Councillors and committees

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Reigate Town Hall, Castlefield Road, Reigate, Surrey RH2 0SH

Contact: Jess Edmundson, Partnership Committee Officer  Reigate Town Hall, Castlefield Road, Reigate, Surrey RH2 0SH

Items
No. Item

OPEN FORUM pdf icon PDF 64 KB

The questions and responses from the open forum session are included as Annex A to these minutes

15/19

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

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    To receive any apologies for absence.

    Minutes:

    Apologies were received from Mrs Natalie Bramhall, Mrs Kay Hammond and Mr Ken Gulati.

     

16/19

CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS [AGENDA ITEM ONLY]

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    For the chairman to provide the committee with any announcements.

    Minutes:

    The Chairman gave the following announcements:

     

    ·         M25 J8 – Following the public meeting a letter from Crispin Blunt MP to Highways England would be circulated to all local committee members. There was due to be another meeting held with Highways England in October and members were still awaiting responses from questions that had been asked previously.

    ·         There would be an item at the next local committee informal meeting about youth provision as the Chairman was aware there were many concerns about this.

    ·         Junior Citizens would be running again in March 2020 but further funding was still required for this. Members were urged to approach local businesses for sponsorship or look at using any funding they had as members to help make the event a success again.

     

    Informally the Chairman congratulated both Mr Knight and Ms Thomson on their fundraising efforts; raising vital funds for cancer charities. Mr Knight was 500km through a 1000km walk and Ms Thomson was to complete a sponsored walk.

17/19

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING pdf icon PDF 112 KB

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    To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record.

     

    Minutes:

    Minutes of the meeting held on 3 June were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

     

    The minutes of the meeting held on 4 March were also agreed as a true record, following amendments made at the meeting on 3 June, and signed by the Chairman.

18/19

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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    All Members present are required to declare, at this point in the meeting or as soon as possible thereafter:

     

        (i)        Any disclosable pecuniary interests and / or

       (ii)        Other interests arising under the Code of Conduct in respect of any item(s) of business being considered at this meeting

     

    NOTES:

    ·         Members are reminded that they must not participate in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest.

    ·         As well as an interest of the Member, this includes any interest, of which the Members is aware, that relates to the Member’s spouse or civil partner (or any person with whom the Member is living as a spouse or civil partner)

    ·         Members with a significant personal interest may participate in the discussion and vote on that matter unless that interest could be reasonably regarded as prejudicial

    Minutes:

    There were no declarations of interest.

19/19

PETITIONS

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    To receive any petitions in accordance with Standing Order 68. Notice should be given in writing or by email to the Community Partnership and Committee Officer at least 14 days before the meeting. Alternatively, the petition can be submitted on-line through Surrey County Council’s e-petitions website as long as the minimum number of signatures (30) has been reached 14 days before the meeting.

     

    Minutes:

    Two petitions were received before the deadline.

19/19a

PETITION TO: REPAIR A DEEP VERGE ON SLIPSHATCH ROAD, REIGATE pdf icon PDF 74 KB

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    The full wording of the petition along with officer response are provided within the supplementary agenda.

    Decision:

    The Local Committee noted:

    i)    The officer’s comment.

    ii)   That officers could work with the divisional member and district councillor to see if there is any support for work to be carried out on initial investigation and design work and whether there are any opportunities for match funding.

     

    The local Committee agreed:

     

    iii)  That initial investigation and design work to establish the cause of the verge to sink and the most effective method to raise the verge be added to the Integrated Transport Scheme List for consideration for future funding.

     

    Reason for decision:

     

    The above decision was made to enable work to be undertaken on the above scheme at a time when funding to do so was available.

     

    Minutes:

    Declarations of Interest: None

     

    Officers Attending: Zena Curry, Area Highways Manager, SCC

     

    Petitions, Public Questions and Statements: The petition and officer response was published within the supplementary agenda.

     

    The lead petitioner, Mrs Sally Clack was unable to attend the meeting.

     

    Key points from the discussion:

     

    ·         The divisional member noted that she was in support of the petitioners request but queried what the timeline for work was. It was confirmed that officers were always looking at opportunities for match funding. The AHM added that she was asking the committee to agree for the scheme to be put forward to be focussed on in the next financial year.

    ·         Members queried how this Integrated Transport Schemes (ITS) list differed from other lists. Other schemes had been added to the ITS list but were unable to progress due to lack of funding. The AHM apologised for the confusion of having two so-called ITS lists and suggested perhaps the list referred to in relation to this petition should be named the Capital Maintenance list.

     

    Resolution:

     

    The Local Committee noted:

    i)    The officer’s comment.

    ii)   That officers could work with the divisional member and district councillor to see if there is any support for work to be carried out on initial investigation and design work and whether there are any opportunities for match funding.

