CouncillorsParish Council - Meetings minutes
12 February 2009 - 8pm
HIGHWAYS & TRANSPORTATION
COMMITTEE
8.00 p.m. on 12 February 2009
Village Hall Committee Room
Minutes
Present: Councillors: Ken Huddart (Chairman), Anthony Sheppard, Geoff Herbert, Jehan Master
Co-opted members: Caroline Stevenson
In attendance: Freda Collins- Parish Clerk
Cllr Mike Bennison
1. Apologies for absence
Cllr Jimmy Cartwright who was on holiday
Cllr David Parks for personal reasons
Howard Mallinson, Brian Rhodes
These were accepted.
2. Declarations of Interest in items on the Agenda
None
3. Minutes of the last Meeting
The meetings of the previous meeting on the 19 Dec 2008 had been circulated.
The following corrections were made:
i. AP25- this should read ‘further from’ not ‘nearer to’
ii. AP32 – ‘n’ should read ‘in’
They were agreed and signed.
4. To report on the actioning of items from previous minutes.
AP17 - David Parks arranged for an EBC gang to remove these sign stubs properly. Many thanks to both.
AP20 - Cricket Club parking in
AP21- Request raised table at
AP22 / AP23 - HGS at
AP24 - Further briefing of Mike Bennison on K3 crossed with his return from holiday, when he reported that the request for an extension to
AP25 - No change; SCC is committed to providing a bus stop clearway, but still has to consider the case for moving it away from
AP26 - Various information received, the best current statement being in the free magazine emotion. All SWT stations have the card readers; the cards store details of tickets held, but apparently not cash; the trial is on the Windsor line and it is likely that the design to be rolled out later this year will incorporate modifications; SWT reckon there will be no link to Oyster, but there is strong TfL pressure for this, reported in London free papers. See item 6b.
AP27 – Cllr Huddart wrote to Ian Taylor and thanked him for effort and actual success in fending off the ticket office reductions; he has responded with his thanks for the thanks. DfT rules have become known that 12 sales per hour justify keeping the office open. See item 6b.
AP28 - Our underground searches for tree planting and HGS refurbishment are now complete, after Virgin recently agreed to give us free on-line access and provided technical help, which Cllr Huddart has down-loaded, and passed to the tree wardens. See item 7c. No action has been taken on warning SCC of the risk of not undertaking searches, since it is more important concentrate on the
AP29 - Lighting maintenance is currently being further escalated in SCC by Cllrs Mike Bennison, Anthony Sheppard and Huddart. It is not clear if eDF is the culprit. Item 7d.
AP30 - Anthony Sheppard has responded to Wendy Tatman regarding access for wheelchair users in The Parade.
AP31- re. Commercial vehicle parking. Cllr Huddart spoke to the informant and discovered that the offending vehicle is a truck which is not moved for weeks at a time and is used for storing materials. This seems to amount to trading from the highway. The informant will contact EBC who are able to take action.
AP32 - Suggestion of horses crossing sign at
AP33- Anne Woods and East Surrey Highways chased re. Rights of Way maintenance; she has put BW32 on the resurfacing list, but budget constraints mean that no date for the work has be set. There was no mention of CPC part funding. She will visit BW32 and FP 31 next week. See item 11.
AP34 – Cllr Huddart has not yet told David Saunders of our decision not to proceed in the High Street.
AP35 - Campaign for Better Transport has agreed to continue sending information until our subscription runs out.
AP36 – Councillor Wells is drafting a piece on
5. Constitution of the Committee
A volunteer recently came forward as a result of the VDS questionnaire. He is interested in cycling. He may be a useful member for the Committee. Cllr Huddart to pursue
AP37 Cllr Huddart to action.
6. Public Transport
a. Bus shelters & Routes
EBC does not currently have funds for a bus shelter at the youth club, so no PC contribution is currently required. Carol Manley has started work on the HGS.
