Meeting documents

HCW/16/22

East Devon Highways and Traffic Orders Committee

18 March 2016

Proposals for the delivery of an annual local Waiting Restrictions Programme

Report of the Head of Highways, Capital Development and Waste

Recommendation: It is recommended that:

(a) work to date on the annual waiting restrictions programme and the prioritisation process applied is noted;

(b) waiting restriction schemes are progressed through advertising and sealing of subsequent Orders in priority order as presented in Appendix I, subject to funding being agreed by Cabinet;

(c) specific detail of individual schemes are developed with the locally effected County Member prior to advertising.

1. Summary

The County Council regularly receives requests for waiting restrictions to be introduced or amended. These can be difficult to deliver due to resource and funding pressures which in turn can have a negative impact on the County Council's relationship with local communities.

Recognising this difficulty, a managed process has been developed to deliver an annual local programme for each HATOC area for the funding and delivery of waiting restriction schemes.

The agreed process is set out in this report for Members for information, along with the proposed programme for this Committee's area for approval.

The funding to take forward the schemes is subject to Cabinet decision as part of the wider highways budget setting process.

2. Background/Introduction

The proposed process was reported to this Committee in the last round of meetings and in subsequent months officers have refined the process as follows:

- Existing lists of requests from Local Members and local communities have been collated. Where lists did not exist (due to requests having been dealt with in other traffic management review projects) County Members have been contacted to ensure there were no outstanding matters.

- Officers have reviewed requests and assessed cost, legal compliance, compatibility with current parking strategy, wider impacts and any significant ongoing revenue implications.

- A prioritisation tool has been developed to consider the following elements to score positively:

Community Benefit/Support

Positive effect on congestion and safety

Maintenance Category (A roads score highest)

Assists in the delivery of on-street parking enforcement

With the following receiving a negative score or variable score:

Likelihood of parking displacement to other areas

Potential for objections

Cost (Higher costs score lower)

Deliverability (Pass/Fail)(eg affordable, potential for Public Enquiry, can signs/lines be placed etc).

Proposed schemes identified as beneficial to the network, which are in line with Policy and identified as deliverable and non controversial are presented in priority order in Appendix I.

Each proposal has a notional value assigned to it so the Committee can consider what may be delivered dependant on the funding formula agreed by Cabinet. It is reasonable to assume that each HATOC will be allocated between 5,000 and 15,000, from a total budget of 100,000 for 16/17.

Additional top-up funding can be provided by Members from their Locality Budget or Parish Councils for eligible schemes, however inclusion in the programme must remain dependant on staffing resource being available to carry out design work.

Once funding is agreed by Cabinet, the programme will be fixed and Officers will plan delivery of the in-year programme. Progress updates will be provided at future Committee meetings.

3. Proposal

Approval is sought for the 16/17 programme for this Committee's area. It is proposed that the schemes identified in Appendix I form the programme working in priority order from top to bottom to suit funding to be agreed by Cabinet.

Whilst it would not be proposed to remove any proposals from the list in favour of alternatives, at this stage top-up funding can be offered by Members or Parish Councils for additional eligible schemes.

Once funding is agreed a finalised list will be circulated by email to Members for information.

The proposals would then be designed and the associated Traffic Order drafted, to be advertised following consultation on the detailed design with the locally effected County Members and Committee Chair.

4. Consultations/Representations/Technical Data

The project focuses on requests previously made by Members and communities. These have been reviewed by Officers and identified as beneficial to the network, in line with Policy as deliverable and non controversial.

With Member support, it is proposed to proceed to advertising a Traffic Order for public consultation.

5. Financial Considerations

There will be a cost to the Council in advertising a new Traffic Order for each Committee area; this will be approximately 1,500. In addition the costs of any changes to signing or lining will be attributed to that Order.

Each proposal as presented in Appendix I has an approximate value assigned to it so this Committee can consider what may be delivered dependant on the funding formula agreed by Cabinet. It is reasonable to assume that each HATOC will be allocated between 5,000 and 15,000, from a total budget of 100,000.

Assuming resource availability top-up funding can be provided by Members or Parish Councils for eligible schemes.

6. Sustainability Considerations

There is not considered to be any sustainability issue neutral impact.

7. Carbon Impact Considerations

There is not considered to be any carbon emission effect neutral impact.

8. Equality Considerations

There is not considered to be any equality effect neutral impact.

9. Legal Considerations

Any changes to parking restrictions will require a new Traffic Order. In order to minimise cost, one Traffic Order will need to be advertised for each HATOC area, and any objections considered.

As care has been given to ensuring proposals are beneficial and non-controversial it is not anticipated that significant objections would be received. Therefore it is proposed that any objections received will be dealt with under delegated powers in consultation with the effected local County Member and Committee Chair.

If significant objection is received for any specific site, it is advised that site is dropped from the programme for this financial year so that progress of the wider programme is not impeded.

10. Risk Management Considerations

This proposal has been assessed and all necessary safeguards or actions have been included to safeguard the Council's position.

There is a reputational risk to not addressing parking issues raised by communities and Members.

11. Public Health Impact

There is not considered to be any public health impact.

12. Reason for Recommendation/Conclusion

In order to deliver a programme of works for 16/17 officers will focus on the agreed local programme. Any additional non-safety critical requests arising during the year will be considered locally for inclusion as part of a future years programme.

Agreement is sought for the schemes to be progressed in priority order as presented in Appendix I, to match funding agreed by Cabinet.

David Whitton

Head of Highways, Capital Development and Waste

Electoral Divisions: All

Local Government Act 1972: List of Background Papers

Contact for enquiries: Chris Rook

Room No: ABG Lucombe House, County Hall, Exeter. EX2 4QD

Tel No: (01392) 382112

Background Paper		Date	File Ref.
Nil

cr040316edh

sc/cr/proposals annual local waiting restrictions programme

02 090316

Appendix I

To HCW/16/22