     

    The local Committee agreed:

     

    iii)  That initial investigation and design work to establish the cause of the verge to sink and the most effective method to raise the verge be added to the Integrated Transport Scheme List for consideration for future funding.

     

    Reason for decision:

     

    The above decision was made to enable work to be undertaken on the above scheme at a time when funding to do so was available.

     

19/19b

PETITION TO: IMPROVE THE ROAD SAFETY OF CHILDREN ATTENDING HORLEY INFANT SCHOOL pdf icon PDF 78 KB

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    The full wording of the petition along with officer response are provided within the supplementary agenda.

     

    Decision:

    The Local Committee agreed:

     

    i)    To allow the county councils Safer Travel Team to investigate concerns raised by the petition using the Road Safety Outside Schools Policy

    The Local Committee noted:

     

    ii)  The outcome of the safety assessment will be reported to the school and local County Councillor containing the results of the road safety education assessment and a description of any potential highway improvements and estimated costs.

    iii) That recommendations could include measures within the school grounds which the school will be responsible for implementing.

     

    Reason for decision:

     

    The above decision was made in order to enable officers to conduct a Road Safety Outside Schools Assessment to look at measures that could be taken to improve the road safety for the children.

    Minutes:

    Declarations of Interest: None

     

    Officers Attending: Zena Curry, Area Highways Manager, SCC

     

    Petitions, Public Questions and Statements: The petition and officer response was published within the supplementary agenda.

     

    The lead petitioners Mr Jason Walters and Mrs Lynn Sadd attended the meeting and addressed the committee with their concerns. Mr Walters explained how the school was very much involved in the community and were also trying to promote alternative methods of travel to school. The school currently had a silver award for their school travel plan, took part in the annual golden boot challenge and continually encouraged parents to ‘park and walk’. Despite all efforts parents were choosing what was easy over what was safest.

     

    Key points from the discussion:

     

    ·         The divisional member, although unable to attend the meeting, had offered her support and had hoped to attend the site visit with the Safer Travel Team to the school in the coming days.

    ·         Members suggested that if parents were unwilling to change their behaviours then it could be an issue to take up with the Reigate & Banstead Community Safety Team or Joint Enforcement Team (JET) to take action.

    ·         There was a lot of support from members and they suggested better communication may be required with parents to raise awareness of the free parking and initiatives that were available to them when completing the school drop offs and pickups.

     

    Resolution:

     

    The Local Committee agreed:

     

    i)    To allow the county councils Safer Travel Team to investigate concerns raised by the petition using the Road Safety Outside Schools Policy

    The Local Committee noted:

     

    ii)   The outcome of the safety assessment will be reported to the school and local County Councillor containing the results of the road safety education assessment and a description of any potential highway improvements and estimated costs.

    iii)  That recommendations could include measures within the school grounds which the school will be responsible for implementing.

     

    Reason for decision:

     

    The above decision was made in order to enable officers to conduct a Road Safety Outside Schools Assessment to look at measures that could be taken to improve the road safety for the children.

20/19

FORMAL PUBLIC QUESTIONS pdf icon PDF 73 KB

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    To answer any questions from residents or businesses within the Reigate and Banstead Borough area in accordance with Standing Order 69. Notice should be given in writing or by email to the Community Partnership and Committee Officer by 12 noon 4 working days before the meeting.

    Minutes:

    Declarations of Interest: None

     

    Officers Attending: Zena Curry, Area Highways Manager, SCC

     

    Petitions, Public Questions and Statements: The questions and officer

    response were published within the supplementary agenda.

     

    Two written public questions were received. Neither questioner was present at the meeting to ask a supplementary question. Both questions were on the topic of cycling and the Chairman noted that this was an item on the forward plan to be considered at a future meeting.

     

    Key points from the discussion:

     

    ·         It was suggested that there could be opportunity for better communication with the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to submit bids for funding for improvements to cycling infrastructure.

    ·         The response to the second public question didn’t give an indication of when the cycleway might be opened. The AHM confirmed this was dependent on development work but something colleagues in Transport Development and Planning (TDP) Team would look in to.

21/19

FORMAL MEMBER QUESTIONS

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    To receive any questions from Members under Standing Order 47. Notice should be given in writing to the Community Partnership and Committee Officer before 12 noon 4 working days before the meeting.

    Minutes:

    There were none.

22/19

HIGHWAYS UPDATE REPORT [EXECUTIVE FUNCTION - FOR DECISION] pdf icon PDF 743 KB

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    To inform the Local Committee on the progress of the 2019/20 Integrated Transport and highways maintenance programmes in Reigate and Banstead, as well as other projects that are not funded through the Local Committee such as the Major Scheme work, including the centrally funded major maintenance works, the Greater Redhill STP and the A23 Resilience Project.

