Agenda item

On 5^th February 2021 the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport announced an additional £12M capital funding over the next three financial years to invest in Integrated Transport Schemes (ITS schemes) and confirmed £3M capital funding for maintenance schemes in 2021-22.  These sums are to be shared between the eleven Local and Joint Committees.

Public consultations have been completed in relation to proposed Active Travel schemes in Baker Street in Weybridge, Bridge Road in East Molesey, and Thames Ditton High Street.

There is an ongoing problem with fly tipping in Pointers Road, Cobham.

That the Local Committee [Elmbridge] agreed to:

(i)    Delegate authority to the Area Highway Manager in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Divisional Members to decide a programme of schemes for next Financial Year 2021-22 in which to invest the additional ITS funding;

(ii)   Authorise the advertisement of a permanent traffic regulation order to convert the temporary Active Travel scheme currently deployed in Baker Street, Weybridge, into a permanent scheme, and to delegate authority to the Area Highway Manager to consider any objections in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Divisional Member, subject to Committee members having seven days to review the detailed consultation response and send any comments to the Area Highways Manager.  Any comments would be discussed with the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and divisional member before making a decision as to whether to proceed with the advertisement;

(iii)  Agree to consulting the business community in Bridge Road, East Molesey, with a proposal for trial a specific weekend only pedestrian zone, and to agree to fund the trial in summer 2021 should the business community be supportive and should COVID-19 restrictions allow;

(iv)  Agree to consulting the business community in Thames Ditton High Street, with a proposal for a trial of a new pedestrian area at the Lime Tree on weekends during summer 2021, and to agree to fund the trial should the business community be supportive and should COVID-19 restrictions allow;

(v)   Authorise the advertisement of an amendment to the prohibition of traffic order that is currently in force in Pointers Road, Cobham, to move the starting point of the order approximately 90m to the southeast to a point just northwest of the entrance to Chatley Farm, to authorise the installation of a new gate at this location to prevent unauthorised access, and to delegate authority to the Area Highway Manager to consider any objections in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Divisional Member;

(vi)  Authorise the Area Highway Manager in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman, and relevant Divisional Member(s) to undertake all necessary procedures to deliver the agreed programmes.

Reasons:

A programme of schemes needs to be developed to invest Committee’s share of the new allocation for ITS schemes in the next Financial Year 2021-22.

Committee is asked to agree next steps for the proposed Active Travel schemes in Baker Street, Bridge Road and Thames Ditton High Street.

An amendment to the prohibition of traffic order in Pointers Road, Cobham, would be beneficial to mitigate the problem with fly tipping in this location.

Declarations of Interest: Rachael I Lake declared an interest as a resident of a property adjacent to Baker Street and Cllr James as a resident of Thames Ditton High Street

Officers attending: Nick Healey, Area Highways Manager

Petitions, Public Questions/Statements: None

Member discussion –key points

The Area Highways Manager outlined the key points of the report and in particular the additional funding now allocated to the Committee.  For construction in the 2021/22 year there is a need to move forward with schemes which are already well advanced to ensure that the funding available can be utilised.  For future years the Committee can have a greater role in deciding which schemes should be prioritised.  He proposed that the ITS funding should be used to top up CIL funding to enable schemes to proceed.

In relation to the Baker Street Active Travel scheme the Area Highways Manager apologised for not being able to publish the results of the consultation before the meeting.  The response had been good.  Everyone adjoining Baker Street both residents and businesses had been consulted with letters sent to over 500 addresses.  There were 261 responses (54%) of those 66% were in favour and 32% were not in favour of making the scheme permanent.  Of the residents 156 were in favour and 72 were opposed.  Businesses were more divided 7 were in favour and 11 were opposed.  He emphasised that the scheme does not remove any parking from the area.  The detailed comments would be circulated to Committee members for consideration with seven days to respond with any additional concerns.  Any received would then be considered in consultation with the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and divisional member and a decision made as to whether the concerns are significant enough to delay the advertisement of the traffic regulation order for further consideration by the Committee at the next meeting.  The recommendations were amended accordingly.  The people who commented on the scheme either or before installation during installation are not included in this analysis and this consultation was carried out in February once people had had an opportunity to experience the scheme.  It is not possible to maintain the current temporary restrictions in the long term so a decision is required either to make permanent or to remove it.  The divisional member indicated that both he and the majority of ward members are in favour of making the scheme permanent and that every effort had been made to make the community aware of the consultation.

In relation to recommendation (v) the divisional member queried whether this would just move the issue further down the road and whether there are additional measures could be considered.  The Area Highways Manager indicated that this recommendation had been put forward by officers at Elmbridge Borough Council who are responsible for dealing with fly tipping.

The Committee agreed to consider the prioritisation of schemes and the method for scoring schemes in future years at its informal meeting on 14 April.

Resolved: to:

(i)    Delegate authority to the Area Highway Manager in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Divisional Members to decide a programme of schemes for next Financial Year 2021-22 in which to invest the additional ITS funding;

(ii)   Authorise the advertisement of a permanent traffic regulation order to convert the temporary Active Travel scheme currently deployed in Baker Street, Weybridge, into a permanent scheme, and to delegate authority to the Area Highway Manager to consider any objections in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Divisional Member, subject to Committee members having seven days to review the detailed consultation response and send any comments to the Area Highways Manager.  Any comments would be discussed with the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and divisional member before making a decision as to whether to proceed with the advertisement;

(iii)  Agree to consulting the business community in Bridge Road, East Molesey, with a proposal for trial a specific weekend only pedestrian zone, and to agree to fund the trial in summer 2021 should the business community be supportive and should COVID-19 restrictions allow;

(iv)  Agree to consulting the business community in Thames Ditton High Street, with a proposal for a trial of a new pedestrian area at the Lime Tree on weekends during summer 2021, and to agree to fund the trial should the business community be supportive and should COVID-19 restrictions allow;

(v)   Authorise the advertisement of an amendment to the prohibition of traffic order that is currently in force in Pointers Road, Cobham, to move the starting point of the order approximately 90m to the southeast to a point just northwest of the entrance to Chatley Farm, to authorise the installation of a new gate at this location to prevent unauthorised access, and to delegate authority to the Area Highway Manager to consider any objections in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Divisional Member;

(vi)  Authorise the Area Highway Manager in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman, and relevant Divisional Member(s) to undertake all necessary procedures to deliver the agreed programmes.

Reasons:

A programme of schemes needs to be developed to invest Committee’s share of the new allocation for ITS schemes in the next Financial Year 2021-22.

Committee is asked to agree next steps for the proposed Active Travel schemes in Baker Street, Bridge Road and Thames Ditton High Street.

An amendment to the prohibition of traffic order in Pointers Road, Cobham, would be beneficial to mitigate the problem with fly tipping in this location.