The chair introduced the item for discussion and
asked Members to suggest ideas for carrying out the assignment
given to the working party by the Overview and Scrutiny Panel.
Members made the following comments:
-
Although it had been initially agreed that this
review would be conducted through a visit to different locations in
the district followed by a meeting to put together findings and
recommendation, there was no need for such a visit;
-
Another Members said that it was however important
to hold a meeting with appropriate council officers to gatherer
evidence on the issues of focus for the review before the working
party took a view on those matters;
-
One Members suggested that as part of the research,
the working party ought to read through the costal review working
party report whose review was done in 2022, as this might inform
some aspect of this investigation;
·
Members agreed that the review would
focus on the negative impact of tourism in relation to the impact
of the following subject matters:
·
AirBnBs on rent levels in the
district;
·
Parking;
·
Street cleansing services (financial
impact);
·
Anti-Social Behaviour;
·
Transport;
·
Noise;
·
Second Homes;
·
Toilets;
·
Employment.
-
When looking at parking it was important to look at
parking charges for visitors whilst protecting local
residents;
-
The working party could also look at second homes to
ensure that the Council was raising enough revenue. Could the
Council lobby on levy levels for second homes?
·
The review should investigate how the
council ensured that AirBnBs were not using the Council’s
waste collection services without playing for such
services;
-
There is also a need to find out about the financial
impact of visitor expenditure on tourism in the
district;
-
The working party could look at how other councils
handle these issues arising out of the negative impact of
tourism;
-
Due to the limited time for conducting this review,
it was pertinent that Members research on all those issues before
the next meeting;
-
This would include contacting the Local Government
Association (LGA) to find out if there had research work done on
best practices by coastal councils;
-
Having discussed the number of areas to review,
Members requested that the review work be conducted over a two-day
period instead of the original one;
-
Members agreed that Members would conduct their desk
top research in September before attending a meeting in September
to compare notes on their findings;
-
They would then draft the working party report in
October, with the final report being produced in November 2023 or
January 2024;
·
Members also agreed that they should complete their desk top
research by 27 October 2023;
·
Members agreed that their next meeting be held online at 5.30pm on
12 September;
·
Senior Officers from Street Cleansing and Portfolio Holder for the
service to be invited for the 12 September meeting;
·
That would be followed by an in person meeting at 5.30pm on 26
September (on the same day as the September panel meeting)
·
Senior Officers from Community Safety and the responsible Portfolio
Holder to be invited to the 26 September meeting;
·
The finalised report should be finalised by 16 January 2024.