Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed Members and officers to the meeting. She also welcomed members of the public who were in attendance.

Apologies for absence were received from Mr S L Bray CC, Mr I D Ould CC, Mr D O Wright CC and Mr W J Crooks BC.

There were no urgent items.

There were no declarations of interest.

Minutes of the previous meeting held on Wednesday 13^th January 2010 were confirmed and signed as a true record of the meeting.

·              Item for the Highways Forum meeting on 23^rd September 2010

·              Parking restrictions in the area of The Green and New Road, Burbage

Mrs Notman took Members through the two items in the Chairman’s update.

Mr D W Inman BC was pleased to see that a full report on adoptions is coming to the next Forum meeting.  He went on to say that full consideration should be given so that all major developments be subject to the roads being adopted by the County Council.

Mr K W Lynch CC confirmed that residents were pleased with the proposals for parking restrictions in the area of The Green and New Road Burbage.  He asked that they be passed on to the relevant officers.

There were no current petitions.

            The Forum considered a report by the Director of Environment and Transport on a petition Land Society Lane and the lower section of Byron Street, Earl Shilton. The report was introduced by Mrs Notman with a copy filed with the minutes.

            Mrs Notman confirmed that the report is in response to the petition presented to the Forum on 13^th January 2010.  She confirmed the status of the road in question in that it is a private street which is a public highway but is not maintained at public expense.

            Mrs Notman confirmed that the County Council’s Highway staff have inspected the road and recommend that the potholes be filled as a matter of urgency.  However, the filling of the potholes would only be temporary and would not last in the long term.  Resurfacing the carriageway and the installation of drainage should be considered as a high priority. The estimated cost of the work is £230k and the County Council could undertake the work funded by the residents. 

            The residents may consider setting up a maintenance committee to meet future commitments on a legal basis.  The installation of bollards to restrict traffic could be considered as a formal TRO which would involve full consultation.  This would be funded by residents at the approximate cost of between £3k - £5k.

            Finally Mrs Notman advised that a questionnaire be considered to establish the views of residents as to whether any action be taken.

            Mrs J Richards CC was concerned that if residents paid the cost of maintaining the road, then traffic should be restricted otherwise the work will need doing again.  She had collected comments from residents which she would give to Mrs Notman at the end of the meeting.

            Mr B E Sutton BC stated that the problem relates to the problem of unadopted roads.

            Mr D M Gould BC asked if the work was done to resurface the carriageway would the County Council adopt the road.  Mrs Notman explained that because the road is too narrow it could not be brought up to the standard of adoption.

            Mr Inman explained that when an individual is purchasing a property in an unadopted road then they should be made fully aware of possible future maintenance requirements by their solicitor.  Resident maintenance committees do work in certain circumstances.

            Mrs Notman confirmed that the County Council does try to encourage developers to make roads wide enough when developing new estates.  However she confirmed that the County Council had a duty to the public to only spend funds on publicly maintained highways not private streets.  The County Council could not justify spending money to bring private roads up to standard.

            RECOMMENDATION

            That the report of the Director of Environment and Transport be noted.

            The Forum considered a report by the Director of Environment and Transport on a

petition requesting a review of no waiting restrictions Mill Hill Road, Hinckley.  The report was presented by Mrs Notman with a copy filed with the minutes.

Mrs Notman explained that the report is in response to the petition presented to the Forum on 13^th January 2010.  Following work to decriminalise waiting restriction offences in Leicestershire, it was found that Mill Hill Road had been incorrectly marked and was corrected to provide no waiting at any times.

Following the presentation of the petition investigations were undertaken, the conclusion of which being that this site should be considered with other local streets on a zonal basis.  This site will be included in initial consultations to establish which type of measure would be successful in addressing the problems highlighted.  These consultations are planned to take place towards the end of the financial year.

Mr Lynch appreciated that roads should be viewed on a zonal basis to avoid displacing the problem from street to street.  However the streets involved in a zone must be ones in the immediate vicinity to each other.  Since the double yellow lines have been installed traders have seen a decrease in trade.  Residents want the restrictions removed.

RECOMMENDATION

That the report of the Director of Environment and Transport be noted.

The Forum considered a report by the Director of Environment and Transport on the street lighting reduction project.  The report was introduced by Mrs Notman with a copy filed with the minutes.

Mrs Notman explained that the County Council’s cabinet had approved the implementation of the project.  The project will reduce the levels of street lighting in the County by implementing the following measures:

-          dimming of approximately 2,000 lights (250w) on main routes between 1900hrs and 0700hrs

-          switching off permanently 1,000 lights in rural areas or on roads where houses have no frontage

-          part night lighting to switch off up to 40,000 lights between 2400hrs and 0530hrs in residential streets.