     

    The existing bus stop on the southbound carriageway of the A217 Brighton Road, Burgh Heath (50m south west of St. Mary’s Church) is inaccessible due to parked vehicles in the bus layby. Therefore, it is necessary to make changes to improve accessibility and ease of use and it is recommended that a bus stop clearway is installed. 

     

    Additional documents:

    Decision:

    The Local Committee agreed to:

    i)    Note the contents of this report.

    ii)   The installation of a bus stop clearway within the bus layby on the southbound carriageway of the A217 Brighton Road, Burgh Heath (50m south west of St. Mary’s Church). This clearway will operate from 07:00- 19:00 Monday to Friday  and will include works to provide providing a yellow bus layby cage road marking, to a length of approximately 45m.

     

    Reason for decision:

     

    The above decision was made to allow the installation of the bus clearway at the above location in order to prohibit parking at this location. The parking had previously led to the bus being unable to stop here.

     

    Minutes:

    Declarations of Interest: None

     

    Officers attending: Zena Curry, Area Highways Manager, SCC

     

    Petitions, Public Questions, Statements: None

     

    The AHM introduced the report adding there was one decision to make about a new bus clearway and the rest of the report was to note. She welcomed questions from members of the committee.

     

    Key points from the discussion:

     

    ·         The divisional member for Earlswood and Reigate South requested an amendment to the priorities for her division as detailed in Annex 2 of the report. Her first priority was Hillford Place pavements improvements  and her second priority was now Dover’s Green Road. Bushfield Drive was now her third priority because of the other major works that were already ongoing in this area.

     

    ·         A query was asked about the customer service figures and what information there was about central enquiries. The AHM confirmed there were no figures for central enquires that stopped at the contact centre, they only had figures for enquires that were sent to the Local Area Team that were generally more complex and localised. However as part of the digital transformation these other figures were being looked at.

    ·         Members noted that some refreshing of white lines had occurred in other boroughs, making their own divisions (particularly ones who neighboured other boroughs) look not as good. It was confirmed that a line refresh was taking place county-wide and many of the divisions in Reigate & Banstead were yet to have been completed.

    ·         It was noted that members were now receiving a monthly report on the maintenance work that had been requested and completed in their divisions. This was welcomed by members although a question arose about the contractor and whether a new one had been appointed. It was confirmed that it was still the same contractor but with new operatives as previously highways had noted there had been issues with the productivity.

    ·         In relation to Mason’s Bridge Road, members were keen to ensure any traffic calming measures didn’t inhibit ambulances travelling to East Surrey Hospital. This was noted by the AHM.

    ·         Members were encouraged to continue using the ‘report it’ button on the SCC website and advising their residents to do the same. This was the quickest and most efficient way to get problems logged. 

     

    Resolution:

     

    The Local Committee agreed to:

    i)    Note the contents of this report.

    ii)   The installation of a bus stop clearway within the bus layby on the southbound carriageway of the A217 Brighton Road, Burgh Heath (50m south west of St. Mary’s Church). This clearway will operate from 07:00- 19:00 Monday to Friday  and will include works to provide providing a yellow bus layby cage road marking, to a length of approximately 45m.

     

    Reason for decision:

     

    The above decision was made to allow the installation of the bus clearway at the above location in order to prohibit parking at this location. The parking had previously led to the bus being unable to stop here.

     

23/19

VERBAL UPDATE FROM MATT FURNISS, CABINET MEMBER FOR HIGHWAYS [AGENDA ITEM ONLY]

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    To receive a verbal update from the SCC Cabinet Member for Highways, Matt Furniss.

    Minutes:

    Declarations of Interest: None

     

    Officers attending: Zena Curry, Area Highways Manager, SCC

     

    Petitions, Public Questions, Statements: None

     

    The Cabinet Member for Highways, Matt Furniss introduced himself to the committee and gave the following updates:

     

    ·         There had been an investment of £20 million in the last 2 years as part of the Severe Weather Recovery Programme.

    ·         In July the Cabinet approved the Town Centre Agreement Policy which would allow Districts and Boroughs to be more involved in managing highway assets in town centres.

    ·         The roll out of LED street lights would begin in September/October and would save money on electricity and reduce carbon emissions.

    ·         Highways focus for next year would be on pavement maintenance to encourage their use and to boost sustainable travel options.

    ·         The Surrey Infrastructure Academy had been launched with courses beginning in September 2019. The Academy would be working with local higher education colleges to promote highways related degrees to address a skills shortage.

     

    ·         There were meetings ongoing with Network Rail about the Reigate level crossing. SCC were urging for changes to the silo decision making that currently wasn’t working.

     

    ·         On the topic of digital transformation there was a focus to make the reporting process easier to allow more time for officers to go out and do the job.

     

    ·         The Parking Strategy was coming up for review and there will be an encouragement for the local/joint committees to look more at on street car parking charges in order to create a surplus.

