Agenda item - Written questions from members of the public.

A list of public questions received by the due date of 12noon on the 4^th December 2014 will be circulated separately as part of an addendum at the meeting.

45.1         The Mayor reported that one written question had been received from a member of the public and invited Mr. Furness to come forward and address the council.

45.2         Mr. Furness thanked the Mayor and asked the following question;

“I have recently noticed a number of white crosses painted on paving stones in Courtney Terrace and Victoria Terrace, among other places, in Central Hove. Am I to presume, Councillor West that these slabs are to be replaced rapidly in order to use up what funds remain in the pavements budget before the end of the Financial Year?”

45.3         Councillor West replied;

              “I can assure you the Council conducts inspections on all roads on a frequent basis and depending on the level of busyness they can be inspected from once a month to as infrequently as every six months. Additionally we respond to potential hazard reports from members of the public, ward councillors or others that report to us and those are investigated.

              In the case of Courtney Terrace and Victoria Terrace I understand that they had their monthly inspection on the 28^th of November and any safety defects that were found would have been marked up for remedial action to be taken within 7 to 28 days depending on the degree of urgency. There is no rush to use up funds as you suggest. The safety defect repairs are carried out as required and in line with the Department of Transport guidance. I am sure that you will be pleased to learn of our successful bid to the Department of Transport pot-hole repair fund of £230,000. This will be used over the winter to respond to the impact of severe weather, such as excess rain and sub-zero temperatures.

              The best protection against crumbling roads and pavements is good routine maintenance and investment in renewal. I am dismayed that the Government have reduced the Local Transport Plan funding that we receive towards road maintenance. Nationally I understand there is a £12,000,000,000 backlog in road maintenance yet the government is choosing to squander £30,000,000,000 on building new roads which will just create more traffic and result in more road miles to maintain.”

45.4         Mr. Furness asked the following supplementary question;

              “Is it not true, the people who are putting these white crosses around should go to Specsavers?”

45.5         Councillor West replied;

              “If you would like to actually report the specific issue then I will be able to get a response to you. You mentioned about other roads in addition but you did not cite where they were, so if you have reports of problems in those roads we would be interested to hear. There is a lot of damage to pavements, and we spend close to £1,000,000 on pavement repair which is often due to cars parking on and obstructing the footway for people, who need to get about particularly elderly and disabled people, and I saw a report in the Argus about a person in my ward who cannot even get out of his front door because people were parking in front of it with no thought about what they were doing. I will be interested to know what issues you are having but would not be surprised if the damage is caused by pathways over-run by vehicles.”

45.6         The Mayor thanked Mr. Furness for attending the meeting and asking his questions and noted that concluded the item.