AT A MEETING of the WINCHESTER HIGHWAY AND TRANSPORT ADVISORY PANEL held on Wednesday 27 October 2004 at The Guildhall, Winchester.

PRESENT:

Hampshire County Council

Councillors: K. B. Estlin (Chairman); Mrs A. E. Bailey; Mrs P. Dickens; P.K. Mason; Mrs P.G. Peskett.

Winchester Borough Council

Councillors: Mrs G. Busher; P. Clohosey; P. Davies; R. Knasel; B. Lipscomb;

H. Verney.

59. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members were mindful that, where they believe they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should normally at the time of the debate, declare their interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed.

60. MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 23 March 2004, were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

61. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

There were no Chairman's communications.

62. DEPUTATIONS

There were no deputations.

63. UPDATE ON DEVELOPMENT CONTROL AND VARIOUS AGENCY ARRANGEMENTS

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 5 in the Minute Book) updating Members on progress regarding the changing arrangements for four main areas of work undertaken by the Borough Council on behalf of the County Council, namely: Development Control Services, Traffic Management Services, Grass and Shrub Maintenance Agreement and Design and Implementation Agreement. Winchester City Council confirmed that they agreed in principle to the new arrangements and would be signing new agreements subject to the resolution of some outstanding wording. They did however express concerns about the available resourcing levels to support the Traffic Management Agency arrangements.

During the course of discussions, Members requested details about County Council and City Council grass maintenance responsibilities and it was agreed that a report would be available for the next meeting of the Panel.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

79. PROGRESS UPDATE ON SCHEMES IN THE CAPITAL PROGRAMME

Councillor Mrs P. Dickens declared a personal interest as an employee of the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester.

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 6 in the Minute Book) offering Members a detailed update on the progress of Transport Capital Programme schemes within the Borough. During the course of the ensuing discussions Members raised a number of concerns, inter alia:

· Maintenance of bollards at Knowle Hospital.

· Bar End Park and Ride extension workplace parking.

RESOLVED:

1. That Members noted the progress made on schemes in the Transport Capital

Programme and supported the schemes approved for inclusion in the

2004/05 Capital Programme.

2. That comments made by the Panel be noted by officers and the appropriate

action be taken.

65. HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE AND MINOR CAPITAL WORKS PROGRAMMES 2004/05

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 7 in the Minute Book) detailing progress in respect of the 2004/05 Highway Maintenance and Minor Capital Works programmes and also provided an update on the 2004/05 Highway Maintenance budget. During the course of the ensuing discussions, Members were pleased to note that the figure of £20,000 for gully cleansing was in fact for soak aways and that centrally held funding (not shown in Appendix 1 ) covered the costs of gully emptying.

RESOLVED:

That progress on the Highway Maintenance Programmes be noted.

66. TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PROGRAMMES 2004/05 AND 2005/06

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 8 in the Minute Book) updating Members on progress made since March 2004 in respect of Winchester traffic management. Members raised a number of concerns particularly that schemes were looked at year after year with no apparent progress and which might remain entirely relevant to changing circumstances leading to the view that there was a need for a re-appraisal of study programme priorities. They also cited that traffic calming schemes in Somerset using vehicle activated signing should be considered as a valuable example of effective initiatives to reducing road casualties. Officers responded that the County Council did employ vehicle activated signing as part of casualty reduction schemes where it was likely to be effective. There was however a need to limit deployment in order to maximise effectiveness at prioritised locations

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

67. CASUALTY REDUCTION PROGRAMMES

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 9 in the Minute Book) outlining progress on the Hampshire County Council and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Safety Camera Partnership casualty reduction programmes. Members were pleased to note that the Partnership had been achieving good results and that indication are that a high proportion of the public support the use of safety cameras and agree that they make the roads safer.

Members raised a number of concerns, particularly the fatal road accident which had taken place in September 2004 at Wellhouse Lane in Winchester advising that no action had apparently been taken to improve safety at the road. Members were also concerned about the `near miss' damage only accidents

Members noted that through the casualty reduction partnership programme with Hampshire Constabulary, investigations had taken place post accident and a package of measures were being considered to be introduced later this year. They noted that the value of the Casualty Reduction Reduction Partnership working arrangements enabled close analysis of circumstances and measures to be considered for introduction in appropriate circumstances to reduce the likelihood, however small, programme of work was in addition to the County Council's well established programmes of accident remedial measures. Officers further advised that personal injury crashes were the main consistent set of road casualty data to drive programmes of casualty reduction action, but liaison with Hampshire Constabulary enabled information surrounding damage only accidents to be considered, where available in the development of schemes. In order to amplify section 4 of the report on Hampshire Safety Camera Partnership, a handout was circulated to Members for information.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

68. TRAVEL PLAN PROGRAMMES (INCLUDING SAFER ROUTES TO

SCHOOLS)

Councillor Mrs P. Peskett declared a personal interest as a Governor at St Bede

Primary School and Councillor Mrs P. Dickens declared a personal interest as an

employee of the Royal Hampshire County Hospital.

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 10 in the Minute Book) updating Members on the progress of workplace, school and personalised travel planning programmes for the Winchester area. Members noted that this was the first time that the report had been presented in this partnership format and welcomed the information it provided.

Members' noted that extended and increased funding from the Department for

Transport until March 2006 had provided significant additional staffing resource

for the school Travel Planning team based within the Transport Policy Group of

the County Council's Environment Department.

Members' attention was drawn to the personalised travel planning project called

`Information', whereby individuals are provided with tailored public transport

timetable information and free trial travel vouchers for use on local public

transport. It was noted that the school crossing patrol site infrastructure upgrading

for Swanmore Primary School would take place in 2005 in order to be

incorporated into the wider village enhancement project planned for 2005/06 and

currently in the early design stages.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

69. STREET LIGHTING - WINCHESTER

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 11 in the

Minute Book) updating Members on the various elements of the street

lighting service in the Winchester area. It was noted that the replacement

programme for the Winchester area was progressing.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

70. OTHER HIGHWAY RELATED PROGRAMMES

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 12 in the Minute Book) detailing the programmes for Hampshire Villages Initiative; Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS); Bridgeworks; Development related works and Recreational Cycling. Members noted the role of the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Group and the key areas of work being undertaken.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

71. PASSENGER TRANSPORT REPORT

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 13 in the

Minute Book) outlining the services provided by the Passenger Transport Group

and the work undertaken in the Winchester area. In amplifying the report, officers

reported that there was a programme to improve passenger transport in the

villages.

Further to paragraph 5.5 of the report, Members noted that the Solent Blue Line

Service 47 was proving successful and had been a particular initiative and

commercial decision of the company. A revision to the times of the early morning

and early evening services was taking place to accommodate increased passenger

numbers.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

72. MIRACLES PROGRESS REPORT

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 14 in the

Minute Book) outlining the progress to date in developing and implementing the

MIRACLES Project. Members attention was drawn to the home delivery service

`shoppers' which would be extended to Easter 2005.

Members noted that `Bikeabout' was proving popular and the latest figures

showed that 60 people were using the public scheme and 40 using the university

scheme.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted and regular progress reports be presented to future

meetings of the Panel.

86. MEETINGS OF THE PANEL DURING 2005

The following arrangements for meetings of the Panel during 2005 were noted:

Tuesday 1 March and Tuesday 25 October - both meetings would commence at

10.00am and be held at The Guildhall, Winchester.