Agenda item - Member Involvement

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Agenda item

Member Involvement

To consider the following matters raised by Members:

 

(a)         Petitions: To receive any petitions submitted

 

(b)         Written Questions: To consider any written questions;

 

(i)           Councillor Cox- Coach parking

(ii)         Councillor Mears- Coach parking study

 

(c)         Letters: To consider any letters;

 

(i)           Councillor Mitchell- Future use of Rottingdean pitch & putt golf course

(ii)         Councillor Geoffrey Theobald- Parking on A23 at Patcham Place Recreation Ground

(iii)       Councillor Geoffrey Theobald- Carden Avenue Service Centre

(iv)        Councillor Daniel- Hanover & Elm Grove Neighbourhood Improvement Plan

 

(j)            Notices of Motion: to consider any Notices of Motion referred from Council or submitted directly to the Committee.

 

Minutes:

(b)              Written Questions

 

(i)                 Councillor Cox- Coach Parking

 

26.1         Due to the similarities in the question subject, the Chair requested Councillor Cox and Councillor Mears present their questions in succession and a response would be provided for both.

 

26.2         Councillor Cox asked the following question:

 

‘The Council’s Seafront Strategy, as part of the aim to grow the number of visitors arriving by public transport,  includes an objective to ensure parking for coaches is easy to locate and of high quality. What progress has been made in meeting this objective?’

 

(ii)                Councillor Mears- Coach parking study

 

26.3         Councillor Mears asked the following question:

 

“Will Councillor West please update me on progress with the coach parking study agreed by Cllr. Davey at the Transport Committee meeting of 27th November 2012?”

 

26.4         The Chair provided the following response:

 

“Taking Councillor Cox’s question first, provision for coaches (including their passengers and drivers) is one of a number of important issues supporting visitors to come to the city using sustainable transport. The main area of dedicated provision for parking coaches is in Madeira Drive.  It is directly on the seafront and its operation is well-run.  It therefore meets those criteria you quoted.    

Suggestions for a new purpose-built facility to complement the existing on-street provision, alongside parking or traffic controls to manage coach parking in other areas such as Roedean have been raised by residents and ward councillors.

And that brings me on to Councillor Mears’ question.  Officers have taken up Councillor Davey’s earlier request to look at 1) demand; 2) capacity; and 3) possible solutions to the coach parking problem.  They have looked at available data which indicates that :-

Peak demand in the summer is estimated to be between 60 to 80 spaces and the average stay of a coach is about 8 hours.

Capacity in Madeira Drive is estimated to be about 50 spaces and in the Marina about 10 spaces – but as residents and ward councillors have highlighted, coaches do also park elsewhere where parking controls currently allow for it, such as the Roedean area.

In terms of possible solutions, we already know through the lengthy discussions and debates about Park and Ride, that to deliver this type of purpose-built, transport infrastructure requires both spare land and huge financing – both of which are in short supply in this city. 

Another option is building a purpose-built coach park. The most obvious and frequently-suggested sites that would fulfil the criteria stated by Cllr Cox are 1) the Gasworks site by Marina Way and 2) the Black Rock site. 

To progress the work much further and develop detailed plans has not yet been possible this financial year given the existing priorities, commitments and resources agreed by Full Council and committees. 

However a review of the council’s Local Transport Plan is beginning, and we will consider how we can address the issue of coach parking and associated facilities in that strategy – along with allocation of resources.”

 

26.5         Councillor Mears asked the following supplementary questions:

 

“I would like clarity as to why our administration were advised by officers that £100,000 was sufficient to provide temporary coach parking facilities in the city when this has been established as insufficient and at least £200,000 was required”

 

“Please can the feasibility of a 2 hour parking measures for Roedean Road be examined?”

 

26.6         The Chair replied that he would provide a formal response to Councillor Mears supplementary questions in writing subsequent to the meeting.

 

26.7         Councillor Cox stated that whilst increasing coach parking provision in the city was not an easy task; the council could do better particularly if the administration had real concern for sustainable transport.