We seem to have been mostly successful (AP24) in stopping discussion of modifications of the K3 to enable its extension into
b. Trains
During the recent bad weather, the line was out of action for 2 days.
c. Claygate Station
See reported actions AP26 and AP27 on correspondence with Ian Taylor on the ticket office hours success, and information on proposed smart cards.
7. Liaison with SCC
a. Road maintenance & footpaths
i. David Parks reported various sites early in January, some of which had been reported earlier and dealt with to a degree. Cllr Huddart’s current report of ten sites includes two new urgent ones, two old ones, and David’s request for local resurfacing of
AP38 Cllr Huddart to inspect and report
Cllr Huddart has reported to EBC that half of the
ii. Steve Wells has reported icing today of the road and footway in
Last night there was black ice in
There was flooding of
It was agreed that gritting of just A roads (Surrey C.C. position reported by Steve Wells) is not good enough. The roads through the village may be minor roads but they are the main routes through the village. Gritting just A roads leaves large areas of the county impassable.
iii. The sewer in
iv. A resident contacted Cllr Sheppard to complain that lorries are being driven down the alley at Telegraph Lane/The Roundway. A house is being built there. There is a ban on cycling, but there is vehicular access. The lorries have driven over the verge on the corner and caused considerable damage to the grass, Photographs have been taken of the damage. These were passed to Cllr Herbert who will speak to the Enforcement Officer tomorrow as this is a planning matter. Cllr Sheppard will speak to the informant.
Post meeting note; a similar problem has been reported by a resident in the
AP39 Cllrs Herbert & Sheppard to action.
v. It is noted that SCC allocates a gully empting machine for two days per month for the whole of Elmbridge. This is insufficient for routine maintenance, only emergencies are dealt with. This is a resourcing problem. But if routine maintenance is not carried out, then any small problems just get worse.
It was noted that CHO no longer report potholes, SCC rely entirely on reports from members of the public.
Cllr Bennison requested that a full list of all problems; street-lighting road maintenance and gullies are sent to him.
b. Highway tree replacement and maintenance, underground searches.
Virgin has agreed to provide underground search information, completing our requirements. Eight trees have been delivered, and planting is imminent when the ground has dried out slightly. Various dead trees have been felled, leaving stumps, which are likely to remain. Replanting has to be slightly displaced anyhow because of physical difficulties and the risk of tree disease. A tree for Hare Lane Green was included in our order, but the Parish Council otherwise has no responsibility or financial involvement. It is not known whether underground searches were done. It is believed that our tree wardens will be involved, so should be aware of safe procedures for planting.
c. Safe routes to school.
The route and materials have been agreed. There is now a problem with funding as the cost of tarmac has increased. There may be a shortfall of £3-4k. The school will approach the PTA.
d. Street lighting
i. Repair of the light for the fountain on The Green, or of its supply, is on Mike Bennison’s request list in SCC. SCC state that the light is private and not their responsibility. Cllr Bennison has issued a personal challenge to the Senior Manager of eDF to get the light on the fountain working. Post meeting note;
AP40 Cllr Bennison to action
ii. Street lighting maintenance is unacceptable, see AP29. Anthony Sheppard’s letter to SCC received no effective reply. The Committee expressed annoyance at the failure of SCC to repair all ten lights and sign lights in
Post meeting note: David Munro contacted the Clerk to arrange a meeting to discuss communications issues.
It was agreed to use the Local Committee more. We are able to feed questions to Cllr Bennison who will ask them at Committee on our behalf. Once questions are raised at this Committee, action is usually taken.
It was noted that the bad weather has caused extra problems for SCC, but this should not be used as an excuse not to act on other issues.
AP41 Cllr Sheppard to forward formal questions to be put to the Local Committee
It was agreed that the press release will be not be sent to the press until these other avenues have been explored.
8. Village Design Statement
There are a few highways issues in the summary of results. The analysis of the comments section will be completed soon. A volunteer who is a planning officer will assist Cllr Herbert to draft the core document. They may need to refer back to the Committee for more detail. The idea of the VDS is to look ahead as well as looking at what we have now.
