minutes

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 9 December 2013 (Minute Nos. 461 - 474) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The District Manager for Swale provided an update on the Progress Update item, page 363, and reference Minute No. 231/09/13. He explained that Councillor Sylvia Bennett had recently received more information on the design of the Eden Village roundabout, and it had been confirmed that what had been constructed was correct as per the planning documents. Councillor Bennett was still concerned with the design and the Chairman suggested that the KCC Highways Officer met with the Ward Members on site to discuss the matter further.

The Chairman brought Members' attention to the tabled papers which provided updates to correspondence relating to Newington Rail Services and Eastchurch Primary School. He explained that he was not happy with the responses and suggested Members emailed him their comments and he would respond further to the letters.

Chairman

Members agreed that a representative from Southeastern Trains be invited to the next Swale Joint Transportation Board meeting in June 2014

Democratic Services Officer

declarations of interest

Kent County Councillor Mike Baldock and Borough Councillor Tony Winckless declared Disclosable Non Pecuniary Interests as they were members of the Sittingbourne Society.

public session

No members of the public had registered to speak at this meeting.

part a minutes for recommendation to cabinet

informal consultation proposed waiting restrictions lower road/selby court, teynham

The Engineer introduced the report which provided a summary of recent consultations carried out for proposed waiting restrictions in Lower Road, Teynham, in the vicinity of Selby Court.

Members welcomed the report.

formal objections to traffic regulation order amendment 9a and 9b

The Engineer introduced the report which provided a summary of formal objections received to the recently advertised Traffic Regulation Orders Amendment 9A and 9B, covering various proposals in the Swale Area. He advised that there had been an error in the report; Section 2.2 should read that five formal objections had been received, not six. He further reported that the Cleansing Team had commented on the proposed double yellow lines in Sheerness (3.5 in the report); they welcomed the scheme which would help to address manoeuvring issues with their lorries.

Ward Members were happy with the proposed schemes. Some Members raised safety issues with regard to access for utility and emergency vehicles, especially on Alma Road/Fonblanque Road, Sheerness. A Member suggested that a letter be written to the Fire Services to encourage them to educate other road users on the size of their vehicles and the space needed for access, especially in congested areas.

Members stressed the need for the parking restrictions to be enforced.

highway works programme 2013/14

The District Manager for Swale introduced the report which provided an update and set out summarised schemes that had been programmed for delivery in 2013/14; this included the final part of this year and what had been approved so far for next year.

Members went through the report page by page and made the following comments:

Appendix A

Work on Whitstable Road, Faversham does not seem to address the problems; this road was used a lot but the road material did not seem to be adequate for the use.

Request that the work on Barton Hill Drive/Rowetts roundabout be carried out later than summer 2014 to allow for the holiday season. The District Manager advised that the schedule could be amended.

The District Manager confirmed that he would find out the timescale for work on Chestnut Street, Borden. He agreed to find more information on works on The Broadway, Sheerness.

A Member was pleased with the planned work at Crown Road, Milton, but concerned with the potholes on North Street/High Street. The District Manager confirmed that there were plans to fix the potholes, but not to re-surface the road.

A Member considered the works along the A251 Ashford Road near the fire station should not be carried out until the nearby construction work was completed. There was also a problem gully on the side of the road.

There was a dangerous camber on School Lane, Borden; the District Manager confirmed that this was being looked into.

Appendix B

Local Members needed to be consulted when gully works were scheduled.

The repairs on Vicarage Lane, Ospringe were not adequate.

Grovehurst Road flooding in Iwade was a recurring problem and needed to be added to the schedule.

Appendix C

Concern with what the issues were with UKPN.

Appendix D

An update was requested on the Mill Way, Sittingbourne traffic lights and the widening of the junction to the retail park. The District Manager agreed to provide an update to Members.

Appendix E

Problems with traffic queuing on Lower Road, on the approach to traffic lights at southern end of Barton Hill Drive, Minster and suggestions that the junction should have been a roundabout. The Chairman asked, and it was agreed that a report be brought to a future meeting.

Democratic Services Officer

Appendix F

The District Manager agreed to find out more information on the status of the consultation on the junction improvements at the A2/A251 junction in Faversham. A Member suggested that the Police also be involved in the consultation process.

The Chairman suggested that it would be useful for Members to have access to the emergency procedures for roads when an incident occurred.

A Member suggested that consultation with local Members was needed on the location of route signing for HGVs.

Appendix G

The Chairman requested that more description be supplied under the 'Path No.' column on the table.

Appendix H

The District Manager confirmed that he was aware of the problems on the bridge at Queenborough.

The Chairman thanked KCC Highways for the work they had carried out so far.

find and fix - weather damage repairs 2014

The District Manager introduced the report which provided details of action being taken by Highways and Transportation to repair the road damage caused by the recent severe weather and flooding. He advised that there was a budget of between £200,000 and £205,000 to address these issues, but advised that the ground was still too wet in many cases to provide a permanent solution.

The District Manager provided a list of sites in Swale where the work amounted to around £5,000 in each case. The list included: Railway Road, Sheerness; St Georges Avenue, Sheerness; Champion Court Road, Eastling; Eastling Road, Eastling/Otterden; Newnham Lane, Newnham/Eastling; The Mall, Faversham; London Road A2, Sittingbourne opposite Reynolds Gym; Dreadnought Avenue, Minster; Whiteway Road, Queenborough; Vincent Road, Sittingbourne; Keswick Drive, Sittingbourne; Crouch Lane, Selling; A2 Canterbury Road, Faversham opposite The Mall; and Eastchurch Roundabout. The work would be carried out in the next few months. He was not certain when the funding from Government, following the recent bad weather, would be allocated.

Members reported instances of potholes that had appeared in their Wards and made the following comments: the website was useful for reporting potholes; and it would be helpful to Members if they were made aware of repairs that were taking place in their area, so the situation could be monitored/checked that the work had been carried out, and would welcome information on any funding from the Government, after the recent floods, to areas within Swale.

The District Manager explained the contractors repaired what was marked up on the highway and may also fix other potholes they see at the time, rather than them getting worse. He emphasised the need to phone through to KCC any defects that were considered dangerous rather than reporting them online.

progress update report

Members considered the report that gave an update on the progress made regarding various schemes in the Borough.

590/03/12 - concern raised with the process involved in road improvements and the need to be pro-active and for risk assessments to be carried out. It was agree that a presentation on risk assessments and priorities take place at a future meeting.

254/09/12 - a letter had been written regarding the status of the lift at Faversham station and a reply was awaited.

610/03/13 - there should be a facility to switch street lights on when there was fog, the District Manager agreed to look into this.

612/03/13 - it was agreed to remove this item from the report as this recommendation was now in place.

exclusion of the press and public

part a minutes for recommendation to cabinet

installation and removal of disabled bays

This report provided a summary of objections received to various disabled bay consultations in the Borough.

Discussion ensued on the criteria required for the installation of a disabled bay and whether there was any lee-way to set criteria locally in Swale. The Engineer explained that he could liaise with other districts across Kent and find out more information.

Councillor Harrison proposed that the criteria be looked into further, and until then these reports not be presented to the JTB. This was seconded by Councillor Tony Winckless and upon being put to the vote was agreed.