Agenda item

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

Declarations of Interest:

None

Officers attending:

Anita Guy, Principal Engineer, South East Area Team

Petitions, Public Questions and Statements:

As below

.

Two members of the public put verbal questions to the Committee.

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Mike Ward raised the issue of the reduction in the 526/527 bus service. This had previously ben discussed at the local committee meeting on 17 June 2015 following a written question from Mrs H Clack, and Mr Ward had already been referred to the answer given at that time. His opinion was that this only covered the issue of workers travelling to Gatwick Airport and wanted to know what alternatives might be available for other passengers and in particular those who are less well off.

As the Chairman and Mrs Clack had a meeting arranged with the transport team for the following week, Mr Ward was asked to email his question to the committee clerk in full, so that it could be discussed at that session.

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Roger Jones asked what the Local Committee, Mole Valley District Council and Surrey County Council were going to do regarding the decline of Dorking High Street, specifically with regard to the amount of traffic congestion and the number of empty shops.

Anita Guy (Principal Engineer) said that they were aware of the changes in traffic flows and that this could be due to works happening elsewhere and the current resurfacing might cause further changes. She referred to some of the written answers to questions from committee members to be discussed in the next item.

District Cllr Jones, in attendance as a local resident, was invited by the Chairman to comment in his capacity as Executive Member for Town Centres; his view was that the problems are caused mainly by the sequencing of the traffic lights and that there were few empty shops. The Chairman commented that there were no more traffic lights than before and that there was no clear evidence as to what the problem was.

As the committee had had no notice of the question he recommended the issue be brought back to a future meeting and he would raise the matter with the Chief Executive of the district council to seek her views.

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The tabled public questions and responses are set out in the attached document

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Gill Riggs (Holmwood Park Residents Association) had submitted a written question and received a response. She was not present at the meeting and Cllr Stephen Cooksey followed up on her behalf and asked why it had taken so long to implement the white lines. AG explained that this had previously been the responsibility of the operations team but was now part of her remit in the area team and the process should be easier going forward.

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Mr Walter Blanchard submitted written questions and received responses in advance of the meeting. He was not present to ask a supplementary.

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Deanne Weller had submitted a written question on behalf of SeeAbility and had received a written response. She was not present to ask a supplementary.

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Peter Seaward had submitted written questions on behalf of the Bookham Residents’ Association (BRA) and had received written responses. He thanked officers for the responses to questions 1 and 3 and suggested the BRA could help with consulting the National Trust with regard to the placement of the signs if required.

 Michael Agius, speaking on their behalf felt the answer to question 2 was unsatisfactory. It put the onus on BRA to find a solution with the Church to the flooding on Lower Street whereas it should be Surrey County Council who is responsible for coming up with a drainage scheme.

The Chairman explained that the responsible drainage officer was currently away but that the problem would be discussed with him on his return.

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