Agenda item

Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/23/102) which provided guidance for communities to be able to carry out minor improvements to the highway network, attached.

The Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Scrutiny Committee had considered this matter at its meeting on 16th November 2023 and had RESOLVED (minute 136 refers) that it (a) supported the proposed trial to enable communities to fund and self-deliver their own minor highway improvements in line with the guidance notes included in Appendix A;  (b) that Town and Parish Councils be supported in self-delivery by having a checklist as part of the guidance supporting the community in carrying out these works; and (c) a Report be submitted to the Committee on progress and take up of the scheme from Town and Parish Councils.

RESOLVED

(a) that the Corporate, Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Scrutiny Committee be thanked for their consideration of the proposals for Community Self-Delivery of Highway Improvements;

(b) that the Community Self-Delivery of Highway Improvements trial to enable communities to fund and deliver their own minor highway improvements in line with the guidance notes included in Appendix A, be approved; and

(c) that the findings of the trial be brought back to a future Cabinet meeting.

(Councillors Biederman, Brazil, Dewhirst, Leaver and Whitton attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/23/102) which provided guidance for communities to be able to carry out minor improvements to the highway network, circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

The Cabinet noted that the Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Scrutiny Committee had considered this matter at its meeting on 16th November 2023 and had RESOLVED (minute 136 referred) that it (a) supported the proposed trial to enable communities to fund and self-deliver their own minor highway improvements in line with the guidance notes included in Appendix A;  (b) that Town and Parish Councils be supported in self-delivery by having a checklist as part of the guidance supporting the community in carrying out these works; and (c) a Report be submitted to the Committee on progress and take up of the scheme from Town and Parish Councils.

The Service received occasional requests from communities that wished to progress improvements themselves and given the Highways and Traffic Management service remained under pressure it often lacked capacity to take forward these proposals in a timely fashion.  As such, the service had developed a guide that would allow local communities to self-deliver these improvements.

The Highways and Traffic Management service was the first authority in the country to promote the idea of community self-help, initially through the Snow Warden scheme and then the Road Warden scheme.  For the purpose of this initiative, ‘Communities’ were defined as Parish or Town Councils.

The Road Warden Scheme had been primarily focused on low level maintenance activities such as grass cutting, sign cleaning and pothole repairs on low maintenance category roads, but the current proposal took community self-help to the next stage by enabling communities to self-deliver minor highways improvements such as dropped crossings, footways, speed limits and traffic calming features.

The developed guide laid out the typical steps that needed consideration when delivering permanent works, such as appointing a competent designer, environmental considerations (biodiversity, heritage, etc), audits, consultation and Traffic Regulation Orders. The service would meet with the community and/or their designer at key stages such as project initiation, feasibility design, detailed design, pre-construction and post-construction to review completed works.

The intention would be to undertake a number of trial schemes as a proof of concept, looking at different geographies and work types. 

The proposal was well aligned to a range of the Strategic Plan priorities and the table in section 6 of the Report summarised how the proposals would impact achievement of relevant Strategic Plan actions.

The Cabinet noted that the proposal was intended to allow communities to fund their own priorities and as such would have no financial impact on the County Council.  The staffing time costs would be the Council’s support to the project. The Council would request a bond which would protect the Council should works not be completed to a satisfactory standard and also a commuted sum that would contribute to the additional maintenance burden from any additional assets.

Any third party making changes to the Highway network would be expected to enter an agreement in line with Section 278 of the Highways Act. 

The proposal to enable community self-delivery did not in itself have a negative impact on any part of the community, however the guidance document highlighted the importance of the need for an Impact Assessment to be developed by communities on a project-by-project basis. 

The matter having been debated and the options and alternatives and other relevant factors (e.g. financial, sustainability and carbon impact, risk management, equality and legal considerations and alignment with the Council’s Strategic Plan) set out in the Director’s Report having been considered:

it was MOVED by Councillor Hughes, SECONDED by Councillor Hart, and

RESOLVED

(a) that the Corporate, Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Scrutiny Committee be thanked for their consideration of the proposals for Community Self-Delivery of Highway Improvements;

(b) that the Community Self-Delivery of Highway Improvements trial to enable communities to fund and deliver their own minor highway improvements in line with the guidance notes included in Appendix A, be approved; and

(c) that the findings of the trial be brought back to a future Cabinet meeting.