]AT A MEETING of the GOSPORT PENINSULA ACCESS PANEL held on Thursday 20 January 2005 at the Civic Offices, Fareham.

PRESENT:

Hampshire County Council

Councillors: K.B. Estlin; T.G. Knight; R.H. Price.

Fareham Borough Council

Councillors: J.V. Bryant; P.J. Davies; A. Mandry.

Gosport Borough Council

Councillors: P. Langdon; K. Searle

1. APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMAN

RESOLVED:

That Councillor T.G. Knight (Hampshire County Council) be appointed

Chairman of the Panel for the ensuing year.

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COUNCILLOR T.G. KNIGHT IN THE CHAIR

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2. APPOINTMENT OF VICE - CHAIRMAN

That Councillor P. Langdon (Gosport Borough Council) be appointed

Vice - Chairman of the Panel for the ensuing year.

3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should, normally at the time of debate declare their interest, and having regards 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.

4. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

There were no Chairman's communications.

5. DEPUTATIONS

There were no deputations.

6. TERMS OF REFERENCE

The Panel considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 6 in the Minute Book) setting out the Terms of Reference for the Gosport Peninsula Access Panel.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

7. MINUTES

The Minutes of the Light Rapid Transit Development Panel held on 21 April 2004 were received for information.

8. LOCAL TRANSPORT PLAN/SOUTH EAST PLAN

The Panel received an oral report of the Director of Environment on the Local

Transport Plan.

The report focussed on the process and broad outline content for the new Local

Transport Plan and covered the Government's main themes for the second

round of Local Transport Plans namely congestion, accessibility, road safety

and air quality. Councils had been asked to structure their LTPs around these

priorities.

The proposed approach of the County Council was outlined including suggested

additional objectives of economic prosperity, quality of life and asset

management. The overall approach and process were also outlined including

provisions for consultation, potential programmes and proposed timetable.

During the course of discussions, Members questions were answered. A formula

which would determine the allocation of funding was awaited. The expectation

to tackle congestion and reduce the number of vehicles on the road would be

considered by the Transport Strategy Panels at their meetings later on in January

2005. Further Panel meetings in March would consider suggested ideas and

major Schemes and the Panel meetings in June would consider the provisional

Local Transport Plan.

Members emphasised the importance of cross boundary working between

district authorities to ensure service delivery on this important issue and in the

longer term on emerging issues to consider joint working with Southampton and

Portsmouth City Councils.

In respect of the South East Plan, Members were advised on the programme of

further technical work carried out in the sub regions to identify costs and

infrastructure options and to develop a transportation strategy and

implementation plan.

The Director of Environment further advised that research into infrastructure

investment needed in the region for 2006-2026 was being carried out. The

existing infrastructure had been acknowledged as being already at or over

capacity in some areas. A programme of work was already in hand to identify

the existing infrastructure deficit along with an estimate of traffic growth under

different scenarios.

The Director of Environment advised that the traffic leaving Fareham at peak

times and the traffic travelling from Fareham to Gosport was acute; during the

following couple of months a study would identify the volume of traffic.

Members agreed that joint working with District Authorities and neighbouring

Authorities together with Southampton, Portsmouth and Isle of Wight was

essential to ensure that problems of growth and transport problems are tackled.

Members noted the problems of growth and transport issues and expressed

concern that an increase in growth would exacerbate the transport problems

even further. The need for good infrastructure to tackle the problems was

highlighted.

RESOLVED

(i) That the oral report of the Director of Environment be noted.

(ii) That a Member and Officer Panel be established to identify the

infrastructure deficit in transport terms in the area.

9. SCHEME UPDATE

The Director of Environment provided an update on the 2004/05 Programme

and partnership working with Districts to ensure service delivery.

The Fareham - Gosport Bus Quality Partnership scheme was looking at a Bus

Departure Information System (BDIS) at Gosport Bus Station to improve the

quality of passenger transport information through the provision of electronic

boards at each bus departure bay giving up to date information about bus

departure times, destinations, departure bay and variations to the timetable. The

provision of a Real Time Information System (RTPI) along the A32 between

Fareham and Gosport will improve the quality of up to date service information

for passengers along the route through the provision of electronic message

boards within the bus shelters.

The Lee-on-the-Solent Sustainable Suburbs scheme was looking at proposals to

improve road safety and road crossing opportunities to assist pedestrians and

the mobility impaired in the High Street area of Lee-on-the-Solent.

In respect of the Broom Way Cycleway scheme which would provide an off-

road shared footway and cycleway on the western side of the carriageway

together with street lighting to provide a safer and more attractive route for

pedestrians and cyclists.

In the Fareham area new schemes had been included: Newgate Lane/ Tukes

Avenue cycleway, Westbury Road footpath improvements, Salterns Lane traffic

calming and Segensworth provision of toucan crossings.

The Director of Environment further reported that the main objective of the

cycle ways was to provide the missing links and access to villages and town

centres. The overall package of measures was dependent on the Light Rapid

Transit Scheme.

RESOLVED

That the oral report of the Director of Environment be noted.

10. SOUTH HAMPSHIRE RAPID TRANSIT UPDATE

The SHRT-1 Project Director reported that Central Government had announced

in July 2004 that the Tram projects for Hampshire, Manchester and Leeds had

not been approved and that there was an emerging policy of Government

towards light rail. A meeting with Senior Civil Servants in August 2004 had

resulted in advice being given not to abandon the Scheme and there were strong

indications of surprise that Hampshire County Council had not been successful.

Further work on the Scheme had been advocated and so working up a scheme

to comply with the new policy was now taking place.

The Project Director further advised that there were issues about affordability

of the full scheme and changes to the project scope had been investigated to

reduce the funding requirement.

Members noted that the evaluation of the modified procurement suggested

that project costs could be reduced significantly to a level which would support

a strong case for funding to be reinstated. Accordingly there would be a further

preliminary funding submission to Government in March 2005 with a

request for an early decision.

The Project Director further advised that the work of this Panel provided the

opportunity to consider a complementary bus network for the SHRT project.

RESOLVED

That the oral report of the SHRT-1 Project Director be noted.

11. DEVELOPMENT OF GOSPORT PENINSULA ACCESS STRATEGY

The Director of Environment reported that revision to the Gosport Access

Strategy had taken into account development and would provide a Strategy to

inform spending on the Light Rapid Transit Development. A 5 year programme

of small measures and a programme of major schemes would look at the wider

network.

The Director of Environment advised that through the work programme

solutions, road network and travel patterns would be considered with partnership

working between Fareham and Gosport Borough Councils.

Members identified subjects for future work including the Fareham Gosport

Railway Interchange and the Stubbington By-pass which would be seen as

complementary schemes to the Light Rapid Transit Scheme and would proceed

at the same time as the South East Plan.

RESOLVED

That the oral report of the Director of Environment be noted.

12. WORK PROGRAMME

The Director of Environment advised that Officers would produce a report to a

future meeting on the work carried out to date and the options available.

RESOLVED

That the oral report of the Director of Environment be noted.

13. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

It was agreed that the Chief Executive would seek dates from Members of the

Panel to hold a workshop at the end of February or early March 2005.