Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed Members, Officers and Members of the Public to the Forum meeting.  He introduced Mr Ian Drummond, the new Assistant Director for Transportation who has replaced Mr James Holden. 

Apologies for absence were received from Miss P Clayfield CC, Mr R D Bayliss DC, Mr G Jones DC and Mr T J Pendleton DC.

There were no urgent items.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 12th July 2007 were confirmed and signed as a true record of the meeting.

The Chairman asked Mr Warrington to update Members on the Highways Services Efficiency Review.

Mr Warrington handed out a map to Members showing the planned boundaries for the North East/North West split of the area planned under the Highways Services Efficiency Review.  He introduced Mr Andrew Lorimer who had been appointed the Team Manager for the North West area which comprised North West Leicestershire along with Charnwood West of the Soar including Barrow but excluding Loughborough.  Mr Warrington confirmed that Mr Robin Bradbury had been appointed to a new role of Manager of the new Highways Works Alliance which was commencing early in 2008.  He went on to say that work was on-going to appoint to the North West and North East teams and also the necessary accommodation changes to house the teams at Mountsorrel Depot.  Hopefully these will be completed by the end of March 2008.

Mr Warrington confirmed that the customer service centre looking to streamline customer contact will be operational by the end of November 2007.  However, Mr Warrington stated that Members would still be able to contact himself and Mr Lorimer through the contact centre.

7a   Petitions relating to speeding traffic and parking issues on Meadow Lane.

i)      A petition with 199 signatures from Cllr Michael Wyatt will be presented by Mr C A Stanley CC.  The petition calls to reduce speed limit along Meadow Lane opposite the two schools and provision of extra safety measures.

              We call upon the Leicestershire County Council to reduce the speed limit along Meadow Lane opposite the two Schools and provide extra safety measures to help avoid the risk of a serious accident

ii)    A petition with 33 signatures from Cllr Michael Wyatt will be presented by Mr          C A Stanley CC.  The petition calls for urgent measures to tackle speeding     traffic and illegal parking, at Meadow Lane Crossroads, Coalville.

            We call on the Council to implement urgent measures at Meadow Lane crossroads to tackle the concerns over speeding traffic and illegal parking

7b   Petitions relating to parking restrictions in Margaret Street and Gutteridge Street, Coalville.

i)   A petition with 64 signatures from Mr P Onyszkow will be presented by Mr John Legrys CC.  The petition requests for a review of general parking restrictions in Coalville and specifically Margaret Street with a view to adopting residential parking permits.

     I would urge you to review the general parking restrictions in the area of Coalville and specifically Margaret Street, with a view to adopting residential parking permits within these areas, thus alleviating the current parking problems

ii)  A petition with 26 signatures from Mr and Mrs Hicken and Mr and Mrs Leatherland will be presented by Mr J Legrys CC.  The petition requests residents parking for Gutteridge Street, Coalville.

     We the undersigned would like to petition for residents parking for Gutteridge Street, Coalville

     A report in response to these petitions is attached to these papers at Item 8 below.

7c        Petition: request for Residents Parking Scheme during the day on Belvoir Road Coalville.  A petition with 88 signatures from Mr K Papanicolauo will be presented  by Mr J Legrys CC.  The petition requests. 

“Residents Parking Scheme during the day on Belvoir Road, Coalville, Leicestershire, LE67 3PL”

i)                    A Petition with 199 signatures was presented to the County Council by Cllr Michael Wyatt.  The petition calls to reduce speed limits along Meadow Lane opposite the two schools and provision of extra safety measures

ii)                   A Petition with 33 signatures was presented to the County Council by Cllr Michael Wyatt.  The petition calls for urgent measures to tackle speeding traffic and illegal parking at Meadow Lane Crossroads, Coalville.

Cllr Wyatt was not present at the meeting.

Mr Warrington outlined the County’s procedure, explaining that the petitions will be taken forward for investigation with the possibility that a report will come back to the meeting on 24^th January 2008.  At the latest, the petitioners and patch councillors will be contacted within six months.

Mr C A Stanley CC the patch County Councillor stated that he had issues with the petitions.  On the first one regarding speed along Meadow Lane, he had information from the police speed camera team that there had only been a small number of slight injuries recorded in the last six years.  He went on to say that he had already discussed issues with local officers at the Coalville office.

He went on to say that the local schools were encouraging young people to walk and that it was essential that the area was made safe for them.  In Mr Stanley’s opinion, the problem would be alleviated if traffic signals were installed at the Meadow crossroads.  He urged officers to seriously consider this.  This view was supported by Mr J K C Legrys CC.

Mr Stanley also pointed out that there was a problem with motorcyclists using an illegal path in the vicinity of King Edward VII College and Meadow Lane.

