Venue: Remote, Microsoft Teams
Contact: Kunwar Khan, Scrutiny Officer
No. | Item |
---|---|
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS
To receive any apologies for absence and substitutions. Additional documents: Minutes: (* = present at the meeting)
Apologies for absence were received from Janet Mason.
Mark Sugden attended as a substitute for Keith Witham.
|
|
MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING: 19 MARCH 2021 PDF 336 KB
To agree the minutes of the previous meeting of the Communities, Environment and Highways Select Committee as a true and accurate record of proceedings. Additional documents: Minutes: The minutes were agreed as a true record of the meeting. |
|
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
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 Member 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); and
· 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. Additional documents: Minutes: None received. |
|
QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS
To receive any questions or petitions.
The public retain their right to submit questions for written response, with such answers recorded in the minutes of the meeting; questioners may participate in meetings to ask a supplementary question. Petitioners may address the Committee on their petition for up to three minutes. Guidance will be made available to any member of the public wishing to speak at a meeting. Notes: 1. The deadline for Member’s questions is 12.00pm four working days before the meeting (Friday, 10 September 2021).
2. The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting(Thursday, 9 September 2021)
3. The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and one petition has been received. Additional documents: Minutes: Two public questions and a Member question, together with a petition, were received in advance of the meeting. The details, including responses are provided below:
Public Question from Elizabeth Daly, Mole Valley District Councillor for Bookham South
It is great news that Surrey Highways with the backing of the Leader of Surrey County Council is supporting a 20mph zone on the A244 through Oxshott. Will the Committee encourage Surrey Highways to support communities that wish to adopt 20mph speed limits as a default in other Surrey towns and villages - by removing current costly procedural obstacles to such schemes?
Answer:
Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure stated that the County Council are currently consulting on a new Local Transport Plan (LTP4) which places greater priority on a sustainable travel hierarchy with walking and cycling at the top. To support this, the LTP4 advises making 20 mph the speed limit for shopping and residential streets where appropriate. This is already happening in a number of locations. For example, there is already a 20-mph speed limit in Reigate town centre, and several roads adjacent to Guildford town centre bounded by Woodbridge Road, York Road and Stoke Road have recently been reduced to 20 mph. Also, work is also taking place to develop 20 mph schemes for Farnham, Caterham and Weybridge town centres.
It was right and proper that local communities and local councillors be consulted and have their say on the speed limits set for their roads where they live, within the framework set by the County Council, and in consultation with the police. There was also a need to follow the correct procedure set by central government to advertise local speed limit legal orders. There were no procedural obstacles to such schemes – instead the County Council’s process ensured that local people were consulted appropriately, and new schemes were effective in managing vehicle speeds.
Member Question from Catherine Baart Surrey County Council applied to the government for £1.697m Tranche 1 funding, to support the rollout of emergency travel measures during the pandemic to encourage more cycling and walking. When the Council was only granted £848,000, it decided to match the government funding with a further £848,000 from its own resources. However, the Council subsequently withdrew its match funding to focus on an application for Tranche 2 funding for larger scale permanent improvements to the highway network. Please confirm that the £848,000 remains earmarked for active travel improvements, in addition to Tranche 2 funding?
Answer:
Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure said that he was pleased to confirm that after a successful bid the County Council received £6,445,750 of tranche 2 government funding to introduce eight permanent active travel schemes. Details of these were on Surrey Council website. The Council had also submitted an ambitious bid for tranche 3 funding of £8,130,796 and hoped to learn the outcome of this bid in the new few weeks. Tranche 1 funding was primarily for temporary measures associated with the pandemic – helping people socially ... view the full minutes text for item 4/21 |
|
SWR TIMETABLE CONSULTATION PDF 241 KB
Purpose of the report:
To inform the Committee of the South Western Railways Consultation for proposed rail services in the county from December 2022 and to agree a response to this consultation.
Additional documents: Minutes: Witnesses: Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure Lucy Monie, Director, Highways and Transport David Ligertwood, Passenger Transport Projects Team Manager
The Chairman welcomed the public question and a timely petition about the South Western Railways Consultation.
The Chairman invited the Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure to respond. In his response, the Cabinet Member stated that he appreciated the concerns raised by the petitioners. He informed the Select Committee that he had raised similar concerns, along with the local MP, Chris Grayling, in a frank exchange with the train operator.
The Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure added that he would formally be responding to the South Western Railway (SWR) consultation and that he had similar concerns to the ones raised in the public question and the petition before this Select Committee on this topic.
Key points raised during the discussion:
|
|
PROCUREMENT OF HIGHWAYS' TERM MAINTENANCE CONTRACT PDF 260 KB
Purpose of report:
To provide the Select Committee an update on the Procurement of the Term Maintenance Contract and some of the key features of the new arrangements scheduled to start in April 2022. Additional documents: Minutes: Witnesses: Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure Katie Stewart, Executive Director – Environment, Transport and Infrastructure Lucy Monie, Director, Highways and Transport Paul Wheadon, Business Improvement and Consultancy Team Manager
Key points raised during the discussion:
Recommendations:
While supporting the contents of the Report and the rigorous process leading to the award of the contract, the Committee recommends:
|
|
Purpose of report:
To inform the committee of the council’s obligations in respect of the new National Bus Strategy, ‘Bus Back Better’, and to seek its views on the Council’s proposed approach. Additional documents: Minutes: Witnesses: Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure Katie Stewart, Executive Director – Environment, Transport and Infrastructure Lucy Monie, Director – Highways and Transport Laurie James, Bus Service Planning Team Manager
Key points raised during the discussion:
|
|
POLICY ON THE USE OF SAFETY CAMERAS IN SURREY PDF 272 KB
Purpose of the report:
This report presents a new policy which sets out the criteria and process that will be followed for investment in new safety cameras. This includes average speed, spot speed, red-light and combination cameras. While road casualty hotspots will remain the top priority, the policy also sets out the criteria for the use of safety cameras at other locations where there might not have been such a high level of collisions, but where excess speeds are a concern for the community. Additional documents: Minutes: Witnesses: Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure Lucy Monie, Director for Highways Duncan Knox, Road Safety and Sustainable School Travel Team Manager
Key points noted during the discussion:
Recommendations:
The Select Committee supports the proposed revisions and specifically endorses the creation of the “community concern” sites that may become eligible for cameras but cautions that:
i. Any unrealistic expectations among residents are not raised about new average speed cameras.
ii. In exploring alternative options before the use of cameras in “community concern” areas, these options themselves do not become a reason (costs etc.) resulting in no decision is ever reached.
iii. Members should be able to request, wherever appropriate, spot cameras for a community concern site using their respective divisional highways allocation and other sources without unnecessary constraints.
iv. A roadmap of the process and prioritisation of requests – existing and new – be put in place and communicated accordingly to all relevant stakeholders. |
|
RECOMMENDATIONS TRACKER AND FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME PDF 94 KB
Purpose of report: for the Select Committee to review the attached recommendations tracker and forward work programme, making suggestions for additions or amendments as appropriate. Additional documents: Minutes: The Select Committee noted the Recommendation Tracker and the Forward Work Programme. |
|
DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING: 15 December 2021
The next public meeting of the committee will be held on 15 December 2021. Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee noted its next meeting would be held on 15 December 2021. |