Councillors and committees

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Runnymede Civic Centre, Addlestone KT15 2AH

Contact: Sylvia Carter  Surrey County Council, Runnymede Civic Centre, Station Road, Addlestone, KT15 2AH

Items
No. Item

121/17

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS

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    To receive any apologies for absence, and notices of substitutions from Borough members under Standing Order 39.

    Minutes:

    The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting, noting that this was the last local committee for County Councillor Chris Norman who was retiring after thirty years in local government service. She thanked him for his dedication and also for previously chairing the local committee for four years.

     

    Apologies were noted from Cllr Carol Manduca.

122/17

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING pdf icon PDF 121 KB

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    To approve the Minutes of the previous meeting as a true record. A copy of the minutes will be available in the room for half an hour prior to the meeting.

    Minutes:

    The minutes of the November 2016 meeting were approved and signed.

123/17

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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    To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests from Members in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.

     

    Notes:

    ·        In line with the Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012, declarations may relate to the interest of the member, or the member’s spouse or civil partner, or a person with whom the member is living as husband or wife, or a person with whom the member is living as if they were civil partners and the member is aware they have the interest.

     

    ·        Members need only disclose interests not currently listed on the Register of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.

     

    ·        Members must notify the Monitoring Officer of any interests disclosed at the meeting so they may be added to the Register.

     

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

     

    Minutes:

    No declarations of interest were submitted or made.

124/17

PETITIONS pdf icon PDF 127 KB

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    To receive any petitions in accordance with Standing Order 65.

    Two petitions have been submitted within the deadline:

     

    *           a petition with 89 signatures from parents and carers associated with Thorpe Lea primary school, Egham Hythe, calling for road safety measures on the approaches to the school;

     

    *           a parking request with 150 signatories from F5 Networks business, requesting new waiting restrictions on London Street, Chertsey.

     

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    The petition led by F5 Networks of London Street Chertsey was noted, and it was confirmed that this parking request was being considered by the parking team through the 2017 Review for Runnymede, with recommendations to be considered by the Local Committee at its next meeting on 3 July 2017.

     

    The Local Committee recieved the petition regarding road safety at Thorpe Lea School in Egham Hythe, and Mrs Anna Scally addressed the committee with the following points:

     

    ·         The school is situated at a T-junction where three roads converge, with limited signage to indicate there is a school, no designated crossing points, and a 30mph speed limit;

    ·         Poor parking by parents adjacent to the school entrance has been addressed by the school management;

    ·         The petitioners would like to see improved signage, a 20mph speed limit in the vicinity of the school, and some form of traffic calming measures such as speed cushions.

     

    The Area Highways Manager noted the Road Safety outside Schools policy (annexed to the item) and said that he would liaise with the Safer Travel Team in Surrey Highways to arrange for a professional highways officer to visit and to advise on an appropriate response to the petition.

     

    The chairman confirmed that the Local Committee would provide a written response to this petition for consideration at their next meeting, on 3 July 2017.

     

125/17

WRITTEN PUBLIC QUESTIONS

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    To receive and answer any questions from Surrey County Council electors within the area in accordance with Standing Order 66.

    Minutes:

    No written public questions were submitted.

126/17

WRITTEN MEMBER QUESTIONS

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    To receive any written questions from Members under Standing Order 47.

    Minutes:

    No written member questions were submitted.

127/17

DECISION TRACKER [FOR INFORMATION] pdf icon PDF 180 KB

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    The decision tracker enables members and the public to see what progress has been made on decisions taken at previous meetings.

    Minutes:

    Members noted the contents of the Decision Tracker.

128/17

ALLEGED PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY FROM CHERTSEY LANE TO THE RIVER THAMES BETWEEN NOS. 121 AND 119A CHERTSEY LANE, EGHAM - CP557 [FOR DECISION] pdf icon PDF 222 KB

    The Committee is asked to decide whether it considers, on the evidence presented, that there subsists a historic right of way from Chertsey Lane to the River Thames at this location and therefore whether a Map Modification Order should be made. Annex B of the report outlines the key legal considerations for making a decision.

    Additional documents:

    Decision:

    The Local Committee agreed that:

     

    i) public footpath rights were not recognised over A-B on Drg.No. 3/1/88/H28 and they did not approve the application for a MMO under sections 53 and 57 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to modify the Definitive Map and Statement by the addition of a footpath, to be known as Footpath No.93 (Egham), due to insufficient evidence to grant the application;

     

    ii) an MMO should not be made and advertised to implement such changes.

     

    The reason for the decision was that there was insufficient evidence to give rise to a presumption that a public footpath subsists or is reasonably alleged to subsist over land in the area to which the map relates.

    Minutes:

    The Countryside Access Officer, Mr Daniel Williams, introduced the report which outlined a request to approve a Map Modification Order for the location on Chertsey Lane in the borough of Runnymede. He noted that a map of 1804 was the first to show access to the Thames from the Lane at this point on the bank, and that the Thames Conservancy minutes in Annex C made clear that they regarded a public access to the riverbank as existing. He explained that there was no single piece of evidence demonstrating a right of way, but that the collective weight of the evidence gathered was sufficient to grant an order. He also noted that the relevant legislation did not admit consideration of safety or security issues, therefore the Committee should base its decision entirely on the evidence of a right of way having existed, referring them to the legal guidance in Annex B.

