Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the TRANSPORT FOR SOUTH HAMPSHIRE JOINT COMMITTEE of HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL, SOUTHAMPTON CITY COUNCIL and PORTSMOUTH CITY COUNCIL held at The National Oceanography Centre, Southampton on Tuesday 8 January 2008.

PRESENT:

12. PRESENTATION ON ASSEMBLING THE EVIDENCE BASE

The Committee welcomed John Hawkins, Chairman of the Prism Management

Group, West Midlands to the meeting. John explained how the West Midlands

model had evolved. A scoping study had been carried out in 2000 to design a

model for a data collection service to replace the existing model which was no

longer fit for purpose. The model was designed to support testing a wide range of

potential policies identified in the West Midlands and an illustration of the model

was displayed. The model provided considerable data and was a very

comprehensive and a powerful tool. The applications of the model were

described in some detail. One key partner was the Highways Agency who made

significant funding contributions. The data management system had a 10 year life

which was refreshed on a 5 year cycle and considered to be an investment for the

foreseeable future. John then answered a number of questions from the

Committee.

The Chairman thanked John Hawkins on behalf of the Committee for his

interesting presentation.

13. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Gavin Bostock, External Relations

Manager at CrossCountry, Natalie Chapman, Regional Policy Manager London,

South East and East of England for Freight Transport Association, Nick Farthing

of HEP and Andy Mak from the South East England Regional Assembly.

14. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Councillor M. J. Kendal declared a personal interest as the Leader of New Forest

District Council.

15. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

Councillor Kendal reported that the Southampton rail tunnel was planned to be

closed for two periods, over Christmas 2009 and in May 2010 with weekend

closures in between. The representatives of Network Rail and the Highways

Agency had been asked to consider this issue and to provide an update at this

meeting on their contingency planning. The alternative arrangements both on the

rail network and the highway network to cope with the existing freight flows

diverted as a result of the tunnel closure are reported in minute 19.

Councillor Kendal reported that the Government's modifications to the South East

Plan which have been expected for some time are still awaited. There is no

indication at this stage of when the Government will publish them for consultation

nor their content. It was noted that any change to the 80,000 new dwellings that

were recommended as a result of the Examination in Public would have serious

implications for transport and this item will be revisited at a future meeting.

16. MINUTES OF THE PRESENTATIONS AND MEETING HELD ON

16 OCTOBER 2007

The Committee considered the report of the Hampshire Director of Environment,

the Portsmouth Head of Planning Services and Southampton Head of Planning

and Sustainability (Item 4 in the Minute Book) which informed the Committee of

the Governance arrangements contained in the Agreement.

Matters Arising:

Minutes of the Joint Committee held on 16 October 2007 - Minute 7 - Draft Local

Transport Bill

That Resolution (b) be amended to read an `Officer' rather than a `Member'

from each of the Authorities.

17. TRANSPORT FOR SOUTH HAMPSHIRE - FINANCIAL MATTERS

The Committee considered the report of the Hampshire Director of Environment

(Item 6 in the Minute Book) providing an update on financial matters for the

Transport for South Hampshire (TfSH) for 2008/09 and proposing a change to the

financial lead authority.

RESOLVED:

That Hampshire County Council takes the financial lead role for Transport for

South Hampshire and Portsmouth City Council the responsibility for Media

Liaison and Public Relations.

18. TRANSPORT STUDIES - UPDATE

The Committee considered the report of the Hampshire Director of Environment

(Item 7 in the Minute Book). The Hampshire Project Director provided an

overview of the process for taking the results of the consultants' studies forward

and sought authority for officers to submit bids for funding, should opportunities

arise, at short notice.

The Hampshire Director of Environment reported that the transport studies

commissioned in the Summer were progressing well and nearly completed

although further work was required on the economic evaluation. He advised that

he was confident that with partners the objectives and timescale could be achieved

as all key players had the same understanding and confidence.

In response to a question from Portsmouth City Council about the information

available, the Hampshire Director of Environment explained that the necessary

traffic data would be collected once the need for a model had been established.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the progress on the transport studies and process for taking them forward

be noted.

(b) That the Hampshire Director of Environment be authorised to submit appropriate funding bids for sub-regional priority schemes when funding resources become available

19. DEVELOPMENT OF A FREIGHT STRATEGY FOR TRANSPORT FOR

SOUTH HAMPSHIRE

The Committee considered the report of the Hampshire Director of Environment

(Item 8 in the Minute Book) seeking support to develop a Freight Strategy for the

Transport for South Hampshire (TfSH) sub-region and as a parallel process, a

Freight Strategy for the County of Hampshire is being developed.

In response to a question about the closure of the railway link between

Southampton and Eastleigh, Gavin Johns from Network Rail advised that the

gauge clearance for Maritime Containers between Southampton and Reading

would involve a total of 30 structures. 2 significant structures are the tunnels at

Micheldever and Southampton. There would be a 12 week period from December

2009 to February 2010 when the service would be lower than at present and a

couple of weeks when the route would be completely closed so that the track can

be stabilised. The closure would see train services through Southampton tunnel

disrupted whilst the programme of works is completed. Single line working and

the number of trains passing through in an hour would be significantly reduced so

therefore the number of passenger trains would be reduced and the freight trains

would travel via a different route. The prospect of a freight container diverting to

the road was felt to be minimal and he hoped to maintain current levels of service.

Alternative buses would be provided if the level of service for passengers was

found to be insufficient. South West Trains would work in conjunction with

Network Rail and more details would become available in March 2008.

Paul Harwood from the Highways Agency advised that consultation would take

place with Network Rail for solutions as the project develops. He felt that any

congestion problems on the M3 Motorway were caused by the amount of

commuter traffic between Southampton and Winchester, and that there would be

no impact from freight traffic diverted from the railway.

Councillor Kendal asked that monitoring of lorries travelling in the nearside lane

of the Motorways be carried out and that there be liaison between the Highways

Agency and Stakeholders.

RESOLVED:

(a) That approval be given to commence work on the development of a Freight

Strategy covering the South Hampshire sub-region.

(b) That the draft contents list and indicative policies form the starting point for

informal consultation.

(c) That approval be given in principle for the establishment of a Transport for

South Hampshire Freight Forum to lead on the development of the Freight

Strategy and subsequent reviews.

20. PARTNERSHIP FOR URBAN SOUTH HAMPSHIRE LOCAL

DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORKS - TRANSPORT STUDIES

The Committee considered the report of the Portsmouth Head of Planning

Services (Item 9 in the Minute Book) updating members on progress on the

transport aspects of the preparation of the Core Strategies of the Partnership for

Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) authorities Local Development Frameworks.

The Committee noted that the timetable had commenced and that a report would

be submitted to the meeting on 14 April 2008.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.