Issue - meetings

Presentation by the Head of Highways, Capital Development and Waste

The Committee received a presentation by the Road Warden Project Officer on an update of the Community Road Warden Scheme and Members’ discussion points covered:

·         uptake by Parish and Town Councils since inception of the Scheme in Autumn 2014  with the aim of promoting local resilience with 16 parishes having signed the agreement and a further 16 pending (out of 425 parishes and town councils)

·         uptake of Chapter 8 training (provided by SW Highways) with a total of some 140 local people fully trained and issues relating to training outside of normal working hours, at weekends for example, and noting that Chapter 8 training related to safety only and not instructions on the work itself    

·         new developments relating to pot-hole repairs utilising an easy to apply material on a trial basis which was proving effective, to be rolled out if successful and the County Council was currently identifying funding for the supply of materials for all participating councils  

·         use of Town and Parish (TAP) funding by Barnstaple Town Council for grassing cutting and issues relating to funding of  highways related works

·         re-package of information and promotion of the Scheme for all parishes and towns

·         public liability insurance cover by the Council for work undertaken in accordance with the Scheme’s provisions 

·         the Community Payback scheme, the supervisors of which were Chapter 8 trained

·         noting that the Road Warden Scheme was the first of its kind nationally and this Devon County Council innovation was being assessed by the Department of Transport as possible exemplar of good practice and may lead to additional central government grant funding in the future.

The Chairman thanked the Project Officer for the presentation acknowledging the significant areas discussed, namely the production of clear information for local councils about the scheme; support for councils in the supply of materials, and the question about training out of normal hours.