     

    Key points from the discussion:

     

    ·         Members raised concerns about barriers in place to stop local tree warden groups planting trees. They expressed disappoint that active groups were struggling with such things. The Cabinet Member advised the policy was being looked at in order to be more flexible but consideration needed to be given to the types of trees being planted and the locations of these.

    ·         A question was asked about the online system to report potholes and expressed frustration and having to report several potholes in a similar location in different reports. It was confirmed that this was due to the quality control process and updates were being looked at to make the process easier.

    ·         Members were keen to see more LEP bids coming out of Reigate & Banstead to improve the infrastructure. It was confirmed that SCC was well represented at meetings of the two LEPs in Surrey and were helping to get stuff done.

     

    Members thanked the Cabinet Member for his time and insightful update and welcomed him to return with further updates in the future.

     

     

24/19

CHETWODE ROAD IMPROVEMENT SCHEME [EXECUTIVE FUNCTION - FOR DECISION] pdf icon PDF 111 KB

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    Reigate and Banstead Borough Council and Surrey County Council are working in partnership to deliver major regeneration on the Preston estate, Tadworth. 

    As part of the regeneration over 200 new homes are being built on the former De Burgh school site. 

    To mitigate the impact of these new homes Section 106 funding has been secured to improve traffic flow along Chetwode Road.

    This report outlines the proposals for a comprehensive scheme to improve traffic flow through the provision of new parking arrangements and waiting restrictions; improved access onto and off of buses; better passenger waiting facilities; and to upgrade the condition of parts of the footway/carriageway.

    The report follows a consultation exercise that was undertaken this Summer.

    Additional documents:

    Decision:

    The Local Committee noted:

    i)    The scheme proposals and the comments received from consultation.

     

    The Local Committee agreed that:

     

    i)    The parking restrictions set out in Table 1 and in annex A of the report (‘no waiting at any time’ double yellow lines) are approved, subject to statutory consultation;

    ii)   If there are unresolved objections that they are dealt with in accordance with the county council’s scheme of delegation by the parking team manager, in consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Local Committee and local divisional member.

    iii)  Bus stop clearways are approved for the east and westbound bus stops in Chetwode Road; and

    iv) The scheme proposals for Chetwode Road and Homefield Gardens a shown in annex A are approved for implementation;

    v)  Any alterations to the scheme to be delegated to the Area Highways Manager in consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Local Committee and local divisional Members.

     

    Reason for decisions:

     

    The above decisions were made because the scheme proposals for Chetwode Road will deliver a key Section 106 obligation that forms part of the planning consent for the Be Burgh housing site in order to mitigate the impact of increased vehicular traffic on roads within the Preston estate.

    Minutes:

    Declarations of Interest: None

     

    Officers attending: Peter Boarder, Head of Place Delivery, Reigate & Banstead Borough Council

     

    Petitions, Public Questions, Statements: None

     

    Key points from the discussion:

     

    ·         Members were supportive of the work that was happening and continued discussions with Raven Housing Trust.

     

    Resolution:

     

    The Local Committee noted:

    i)    The scheme proposals and the comments received from consultation.

     

    The Local Committee agreed that:

     

    i)    The parking restrictions set out in Table 1 and in annex A of the report (‘no waiting at any time’ double yellow lines) are approved, subject to statutory consultation;

    ii)   If there are unresolved objections that they are dealt with in accordance with the county council’s scheme of delegation by the parking team manager, in consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Local Committee and local divisional member.

    iii)  Bus stop clearways are approved for the east and westbound bus stops in Chetwode Road; and

    iv) The scheme proposals for Chetwode Road and Homefield Gardens a shown in annex A are approved for implementation;

    v)  Any alterations to the scheme to be delegated to the Area Highways Manager in consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Local Committee and local divisional Members.

     

    Reason for decisions:

     

    The above decisions were made because the scheme proposals for Chetwode Road will deliver a key Section 106 obligation that forms part of the planning consent for the Be Burgh housing site in order to mitigate the impact of increased vehicular traffic on roads within the Preston estate.

25/19

RECOMMENDATIONS AND DECISIONS TRACKER [FOR INFORMATION] pdf icon PDF 255 KB

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    The tracker monitors the progress of the decisions and recommendations that the Local Committee has agreed.

     

    The Local Committee is asked to note the progress made and agree to remove from the tracker any items marked ‘complete’.

    Minutes:

    The local committee noted the decision tracker.

26/19

FORWARD PLAN [FOR INFORMATION] pdf icon PDF 52 KB

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    The Local Committee (Reigate and Banstead) will note the contents of the forward plan.

    Minutes:

    The local committee noted the forward plan and asked for an item on Youth Provision to be received at a formal meeting as well as the informal meeting in October.