AT A MEETING of THE EAST HAMPSHIRE HIGHWAY MANAGEMENT ADVISORY PANEL of Hampshire County Council held at the Civic Offices of East Hampshire District Council at Petersfield on Thursday 30 October 2003.

PRESENT:

Hampshire County Council

Councillors: J.K. West (Chairman); A.R. Ludlow; Sir James J. Scott

East Hampshire District Council

Councillors: Mrs D.K. Denston; Mrs S.E. Schillemore; Mrs E. Cartwright;

S.C.J. James; A.S. Carew; B.F. Dutton; M.Ashton

28. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

29. MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 18 March 2003 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman subject to the amendment in the last line of the preamble to Minute 19 to read "....... substitute "B3006 Station Road, Liss ......." and the amendment of (iii) in Minute 19 to read "B3006 Station Road, Liss ....."

30. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

(i) The Chairman advised that grass cutting had finally been undertaken at Langrish and that contractors had been asked by East Hampshire to cut back brambles; there were still problems in some areas as regards grass cutting and the Chairman was pursuing these. The main roads had been kept in a better condition this year.


(ii) The Chairman felt that not enough street name plates were being erected in the district and requested that attention be given to improving the situation.


(iii) It was reported that a website would soon be activated which would advise Councillors how to secure action on such things as the repair of street lights and grass cutting; they would be advised when the website is up and running.


(iv) Members were advised that when e-mails concerning defects are submitted to the East Hampshire Highways Office they come into a central point in Petersfield and are then passed on to the Winchester or Eastleigh offices if appropriate. In due course a form would be on the website for the reporting of defects and entries would go straight into the electronic data

system with the opportunity being provided in the longer term for those reporting defects to check up what has happened or was likely to happen in respect of them. It was further reported that a parish co-ordinator system was to be established to improve liaison between parish councils and local highway officers.

31. DEPUTATIONS

There were no deputations.

32. DEVELOPMENT CONTROL SERVICE REVICE AND UPDATE ON DISTRICT AGENCY ARRANGEMENTS

The Panel considered the report of the Director of the Environment (Item 5 in the Minute Book) on the Development Control Service Review and the update on District agency arrangements. Particular attention was drawn to the change to the service whereby all Section 38 design checking and inspection would be undertaken by Hampshire Highways staff; as a result one person was moving to the County Council from East Hampshire, Eastleigh and Winchester and it was proposed to base him at the Winchester Sub-Office. A suggestion that office space at Petersfield should be used by such staff was being considered by the Director of Environment. A decision on whether East Hampshire District Council would take up the offer of a Traffic Management Agency had been postponed pending decisions on decriminalised parking enforcement in due course.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

33. TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PROGRAMMES 2003/04

The Panel considered the report of the Director of the Environment (Item 6 in the Minute Book) which outlined the main programmes of traffic management work in the East Hampshire area in 2003/04 these being the revenue funded traffic regulation orders and signing and lining schemes, together with capital funded parish partnership schemes. It was stressed that schemes can be delayed, in particular when a large number of objections are received and there is also scope for extra urgent proposals, which may arise, to be inserted in the programme.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

34. HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE AND MINOR CAPITAL WORKS PROGRAMMES 2003/04

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on progress with the 2003/04 Highway Maintenance and Minor Capital Works programmes and an update on the 2003/04 Highway Maintenance budget. It was pointed out that the total revised allocation for East Hampshire for the revenue maintenance budget and programme is £2,834,000 whilst the total allocation for the area in respect of the capital maintenance budget and programme is £1,942,000; the minor capital works allocation had been allocated £19,000. During September there had been much subsidence in some parts of the area and this might result in changes to the programme.

