AT A MEETING of the ENVIRONMENT POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE held on 22 July 2005 at The Castle, Winchester.

PRESENT:

Councillors: P. R. C. Hutcheson (In the Chair);Mrs E. M. Byrom; N. Clarke;

M. Cooper; Mrs P. M. Devereux; Mrs A. Edwards; Mrs K. Heron; G. Hockley;

K. House; R. C. McIntosh; Sam Payne; and S. D. T. Woodward.

Also in attendance: Councillors J. K. Glen; T. G. Knight; J. K. West.

Also in attendance at the invitation of the Chairman for Item 6

Visit of the Highways Agency: Councillors Charlotte Bailey; P. Edgar; Dr. R. J. Ellis; R. H. Price and F. J. Wright

15. 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 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.

16. MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 23 June 2005 (Item 2 in the Minute

Book) were confirmed by the Committee and signed by the Chairman.

17. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

(a) Reported that a paper showing the status of School Travel Plans was

distributed that morning for Members' information. A briefing note

explaining the process of School Travel Plans will be prepared and issued

to Members Officers will be in attendance at the exhibition to answer any

queries.

The Joint Education/Environment Working Group met in February to agree

the vision and objectives of school travel work to feed into the provisional

Local Transport Plan (LTP), which Government requires by the end of July

2005. The Group will meet again in the Autumn to discuss the detail of the

School Travel Plan Programme for inclusion in the full LTP which has to

be produced by the end of March 2006.

(b) Reported that Members had been notified of the Road Safety Council

meetings for July 2005, at which a briefing either has been given or will be

given on the function of Road Safety Councils. Once dates have been fixed

for the year Members will be informed. Details of the Road Safety

Councils are also available on the Road Safety website -

www.hants.gov.uk/roadsafety

(c) Reported that the complaint sent to the Ombudsman has been determined as

being outside the Ombudsman's jurisdiction. It concerned a complaint

against the Highway Authority about the administration of a Rights of Way

modification and therefore no further action has been taken.

(d) Reminded that at the conclusion of the meeting, the Director of

Environment will be giving a brief presentation on the role and

responsibilities of the Environment Department followed by an exhibition

about the services provided by the Environment Department when the

Management Team and Senior Colleagues will be on hand to discuss the

variety of services provided and answer any Members' questions.

18. MEMBERS' QUESTIONS

No questions to the Executive Member for Environment : North Hampshire

and Spatial Strategy and the Executive Member for Environment : South

Hampshire and Resource Management had been received.

19. DEPUTATION IN RESPECT OF THE VISIT BY THE HIGHWAY

AGENCY AND THE NEED FOR RESURFACING THE M3 WITH A

NOISE REDUCING TARMAC BETWEEN JUNCTIONS 9-10

Mrs A. Rich from the St Giles Hill Residents' Association made a deputation

in respect of the need for resurfacing the M3 with noise reducing tarmac

between junctions 9-10 because residents are being subjected to high levels of

traffic noise.

The Chairman thanked the deputation for attending.

20. VISIT OF THE HIGHWAYS AGENCY

The Chairman introduced John Rylett, Area Performance Manager, Traffic

Operations Area 3 Team for Central Southern England (A34, A303 and M3),

from the Highways Agency who had been invited to attend the meeting to

present the Motorway and Trunk Road Network Programme for 2005/06 and

Route Management Strategies.

The Chairman advised that all Members of the County Council had been

invited to attend the Policy Review Committee meeting for this item and to

submit questions of a strategic nature relating to the Motorway and Trunk

Road Network to be answered by the Highways Agency. Questions relating to

local issues would receive a written reply from the Highways Agency. Mr

Rylett presented an overview of the Agency's work and recent changes and

answered Members' strategic questions that had been submitted.

The following points were covered:

· Highways Agency has a national policy of providing 60% of the National Motorway and Trunk Roads network with noise reducing surfacing by 2011. The M3 Junction 9/10 was currently not in any programme but the Highways Agency gave assurance that if works became necessary on this section of the M3 noise reducing surfaces would be used.

· Stacking on nearside lane of Motorways at exit slips was an issue being addressed by the Highways Agency. There was no simple solution and the Highways Agency and Hampshire County Council would work together to minimise the problem using the Local Transport Plan process. The Highways Agency was introducing CCTV cameras and signs to provide drivers with better information of traffic problems.

· Litter Picking on Motorways was the Highways Agency's responsibility. On Motorways the litter was collected annually but `adhoc' collection was undertaken at litter `hot spots' under the Environmental Protection Act. On All Purpose Trunk Roads, litter picking is devolved to Local Authorities.

The Director of Environment advised that litter picking was still an unresolved

matter which had been taken up by the Local Government Association which had

promised to investigate the matter with its membership and contact the

Department of Transport on behalf of Local Authorities.

· Land Ownership Issues and Day to Day Maintenance could be dealt with through the Highways Agency Route Performance Managers or alternatively through the Area 3 Customer Services Helpdesk on 08457 419478.

