Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest at this point in the meeting.

RESOLVED

            That the minutes of the meeting held on 27 October 2014 be agreed as      a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Executive Councillor for Highways, Transport and IT was pleased to announce two additional streams of funding had been secured.  A further £5million from the capital budget would be transferred into the Highways capital spend, and an additional £9million would come from a wider needs assessment fund from central government.  However, caution was needed as there were to be changes to the way that funding allocations were calculated by central government, and there would be a move to a combination of incentive fund and challenge fund bids.  Incentive funds would come from demonstrating that there were things such as Asset Management Plans in place, and Challenge funding would be allocated through a bidding process.

It was noted that Lincolnshire had a good record of successfully bidding for funding, and the teams involved should be congratulated.

It was confirmed that some of the £9million would be allocated to maintenance.

(To receive a report which presents the results of the investigations relating to the borderline Cases provision contained within the current Speed Limit Policy in relation to mean speed and whether further relaxation is appropriate)

The Committee was advised that the report to be presented at the meeting was a report back following the Task and Finish group which had taken place earlier in the year.  When the final report was considered by the Executive, all recommendations were agreed, however, further work was requested on recommendation three which related to the level at which the borderline case criteria for mean speeds should be set.  This report updated the Committee on the further work which had been undertaken.

The Chairman allowed a member of the public to speak who had been campaigning for a reduction in speed in Fulbeck.  It was hoped that now new mean speed readings had been carried out the speed limit would be reviewed in line with the current policy.  The Executive Councillor for Highways, Transport and IT advised that he would follow up this issue with the local member outside of the meeting. 

Members considered the report which presented the results of the investigations relating to the borderline cases provision contained within the current Speed Limit Policy in relation to mean speed and whether further relaxation was appropriate.  The options put forward for consideration by the Task and Finish Group were to set the level for discretion at either +/- 2mph or +/- 3mph or maintain the current +/- 1mph.

It was reported that the new policy would go out to public consultation in Spring 2015. 

(Councillor D Brailsford informed the Committee that he was a member of the Planning and Regulation Committee and so would not be participating in the debate or vote on this item, as it related to issues which could be considered by the Committee in the future)

In relation to some concerns which had been highlighted by the Executive Councillor in terms of the potential for an increased workload and cost if the criteria were revised, members were advised that it was not anticipated that a revision to this aspect of the policy would create a particular increase in workload for officers or the Planning and Regulation Committee.

It was acknowledged that there was a desire to provide a greater level of flexibility and discretion to the Planning and Regulation Committee in relation to borderline cases, but any new policy would be subject to public consultation.

Members supported the proposed changes and felt that whilst providing flexibility, they set boundaries for the discretion which could be exercised, and it was not felt that they would create additional work for the Planning and Regulation Committee.  It was noted that when a borderline case would go to Planning and Regulation, the local member would be involved, and it would be important to make use of any local knowledge.

It was suggested that the requirement of a borderline case in relation to mean speeds be relaxed to +/- 3mph.

RESOLVED

1.    That the data gathered in terms of threshold parameters for Borderline Cases be noted;

2.    That the Committee recommend that the requirement for Borderline Cases in relation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

Members received an update in relation to winter maintenance, and it was noted that there had been a slow start to the winter season.  Guidance from the Met Office indicated that it would be a wet start to the season, but not as wet as 2013/14, and there was still uncertainty regarding how January 2015 would turn out.  Various models were used to calculate this, three indicated a mild winter, but one showed a colder winter.

It was reported that there was still plenty of salt in stock, with 21,000 tonnes in the depot, and 12,000 tonnes on the quayside in Southampton.  It was noted that the lead time from ordering additional salt was around 3 days.  Officers received a 20 day forecast from the Met office so if bad weather was likely, there was plenty of time to replenish salt stocks in the county.

It was noted that Lincolnshire had the capability to store 23,000 tonnes of salt. 

RESOLVED

            That the update be noted.

The Committee received updates in relation to the following major schemes:

Lincoln Eastern Bypass – in July 2014, the DfT declined to confirm the side roads orders due to safety concerns with access on and off the Non-Motorised User (NMU) bridge.  All other aspects of the scheme were determined to be sound and relevant.  The plans for the NMU bridge were revised, and planning permission was granted in October 2014, the side roads orders were submitted shortly afterwards.  A number of objections had been received, and these were being discussed with the DfT as they revisited the previous issues from objections.  It was possible that they could therefore be considered as already dealt with and so a new public inquiry would not be required.

Lincoln East West Link – this was a £22million scheme, and would open up opportunities for economic development as well as improved access through the city.  The contract had been awarded to Balfour Beatty, and the off highway works had commenced.  The highway works would commence after Christmas to try and mitigate the effects on traffic.

