Agenda item

The Corporate Director of Place to present a report which seeks approval to progress the installation of permanent hostile vehicle mitigation measures in the city centre.

Resolved: (i) That the locations of static and sliding bollards as detailed in Annex A be noted, and that the Chief Operating Officer (COO) be recommended to delegate authority to the Director of Transport, Highways and Environment, in consultation with the Executive Member for Transport, to approve any minor amendments to the exact locations.

Reason: To give security rated effect to the traffic restrictions in the Traffic Regulation Order changes approved by Executive in August 2019 and November 2021 and the statutory consultation which seeks to remove the remaining exemptions.

(ii) That the COO be recommended to approve an additional £500k from unallocated highways funding, to increase the Hostile Vehicle Measures capital budget to £1,832k.

Reason: To enable the delivery of the scheme of permanent measures for city centre security.

(iii) That the COO be recommended to approve the undertaking of a procurement process to engage contractors to supply, install and maintain the permanent hostile vehicle mitigation measures, and to delegate authority to the Director Transport Highways and Environment, in consultation with the Director of Governance and Chief Finance Officer, to take such steps as are necessary to award and enter in to the resulting contracts.

Reason: To enable the delivery of the scheme of permanent measures for city centre security.

(iv) That the COO be recommended to approve the statutory consultation for the advertisement of the revocation of the exemptions, as proposed in Annex D.

Reason: To allow a secure system to operate with minimal vehicular access permitted during the footstreets hours.

(v) That the COO be recommended to ask officers to report to the Executive Member for Transport, presenting an update on the statutory consultation to remove the remaining exemptions to access the footstreets and a summary of the operational protocols and procedures and associated risks, including confirmation of the ongoing revenue costs.

Reason: To enable the Executive Member to understand the procedures entailed in managing the scheme in line with the proposed changes to the Traffic Regulation Order.

(vi) That the COO be recommended to approve the continuation of the staffing of the current temporary city centre barriers, the cost of which is between £67k and £93k and is met from existing budgets.

Reason: To maintain the management of access to the city centre footstreets with temporary measures, including access for market vehicles whilst the footstreets hours are until 19:00 under the current temporary arrangement.

The Director of Transport, Environment & Planning presented a report which sought approval to progress the installation of permanent physical hostile vehicle mitigation measures in the city centre, in accordance with the traffic regulations approved by Executive on police advice at the meeting on 18 November 2021.

Government proposals for local authorities to have a ‘Duty to Protect’ were likely to increase councils’ responsibility to respond to counter-terrorism advice to protect publicly accessible locations. Approval was sought to install the physical measures illustrated in Annex B to the report in the locations shown in Annex A. An additional review had been carried out on the remaining exemptions to vehicle access to the footstreets and a revised exemptions list, which would be subject to consultation, was attached at Annex D. A new waiver system was proposed, whereby only vehicles essential to city centre safety would be granted a time limited waiver.

In response to comments made under Public Participation, Members acknowledged the effect of the footstreet restrictions on Blue Badge holders but noted that the focus of this report was on the location of physical measures to keep people safe, and not a change to Blue Badge access. Officers confirmed that wheelchairs, including motorised ones, were exempt from restrictions and that the incident which had occurred during the Christmas market was an isolated one.