Councillors and committees

Agenda item

CABINET MEMBER (HIGHWAYS) UPDATE [AGENDA ITEM ONLY]

An update from the Cabinet Member for Highways, Mr Colin Kemp

Minutes:

1.    Chairman welcomed Colin Kemp, Cabinet Member for Highways. He set out his intention to improve the quality and transparency of the information that is  provided to members and residents.

2.    The Cabinet Member acknowledged that although the local committee’s highways budget had been drastically cut, there was still a role for local/joint committees going forward.

3.    This year £90 million will be spent across the Surrey road network. A map (attached) was displayed that showed the location of projects in Mole Valley either delivered or scheduled for delivery this financial year. A briefing note (attached)  summarises the spend across the district; the Cabinet Member recognises that this is not enough, which is why there is a need to prioritise where and how the money is spent on the network.

4.    Going forward the Cabinet Member would like proposals to be presented to the Local Committee earlier so that members are able to contribute to the process. He acknowledged that it was important for them to know what was going on so that they can inform their residents.

5.    The Local Committee also needs to look at other sources of funding that it has access to, (eg. Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), developer funding (s106) and the parking surplus – although this is not currently available in Mole Valley.)

6.    On-street parking charges in commercial areas is one option that is being explored but the Cabinet Member stressed that residential areas were not part of the scope. The main aim is to create churn of vehicles and allow residents who wish to visit these businesses to park and this in turn will help businesses to survive.

7.    County officers would work with colleagues at the district council to ensure a local approach and any decisions would come back to the Local Committee for agreement.

8.    There will be some financial benefits and figures indicate potentially an income of around  £2.5 million per annum across Surrey. The revenue would  be shared 20% to MVDC, 20% to Surrey Highways and 60% to the Local Committee which can be used by the Committee to respond to residents’ issues locally.

9.    The option to centralise the back office work relating to enforcement is also being explored with the District Council.

10.  Members welcomed the Cabinet Member’s intentions to promote a more open and transparent way of working. Many however expressed doubts that the on-street parking charges in commercial areas would benefit the businesses in Mole Valley and that a similar scheme about five years ago was withdrawn due to objections. Town centres need to be developed and introducing charges would have a detrimental effect. There are problems with enforcing the current measures and these changes would require the District Council to take on more enforcement officers.

11.  The Cabinet Member acknowledged the points raised but his conversations with small businesses indicated that creating ‘churn’ would benefit their operation and there were various options as to how this could be achieved, and it was important to start having those conversations.

12.  Members also expressed concern about the lack of funding to carry out small jobs, some of which might pose a risk to residents.

13.  The Cabinet Member assured the committee that any defects assessed to be a safety hazard would be addressed, but that collectively these small jobs mounted up and funding needed to be found.

14.  The divisional member for Dorking (Rural) raised the question as to whether it was possible for the county council to take action against drivers who damage SCC assets.

15.  The Area Highways Manager confirmed that it was possible to make a claim, provided the registration of the vehicle involved was known. The process is handled by Kier and there is a dedicated email address claims@surreycc.gov.uk. It was agreed that many did not know that this was service was available and the Cabinet Member agreed to look at organising some communication on the matter.

 

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