Agenda item - Public Involvement

To consider the following matters raised by members of the public:

(a)               Petitions: To receive any petitions presented by members of the public to the full Council or at the meeting itself.

(i)                 Woodingdean Warren Road parking improvement (Gilles Guichard)

(ii)               Safer road crossings for Church Street and St Andrews Road (Rae Powers)

(iii)             Traffic calming measures on Mile Oak Road (Sarka Quesne)

(b)               Written Questions: To receive any questions submitted by the due date of 12 noon on the 1 October 2013.

(c)               Deputations: To receive any deputations submitted by the due date of 12 noon on the 1 October 2013.

(a)               Petitions

(i)                 Woodingdean Warren Road parking improvement- Gilles Guichard

24.1         The Committee considered a petition signed by 205 people that requested changes to parking arrangements on Warren Road, Woodingdean.

24.2         The Chair provided the following response:

“Thank you for presenting this petition. Officers and I have been on site to investigate this matter firsthand.  There are concerns about changing the parallel bays into echelon, bays. Firstly, given the requirement to meet the relevant legislation, there is insufficient room for echelon bays, in some sections, without changing the layout of the pavement, which would require it to be made narrower. Secondly there would be safety concerns with vehicles reversing out onto a busy main road.

This matter has been looked at before, but in reverse, when the correct, clearly marked, parallel parking bays were created because informal echelon parking was creating a potentially dangerous situation.

In terms of the 2 hour parking limit the council agreed to prioritise limited resources on essential signing and lining maintenance so are unable to carry out non-urgent changes to parking restrictions outside of resident parking schemes, with the exception of disabled bay requests.

I also saw the important local development of a new community Library and Medical Centre that is going on opposite the shopping parade at the moment. This may be affecting the availability and use of local parking, but once this is complete I am sure that parking capacity will improve.

I appreciate this isn’t the response you are looking for but I can assure you officers and myself have looked into this matter carefully”.

24.3         RESOLVED- That the petition be noted.

(ii)               Safer road crossings for Church Road and St Andrews Road- Rae Powers

24.4         The Committee considered a petition signed by 814 people that requested a number of traffic calming measures to improve safety on Church Road and St Andrews Road.

24.5         The Chair provided the following response:

“Thank you for your petition. I recently met with officers from the Road Safety Team and local councillors to look at some of the highways issues in this area.

The Council has a rolling annual programme of pedestrian crossing assessments, full details of which are published on the Council’s website.  Assessment of over 100 sites each year is undertaken methodically, and considers the road safety history of each location as well as the levels of traffic and pedestrian activity that exists at each site.  This information is supplemented by an appraisal of accessibility, amenity and physical conditions. This entire process has been before Council and approved as the most consistent way in which to manage requests for crossing facilities.

It is proposed that your requested locations are added to the current programme for assessment”.

24.6         RESOLVED- That the petition be noted.

(iii)      Traffic calming measures on Mile Oak Road- Sarka Quesne

24.7         The Committee considered a petition signed by 113 people that requested the council install traffic calming measures along Mile Oak Road specifically between Melrose Avenue and High Street.

24.8         The Chair provided the following response:

“Thank you for your petition. Officers from the road safety team have met with local Members at this location on a couple of occasions to see if any improvements can be made to make the road and immediate area  into a more pleasant environment, particularly for pedestrians, however, any options available will have significant impacts on other areas and users. I joined the most recent site meeting to see the situation for myself.

When considering any requests for traffic calming, or other measures to mitigate against the effects of traffic in a neighbourhood, the council look at the history of the area concerned, particularly to see if there have been any injury causing collisions in the past three years, and then prioritise this request alongside the many others that we receive city wide.

I am pleased to say that this section of Mile Oak Road has a very good record when it comes to road safety with no recorded injuries in this period. However, with such a good record it is with regret that we clearly cannot prioritise it above other locations that have a poorer record and where injury collisions are happening.

I am minded that the new Kings School has opened at the former 6^th form and we will of course continue to monitor the highway safety in that area”.

24.9         RESOLVED- That the petition be noted.

(iv)      Elm Grove highway parking- Keith Newell & Cllr Daniel

24.10    The Committee considered a petition signed by 40 people requesting that the council defer any decision on pavement parking enforcement in Elm Grove for 12 months to allow for a community consultation on a solution.

24.11    The Chair provided the following response:

“Thank you for presenting your petition. As you will be aware, there is a substantive item on the agenda relating to your petition and the points you have raised will be considered during the debate of that item”

24.12    RESOLVED- That the petition be noted.

(b)              Written Questions

24.13    The questioner was not present at the meeting; therefore the question was not put to the Committee. The following response was provided in writing subsequent to the meeting:

“Thank you for your question. As you maybe aware the council actively encourages people to walk their children to school and I’m pleased to inform you that the council is looking into safety improvements in the Carton Hill area using funding secured from the American Express Development. These measures will be designed in order to calm traffic and make it safer for pedestrians. Once these measures have been finalised I will ask officers to contact you to provide more detail of what is planned for the area”.

(c)               Deputations

(i)        Verge parking Varndean Road- Nick White & Councillor Shanks

24.14    The Committee considered a Deputation presented by Nick White and Councillor Shanks that requested Varndean Road be included in the proposed pilot scheme for restricting parking on verges and footways.

24.15    The Chair provided the following response:

“As you will be aware there is a substantive item on the agenda on this item and I feel it appropriate to discuss the issues you have raised at that point”.

24.16    RESOLVED- That the Deputation be noted.