· Key Performance Indicators Driver Signage - Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) for variable Message Signs - Hampshire Motorways and Trunk Road Network will have 18 roadside electronic display signs by the third quarter of 2005/06. There are no KPI's at present, but the introduction of Highways Agency Traffic Officers (HATO's) onto the network will set targets for reducing traffic congestion. Junction 1 to 4 of the M3 saw the introduction of HATO's on 1 August 2005, and it is anticipated that further HATO's will roll out in 2006 to other parts of the Network. It is also hoped that the display signs will come under the control of the Highways Agency, currently with the Police during 2006. This will link with the HATO's and provide more information more immediate up to date information for the travelling public.

· Toll Roads - It is premature to take the M6 toll road trial information and make an assessment of its effectiveness at this stage. With regard to future toll roads the Highways Agency is steered by the Department of Transport. Currently there are no proposals for this area and the policy appears to be directed more at road pricing rather than road tolling.

Members noted that although there were no major junction improvements

planned over the next 5 years there were some minor improvements planned to

compact junctions such as the A3 Griggs Green at Buriton and discussions were

continuing with Whiteley Business Park about influencing travel behaviour at

the M27 Junction 9 and partnership working with Local Authorities was trying

to address this issue.

The 4 year rolling programme of Major Maintenance was detailed as follows

subject to final budget confirmation:

· M271/A305 to Nursling Roundabout concrete carriageway by 2007/8.

· M27 Junction 5-7 concrete carriageway 2008/9.

· A3(M) Junction 1-2 2008/9

· M3 Junction 6-5 Heather Row 2008/9

· A34 Winchester - Newbury 2008/9

Copies of the leaflets on Highways Agency Network News, Route Manager and

Traffic Information and Roadworks (TIR) were circulated to all Members.

Future copies of TIR will be sent to Members directly on a regular basis by

Area 3.

The Chairman thanked Mr Rylett for taking the time to attend the meeting and

giving input to the debate on what were very important areas of concern for

Members. It was noted that John Rylett was retiring at the end of July and that

Angela Koenig would succeed John as the Area Performance Manager from

1 August 2005.

The Committee received and noted the briefing note of the Director of

Environment providing Members with background information to the Area 3

Motorway and Trunk Road Commission and explaining the role of Hampshire

County Council staff involved in Area 3 and outlining the roles and

responsibilities of other organisations involved in the Commission.

21. TERM MAINTENANCE CONTRACT (RAYNESWAY) HIGHWAY

PERFORMANCE

The Committee received and noted a report of the Director of Environment

(Item 7 in the Minute Book) on progress with the Term Maintenance Contract

over the past year and summarising the performance of the contractor

Raynesway Construction Southern, the results of public surveys relating to the

service, partnering initiatives and the future of the contract. Mr David Pearce,

and Stewart Newell from Raynesway Construction Southern Limited as the

County Council's Term Maintenance Contractor, were in attendance for this

item.

Members noted that the small number of complaints received were against

56,000 enquiries recorded each year.

22. HAMPSHIRE MINERALS AND WASTE DEVELOPMENT

FRAMEWORK `CORE' - PLANNING STRATEGY - `ISSUES AND

PREFERRED OPTION' CONSULTATION PAPER

The Committee received a presentation and noted a report of the Director

of Environment (item 9 in the Minute Book) to be considered by the Cabinet as

a key decision at its meeting on 25 July 2005.This set out the background to the

process for developing a Minerals and Waste `core' planning strategy and a

consultation on an `Issues and Options' paper is required. The report

outlined the principal issues that are addressed in the consultation paper and

recommended that it be published for public comment.

23. SOUTH EAST PLAN - CONSULTATION ON DRAFT DISTRICT

LEVEL HOUSING FIGURES

The Committee received and noted a report of the Director of Environment

(item 8 in the Minute Book) considered as a key decision by the Cabinet at its

meeting on 25 July 2005. This described the process for formulating the draft

District level housing figures, putting forward the figures proposed for public

consultation and proposing how that consultation should be conducted.

The Director of Environment circulated to Members a supplementary Briefing

Note providing additional information in respect of the South Hampshire

proposed Housing Distribution following the meeting of the Partnership for

Urban South Hampshire (PUSH).

24. BUS SUBSIDIES 2005/06 BUDGET

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Environment (item 10 in

Minute Book considering proposals for managing cost pressures on the 2005/06

Bus Subsidy Budget, to be considered by the Executive Member for

Environment : South Hampshire and Resource Management as a key decision

at his meeting on 26 July 2005.

RESOLVED that the report having been presented, Members offered comments

on these services where a high number of passengers may be affected which

were noted by the Executive Member for Environment : South

Hampshire and Resource Management.

25. PASSENGER TRANSPORT STRATEGY

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Environment (item 11

in the Minute Book) setting out the Passenger Transport approach in the second

Local transport Plan (LTP) and outlining the likely financial pressures in the

next few years and broad options for managing future budget pressures,

together with an indication of pilot work under way to optimise the future

deployment of resources.

RESOLVED that the new approach be noted and suggested that consideration

be given to looking at innovative ideas as soon as possible.

26. EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY PERFORMANCE

RESOLVED

That consideration of the report be deferred to the next meeting of the

Committee.

27. ENVIRONMENT POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE -

FORWARD PLAN

The Committee received and noted a report of the Chief Executive and

Director of Environment (Item 13 in the Minute Book) setting out issues for

future consideration.