It was estimated that these measures would deliver annual savings of up to £700k and deliver a reduction of up to 3,000 tonnes of carbon per annum with light pollution also being reduced.

Mrs Notman explained that trials carried out in other areas of the country have shown that crimes and accidents do not increase when lighting levels are reduced.  However she confirmed that monitoring would take place over a three year period and that lights could be re-commissioned if problems arose.

Mrs Notman stated that the County Council had been working on installing low energy lights and that this was the next step forward to reduce energy usage.  She also confirmed that the A47 junction would remain lit.

Mr M R Lay BC commented on the trial and was pleased that monitoring is in place to review.

Mr Sutton commented that there were too many lights in rural areas and that an education programme needs undertaking to ensure cyclists and pedestrians have lights and lighter clothing when they are travelling.

Members welcomed the report.

RECOMMENDATION

That the report of the Director of Environment and Transport be noted.

The Forum considered a report by the Director of Environment and Transport on the development of the third Leicestershire Local Transport Plan (LTP3).  The report was introduced by Mrs Notman with a copy filed with the minutes.

Mrs Notman explained that LTP3 will have 2 non-overlapping plans, one for Leicester City and one for the rest of the county.  She highlighted the five goals behind LTP3.

-          support economic growth

-          reduce carbon emissions

-          contribute to better safety, security and health

-          promote equality of opportunity

-          improve quality of life and a healthy natural environment

The guidance from Central Government stresses that LTP3 should be based on robust evidence and will have 2 strands.

-          a L/T plan to 2026: aligning with the strategic planning system and the Sustainable Community Strategy.

-          S/T implementation plans

Once the evidence based work has been completed, work will concentrate on the development of the longer term transport strategy with a wide ranging consultation exercise during the summer 2010.

After this the county will develop its delivery plan, which will again be consulted on in the Autumn 2010.  LTP3 needs to be legally in place by 01/04/2011.  Members will be kept up to date during the summer/autumn rounds of Highways Forums.

Members were disappointed that the city and county were not developing one plan.

Mr D A Sprason CC agreed that it was a shame despite great efforts made by the county that the city would not work in tandem to develop one plan.  The previous administration at the city refused to develop a joint plan.  However the new administration is enjoying a better relationship with the county.

Mrs Notman agreed to investigate whether the evidence based research is on the County Councils website and speak to Mr P A Hall BC.

RECOMMENDATIONS

(i)                  That the report of the Director of Environment and Transport be noted; and

(ii)                that officers investigate whether the evidence based work is on the web and speak to Mr Hall.  

The Forum considered a report by the Director Environment and Transport on the 2010/11 maintenance programmes. The report was introduced by Mrs Notman with a copy filed with the minutes.

Mrs Notman explained that the capital programme was not yet available.  It would be sent out to Members when confirmed.

Mr Lay asked Mrs Notman to ensure that drainage is not a problem when surface dressing work is undertaken at Neville Drive, Markfield.  Mrs Notman explained to Members what urban areas are classified as.

RECOMMENDATION

That the report of the Director of Environment and Transport be noted.       

          The Forum considered a report by the Director of Environment and Transport on the current position of the TRO programme.  The report was introduced by Mrs Notman with a copy filed with the minutes.

          Mrs Notman explained that this was a standard report and with the approval of the Chairman asked for questions.

          She confirmed that information on objections to TRO’s are not on the County Council’s website.

          RECOMMENDATION

          That the report of the Director of Environment and Transport be noted.

The Forum considered a report by the Director of Environment and Transport on the Ongoing action statement.  The report was presented by Mrs Notman with a copy filed with the minutes.

          Mrs Notman brought Members up to date with the three outstanding actions.  She confirmed that the two winter maintenance items would come back to the Forum once the County Council had undertaken a review of Winter Maintenance.

          Mr Lay confirmed that the Scrutiny Committee at the Borough Council had discussed gritting in the Borough and would pass comments onto the County Council’s Review Body.

          Mr Sutton was concerned that there appeared to be an increase in the deaths of wild life since the County Council had used molasses as an additive to salt.

          Mrs Notman agreed to feed these concerns back to the Review Body.

          RECOMMENDATIONS

(i)                  That the report of the Director of Environment and Transport be noted; and

(ii)                that concerns over the increase in the deaths of wild life be passed back to the Review Body.

There were no current actions for future discussion.

There were no urgent items.

The Chairman confirmed the date of the next meeting as Thursday 23^rd September 2010 at 6.30pm.

The Chairman thanked Members and officers for their attendance at the meeting.