Agenda item

Colin Kemp, the Cabinet Member for Highways will provide an update on current highway matters.

(Report and 4 annexes attached)

Declarations of Interest: None

Cabinet Member in attendance: Surrey County Council Cabinet Member for Highways, Cllr Colin Kemp

Petition, Public Questions, Statements: Parish Council Representatives in attendance for this item

The Cabinet Member, highlighted key areas in the report. 

1)    This was a follow up meeting. Colin Kemp had with Local Committee Members in November to update on the overall highways programme for the Tandridge area. This was to discuss the process for identifying the schemes for the 2018/19 future programmes and to start discussions on individual roads.

2)    This year has seen a huge rise in the number of pot holes that have been reported and need to be repaired. In the previous two years, February and March have had on average 3500 and 3800 pot holes respectively. In 2018 February saw 6500 pot holes being reported and March 8300 potholes across Surrey.  There is also a large amount of structural damage to the roads.  Resources have been increased with the number of crews carrying out repairing pot holes in April from 8 crews to 27 crews to repair the roads as quickly as possible. The County is trying to manage risk so carrying out repairs to priory 1 and 2’s first to make it safe rather than carry out all potholes in a road as they may only be a priority 3.  As Government funding is allocated on length of road rather than usage, it is essential that risk is managed with the resources available. 

3)    It was understood that there was not enough funding to do everything that members and residents wanted to do, but that the increased local committee funding, and the additional £5million to help address the impacts of the cold weather was helpful.  The Cabinet was keen to ensure that some of the increase in residents Council Tax was given back to the Local Committee to spend in their area.

4)    In addition, local county councillors were being given £7,500 to spend on local highways items to empower them to support local residents. The criteria for this was currently being finalised and would be with members as soon as possible, with a menu of prices for different types of highways items.

Parish Council representatives had been invited to raise questions with the Cabinet Member on this item, the following were the key points:

1)    A representative from Chaldon Village Council advised they had spoken to the contractor and they find it frustrating that they are unable to fill in all the potholes in the same area.  The Cabinet Member advised that the way the contractor manages risk is their operational decision, but would note and take away with him.

2)    A representative from Caterham on the Hill Parish Council is keen that Parishes work with the County. He raised concerns regarding illegal banners that are being put up in the Parish.  Cllr Orrick advised that the Parish has a warden that could assist in removing such banners rather than wait for a Highways officer to remove.

3)    Vice Chairman, Oxted Parish Council highlighted concerns over the speed in which vehicles travel along Wolfs Hill.  Following a petition to the Local Committee a number of years ago nothing more has been carried out.  The Divisional Member advised he would discuss outside of the meeting to take forward.

4)    Representatives from Dormansland Parish Council raised concerns regarding the clearing of gullies and that the contractor may have reported that a clearance had been carried out when the gully was still not functioning correctly and there may have been evidence to suggest that the job had not been carried out. The Area Highways Manager advised that improvements are being made. However silt is going back into the drains and this was an issue in February.  Regular audits are carried out and the contractor has to go back to carry out the job if not carried out correctly.  She thanked the Parish for making them aware of this matter and she would ask that an audit be carried out on this particular road.

5)    Representatives from Nutfield Parish Council raised concerns that two HGV’s cannot pass on parts of the A25 and car parking an issue in some parts.  The Cabinet Member advised that it might be helpful to speak to the Divisional Member, Rose Thorn to see if they can do anything through the parking review.

Member discussion- Key points

1)    Members thanked Colin and the Highways team for all the work during the snow and the winter service updates.

2)    Cllr Morrow asked if would be possible for Surrey to put ‘halos’ on lights at crossing points.  The Area Highways Manager advised that the cost of the halos are approximately £7500. These have been installed in other areas, and could be installed subject to funding availability.

3)    Mr Lee raised concerns as part of the Wider Network Benefits’ Intelligent Transport Systems Project, a new Highway ‘Variable Message Sign’ new sign had been erected in his division and a letter sent to residents without his prior knowledge.  Mr Lee expressed that it would be helpful to ensure that members are aware of what is happening in their division before communication is sent to residents.

4)    A discussion was had by the Committee on the condition of the roads compared with other areas of the country and the number of insurance claims. Members felt that the Government should be doing more to improve funding for Councils to improve the condition of the roads. The Cabinet Member advised he was lobbying the Government to look at changing the funding structure to be based on usage not road length.  Surrey is trying to manage risk and expectations with the funding available to ensure essential work is carried out on a deteriorating network.

5)     It was suggested that perhaps the temporary fill could be a different colour so residents could see that a permanent repair would be carried out later.