 

(c)               Letters

 

(i)                 Councillor Mitchell- Future use of Rottingdean pitch & putt golf course

 

26.8         Councillor Mitchell stated the central matter of her letter had changed since her submission of the letter as she was aware that the operator had now withdrawn their proposals. Councillor Mitchell stated that she welcomed this development as there had been a lot of local concern about the proposals. Councillor Mitchell hoped that there would now be a proper consultation on further proposals as to future use of the site.

 

26.9         The Chair provided the following response:

 

“Thank you for your questions about the Rottingdean Pitch and Putt.

The lease for the Rottingdean Pitch and Putt site has expired and in line with normal procedures officers advertised the site through the Council’s land agents.  The site is located approximately one mile from the Roedean Pitch and Putt and the initial marketing exercise showed that re-letting the site as a golf course was not financially viable.

The option to incorporate the site in to the nature reserve was discussed at that stage with ward councillors. Given the significance of the site to the local community the decision was made to re-advertise it to encourage a wider recreational use which complemented the site’s sensitive nature and location.

Orb360 were the preferred bidder with their proposal to reopen the café, rent out segways and provide community activities and facilities.  The company has experience of working in sensitive locations having operated the Zorbing business near Devil’s Dyke for a number of years.

The proposed activities are not considered to have a detrimental impact on the site or its neighbours and no additional parking would be required.  The segways are silent electric vehicles which would run on the existing grass along set routes covering only a small proportion of the site.  No permanent barriers would be required to prevent them straying off the set routes.  The operator was keen to work with the council to enhance the conservation interest of the area, most of which would not be accessed by the segways.

The operator would have had to apply for planning permission to the South Downs National Park to upgrade the café and provide a storage facility for the segways”.

 

26.10    RESOLVED- That the Letter be noted.

 

(ii)               Councillor Theobald- Parking on A23 at Patcham Place recreation ground

 

26.11    Councillor Theobald presented a letter regarding dangerous parking on the A23 adjacent to the Patcham Place recreation ground.

 

26.12    The Chair provided the following response:

 

“Thank you for your letter. I am familiar with the parking issues you describe and share your anxiety about impact upon safety.

The Parking Infrastructure team and the Road Safety team are currently investigating this issue to consider a way forward. A single advisory white line has already been marked out to deter parking near the roundabout.

To enforce the parking issues in this road we are liaising with the Highways Agency to gain permission to extend the existing Urban Clearway to south of the pedestrian refuge. We are aiming to advertise this proposal through a traffic order later in the month. Alongside this we’re also looking at improving road safety by changing the white road markings by the refuge.

If these measures are agreed without objection then we can restrict parking quickly, otherwise we may have to bring a report to this Committee to determine any objections”.

 

26.13    RESOLVED- That the letter be noted.

 

(iii)             Councillor Theobald- Carden Avenue Service Road

 

26.14    Councillor Theobald presented a letter regarding his and residents concerns about road safety on Carden Avenue service road. Councillor Theobald also highlighted the recent cases of vehicles associated with building development work parked dangerously on the bend.

 

26.15    The Chair provided the following response:

 

“Thank you for you letter and the interesting findings from your survey. As you state Carden Avenue residents are currently being consulted on the proposal to make this road 20 mph the results of which will come to the next committee in November.

In regards to the request to make the service road one-way with traffic calming I will ask officers to investigate this in more detail and report back to the same November committee”.

 

26.16    RESOLVED- That the letter be noted.

 

(iv)      Councillor Daniel- Hanover & Elm Grove Improvement Plan

 

26.17    Councillor Daniel presented a letter requesting community consultation on improving the physical environment of the Hanover & Elm Grove areas including refuse collections, street sweeping, litter bin provision and community clean-ups.

 

26.18    The Chair provided the following response:

 

“We would welcome working with residents in Hanover on how we can work together to improve the cleanliness of the area. Your suggestions on graffiti and litter bins are certainly areas we can discuss and we are more than happy to look at how the services are delivered and explain why things are done in a certain way.

The new refuse and recycling rounds have commenced and it maybe good to wait a month to bed these in and see how the land lies and if there are further changes needed. In the meantime I do suggest that you meet with the Cityclean team to start discussing a plan to involve the local community in shaping the service to them”.

 

26.19    RESOLVED- That the letter be noted.

 

 

 

 

 

Supporting documents:

 


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