Agenda item - Member Involvement

To consider the following matters raised by Members:

(a)          Petitions: To receive any petitions;

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

(c)          Letters: To consider any letters;

(i)            Speeding on Bush Farm Drive, Downs Park Estate, North Portslade- Councillor Atkinson

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

(i)            Being Prepared for Floods

(c)      Letters

(i)            Speeding on Bush Farm Drive, Downs Park Estate, North Portslade- Councillor Atkinson

69.1      The Committee considered a letter requesting that an urgent traffic survey study be undertaken at busy times in Bush Farm Drive to consider measures to reduce speeding on Bush Farm Drive.

69.2      The Chair provided the following response:

“Thank you very much for your letter.  Road Safety Officers have visited to look at the situation.

Due to limited budgets, resources are, in the main, targeted at those areas or roads where there is a history of collisions, especially those causing injury. 

Thankfully this is not occurring in Bush Farm Drive but the situation that you outline is very concerning and I am asking officers to keep this area under review in relation to any possible mitigating measures that could be considered”.

69.3      RESOLVED- That the Letter be noted.

(d)      Notices of Motion

69.4      The Committee considered a Notice of Motion referred from the Full Council meeting held on 28 January 2016 requesting it review land use of the city’s downland estate from the perspective of reducing flood risk in the city.

69.5      The Chair provided the following response:

“Following receipt of the Notice of Motion, I requested a briefing from officers detailing the actions taken by the council in response to recent flooding incidents on our downland estate.

That briefing provided assurance to me that all necessary actions had been undertaken in response to those events and in diminishing the likelihood of a repeat of those events. But in addition, following a review of the events last year, this committee agreed a comprehensive flood risk management strategy that was approved and there are also flood mitigation policies in the City Plan that will be debated at Full Council next week. So I would have concerns about undertaking officer duplication on this.

I will be circulating the lengthy briefing note to Members of the committee detailing that information subsequent to this meeting.

On that basis, I propose that this committee note the request- do Members agree?”

69.6      Councillor Sykes noted that he had submitted the Notice of Motion to Full Council and he was grateful to the Chair for providing information on what action was being undertaken to mitigate flood risk. Councillor Sykes noted that the purpose of the Motion was because there were very detailed engineering solutions and proposals to address flood risk but no reference to natural flood risk defences including tree planting however, he was satisfied with the assurance given.

69.7      RESOLVED- That the Notice of Motion be noted.