Agenda

The Civic Mayor to make any appropriate announcements.

At this juncture the Civic Mayor will retire from the Chair and the Chair of Council Business shall assume the Chair for the remaining business.

That the Minutes of the proceedings of the Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 8 October 2019 and the Extraordinary Meeting held on 3 December 2019 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair of Council Business (or other person presiding) (Minutes attached).

To receive any declarations of interest from Members of the Council.

To receive any announcements or communications from the Chair of Council Business, the Executive Leader, Members of the Executive Cabinet or the Chief Executive.

To consider any questions submitted by Members of the public in accordance with Standing Orders 31.12 and 31.13.

To receive the minutes of the Meetings of Executive Cabinet held on 23 October, 27 November, 18 December 2019 and 22 January 2020 and the Joint Meeting of the Executive Cabinet and Overview Panel held on 12 February 2020 and to agree the recommendations contained therein.

To consider the attached report of the Director of Finance.

To receive the minutes of the meeting of the Democratic Processes Working Group held on 17 February 2020 and to agree the recommendations set out in the minutes.

To seek nominations for the position of the Civic Mayor and Deputy Mayor for 2020/21.

To note that the Annual Meeting of Council (both Mayor Making and Business) will commence at 5.00pm on Tuesday 26 May 2020 and will take place at Dukinfield Town Hall.

To note the draft calendar of meetings for the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 Municipal Years.

To consider any changes to the membership of Council bodies.

Motion in the name of Councillor Gwynne:

That this Council recognises that further action must be taken to protect residents and communities living alongside our busiest roads in Tameside from exposure to harmful pollutants. The effects of which include asthma, allergies, heart and lung disease and cancer.

An IPPR report in 2018 condemned air pollution levels in Greater Manchester as “lethal and illegal”, and is believed to contribute to 1,200 deaths a year across the city region. Harmful gases such as nitrogen dioxide – and tiny particles of soot and other matter – from vehicle exhausts are among the main causes of this air pollution.

Tameside Council is co-operating with other GM local authorities to prepare a Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan, with the intention of reducing vehicle emissions within our communities. However the Government’s two-tier approach to the mandating of Clean Air plans and charges does nothing to protect some of our residents at greatest risk from the effects of air pollution who live alongside the strategic road network managed by Highways England.

Unbelievably, Highways England is not mandated in the same way as Tameside MBC and other Greater Manchester Authorities to improve the air quality on and around its road network. In particular, residents living and working alongside the A628 (Market Street) in Hollingworth are currently being ignored by both the government and legislation, despite homes and school playgrounds being situated alongside this highly polluted road.

This Council believes:

Highways England should be mandated in the same way as Tameside MBC and other local authorities to develop and execute a Clean Air Plan for its highway network, effectively reducing levels of Nitrogen Dioxide and particulate matter on trunk roads and motorways running through Tameside and in other areas of Greater Manchester similarly affected.

This Council resolves to request that the Chief Executive write to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to demand urgent action by Highways England to reduce the unacceptably high levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulates on its highway network to meet mandated levels on air quality by 2023. There is no time to waste in combating this silent killer that blights our communities.

Motion in the name of Councillor Warrington:

That Tameside Council notes the ‘Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C’, published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in October 2018, (a) describes the enormous harm that a 2°C rise is likely to cause compared with a 1.5°C rise, and (b) confirms that limiting Global Warming to 1.5°C may still be possible with ambitious action from national and sub-national authorities, civil society and the private sector.  This is indeed a climate emergency.

The Council welcomes the climate action taken by the Greater Manchester Mayor and other city authorities around the world to declare – and commit resources to tackling our Climate Emergency.

We also note the action taken to date recognising we need to go further including:

·                The Council’s long-standing commitment to the climate change agenda in  ...  view the full agenda text for item 13.

To answer questions (if any) asked under Standing Order 17.2, for which due notice has been given by a Member of the Council.

To consider any other items which the Chair of Council Business (or other person presiding) is of the opinion shall be dealt with as a matter of urgency.