In the ensuing discussion it was stressed that the Director of Environment takes a great interest in the time it takes for public utility companies to carry out their works and periods of closure are negotiated between the County Council and contractors. The situation at Clanfield was causing the Director great concern. In response to a point made concerning weedkillers, the Panel was advised that environmentally acceptable killers can be used and that granular weedkillers are put down before footways are constructed.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

35. UPDATE ON THE PROGRESS OF APPROVED TRANSPORT CAPITAL PROGRAMME SCHEMES

The Panel considered the report of the Director of the Environment (Item 8 in the Minute Book) which provided a progress update on transport schemes within the capital programme that have been approved by project appraisal for implementation in the East Hampshire District area. Full details were given concerning schemes in Petersfield namely the town centre improvement schemes, the town centre car park to Moggs Mead cycle route and the Hylton Road traffic calming scheme and details were also given of seven other schemes. It was pointed out that comments concerning the provision of more cycle routes south of Petersfield should be submitted to the CHARTS Panel.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

36. OTHER PROGRAMMES 2003/04

The Panel considered the report of the Director of the Environment (Item 9 in the Minute Book) which outlined progress with regard to other programmes and initiatives with the Environment Department; these included the casualty reduction programme, the Hampshire Safety Camera Partnership and the Safer Routes to School programme.

Particular attention was drawn to the A325 major maintenance works which were to last for 10 weeks from 27 October with no work being undertaken during the two week period at Christmas. Generally a scheme of one direction temporary closures would be employed and contact points concerning the works would be Nick Catchpole, the resident engineer on 07966 895202 or for design matters, Mark Batchelor on 01962 846348 and Clive Griffiths on 01962 847962.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

37. STREET LIGHTING

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 10 in the Minute Book) on progress made in street lighting maintenance, column replacement, the community safety initiative and the purchase of energy from April 2004 onward. Particular attention was drawn to the fact that three of the five contract key performance indicators are currently being met to the standards set down for the first year of the contract and that it had been decided not to make an "expression of interest" for private finance initiative funding from the Government for the replacement of Hampshire street lighting; accordingly other means of funding the £50 million required to replace approximately 50,000 lighting units over the next 10 years would now need to be considered. Attention was also drawn to the 11 schemes in the community safety initiative programme where parishes contribute 50% of the cost and the aim of the County Council to increase the percentage of "green" energy which it purchases.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

38. WEED CONTROL IN HAMPSHIRE

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 11 in the Minute Book) on the operation of the weed control arrangements on the highways in Hampshire. Attention was drawn to factors causing weed control problems this year such as the first treatment cycle being too late and the exceptionally warm weather this year which had seen the growing season extended by 6/8 weeks. In view of the difficulties experienced the County Council would be putting in place various changes to help improve the service such as closer liaison with the main contractors and sub-contractors to ensure that weed killing operations take place at the optimum time to be effective, working more closely with District Council officers to arrange that road sweeping operations are co-ordinated with weed killing, discussions with the Environment Agency about alternative herbicides and whether a third weed treatment should be allocated a higher priority in the road maintenance programme.

RESOLVED:

That the changes set out in paragraph 4 of the report to help improve the service be supported.

39. CONTROL OF RAGWORT

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 12 in the Minute Book) which outlined the problems associated with common ragwort and described what is being done to control the weed within the confines of the public highway in Hampshire. The County Council had tried several means of controlling the plant which had been expensive and the need of owners of land adjoining the highway to take their responsibilities seriously was stressed. A draft Code of Practice which had been prepared by the Government was being considered by the County Council team and the importance of partnerships with such bodies as parish councils would report on ragwort problems to the County Council was stressed.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

40. THE CONSTRUCTION OF VEHICULAR CROSSINGS FOR PRIVATE ACCESSES

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 13 in the Minute Book) which detailed the changes to the procedure for dealing with the construction of vehicular accesses, enabling works to be carried out by either Hampshire Highways or an approved private contractor. The process now involves a two step approach of approving the location of a vehicular crossing and carrying out the construction process and residents would then have the choice of having the crossing constructed either by Hampshire Highways or appointing their own approved private contractor with the former being a simplified service providing residents with a "one-stop shot" approach.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

41. NEXT YEAR'S PANEL MEETINGS

It was noted that the meetings in 2004 will be held on Tuesday 16 March and Thursday 28 October with both meetings being at the Civic Offices, East Hampshire District Council, commencing at 10.00 a.m.

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