Meeting documents
HCW/14/30
North Devon Highways and Traffic Orders Committee
25 March 2014
Barnstaple Town Centre - Traffic Regulation Order HATOC Report
Report of the Head of Highways, Capital Development and Waste
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Recommendation: It is recommended that:
(a) responses to the proposed Traffic Regulation Order are noted;
(b) the Traffic Regulation Order, is modified as described in section 5 and advertised as per the modification process.
1. Summary
The purpose of this report is to consider the representations received during the Barnstaple Town Centre Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) statutory consultation and proposals to modify the TRO.
2. Background
In 2011/12 Barnstaple was allocated Local Transport Plan funding to review and rationalise the existing moving prohibitions and parking restrictions within the town centre. The purpose was to make it simpler for drivers to understand where they are permitted to drive or park and to allow for better and easier enforcement to be undertaken by the police and civil enforcement officers.
Following informal consultation with the town council and the taxi licencing committee, the local Member and the Chair of HATOC approved the advertisement of two TROs that aimed to represent such changes. One TRO amended and consolidated the existing vehicle prohibitions and the other TRO amended the current waiting restrictions. During the formal consultation period a number of representations were received as detailed in Section 4.
3. Proposals
Two TROs were advertised with the aim to make the vehicle prohibitions and waiting restrictions within the town centre simpler and to reflect current driver requirements (see Appendix 1a and b for a summary).
To aide this, the design of signs has been carefully considered to the point where some sign designs have had special authorisation from the Department for Transport to ensure that the prohibitions and restrictions are illustrated as simply as possible.
The purpose of amending the waiting restrictions is to make all of the bays single use only and to remove ambiguity as to who can park in each bay. This should reduce the vehicle movements through the town centre.
4. Consultation & Representations
4.1 Consultation
During the Town Council Transport Committee on 27 September 2012, the Town Council made a number of comments (see Appendix 2a) regarding the TRO and these were considered, noted, responded to and the TRO amended where it was felt appropriate.
Similarly the District Council Taxi Licencing Committee also made a number of comments (see Appendix 2b) during their meeting on 16 August 2012 and where possible these comments were included in the proposals.
A delay prior to the formal consultation occurred as a number of the proposed signs required Department for Transport approval, however, this unfortunately took longer than anticipated. Failure to obtain this would have required the proposals to be amended before they were advertised.
The June 2013 meeting of this Committee considered the potential for an amendment to the current vehicle prohibition in The Strand. Subsequently the police and town centre management group indicated they would support the proposals and it was proposed to make the daytime prohibition coincide with other prohibitions in the town centre and make it more prohibitive at night (as described in Section 3).
The local Member met with Market Traders during September 2013 to discuss issues along Butchers Row. At this meeting a number of suggestions were made about the proposed TRO. Officers carefully considered these suggestions but did not feel that they were suitable to incorporate as part of the TRO as they were not deemed beneficial to the overall traffic management of the town centre.
The formal consultation began on 16 October and ended on 13 November. Notices were placed on site and our website, with links to all of the relevant documents and plans made available.
4.2 Representations
During the formal consultation 17 representations were received regarding the moving prohibition TRO. These included 1 representation from the police, 10 pro forma style letters signed independently by local taxi drivers and 6 representations from members of the public (see Appendix 3a & b for a summary of all representations).
138 representations were received regarding the waiting restriction TRO. 128 of these were pro forma style letters individually signed regarding the proposed amendments to Butchers Row (see Appendix 3a & b) for a summary of all representations).
5. Discussion
Following the consultation and the subsequent representations, it is proposed to make a number of modifications to the TROs outlined below:
- Butchers Row withdraw the proposal and therefore make no change to the existing parking restrictions.
- Left Turn Ban from Butchers Row into Boutport Street - modify the proposal to enable taxi's to continue to make this manoeuvre.
- Vehicle prohibition Boutport Street modify the proposal to enable taxi's to continue to enter Pilton Causeway.
- Vehicle prohibition High Street - modify the proposal to reduce the extents of the prohibition to allow vehicles access for the use of Paternoster Row when attending a Church Service.
- Vehicle prohibition Paternoster Row modify the proposal to allow vehicles access for the use of Paternoster Row when attending a Church Service.
- Vehicle prohibition Boutport Street, junction with Queen Street - It is also proposed to amend the signing to make it more intuitive for drivers (please see attached plan).
It is recommended that the remaining representations are resolved in line with the officer recommendations as outlined in Appendix 3a .
6. Financial Considerations
Local Transport Plan funding has been allocated to implement these proposals.
7. Carbon Impact Considerations
All measures proposed to improve congestion and tackle air quality will have a positive impact in reducing carbon emissions.
8. Legal Considerations
The lawful implications of the proposals have been considered and taken into account in the preparation of this report.
The formal consultation has followed the legal process required for TROs.
9. Risk Management Considerations
No risks have been identified.
10. Alternatives
Do Nothing - this is not recommended as a number of existing prohibitions and restrictions are confusing to motorists and the police and civil enforcement officers find them difficult to enforce effectively.
Implement as advertised - this is not recommended as a number of representations have raised concerns about the original proposals. A number of these can be rectified by modifying the proposals.
Modify the TRO - this is recommended as a number of representations can be resolved by modifying the proposals.
11. Reason for Recommendation
The purpose of modifying the TRO is to make the prohibitions and restrictions it simpler for drivers to understand to allow for better and easier enforcement to be undertaken by the police and civil enforcement officers. By modifying the proposed TROs a number of representations (as outlined in Appendix 3a & b) can be resolved.
It is therefore recommended that the proposed modifications are advertised on street and in the event of no objections being received then the TRO would be implemented.
David Whitton
Head of Highways, Capital Development and Waste
Electoral Division: Barnstaple North
Local Government Act 1972: List of Background Papers
Contact for enquiries: Matthew Pilsbury
Room No: ABG Lucombe House
Tel No: (01392) 382176
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mp270214ndh
sc/cr/Barnstaple town centre tro
03 140314