Present:-

Devon County Council:-

Councillors Radford (Chairman), Berry and Squires

Mid Devon District Council:-

Councillors Chesterton and Holloway

Apologies:-

Councillors Colthorpe, Hannon and Way (DCC)

*23 Election of Chairman and Vice Chairman

RESOLVED

that Councillor Radford be elected Chairman and Councillor Berry Vice-Chairman for the ensuing year.

*24 Minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 17 March 2014 be signed as a correct record.

*25 Urgent Business

(An Item taken under Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972)

The Chairman had decided that the Committee should consider this item as a matter of urgency and, with the consent of the Committee, invited Councillor Snow (Cullompton Town Council) to speak at the meeting on the experimental traffic order which prohibited the right turn movement from Tiverton Road into Fore Street, Cullompton. The no right turn was the subject of a current Experimental Traffic Regulation Order and the works to implement the scheme had begun on 10 March 2014.

Councillor Snow related the concerns of the community that:

the experimental no right turn was not as effective as had hoped and there was an issue with traffic build up at peak times;

the amount of traffic was likely to increase as new houses were built in the area, making the traffic situation worse;

it would be beneficial to conduct a further traffic survey to collect more data and to look at alternative solutions with the County highway engineers.

Discussion points raised by Members included the following:

cars parked on Fore Street caused further congestion problems in the town;

further consultation and communication was required with the public to raise awareness of the change in road layout;

there was not enough clear signage on the road to highlight the no right turn to drivers;

it would be hard to judge the effect of the traffic order on the rest of the highway when many members of the public were not obeying it as they were unaware of the change.

In response to the above comments, Mr Matthews, Neighbourhood Highway Group Manager, advised the Committee that a detailed report would be submitted to the next Committee meeting on monitoring the impact of the initial period of the 18 month Tiverton Road Experimental Traffic Regulation Order. He also agreed to arrange a review of the signs and road markings, and a media release to raise public awareness of the restriction.

*26 Devon Highways Update

The Committee received a presentation by Mr Matthews, Neighbourhood Highway Group Manager; Mr Pyle, Managing Director South West Highways; and Mr Robinson, Operations Director, South West Highways. The presentation covered:

an update on the new system for reporting highways defaults such as potholes, which was compatible with mobile phones and tablets. Individuals could monitor the progress of their report using a reference number given in an automated acknowledgement email. They were not required to give their personal details and could remain anonymous.

South West Highways (SWH) had invested and developed a new electronic system for gangs to receive pothole defects via their ipads; which also allocated workloads and optimised routes.

maps were available to identify where to increase or decrease resources. The number of gangs increased from 12 to 45 in order to manage an increased workload following the winter storms and the use of the new electronic system improved the overall efficiency of gangs.

the number of gangs had now reduced back to 11; however there was still 750 potholes reported each week as of September 2014.

98% of potholes were now completed within policy timescales.

the number of potholes completed per day was well above the national average at 10-12.

in one area of Mid Devon, a Jet Patcher had been used to repair a lot of the reported potholes. This involved 3 men operating one vehicle (one driver, one operator and one clearing), completing two miles of road in four days, repairing approximately 300 potholes. It was noted this was one of two trials currently taking place in Devon to look at the efficiency of this method and to test its durability over time.

the Council had received two extra funding pots from Government. A Severe Weather Recovery grant of 7 million to repair additional potholes and a successful bid for the Pothole Fund where the Council received 9 million, one of the highest awards in the country.

the total programme of works was available on the Devon County Council website.

*27 Community Self Help and the Road Warden Scheme

The Committee received a presentation by Mr Matthews, Neighbourhood Highway Group Manager, on the operation of the scheme which covered inter alia:

the two Town and Parish Conferences held by the County Council and attended by 70 representatives explained the Community Self Help Scheme, including proposals to keep roadside hedges and trees tidy;

the operation of Parish Lengthsman Scheme where some Parish Councils had employed their own operatives or bought a few days of service per year through South West Highways;

acknowledged that some Parishes had used their Town and Parish (TAP) funding to employ an operative to supplement the Devon County Council Lengthsman;

residents of Harcombe, in East Devon, had offered to complete repairs themselves after one of the roads into the village was closed, with an alternative access road available. Devon County Council supplied locals with materials (stone) to prepare the road and complete drainage works, and the Council then put a thin layer of surfacing over the top;

the Community Payback Service where offenders carried out work in the community, such as tidying and clearing weeds, usually in groups of 5-6 with a supervisor, costing 160 per day. This was a service which could be utilised by Town and Parish Councils;

Budleigh and Exmouth Town Councils combined resources to employ a handyman who would carry out work in the area and could also offer to cut overhanging trees and bushes of local residents at a reasonable cost;

the Road Warden Scheme required Parishes to nominate a local resident who would be trained by Devon County Council to identify work that needed to be carried out in the area, such as clearing signs or weeds;

they would be trained to assess the risks and would carry a small number of health and safety signs to allow them to work in a safe environment. The Road Warden could be supported by several volunteers. Council funding was available to provide training for Road Wardens in this financial year; however it was unclear whether there would be funding for the next financial year.

all Parishes had been made aware of the Road Warden Scheme and the training available.

In responding to points raised by Members, the Neighbourhood Highway Group Manager:

indicated that the decision on budgets would take place in January 2015 after which the level of funding available for the Lengthsman Service would be known. Parish Councils had been notified of this proposed reduction in Service in the next financial year to enable them to set their precepts in December 2014.

explained that with regard to insurance for Parish Councils to carry out the Road Warden Scheme, DCC would cover the public liability aspect of insurance for voluntary maintenance work undertaken on or in the area of a public highway or footway, providing that it is undertaken in a safe manner, with risk assessments and that the individual had been trained by DCC.

*28 Action Taken Under Delegated Powers

The Committee received the report of the Head of Highways, Capital Development Waste (HCW/14/73 - text only | pdf HCW/14/73) setting out action taken under delegated powers on advertised Traffic Regulation Orders since the last meeting.

*29 Future HATOC Meetings

It was noted that meetings would be held as follows:

16 March 2015

23 June 2015

19 October 2015

(all Mondays at 10.30am at the Town Hall, Tiverton).

*DENOTES DELEGATED MATTER WITH POWER TO ACT

The meeting started at 10.40am and finished at 12.05pm

Minutes of this Committee are published on the County Council s Website at: