Issue - meetings

(1)     That the policy for the adoption of roads and streets as highways maintainable at public expense for all new requests for Section 38 Agreements from 1 October 2014, as set out in Annex 1 of the submitted report, be approved.

(2)     That the decisions on Section 38 Adoption and Instructions to enter into Section 38 Agreements be delegated, to the Group Manager Planning and Development and Transport Development Planning East and West Managers as set out in paragraph 11 of the submitted report, and that officers establish an advising process on these decisions to local committees and ask the Lead Manager Democratic Services to amend the Scheme of Delegation accordingly.

Reasons for Decisions:

The recommendations are being made for the following reasons:

. 

·                There is the need to adopt a greater range of developments to facilitate our role as Lead Local Flood Authority, which requires the County to maintain surface water drainages systems that have been built in accordance with SUDS specification.

·                So that the County can better influence the form of newly created environments that will increasingly become a greater proportion of urban and suburban Surrey.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Environment and Transport Select Committee]

The Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding Recovery provided Cabinet with the background and reasons for changing the policy introduced in December 2010 for the adoption of roads and streets as highways maintainable at public expense.  He said that a revised policy should be introduced from 1 October 2014 so that it allowed and encouraged a greater number of roads and streets to be adopted under Section 38 of the Highways Act 1980 because this would assist the County in fulfilling its future statutory function as Sustainable Drainage Approval Body under its role as the Lead Local Flood Authority. The report also recommended delegating decisions on Section 38 adoptions to officers and this would be self-financing.

Cabinet had a short discussion about the Sustainable Drainage Approval Body and Surrey County Council’s relationship with its District and Borough Planning Authorities concerning building regulations. They were reassured that the necessary checks and balances were in place.

RESOLVED:

(1)     That the policy for the adoption of roads and streets as highways maintainable at public expense for all new requests for Section 38 Agreements from 1 October 2014, as set out in Annex 1 of the submitted report, be approved.

(2)     That the decisions on Section 38 Adoption and Instructions to enter into Section 38 Agreements be delegated, to the Group Manager Planning and Development and Transport Development Planning East and West Managers as set out in paragraph 11 of the submitted report, and that officers establish an advising process on these decisions to local committees and ask the Lead Manager Democratic Services to amend the Scheme of Delegation accordingly.

Reasons for Decisions:

The recommendations are being made for the following reasons:

. 

·                There is the need to adopt a greater range of developments to facilitate our role as Lead Local Flood Authority, which requires the County to maintain surface water drainages systems that have been built in accordance with SUDS specification.

·                So that the County can better influence the form of newly created environments that will increasingly become a greater proportion of urban and suburban Surrey.