Contact: Chris Reeves, tel 01962 857814 email: [email protected]

Nick Hunt, tel 02380 285919 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 This report covers the main programme of traffic management work in the New Forest District area in 2005/06. This year's programme is for the first time entirely capital funded and includes Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs), signing and lining schemes and also the rural traffic calming schemes promoted in partnership with the Parish Councils.

2. Background

2.1 Under the revised agency arrangements for traffic management, New Forest District Council has taken direct responsibility for certain traffic management functions throughout the Forest area on behalf of the County Council. These arrangements have been in operation since 1 January 2003 and are now well established.

2.2 As part of the agency arrangements, regular liaison meetings take place between officers of the County and District Councils, which are also attended by the Police, to discuss proposed schemes and develop positive partnership arrangements.

2.3 Traffic management issues are raised in a number of ways, usually by Parish Councils, local District or County Members or residents. Typically, issues of concern raised relate to the speed and volume of traffic, lorry routing/access, congestion, parking problems in residential areas and at schools, or potential safety hazards.

3. Progress

3.1 The list of schemes included in the 2005/06 traffic management programme for the New Forest District area is shown in the attached appendix. The list includes schemes being progressed by the County Council as well as the District Council.

3.2 The Traffic Management programme constantly evolves during the year, with new schemes that may arise as a high priority being added to the list as appropriate. However, this can have the effect of delaying the implementation of some programmed schemes that have a lesser priority.

3.3 Schemes included in the list are, at this stage in the year, either operational or expected to be completed by the end of the financial year, as well as those awaiting attention as soon as resources allow. Schemes being processed can themselves be subject to delay, modification or deletion as consultations progress, or where the TRO advertising procedure gives rise to objections that are not resolved.

3.4 The 2005/06 programme includes work on preparing for decriminalised parking enforcement (DPE). This is the transfer of responsibility for the enforcement of on-street parking controls from the Police to New Forest District Council. The work, which involves checking all signing and lining plus the review of traffic orders and making amendment orders where necessary to correct anomalies, is on target for the transfer to take effect from 1 January 2006. During this current programme of works DPE is being given priority over other TRO work undertaken by the District Council and consequently some TRO projects anticipated for completion may be delayed.

3.5 In this connection it should be noted that the District Council will be required to become a member of the National Parking Adjudication Service (NPAS) Joint Committee. This is the national body, based in Manchester, established under the relevant legislation to provide an independent adjudication service for drivers or vehicle owners wishing to appeal against a penalty charge notice. Since several other Districts in the County have already started operating DPE, the County Council is already a member and the county representative, Councillor Phrynette Dickens, is the Assistant Chairman of the NPAS Joint Committee.

3.6 Regulations are also expected to be made during the next few months which will enable authorities already operating DPE to introduce camera enforcement of bus lanes under the Transport Act 2000. These will be superseded in due course by regulations under the Traffic Management Act when the provisions for civil enforcement outside London come into effect, although this is not expected to be until at least 2007. They will include not only parking and bus lane enforcement, but also some other moving traffic offences such as banned turns, no entry and yellow box markings.

3.7 Further progress has been made on those schemes already identified in the Parish Partnership Programme within the New Forest District area and these are also included in the appendix.

4. Freight Traffic B3080/B3078/B3079 - Northern New Forest

4.1 On 13 September 2005 a decision was made by the Executive Member for Environment: North Hampshire and Spatial Strategy to approve an informal consultation with local stakeholders on the proposal to progress a 7.5 tonne weight limit (on the above Forest roads). The preliminary consultation is intended to help shape the precise boundary of a possible weight restriction, and assess the likely reaction amongst key local stakeholders and the community, before proceeding with the formal TRO procedure.

5. Impact Assessment

5.1 The Traffic Management Programme proposes a set of measures that would benefit all sectors of the community through improved on-street parking control, assistance to the safe movement of traffic and further control and reduction of traffic speeds. The impact of specific measures would be assessed as they are developed through to Project Appraisal, where appropriate, and following implementation.

5.2 Assessment of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act has been made in the development of the schemes but the programme is not expected to compromise equalities in terms of race and gender.

Recommendation

That this report be noted.

493/CR/NH