AT A MEETING of FAREHAM HIGHWAY AND TRANSPORT ADVISORY PANEL held at the Council Offices, Fareham Borough Council, Fareham on Tuesday, 15 March 2005.

PRESENT:

Hampshire County Council

Councillors: K.B. Estlin (Chairman); J.V. Bryant; Dr R. J. Ellis; Mrs D Harrison; T.G. Knight; R.H. Price.

Fareham Borough Council

Councillors: P.J. Davies; Mrs E. Ellerton; A. Mandry; T. Howard; D.J. Murray.

76. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

77. MINUTES

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

78. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

There were no communications.

79. DEPUTATIONS

There were no deputations.

80. PROGRESS UPDATE ON SCHEMES IN THE CAPITAL PROGRAMME

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 5 in the Minute which outlined the progress made on transport schemes within the Capital Programme 2004/05 and detailed the schemes approved for inclusion in the 2005/06 Capital Programme.

The Director of Environment elaborated on the Capital Programme schemes outlined in the report and answered Members' detailed questions. During the course of the ensuing discussion the following points arose:

· Park Lane, Fareham cycle route - whether the cycle route and footpath would be delineated by a white line.

· Salterns Lane Traffic Calming - the commencement of the scheme was subject to contractor availability and would probably be delayed until after April.

· Fareham-Gosport Quality Partnership - it was noted that the provision of Real Time Passenger Information Systems could only operate once buses were on route. The system did not work at bus terminii.

· Fareham Western Distributor (Schooner Way-Warsash Road) - due to the presence of Japanese Knotweed, which would need to be eradicated using herbicide, the commencement of the final stage of the scheme would be delayed by three years.

· Portchester Rail Bridge - it was noted that the scheme was included in the 2004/05 Capital Programme with a budgeted figure of £100,000.

The Chairman emphasised that all improvement schemes, the Local County Member and District Members should be consulted on the proposals, and reported to the Executive Member for Environment at Project Appraisal.

RESOLVED:


That the progress made with the schemes in the 2004/05 Transport Capital Programme be noted and the schemes approved for inclusion in the Capital Programme for 2005/06 be supported.

81. HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE PROGRAMMES 2004/05 AND 2005/06

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 6 in the Minute Book) which informed Members of the progress made on the 2004/05 Highway Maintenance Programme and gave details of the Highway Maintenance Programme and Budget for 2005/06

Members were advised that the total allocation of the 2005/06 Highway Maintenance Revenue budget figure for Fareham was £505,000. The Highway Maintenance Capital Allocation included a proportion of the additional £3.5 million distributed across the county.

Members drew attention to the poor condition of road surface at the turning point in Privett Road and the rating of Hill Head Road.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

82. CAPITAL MINOR WORKS PROGRAMMES 2004/05 AND 2005/06

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 7 in the Minute Book) which informed Members of the progress made with the 2004/05

Capital Minor Works Programme and sought their preference for the minor works schemes included in the 2005/06 programme.

Members noted that the funding allocation for the Capital Minor Works Programme 2005/06 would be in the region of £200,000 of which approximately £50,000 would be made available to Fareham, Gosport and Havant.

RESOLVED:

That the Executive Member for Environment be advised that the following schemes, listed in order of priority, be included in the Capital Minor Works Programme for 2005/06:

(i) Downend Road, Fareham (Phase 2) - £10,000;

(ii) Bridge Street, Titchfield (Phase 2) - £10,000.

83. CASUALTY REDUCTION PROGRAMMES

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on the progress made on the Hampshire County Council and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Safety Camera Partnership casualty reduction programmes for 2004/05 and into 2005/06.

The Director of Environment advised the Panel that the provisional figures for 2004 indicated that the reduction in all killed and serious injury accidents in Hampshire were ahead of the targets set by the Government for 2010. The figures from Hampshire Constabulary indicated that fatal and serious casualty figures were expected to be the lowest recorded casualty tolls on Hampshire's roads to date. From the average baseline rate for the years 1994-98 indications were that a 37% reduction had been achieved. Members congratulated the officers on their achievement.

Attention was drawn to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Safety Camera Partnership and the effect the cameras had in helping to reduce casualty figures. Copies of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Safety Camera Partnership's Annual Review for 2003/04 were distributed at the meeting.

The Panel was asked to delete the sentence at the end of paragraph 2.5, which had been included in error.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

84. TRAVEL PLAN PROGRAMMES (INCLUDING SAFER ROUTES TO SCHOOL)


The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 9 in the Minute Book on progress made with the workplace, school and personalised travel planning and the Safer Routes to School programmes within the Fareham area.

The Director of Environment reported that in November 2004, every school within Hampshire had been contacted to publicise the school travel plan service. This had led to an increasing interest with the school travel planning team working with 35 out of the 45 schools within the area. No interest had been shown by any of the independent schools.

Members asked if part of the funding for the Safer Routes to School or school travel plan programmes could be used to cover the cost of making any necessary traffic regulation orders, the budget for which was limited. The Chairman stated he had no objection but advised that the matter would have to be discussed with the Director of Environment.

RESOLVED:

That the progress made with the delivery of the workplace, school and personalised travel planning and Safer routes to School programmes in the Fareham area be noted.

85. OTHER HIGHWAY RELATED PROGRAMMES

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 10 in the Minute Book) on programmes for Street Lighting, Regeneration of Older Urban Areas, Intelligent Transport Systems, Bridgeworks, Development Related Works and Recreational Cycling in the Fareham area.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

86. PASSENGER TRANSPORT REPORT

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 11 in the Minute Book) on the work undertaken by the Passenger Transport Group in the Fareham area.

Members referred to the bus timetable issued by the County Council which only indicated one bus operator although there were others. Attention was also drawn to the future opening of a new cinema in Fareham and the need to make the bus operators aware of a bus service in support.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

87. FAREHAM BOROUGH COUNCIL TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME 2004/05

The Panel considered the report of the Director of Planning and Transportation, Fareham Borough Council (Item 12 in the Minute Book) on the traffic management programme for 2004/05.

The Director of Planning and Transportation expressed concern that top up funding for traffic regulation orders was not available during 2004/05, as in previous years. In consequence Phase V of `No parking on grass verges' had had to be deferred until 2005/06. The Director Of Environment assured the Borough Council Members that additional funding had been available and there would appear to have been an unfortunate misunderstanding. Applications could always be made for the extra funding set aside within the budget to enable schemes in the current year's programme to be completed.

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

It was noted that the next meeting of the Panel would be at 10.00 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2005 at the Civic Offices, Fareham Borough Council.