Minutes:
The Forum considered a report by the Director of Environment
and Transport with regard to the Highway Maintenance Strategy and Policy
Review. The report was introduced by Mr
Vears with a copy filed with the minutes.
Mr Vears took Members through the report and advised that this followed on from the report to the meeting on 4th July 2016 on the A-Roads to Zebras – A Comprehensive Maintenance Review which detailed the reasons for the review and the current extreme financial challenges and the changes in the way that funding is provided, together with the changes that will need to occur to comply with reducing budgets.
Mr Vears went on to say that the responses to the
consultation were mixed but gave a good steer as to what services the public
think are important. A detailed analysis
of the responses was presented to the Cabinet on 13th December 2016. Following Cabinet approval, a draft Highway
Asset Management Policy and Strategy have been produced and are attached to the
report for information.
Mr Vears encouraged Members to feed into this process and
their thoughts and feedback would be welcome.
The results will be rolled into the 2018/19 programme.
Mr Vears highlighted para 7.3 of the report which details
the 78% reduction in spending power.
Cllr K Pacey BC advised that he had observed that quite
frequently, almost weekly the red bricks at the end of some roads in his area get damaged and need replacing and
asked would it be more cost effective and efficient to get these removed and
replace them with tarmac. Mr Vears
responded that we do need to think about what can be changed to improve the
network in an efficient way and Members need to keep us informed of any issues.
Cllr M E Newton CC agreed that this was a difficult budget
to manage, especially with the public’s expectations being so high. She asked if a public relations exercise was
needed to alleviate fears with regard to the link with part-night street
lighting and recent burglaries in Loughborough.
Mr Vears responded that this was part of the process and that if
residents do have any issues that these need to be raised with officers who can
then discuss these with the police. Mr
Vears asked if this issue had been raised, Cllr Newton replied that it had been
raised with the police, Mr Vears asked her to raise this with both the police
and officers.
Cllr R Shepherd CC asked how Members can help officers and
help with public expectations. Mr Vears
stated that it was about how we communicate and let the public self-help and if
officers can’t assist, we need to look at how we facilitate i.e. third party
funding. Mr Vears went onto say that
improvements are being looked at as to how to allow the public to self-track
issues without officer involvement.
The Chair highlighted para 12 on page 49 which talks about
the importance of two-way communication.
Cllr Shepherd stated that we didn’t communicate to the
public when the decision was made for the grass verges not to be cut and the
number of complaints that were received due to this. He advised that lessons could be learned from
this. Mr Vears agreed although stated
that even when leaflet drops are carried out the public don’t always read
them. He went onto say in Northampton
County Council their budget is much less than ours but the public satisfaction
appears to be better, we can learn from what they have done.
Cllr M Smidowicz BC raised an issue about reinstatements
following work by a utility e.g. Epinal Way corner
with Beacon Road, a utility has dug up a green area which was previously used
by dog walkers and as a play area for young children. The area is now is a total mess.
Cllr Smidowicz also stated that there is a roundabout in the
same area that has cracks appearing due to speeding traffic.
Cllr Smidowicz advised that she was disappointed that
Councillors seem to get a different response from that given to members of the
public and she recently had this proved when she got a different response to an
issue that a disabled resident had also raised.
Cllr Smidowicz stated that she had recently raised an issue
on Snells Nook Lane where she couldn’t see where the
footpath was, she was advised that a surveyor would be coming out but this
hasn’t happened and she has not heard anything. Mr Vears advised that this will be chased up
and Cllr Smidowicz updated.
Mr Vears advised that issues need reporting in the correct
way which is through the Customer Service Centre; this is to ensure that they
get logged and processed correctly. It
also helps as if Members email an officer that officer could be on leave or out
of the office and the issue would not be dealt with as quickly. He added that if a response is not received,
raise the query again. If a number of
residents raise the same thing in the same way it gives greater detail of the
issue.
Cllr G Parsons BC asked if Members could propose ideas for efficiencies. He had heard of a scheme in Devon whereby the
public were being trained on repairing pot holes. Mr Vears said that he had hear of this being
carried out in Cornwall and that Parish Wardens were involved and agreed that
if Members had any proposals or ideas he would encourage them to send them to
officers to investigate.
Cllr D Taylor BC raised an issue with on-line forms through
the LCC website, she stated that she had completed a few of these recently and
had received no acknowledgement or confirmation back. Mr Vears stated that there had been a recent
IT problem and asked if Members had had any problems with the system to resend
their query/form. Mr Vears asked Cllr
Taylor to send her issue through to Mrs Dann who could chase this up for
her. Cllr J Sutherington
BC stated that if you are trying to get through on the CSC number you need to
stay on the line, as he had got through but had waited over 8 minutes.
Cllr Sutherington advised that on
his road there were only street lights lit at one end and following a recent
accident in the night the ambulance drivers were concerned as this continually
hampered their work.
Cllr Sutherington asked for
further details on the reduction of 78% in real terms as stated in the
report. Mr Vears confirmed that the
details for this can be found in the previous Highway Forum report but page 38
shows the risks that have been identified.
Mr Vears went on to say that a large amount of data is being analysed
and models being produced for the strategic development of plans.
The Chair asked that as some Parish Councils pay for their
street lighting, there are some issues about how the cost of the transition to
LEDs will be covered. He asked if there
was a way they could get funding for this.
Mr Vears agreed that officers will look into this and bring an update to
the next meeting.
Cllr Taylor asked if this information could be shared with
Borough Councils as they will be in a similar position.
Cllr Seaton stated that there was a water leak from a
collapsed water main on the junction of Melton Road and Canal Street, near the
print shop in Thurmaston that had been leaking for
some time causing problems with the speed cushions which are now
crumbling. Severn Trent cannot guarantee
when it will be fixed and Cllr Seaton asked who would be responsible for
repairing this. Mr Vears stated that
Severn Trent should reinstate any damage to match what was there
previously. He went on to say that he
would check this out immediately as he felt it could develop into an emergency
situation.
RECOMMENDATIONS
i) That the
update of the Director of Environment and Transport be noted,
ii) that officers will investigate the status of the footpath on
Snails Nook Lane and contact Cllr Smidowicz; and
iii) that Cllr Taylor send her issue through to Mrs Dann to chase
up and respond back to Cllr Taylor; and
iv) that officers look into the issue with funding for Parish
Councils for their LED transition and an update be brought to the next meeting;
and
v) that officers will investigate the Severn Trent collapsed main and problems this has caused to the speed cushions and the road.
Supporting documents: