Agenda and minutes
PDF 177 KBVenue: Ashcombe, County Hall, Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 2DN
Contact: Huma Younis, Room 122, County Hall, Kingston upon Thames
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Minutes: Apologies were received from Pat Frost and Ken Gulati. There were no substitutions. |
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MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING: 11 JUNE 2015
To agree the previous minutes as a true record of the meeting. Minutes: The Minutes were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting. |
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
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: There were no declarations of interest. |
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QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS
To receive any questions or petitions. Notes: · The deadline for Member’s questions is 12.00pm four working days before the meeting (Thursday 3 September 2015) · The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting (Wednesday 2 September 2015). · The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received.
Minutes: · A member question had been received from Cllr Denis Fuller. A copy of the response was tabled at the meeting and is attached to the minutes. |
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RECOMMENDATIONS TRACKER AND FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME
The Board is asked to monitor progress on the implementation of recommendations from previous meetings, and to review its Forward Work Programme.
The Board will also receive a verbal update on the work of the winter performance task group, customer service excellence member reference group and highways for the future member reference group from their respective Chairmen.
Additional documents: Minutes: Key Points Raised During the Discussion:
1.
The Board noted the Actions and Recommendations
Tracker and agreed its provisional Forward Work
Programme. An informal forward work
planning session was scheduled to be held on conclusion of the
formal Board meeting.
2.
The Chairman reported that at the initial meeting of
the Performance & Finance Sub-Group there had been a discussion
about ways of working and an outline work programme had been
agreed. There had been an issue about
the timeliness of information submitted to the Sub-Group for the
meeting, and it had been agreed that meetings would in future be
adjourned if papers weren’t received at least two days in
advance. The Chairman would provide an
oral update on the work of the Sub-Group at each Board
meeting.
3.
The Chairman updated the Board on progress with the
Superfast Broadband project, and it was noted that the target of
95% of properties in the programme area having superfast broadband
by the end of the year was set to be exceeded. A copy of the performance and finance sub group
update report would be circulated to the board.
4.
The Board received updates from the Chairmen of its
Member Reference Groups as follows: 10.40 Peter Hickman arrived at the meeting
Actions:
The Board to receive oral updates from its ... view the full minutes text for item 16/15 |
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REPORT OF THE WINTER PERFORMANCE TASK GROUP
Purpose of the report: Policy Development and Review
To outline to the Board the recommendations made by the Winter Performance Task Group.
Additional documents: Minutes: Declarations of Interest:
None.
Witnesses:
Tony Casey, Highways and Transport Maintenance Team Manager John Furey, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport & Flooding
Key Points Raised During the Discussion:
1
Copies of the Highways Cold Weather Plan for 2014/15 were tabled at
the meeting.
2
Stephen Cooksey introduced the report on behalf of the Winter
Performance Task Group and highlighted the key points. It was noted that the arrangements in the Cold
Weather Plan had not been fully tested yet as the last two winters
had been relatively mild.
3 It
was reported that the purpose of the weather stations was to
measure the road surface temperature, wind speed and air
temperature in order to help to plan the response to cold
weather. The Highways Team also
received three weather forecasts every day, covering periods of 24
hours, one week and 30 days. Members
commented that they found it helpful to receive email notifications
in advance of severe weather, and it was suggested that the
provision of information could be extended by using social media to
distribute updates about gritting or other work being carried
out. 4 All of the Borough and District Councils were now engaged in the delivery of the Cold Weather Plan and all provided a consistent range of services such as footway clearance. There was, however, variation in the amount of resource individual councils could allocate to carry out the work. It was agreed that additional information should be included in the resources section of the Cold Weather Plan, setting out the level of service provided by individual Boroughs and Districts in the event of the Plan being implemented.
5 It was explained that priority gritting routes could be amended but members would need to contact the relevant highways officers to discuss this first.
6 The Board commended the work of the Task Group.
Recommendations:
The Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways board agreed and endorsed the following recommendations for submission to Cabinet,
a) That the 2014/15 Gritting Route Network, with minor amendments resulting from member, resident and officer feedback, be maintained for the 2015/16 season.
b) That communities be permitted to purchase additional grit bins at a total cost of £947 for an initial 4 year period and £639 for each subsequent 4 year extension, and that Parish Councils and other statutory bodies may be licensed to install grit bins on the public highway.
c) That the Highways Cold Weather Plan 2015/16 be approved.
d) That approval of any future amendments to the Highways Cold Weather Plan be delegated to the Assistant Director Highways and Transport in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding.
Actions:
· The task group report will be submitted to Cabinet for consideration.
Bob Gardner left the meeting at 11.45am. |
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SURREY RAIL STRATEGY UPDATE
Purpose of the report: Policy Development and Review
The report outlines the work undertaken on Surrey’s rail priorities since the publication of the Surrey Rail Strategy. This includes detailed assessments on the North Downs Line and the Crossrail 2 project.
Additional documents: Minutes: Declarations of Interest:
None.
Witnesses:
Paul Millin, Travel and Transport Group Manager
Key Points Raised During the Discussion:
1 The Board noted that the
benefits from the proposed Crossrail 2 scheme would be better
connectivity between the County and Central London and reduced
congestion on trains, particularly between Wimbledon and
Waterloo. Wimbledon would become a key
interchange for passengers travelling to and from Surrey. 2 Assessment work being completed
by the County Coucnil demonstrated a case for Woking Station to be
incorporated into the Crossrail 2 proposals. Research underway suggests that improved journey
opportunities could be achieved by the inclusion of Woking Station
in the scheme. Analysis currently suggests that no benefits would
be derived from the inclusion of Guildford. 3 A Network Rail report on the
electrification options, including the
North Downs Line was expected imminently, and details would be
shared with the Board in the next update report. The access issues at Dorking Deepdene Station were
discussed, and it was noted that Mole Valley District Council
planning officers had stated that the options for the provision of
lifts and fully accessible ramps were very limited due to the lack
of space available. However, the Travel
and Transport Group Manager would raise this again with First Great
Western to see if a solution could be found and how this could be
funded. Actions:
· It was agreed that a further update report would be brought to the Board in the new year.
· It was also agreed that a copy of the County Council’s formal response in relation to the devolution of rail services in London would be circulated along with the Minutes (attached to the minutes). |
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DATE OF NEXT MEETING: 21 OCTOBER 2015
The next meeting of the Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways board will be held on 21 October at 10.30 am in the Ashcombe Suite, County Hall, Kingston upon Thames. Minutes: It was noted that the next meeting would be held at 10.30am on Wednesday 21 October 2015. |