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;

(i)            Herbert Road Parking

(ii)          New Church Road crossing

(b)          Written Questions: To receive any questions submitted by the due date of 12 noon on the 17 November 2015;

(c)          Deputations: To receive any deputations submitted by the due date of 12 noon on the 17 November 2015.

(a)          Petitions

(i)        Herbert Road Parking- Rachel Jeacock

41.1      The Committee considered a petition signed by 36 people requesting Herbert Road be included in the proposed residents parking scheme for Fiveways agreed at the Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee on 13 October 2015.

41.2      The Chair provided the following response:

“Thank you for your Petition.

The Council did indeed consult over a very wide area in the Surrenden and Fiveways area and at Committee last month we did agreed to proceed with a parking scheme restricted mainly to the immediate Fiveways area that demonstrated a large degree of support for such a scheme.

That did not include Herbert Road or other roads in the immediate vicinity of Herbert Road where there was not overall support.

It was agreed that if difficulties do arise in roads outside this area following the introduction of this scheme then residents across a number of roads, would need to put together a petition covering a wider area and present this at a future Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee. And this is because other roads may be similarly affected and as I’m sure you will understand, adding roads in one at a time is very confusing and very costly so we need to hear from the wider area to the west of Balfour Road.

This will then enable the Council to gauge the strength of feeling for a resident parking scheme across an overall area. If the area is highlighted by residents then this could be considered alongside the proposed consultation in the Preston Village area which is due to start from summer 2016”.

41.3      RESOLVED- That the petition be noted.

(ii)       New Church Road Crossing- Gilly Armstrong

41.4      The Committee considered a petition signed by 105 people requesting the council install a zebra crossing on New Church Road, close to Saxon Road, to improve pedestrian safety in the area.

41.5      The Chair provided the following response:

“Thank you for your petition.

As you may be aware the council receives a number of requests for pedestrian crossing facilities and has a rolling programme of investment. The budget isn’t as big as we would like and that does mean we have to prioritise as to where we direct our expenditure.

In terms of your request Road Safety Officers did look at this location earlier in the year and did look at the accident record. I can report that this area does have a good safety record and that no pedestrians have been involved in any accidents in the past 5 years. Although I fully appreciate areas can feel unsafe, in order for the council to direct its expenditure, the council does need a wide-range of evidence.

However I will ask officers to continue to monitor the area and report back to committee if problems become apparent”.

41.6      RESOLVED- That the petition be noted.

(b)          Written Questions

(i)        Church Road, South Portslade- Rae Powers

41.7      Rae Powers presented the following question:

"As you may know, this is Road Safety Week. But this week is no different for the children and families of St Peter's School.  Every day we continue to risk our lives along Church Road, competing with loaded HGVs, commuter buses and speeding cars. We are here for the third time in three years. One year ago you voted to provide a school crossing patrol, followed by a new zebra crossing. Neither promise has been delivered. How will the ETS committee and Road Safety Team be accountable to our community and fulfil commitments to improve the crossing on Church Road?"

41.8      The Chair provided the following response:

"As you may know, this is Road Safety Week. But this week is no different for the children and families of St Peter's School.  Every day we continue to risk our lives along Church Road, competing with loaded HGVs, commuter buses and speeding cars. We are here for the third time in three years. One year ago you voted to provide a school crossing patrol, followed by a new zebra crossing. Neither promise has been delivered. How will the ETS committee and Road Safety Team be accountable to our community and fulfil commitments to improve the crossing on Church Road?"

41.9      The Chair provided the following response:

“Thank you Rae for your question and your continuing contributions to road safety issues in the area.

In regard to your question on the progress of a School Crossing Patrol Officer we undertook recruitment drive in June and July but were unable to find a suitable candidate for the post. However, we will be advertising the post again shortly and I understand you have agreed to help in this process so will ask officers to contact you shortly so that the community can help to find a suitable person. This help is very much welcomed as school crossing patrol officers can be very difficult to recruit. In relation to you request for a Zebra Crossing, you will remember that it was actually agreed at this committee to carry out another assessment once the School Crossing Patrol had become established and more people cross at this location. As you will also be aware, the council introduced painted pinch points to help speeds and introduced new electronic warning signs for drivers and will continue to monitor the situation”.

41.10   Rae Powers asked the following supplementary question:

“If a School Crossing Patrol Officer cannot be recruited, what will lead to a crossing being put in?”

41.11   The Chair provided the following response:

“The School Crossing Patrol post will be re-advertised and I’m afraid it did get caught up in the council’s recruitment freeze and I’m sure you understand that we have to be rigorous in terms of our cash controls at the moment due to the budgetary position. There has now been clearance for the post to be re-advertised and that will now happen.

We can also monitor the effect that the additional improvements have made in terms of where pedestrians are crossing and if necessary we can then re-assess with a view to a potential crossing”.

(c)          Deputations

(i)        Surrenden & Fiveways Parking, Balfour Road- Gordon MacDonald

41.12   The Committee considered a Deputation requesting Balfour Road be included within the Fiveways residents parking scheme agreed by the Committee at its meeting on 13 October 2015.

41.13   The Chair provided the following response:

“Thank you for your detailed deputation.

At the last Committee meeting it was agreed to proceed with a parking scheme in the Fiveways area for those roads that had shown clear majority support across the area. It did not include Balfour Road or other roads in the immediate vicinity to the west of Balfour Road.

It was made clear in the consultation documents that other roads may vote in favour of a scheme and respondents from Balfour Road voted narrowly against proceeding with a parking scheme for their road.

The issues regarding school permits being issued to local schools if Balfour Road was included was also highlighted in the last committee meeting which gave the go-ahead for the statutory phase of the consultation for the identified new zone.

It was agreed that if difficulties arise in roads outside this area following the introduction of this scheme then residents as an overall area, and I’d like to stress that, would need to put together a petition and present this at a future Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee.

This will enable the committee to gauge the strength of feeling across the area for a resident parking scheme. We could then re-consult along with the planned consultation in the Preston Village area which begins from summer 2016”.

41.14   RESOLVED- That the Deputation be noted.