Canwick Road – this was a £3million scheme, with £1.7million of the cost being met by the Government's pinch point scheme funding.  The contract had been awarded to Eurovia and work started on site on 10 December 2014.  Prior to Christmas work would consist of site clearing, again to minimise disruption.  Officers have tried to do a lot of communication work in advance of the work starting, as this scheme would have a significant impact on the city.  It was planned the work would be completed by May 2015.

Footbridges, Lincoln – work had commenced on clearing the site for the High Street footbridge, and work would commence on site in January 2015.  Network Rail were carrying out a redesign of the Brayford Wharf bridge (although it was noted that it was possible that Network Rail had reverted back to the original design).  If the bridge was redesigned, planning permission would need to be obtained again.

Grantham Southern Relief Road – this consisted of two schemes – the Southern Quadrant Relief Road and the King 31 scheme.  The Southern Quadrant Relief Road had received conditional approval in November 2014.  A developer had applied for a judicial review on this scheme and that process was still ongoing.  In relation to the King 31 scheme, it was expected that the tender for the work would be issued in January 2015 with work starting in March 2015.

Spalding Western Relief Road – Phase one had been designed, and phases two and three were on hold pending finalisation of the Spalding Transport Strategy.

Skegness Business Park – the scheme would include an access road and roundabout, and would be funded through the Single Local Growth Fund.  Planning permission for the roundabout would be submitted in February 2015, with the plan to start work in April 2015.

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

(To receive a report which informs the Committee of the planned communication strategy associated with the delivery of major infrastructure projects in Greater Lincoln)

Consideration was given to a report which informed the Committee of the planned Communication Strategy associated with the delivery of major infrastructure projects in Greater Lincoln.

Members were advised that there were currently three significant highway schemes in the Lincoln area planned for construction – the Lincoln Eastern Bypass, the Lincoln East West Link and the Canwick Road improvement scheme.  A further 30 highways maintenance schemes, 11 large housing developments, numerous planned and unplanned utilities works, 33 major events and 140 smaller events were also scheduled during the same time as these schemes.

Therefore, it was considered essential that there was a co-ordinated communication plan put in place to ensure the wider community was kept informed of what was happening and how it would impact upon them. Workshop sessions had been held with invites extended to County, City of Lincoln, North Kesteven and West Lindsey Councillors, as well as adjacent parish councils.  A range of external stakeholders were also invited including emergency services, bus operators, tourism industry representatives and members of the business community.

The website would be kept up to date, and it was the intention that it would be updated every Friday before noon, to provide people with time to make plans for the following week.  It was considered important that people were informed of the work that was planned and how it would affect them on a week by week basis.  It was also thought that there was a need to focus on the outcomes of the work, and the benefits and improvements that the schemes would bring to the area.

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         It was essential that the communication strategy was done correctly;

·         The 'park and ride'/castle shuttle scheme was an economic development project.  It would provide an additional 300 parking spaces, and following several studies it has been determined that this should be a sufficient number;

·         The improvements would be massive, and the work would cause significant disruption, but it was thought that this was the right approach;

·         Communication plans were vital for getting the messages out to the public, as the work could become quite complicated.  It was important to say what was being done, why it was being done, and also why it was being done at this particular time;

·         It was noted that when the traffic management system was in place for the Canwick Road improvements, they would be static during the works, which should make it easier for people to get used it yet, whereas there were nine phases for the East West Link, and so that scheme would require an increased level of communication;

·         This Plan could be used as a blueprint in the future for other schemes planned within the county;

·         It was suggested that there would be a need to follow up the online updates with paper versions  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

(To receive a report which provides key performance information that is relevant to the work of the Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee)

Consideration was given to a report which provided key performance information which was relevant to the work of the Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee.

Members were advised that there was a time lag on the performance data, and the information presented covered the period up to the end of September 2014.

Two indicators were highlighted to the Committee as currently being below target as follows:

·         Non-principal roads where maintenance should be considered;

·         Bus services running on time - % non frequent services on time;

In relation to the bus services, it was noted that the behind target performance had been due to some issues around road works at Teal Park, but these should be resolved by the next quarter.

It was also noted that this quarter there had been fewer complaints and more compliments for the Highways and Transport area, but it was thought that this may change in the next quarter when work on the Canwick Road improvements commenced.

RESOLVED

            That the performance information presented be noted.

(To receive a report which enables the Committee to consider and comment on the content of its work programme for the coming year)

Consideration was given to a report which enabled the Committee to consider and comment on the content of its programme for the current year.

It was noted that the only change was that the item scheduled for the January 2015 meeting in relation to the Grantham Southern Quadrant Relief Road would be deferred to either the March or April meeting.  This was to allow time for the judicial process in relation to the planning permission appeal to be completed.

RESOLVED

            That the work programme be noted.