Mr Bradbury agreed to investigate this issue and contact Mr Stanley.

i)                    A Petition with 64 signatures from Mr P Onyszkow will be presented by Mr John Legrys CC.  The petition requests for a review of general parking restrictions in Coalville and specifically Margaret Street with a view to adopting residential parking permits.

ii)                   A Petition with 26 signatures from Mr and Mrs Hickin and Mr and Mrs Leatherland will be presented by Mr John Legrys CC.  The petition requests residents parking for Gutteridge Street, Coalville

iii)                 A Petition request for a resident parking scheme during the day on Belvoir Road Coalville.  A petition with 88 signatures from Mr K Papanicolauo will be presented by Mr John Legrys CC.

The Chairman agreed for Mr Onyszkow, Mrs Leatherland and Mr Papanicolauo to speak later on the petitions.  The Chairman asked Mr Legrys to present the petitions.

Mr Legrys stated that he would address all three petitions at the same time as they were of the same nature.

He explained that when he arrived in Coalville in 1989 residents living in the town centre, at that time, suffered from parking problems arising from shoppers and commuters.  In those days households usually only had one vehicle now it is closer to five.

Since the introduction of Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) parking restrictions are now being consistently enforced with the result that during the day residents have to park away from their homes.  Businesses are also frustrated because customers are unable to park at shops because the parking spaces have already been taken by commuters who leave their cars and walk to work.

Mr Legrys stated that he was getting frustrated by the lack of action taken by the County Council.  All waiting restrictions and parking permits should have been reviewed before CPE was introduced.

He went on to say that he had had a meeting on the 17th October with officers who were now planning to review the resident parking schemes.  Finally, he stated that residents needed to know what action was going to be undertaken and the relevant timescales.

            The Chairman asked Mr Onyszkow to speak.  Mr Onyszkow thanked the Chairman for the chance to explain the problems encountered.

            He confirmed that he had lived on Margaret Street for the last five years and whilst it was a problem then it has certainly got worse since car park changes were introduced.  People park in the road because they do not want to pay for car parks resulting in there being nowhere for residents to park.  The problem also occurs late at night and early morning when ‘clubbers’ came back for their cars after a night out.  Mr Onyszkow urged the County Council to take the review process to the next level, undertaking surveys to ascertain if resident parking schemes are viable.

The Chairman asked Mrs Leatherland to speak.  Mrs Leatherland thanked the Chairman and agreed with the comments made by Mr Legrys and Mr Onyszkow and stated that everything said to date related to Gutteridge Street as well.  She went on to say that workers park in Gutteridge Street 8am to 8pm preventing residents from parking near their homes which is unacceptable.  Parking away from homes resulted in a ripple effect across the area.  Now that parking restrictions are being enforced following the introduction of CPE, residents who have lived in the street for many years have had tickets for the first time in their lives.  She urged the county to introduce parking permits or exempt residents from receiving tickets.  Mrs Leatherland also pointed out the problem with lack of white lines in definition of parking spaces.  Finally, she  ...  view the full minutes text for item 197.

The Forum considered a report by the Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste Management on Road Safety. The report was introduced by Mr Karkowski with a copy filed with the minutes.

Mr Karkowski confirmed that the report was a follow up to the one brought to the Forum last year at the request of the county’s environmental overview and scrutiny committee.  He highlighted paragraph 4 of the report in which the Department for Transport has rated the County’s Local Transport Plan (LTP2) as excellent.  On road safety, the county was commended for making particular good use of statistical analysis to inform choices and identify further areas for improvement and our delivery of road safety initiatives was described as impressive.

Mr Karkowski took Members through the report highlighting the reduction in casualty statistics in both the borough and the county.  He agreed to speak to Mr S D Sheahan CC on the position of a Community Speed Watch (CSW) initiative in Ashby Wolds.

On a Member question on the high cost of a local safety scheme in Ashby in comparison to the accident return Mr Karkowski explained that a reason could be that not all of the costs related to the safety element.  It was common practice to add maintenance work when undertaking improvement schemes to avoid working on the same stretch of road at separate times.

Mr Legrys made the point that Community Speed Watch initiatives were designed to be undertaken in rural areas which made it difficult for urban areas who did not have a parish council to become involved.  Mr Karkowski accepted that such involvement was possibly more difficult, but pointed out that in asking for expressions of interest from "Parish Councils or action groups" the initiative was not by design restrictive.  Nevertheless, Mr Karkowski agreed to ask the officers involved in CSW to investigate Mr Legrys's concerns and get back to him.

Mrs L A S Pendleton CC stated that in her area there were 3 successful initiatives undertaken without there being Parish Councils involved.  She went on to say that the initiative requires 200 signatures in order to meet the criteria, and urged Mr Legrys to organise on this basis.

