Declarations of Interest:
None
Officers
attending: Zena Curry, Area Highways
Manager, Duncan Knox, Road Safety and Active Travel
Manager.
Petitions, Public
Questions/Statements: None
The new Cabinet Member for
Highways updated the Committee on current developments in the
service and the issues in the area.
Cabinet Member - Key points
- The Council
are continuing on the capital investment with an additional
£12m funding allocated to the Winter Maintenance Fund in
2018/19 and an additional £8m this financial year. Last year,
the council repaired 60,000 potholes and carried out 50,000
preventative pothole across the county.
- There will
be a focus on pavements and providing alternatives to travelling by
car, such as walking and cycling.
- SCC are
taking difficult decisions with limited funding to provide a good
highway network.
- Each
committee receives £100,000 capital funding and then
additional funding is based on population (number of divisional
members in the District/Borough).
- Would like
to focus on maintenance rather than new schemes which will be an
ongoing asset and cost.
Member discussion –key points
- Prioritisation of pavements- Clarification was sought as to why
some pavements have been selected to be repairs and others in the
same village which are close to a school are not included and
considered to be more of a priority. The Cabinet Member advised
although not able to comment on the road, however it is often the
case that the structure underneath is coming away and needs to be
repaired. He is looking at
communication on this matter to help residents and Members
understand the prioritisation process.
This was included in a recent Member’s briefing with links to
the policy.
- Resurfacing
scheme on Farleigh Road in Warlingham,
work was due to be carried out but then delayed. The ward member asked if this would be completed
soon. The Area Highways Manager advised
that it had been re-prioritised, and directed Members to the
Horizon programme list on Surrey’s website which included the
updated programme and the winter maintenance programme.
- Pothole
repair, concern regarding the quality of the work as the pot holes
are being filled in but the wider area is not. The Cabinet Member advised that each pot hole is
guaranteed for two years so the contractor would need to return to
carry out a new repair at no cost to the tax payer. If the quality of work is of concern then it needs
to be reported via the reporting portal online. Utilities Companies have 18 months to return to
finalise their repair, once the 18 months has elapsed then the
Council can take action. The Cabinet
Member would like to provide the technology to make it easier for
residents to report highway matters on smartphones.
- Concern was
raised that the Committee are not considering collision hotspots
such as Pendell Road. The Chairman advised that that particular road is
including on the decision tracker so will be discussed at that
item. The Road Safety Manager confirmed
that Road Safety funding has also been used at the site, the yellow
backed signed were erected in April and additional works are in the
process of being designed, which included high friction
surfacing.
The Chairman thanked the
Cabinet Member for attending the meeting.