AT A MEETING of the EASTLEIGH HIGHWAY MANAGEMENT ADVISORY PANEL held at the Borough Council's Offices, Eastleigh on Monday 14 October 2002.

PRESENT:

Hampshire County Council

Councillors: C.R.H. Davidovitz (Chairman); P.R. Brown; Mrs. P.G.E. Holden-Brown; K. House; P. Luffman

Eastleigh Borough Council

Councillors: D.J.A. Airey; M.J. Kyrle; G.G. Olson, OBE; P. Spearey; P. Wall

1. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations made under this item.

2. PANEL CONSTITUTION AND PURPOSE

The Panel considered the report of the County Surveyor (Item 1 in the Minute Book) which set out the Terms of Reference for the Eastleigh Highway Management Advisory Panel.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

3. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

There were no issues arising under this item.

4. DEPUTATIONS

There were no deputations.

5. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE HIGHWAY NETWORK MANAGEMENT BLUEPRINT AND MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE FOR HAMPSHIRE HIGHWAYS EAST

The Panel considered the report of the County Surveyor (Item 2 in the Minute Book) which outlined the progress of Blueprint, including management arrangements for Eastleigh. The County Surveyor advised that on 1 October 2002 agency arrangements for highway maintenance in Eastleigh had ceased with staff transferring to the County Council. There was one staff vacancy which was currently out for advertisement.




RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

6. THE ASSESSMENT OF THE HIGHWAY CONDITION IN HAMPSHIRE

The Panel considered the report of the County Surveyor (Item 3 in the Minute Book) which outlined the systematic approach currently in place to assess the condition of the highway network in Hampshire. In addition the report updated Members on changes required to the condition assessments in light of the County Council's Pathfinder Best Value review, the implementation of the National United Kingdom Pavement Management System (UKPMS) and the recently Launched National Code of Practice.

The County Surveyor explained that general highway inspections were routinely carried out to assess footway, cycle track and carriageway conditions and that sites for larger scale planned maintenance works were identified. These sites were then submitted for a more detailed condition assessment called Highway Assessment Maintenance Priorities (HAMP). All schemes were assigned a rating score and from this a planned maintenance programme was prepared.

During the last five years the national focus had been on developing a single national systematic network condition assessment method called UKPMS. In addition to calculating network maintenance needs it would provide Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs), which were required by the Department for Transport (DfT). Funding by the DfT for principal roads would be based on BVPIs.

Officers responded to concerns expressed by Members concerning the poor state of some pavements, low kerbs encouraging pavement parking, the use of noisy materials for resurfacing roads and the poor public image created by having separate maintenance contracts for gutters and pavements.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

7. HIGHWAYS MAINTENANCE BUDGET 2002/03

The Panel considered the report of the County Surveyor (Item 4 in the Minute Book) which outlined the Highways Maintenance budget county-wide and the specific budget and programme of works for Eastleigh.

Members sought more detailed information concerning HAMP ratings and their implications. Officers undertook to make a list, including all Eastleigh HAMP-rated schemes, available to Members and to investigate the possibility of setting up a HAMP tutorial on the website in addition to the seminar already proposed.

In view of Members' concern with regard to split maintenance contracts the officers undertook to arrange for a transfer indicating Hampshire Highways to be placed on all vehicles to clarify the position for the public.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

8. OTHER NETWORK MANAGEMENT PROGRAMMES

The Panel considered the report of the County Surveyor (Item 5 in the Minute Book) which detailed the key issues in respect of other Network Management programmes.

The County Surveyor reported that the casualty reduction schemes, which had risen to over 70 schemes per annum in recent financial years, had produced encouraging accident reductions and financial rates of return. These results had attracted increased levels of funding from the Department for Transport. Schemes would be prioritised on the basis of police recorded injury accident records. Details of five schemes within the Eastleigh area were set out in Appendix I to the report.

Schools were being encouraged to develop School Travel Plans which would lead to bids for the Safer Routes to School Programme. At present, in addition to those included in the Area Strategy programmes, there were two schemes proposed for the Eastleigh area.

The officers amplified the report on the Minor Works Programme and advised Members that appropriate schemes suggested by individual Members could be evaluated and considered for inclusion in the rolling programme.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

9. STREET LIGHTING

The Panel considered the report of the County Surveyor (Item 6 in the Minute Book) on the new street lighting contract and programmes for 2002/03. Members expressed concern that there was split responsibility between the County and the Borough for street lighting. The County Surveyor agreed to submit a report to the next meeting of the Panel on the implications of the County assuming responsibility for all street lighting.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

10. EASTLEIGH TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME 2002/03

The Panel considered the report of the Head of Engineering, Eastleigh Borough Council (Item 7 in the Minute Book) setting out the main programmes of Traffic Management work in the Eastleigh area.

Details of individual traffic regulation orders, signing and traffic calming schemes were set out as an appendix to the report.

Members were concerned that traffic management schemes took too long to come to fruition and the officers undertook to look at ways of improving the situation and agreed to report back to the Panel's next meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

11. STATUS REPORT ON OTHER HIGHWAY RELATED CAPITAL SCHEMES

The Panel considered the report of the County Surveyor (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on progress with Homezones and the South West Hampshire Transport Strategy.

The County Surveyor reported in detail on the programme and progress on the South West Hampshire Strategy schemes which were listed in the appendix to the report. The Chairman requested that full details of the listed schemes be circulated to all members of the Panel.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

12. DATE, TIME AND VENUE FOR NEXT MEETING OF THE PANEL

The Chairman advised Members that the next meeting of the Panel would be held on Friday 11 April 2003 at 10.00 a.m. in the Committee Room, Eastleigh Borough Council Offices.

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