Mrs Pendleton asked that any improvements incorporating traffic signals in Kegworth would not necessitate the removal of the dragon’s teeth and safety cameras until the signal were in and were successful.

      RECOMMENDATIONS

i)                    That the report of the Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste Management be noted; 

ii)                   that officers speak to Mr Sheahan on the position of a CSW initiatives in Ashby Wolds;

iii)                 that CSW officers investigate the involvement of urban areas in initiatives and speak to Mr Legrys; and

iv)                 that any planned improvements on Kegworth incorporating traffic signals should not have the dragon’s teeth and safety camera removed until the success of the signal has been established.

The Forum considered a report by the Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste Management on the Manual for Streets.  The report was presented by Mr Drummond with a copy filed with the minutes.

Mr Drummond explained to Members that in 2003 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (OPDM) published detailed research “Better Streets Better Places – Delivery Sustainable Residential Environments, PPG3 and Highway Adoption”.  This was looking for authorities to work with developers to promote developments with better living spaces.  Part of the research was the Manual for Streets.

The County has adopted many of the issues of the ODPM as part of the “Highways, Transportation and Development (Htd) document.  At present, this document is being updated to ensure it remains one of the best development guides.

Finally, Mr Drummond confirmed that the county was looking to standardise the design guidance for developers in the region and was hopeful that Leicester City, Nottinghamshire CC and Derbyshire CC would join with the county in its promotion across the region.

Members welcomed this document and asked if it replaced the Highway Design Guide.  Mr Drummond confirmed that it did.

Mr Legrys asked that officers be more flexible when using the 5 meter rule when looking at drop kerb applications.

RECOMMENDATION

That the report of the Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste Management be noted.

            The Forum considered a report by the Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste Management on the 2007/8 Highway Capital and Revenue Programmes.  The report was introduced by Mr Bradbury with a copy filed with the minutes.  Mr Bradbury explained to Members that this was a standard report and with the approval of the Chairmen asked for questions.

            In answer to a question on the improvement scheme in Acresford Mr Bradbury confirmed that instructions had been issued to the Contractor to undertake construction.

            Mr Legrys asked if some form of communication could be sent to residents explaining why the slurry sealing work in Coalville had been delayed because of impending work to be undertaken by the Gas Alliance.

            Mr Bradbury explained that slurry sealing, in common with a number of other maintenance treatments, had been delayed because of works being undertaken by the Gas Alliance.  However in some cases slurry sealing may not be the appropriate treatment.  If resurfacing was more appropriate then, the limited funds available can sometimes make it difficult to explain to residents the timescale involved.

            Mr Bradbury agreed to speak to the Local Member on outstanding works Matthews Avenue Worthington.

            RECOMMENDATIONS

i)                    That the report of the Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste Management be noted; and

ii)                   that officers discuss with Mr Stevenson DC the outstanding works Matthew Avenue, Worthington.

The Forum considered a report by the Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste Management on the current position of the Traffic Regulation Orders programme.  The report was presented by Mr Bradbury with a copy filed with the minutes.

In answer to a question on the Loudon Monument scheme and objections voiced, Mr Bradbury explained that the scheme was part of a programme of work in conjunction with the Ashby partnership.  The informal consultation had been positive.  However, after the recent elections the new Town Council had changed their positive support and, the recent elections, they had voiced objections.  Mr Bradbury went on to say that discussions were ongoing with the Town Council to try to resolve this situation.

Mr Bradbury confirmed works planned for Ashby Wolds including the weight restriction was planned to be undertaken together.

He agreed to speak to Mr Sheahan on two other weight restriction schemes in Moira which were not in the report.

Mr Bradbury also agreed to speak to Mr P A Hyde CC on the 20 mph scheme Ellistown.

RECOMMENDATIONS

i)                    That the report of the Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste Management be noted;

ii)                   that officers speak to Mr Sheahan on weight restriction schemes in Moira; and

iii)                that officers speak to Mr Hyde on the 20 mph scheme Ellistown.

The Forum considered a report by the Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste Management on the on-going action statement.  The report was introduced by Mr Bradbury with a copy filed with the minutes.  Mr Bradbury brought Members up to date with the outstanding action.

He agreed to speak to Mr Stevenson on the parking problems outside the New Swannington Primary School.

Mr Legrys pointed out that this problem with parking outside schools was a county-wide one.

            RECOMMENDATIONS

i)                    That the report of the Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste Management be noted; and

ii)                   that officers speak to Mr Stevenson on the parking problems outside the New Swannington Primary School.

There were no items discussed.

Thursday 24th January 6.30 p.m. – Board Room – District Council Offices

Thursday 10th July 6.30 p.m. – Board Room – District Council Offices

Thursday 16th October 6.30 p.m. – Board Room – District Council Offices

The Chairman confirmed the dates for 2008 meetings.

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