     

    Mr Corney, an objector to the making of the Order and resident owner of 119A Chertsey Lane, spoke for his allotted time on the matter and made the following points:

    ·         When he moved to the property in 1996 the land to the side was open access and was plagued by anti-social behaviour including fly tipping and drug taking

    ·         In 1999 Surrey County Council granted a garden licence to Mr Corney, who then cleared the area and fenced it for use as a lawn;

    ·         The documentary evidence presented by the officer dated from before the period when the nearby Truss’s Island park (25metres away) was established, with its landing stages and slipway;

    ·         He contended that Ferry Avenue, on the opposite side of Chertsey Lane, led more directly to the Island than to the piece of land in question and that it was uncertain from the evidence as to where the public access existed.

     

    Several members of the Committee spoke, both in favour of the recommendation, and against. Several members raised concerns that when reading the various sections of analysis in the report, the phrases that appeared several times such as “no conclusions can be drawn” and “it is reasonable to infer” indicated uncertainty. Members felt that they did not have definitive evidence to support making an MMO.

    It was noted that when Mr Corney had attempted to clarify with Surrey County Council the position with a right of way, he was given to understand that no public rights were acquired.

     

    Mr Williams confirmed that he had consulted Runnymede Borough Council, (which had indicated that they had no evidence which would be useful) but not Spelthorne Borough Council on the opposite bank of the river, or any group in Thorpe. He also confirmed that if an Order was agreed, advertised and made, the Countryside team would share management of the space with the Property team at Surrey County Council.  Mr Williams summed up by reminding the Committee of the Test they should apply, as laid out in 9.3 of the report:

    “Is it reasonable to allege that a right  ...  view the full minutes text for item 128/17

129/17

HIGHWAYS UPDATE REPORT [FOR INFORMATION] pdf icon PDF 274 KB

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    The Area Highways Manager will update the Committee on highways schemes completed in 2016-17, and the planned programme for 2017-18 which is subject to allocation of budget. Officers from the Major Schemes team will outline the work completed at the Causeway (A308) and forthcoming work to improve the Runnymede Roundabout.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Mr Andrew Milne (Area Highways Manager) advised the Committee that there had been a small overspend on the 2016-17 revenue maintenance budget, and that there was likely to be a reduction in the capital budget for 2017-18, which had yet to be confirmed.

     

    Members commented on the incidence of lighted bollards being knocked down by drivers, and traffic flow at Staines Bridge. They requested a detailed breakdown of how the Community Enhancement budget for 2016-17 had been allocated.

     

    Mr James Young and Mr Paul Fishwick presented slides on the two major schemes projects in Egham – the Sustainable Transport package (delivered) at the Causeway A308,  and the Runnymede Roundabout improvements, which were expected to take eight months to complete with tree works beginning at the end of April 2017 and construction beginning from 22 May.

     

    Members sought assurances that

    ·         the reduced lanes phase would not coincide with the diversion of traffic overnight as a result of the ongoing M3 Highways England improvements,

    ·         the large amount of plant required for these works would not be stored on the green meadow floodplain adjacent to A30/A308#

    ·         the larger HGVs exiting the Glanty loop would be able successfully to negotiate the redesigned island when turning towards the Causeway to Staines.

    Mr Young confirmed that the above were being taken into account as details were finalised. He advised members and the public that regular updates on progress with the Runnymede Roundabout would be posted at

    www.surreycc.gov.uk/majortransportschemes

     

130/17

DEPT FOR TRANSPORT CONSULTATIONS ON DRAFT AIRPORTS NATIONAL POLICY STATEMENT [FOR INFORMATION] pdf icon PDF 187 KB

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    The Department for Transport issued two aviation consultation documents in February, with a closing date of 25 May 2017. This report highlights the key points and relevance to Runnymede, and members may wish to comment on specific local aspects.

    Minutes:

    Members noted that the Southern Rail Access to Heathrow study (see link in the report) would have significant implications for Runnymede and a private meeting, to consider it in more detail, should be arranged to take place prior to the May closing date for the Aviation consultations. They also agreed that there was scope for a joint conversation with Runnymede Borough Council’s member task group on Heathrow expansion.

131/17

MEMBERS ALLOCATION FUNDING [FOR INFORMATION] pdf icon PDF 158 KB

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    This report highlights funding allocated by members in the financial year to date, with details in Annex 1.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Members noted the report on 2017-18 expenditure.

    County Councillor John Furey asked for clarification on a highways item for funding which had missed the deadline for submission.

132/17

FUNDING FOR THE RUNNYMEDE COMMUNITY [FOR INFORMATION] pdf icon PDF 449 KB

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    This report is for information, and presents a snapshot of some of the projects funded from member allocations and the Community Improvements Fund in the last four years.

    Minutes:

    Members thanked officers for this overview of how member allocations and community improvements funding had benefited the community in Runnymede.