Agenda item

HIGHWAYS UPDATE (EXECUTIVE FUNCTION)

Meeting of Waverley Local Committee, Friday, 23 June 2017 10.00 am (Item 74/17)
Share this item

To receive an update on the 2016/17 programme of highway improvement and maintenance works funded by this committee and to agree further arrangements for allocating the budget for 2017/18.

Decision:

The Local Committee resolved to:

i. Note last year’s expenditure of the devolved budget 2016/17

ii. Allocate the reduced revenue devolved budget for this financial year towards a vegetation gang as detailed in the report

iii. Allocate the reduced capital devolved budget for this financial year 2017/18 as detailed in the report and delegate to the Area Highway Manager the ability to agree the scheme per divisional area in consultation with the county divisional member

iv. To allocate up to £63,637 from the parking surplus to top up the balance of the capital devolved budget (£26,363) to provide a total of £90,000

v. Delegate to the Area Highway Manager, in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Divisional Member the ability to resolve any problems encountered to facilitate scheme delivery

vi. Request that officers bring a report and a proposal for the parking surplus spend in all areas at the next meeting

Reasons:

i. The Local Committee acknowledges that there is a reduced budget available this year

ii. The committee agreed that schemes should be allocated promptly so that scheme design can start at the earliest opportunity and increase confidence in their prompt delivery

iii. The committee would like to explore other proposals for allocating the parking surplus before allocating this funding

Minutes:

The Acting Area Highway Manager presented a report to the committee with proposals for the allocation of the budget during the 2017/18 year. The highways budget has been cut by approximately 90% this year. This is because savings of £93 million need to be attained across the council.

The officer set out his recommendation that all devolved revenue budget should be put towards a vegetation gang whose sole focus would be to keep highways clear of overhanging foliage. There was some disappointment expressed that this would mean that there would be no funding for maintaining road surfaces and that parish and town councils would lose their opportunity to influence the programme of works. Whilst the committee ultimately approved this recommendation, the borough councillor for Cranleigh West felt unable to support this motion.

The report highlighted that there was a significant amount of funding that had been generated from on-street parking fines. 60% of this funding is devolved to the Local Committee to decide how this can be allocated across the borough. The report suggested that a portion of this could be pooled with the capital available and then shared equally amongst the nine divisions. This would allow each division the opportunity to instigate highways improvements to a value of £10,000, which can be completed in this financial year. Divisional members would be responsible for nominating the works in their respective areas.

Two ideas were expressed for the allocation of the remainder of this funding.

Many felt that the parking surplus should be allocated proportionately in line with where the parking receipts have been generated as had been the case in previous years. Farnham has generated the lion’s share of the funding and there was a previous agreement that this money was to go towards a programme to tackle congestion in Farnham Town Centre.

The alternative view is that the drastic reduction in highways funding means that any available funding should be shared across divisions so that the entire borough can benefit. This will mean that complex projects such as the one described would need to be put on hold until there was a more favourable financial position. It was argued that rural areas do not have the potential to generate income in this way and so they would be disadvantaged by funding being allocated proportionately.

The committee agreed that it would be helpful to receive a breakdown of parking receipts by area before reaching a decision and proposed that a further report is presented to the September committee to illustrate the origins of this funding and to suggest options for its distribution. Unlike capital funding, the parking surplus does not need to be spent by the end of the financial year and so the committee can give careful consideration on how this can be taken forward.