Members of the public have the opportunity to speak at this meeting.  Anyone wishing to present a petition or speak on this item is required to register with the Democratic Services Section by noon on Friday 23 June 2017.  Questions that have not been submitted by this deadline will not be accepted.  Only two people will be allowed to speak on each item and each person is limited to asking two questions.  Each speaker will have a maximum of three minutes to speak.

Petitions, questions and statements will only be accepted if they are in relation to an item being considered at this meeting.

Mr Brian Clark presented a statement and petition on behalf of local residents which sought parking restrictions in Highsted Road, Sittingbourne between 10am and 11pm Monday to Friday.  The statement and petition was also tabled for Members.  Mr Clark spoke about the traffic problems caused in Highsted Road, following the opening of the Swanstree Avenue link road some seven years ago, and the parking problems experienced by local residents on a daily basis.  He stated that the way vehicles were parked was a danger to other road users and pedestrians.  Mr Clark raised concern that there was no footpath along the section of the road between Farm Crescent and the junction of Swanstree Avenue with children and mothers with prams having to walk in the road.  Mr Clark requested that the issues were looked at and that it was more luck than judgement that no serious accidents had occurred.

Kent County Councillor John Wright supported the petition.  He stated that Highsted Road, Bell Road and Brenchley Road were the sites of the three major service areas and that there was significant traffic congestion and highway safety issues in the area.  He urged officers to look at this in conjunction with the wider issues. 

Councillor Roger Truelove (previous Kent County Councillor for the area) stated that their would be no solution to the issues raised without the cooperation of the Sittingbourne Memorial Hospital and Highsted Grammar School.

The Chairman accepted the petition and advised that a report would be written and submitted to a future meeting of the Board.

Mr Simon Harwood, spoke on behalf of local residents, other parents and govenors of Tunstall Primary School, Tunstall Parish Councillors and drivers in the local vicinity who had signed the petition to provide Tunstall School with a Pedestrian Crossing.  Mr Harwood drew attention to Minute No. 1227/03/17 on page 94 of the Progress Update Report, and stated that a KCC School Crossing Patrol was not in place as stated in the report, and that the school was struggling to fill the position. 

Mr Harwood did not consider the proposed crossing patrol was adequate as there were two crossing points to the school, and the crossing patrol would only cover one of these for 30 minutes in the morning and afternoon, and also funding was not guaranteed in the future.  Mr Harwood stated that both crossings were ambiguous, both to drivers and pedestrians alike, and whilst vehicles had the right of way it was not always clear if vehicles were stopping in both directions leading to confusion, risk and danger to pedestrians.  He explained that Tunstall Road provided busy access to and from south Sittingbourne and the School was increasingly being used as a community facility and that school operating hours were not restricted to 9am to 3.30pm, but were actually operating from 8am to 6pm.  Mr Harwood asked officers to reconsider the request and support formalising both crossings which he considered would significantly reduce the risks of an accident involving a pedestrian. 

County Councillor John Wright supported the request and raised points which included: the number of pupils at the school was set to increase so the issues would increase; shame the report did not include a map; Tunstall Road was a primary cut-through to the A249 so was a busy road despite the road humps; the prioritisation signs were not adequate at the junction of Cranbrook Road and Tunstall Road;   there should be interactive flashing school warning signs along Tunstall Road; the situation would only get worse as the town grew and the area becomes more of a thoroughfare through to the A249; and request a more detailed response by officers regarding prudent improvement measures. 

A Member recalled that when the planning application for the school was being considered, concerns were raised about the potential for increased traffic, however the reports from KCC Highways and Transportation had anticipated that traffic flows would be reduced.  He suggested looking again at these reports and that KCC be requested to mitigate the impacts that they failed to predict.

Councillor George Samuel, a Ward Member, was disappointed with the response from KCC.   He noted that the school patrol would not cover all the times when children were likely to be crossing, and was concerned about what happened if the crossing patrol person was not available or if funding was not available.  He considered a controlled pedestrian crossing would offer a more permanent solution and mitigate future problems and also requested a more in-depth response from KCC.  

County Councillor John Wright moved the following motion:  That KCC Highways and Transportation provide a more in-depth report on the proposals for providing Tunstall School with a Pedestrian Crossing for consideration at a future meeting of the Board.  This was seconded and agreed by Members.

Recommended:

(1)    That KCC Highways and Transportation provide a more in-depth report on the proposals for providing Tunstall School with a pedestrian crossing for consideration at a future meeting of the Board.