need to ensure that additional matters for the committee were not already being covered in other formats or could not be addressed within existing performance or business reports.

The Strategic Director suggested that Councillor Power provide a document to  define the scope and terms of reference for a working group in the first instance and clarified that with limited resources available, seeking expert external advisors to attend as had been suggested during discussion, would be a matter for members to facilitate.

The Chairperson suggested that members form a task and finish group to define outputs, scope and terms of reference for a working party so this could be further considered. Councillors Power, Bolton and Lee expressed their interest in forming a member group to progress this matter.

          RESOLVED:

                    That the work programme for 2024/25 be noted.