Cllr Bennison has a copy of the VDS undertaken by Cobham/Oxshott. He will pass it onto Cllr Herbert.
AP42 Cllr Bennison to action.
9. Parking
Steve Wells has had meetings with shopkeepers. The request to EBC remains as determined by the PC, for abandonment of the £4 all day charge and provision of a free initial period. Both of these measures will cost EBC money, but will provide a service to the community and shopkeepers. The shopkeepers have requested more one hour bays on the east side of
AP 43 Cllr Huddart to chase.
10. Traffic Calming
10.1 Cllr Huddart has reiterated to SCC our request for traffic calming of the accident-prone section of
10.2 Steve Wells is to consult all residents in the area about the proposal for an advisory 20mph limit in and around
Cllr Bennison believes that Frank Apicella at SCC is no longer supportive. Cllr Huddart has not approached SCC as the Parish Council only funds the signs and it is Steve Wells who is championing this project. SCC will have to give permission. Cllr Bennison noted that, years ago, a similar scheme was mooted for
10.3 SCC promised to turn round the VAS in
10.4 We are intending to comment on the government’s consultation paper on compliance with road safety laws. It is mainly for national action, with input expected from all interested people. It covers speeding enforcement, drink/drive, driving under the influence of drugs, seat belt wearing, careless driving and driver training as alternative to penalties. Much of it is an attempt to get the public to buy into the existing constraints, possibly by softening. Thus the driver training may make it easier to install speed cameras more generally. It is believed that Claygate would benefit from average speed cameras covering our through traffic, which would have the effect of making the whole traffic stream on the through route in Claygate adhere to the limit. The cameras record vehicles at one end of the village and again at the other. It is then possible to work out which vehicles have exceeded the speed limit. It was agreed that there is no point in reducing the blood alcohol limit since the consultation ably shows that it would not reduce risks. More breath testing at sites where disobedience could be expected would be far more effective, but this is probably not a Claygate P.C. issue. Driver training rather than driver prosecution is welcomed.
AP44 Cllr Huddart to draft the consultation.
10.5 A resident of
11. Bridleway Proposals & Rights of Way
Cllr Huddart reminded SCC of the need to maintain BW32, from
12. Street Signage
12.1 Both the signs at Hare lane Green and
AP45 Cllr Huddart to report.
12.2 CIB would like to carry out planting at the entrance signs to the village, but do not know if they require permission. SCC owns the land on which the signs are except for Hare Lane Green sign which is believed to be on common land. It was agreed that the planting must not obscure the road signs, and may get driven over. Searches will need to be done.
It was agreed that the work could be carried out without permission, but that SCC should be notified. Shrubs should not be used, just low planting. It was agreed that CIB should forward plans to the Env Comm for approval.
13. Website
13.1 The piece about the new advisory 20mph signs in
AP36 Cllrs Wells & Huddart- action ongoing
13.2 Any press release should be forwarded to the website.
14. Matters for Information Only
14.1 Cllr Huddart attended a senior TfL presentation and heard David Brown, Managing Director of Transport for London Surface Transport speak. Mayor Boris Johnson favours buses to cars, but accepts that cars are a valid mode of transport. Initiatives include, electric cars, hybrid buses, more trees, more walking using shared space, removing railings, supporting cycling, rear platform buses, removing road humps, removing parked freight vehicles, removing pavement clutter, removing road openings, reviewing traffic lights, more information and enforcement by 110 officers.
14.2 eDF have agreed to a site visit with Cllr Manley re the new planting.
14.3 Cllr Herbert may soon be able to borrow a detector that reveals underground services.
15. Date and place of the next meeting
The next meeting will be at 8.00pm on 16 April 2009 in the Village Hall Committee Room.
Apologies from Cllr Master as he will be on holiday.
Signed…………………………………………………..……..as a true and fair record of the meeting. Date…………….…