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Decision session
Executive Member for Transport
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17th January 2023 |
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Report of the Director of Environment, Transport and Planning |
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Acknowledgement of Petitions
Summary
1. The purpose of this paper is to acknowledge and address a number of petitions that have been submitted to Highways and Transport. A summary of the petitions can be found in Annex A.
Recommendations
2. The Executive Member is asked to note the receipt of the petitions and to review the recommendations against each petition below:
(i) Improve the footway running to north side of Field Lane from its junction with Church Lane to Sussex Road so that it is wide enough for wheelchair and buggy users and for 2 people to pass without having to walk on the grass verge
To note progress on this item in terms of hedge management and exploration of footway scheme.
(ii) Requesting permanent funding for the number 11 bus from Bishopthorpe.
Responded to at the November 2022 Executive meeting. No further action required.
(iii) Installation of a pedestrian crossing to allow safe crossing to all between Fairfield Croft and Fairfield Drive in Skelton.
To note progress on this item. In terms of further review.
(iv) Moor Lane and Princess Road in Strensall, seeking to have these roads fully resurfaced.
To note progress on this item in terms of further inspection and review.
(v) The council is asked to provide options for a Low Traffic Neighbourhood to reduce through traffic on residential streets in this area (Westminster Road, Greencliffe Drive and The Avenue) 7 on the waiting list, 2 or 3 LTN
To note that this item will be added to the lists of interventions to be considered at an Executive Member Decision session in the later in the year.
(vi) Action to tackle the problems of vehicles using St Benedict Road as a 'rat run'.
To note that this item will be added to the lists of interventions to be considered at an Executive Member Decision session in the later in the year.
The application of parking permits (resident parking scheme) on Highcliffe Court
To note that this item will be added to the lists of interventions to be considered at an Executive Member Decision session in the later in the year.
Executive member for Transport to agree a scheme for closure to through traffic for the old village, Huntington
To note that this item will be added to the lists of interventions to be considered at an Executive Member Decision session in the later in the year.
Reason:
To respond to residents’ concerns and implement, if possible, the appropriate measure.
Background
3. A number of petitions have been submitted to the Council within the scope of the portfolio of the Executive Member of Transport. A summary of each petition is shown in Annex A. In some cases there is ongoing or related work and this is referred to in the report.
4. One of the petitions is a request related to maintenance of the Highway. The prioritisation of Highway Maintenance is subject to an annual condition survey and along with other factors provide a ranking for each street in terms of intervention. The highest ranked streets are then prioritised for the limited funding available for Highway maintenance. It is possible that maintenance hasn’t been undertaken on a particular street because it does not rank high enough. There is a risk that initial analysis of the petition leads to the same conclusion that the street is not high enough priority for an intervention, however, in each case there will be a commitment to discuss further with Ward councillors.
5. Requests for resident parking have increased in the last 2-3 years. 14 requests have been taken to a conclusion and 3 further areas awaiting to be implemented in the coming months. This increase in demand has resulted in an increase in the waiting list for investigating new requests. Each request will be investigated in the order the request was made, except in unusual circumstances or where 2 or more requests are adjacent to one another and can be taken forward as one.
6. In addition, depending on circumstances at the time, the extent of the consultation area may be extended beyond the area the petition came from. However, if this is done we would still respect the majority view of residents in the extended area before recommending to take a scheme forward or not for those residents.
7. More recently petitions have been received in areas where Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (“LTN”) have been requested. Streets are often described as “rat runs”. These cases will be managed by the same resource managing resident parking cases.
8. A report will be brought to the Executive Member Decision Session in February 2023 outlining the resident parking schemes are outstanding (to date as a result of this report, there are 7) and the outstanding requests for measures relating to LTNs or where a street/streets have been identified as a “rat run” (to date there are 4). The Executive Member will asked to prioritise the schemes in totality and these will then be given indicative dates for progression.
9. The Petitions in this report are as follows (a summary is provided in Annex A):
(i) Improve the footway running to north side of Field Lane from its junction with Church Lane to Sussex Road so that it is wide enough for wheelchair and buggy users and for 2 people to pass without having to walk on the grass verge
10. There are 68 signatures on this petition. A site plan can be found in Annex B. Work is ongoing around the management of the hedge in this area with the land owner. The hedge was trimmed in December and a schedule of maintenance is being sought from the landowner. A scheme will be explored to make improvements to the footway in any event.
(ii) Requesting permanent funding for the number 11 bus from Bishopthorpe.
11. There are 1,235 signatures on this petition. Discussions between officers and First York have established that service 11 is not currently under threat of cancellation, however a slightly reduced service frequency is likely to be required from early 2023 in order to improve reliability during the ongoing driver shortage.
12. This was reported in the November Executive Bus Network review report. No further action will be taken in response to this petition.
(iii) Installation of a pedestrian crossing to allow safe crossing to all between Fairfield Croft and Fairfield Drive in Skelton.
13. There are 118 signatures on this petition. A plan of the location can be found in Annex C. The installation of a toucan crossing was considered during the original discussions with the developer but it was not conditioned. Discussions are being had with the Ward Councillor around progressing some work in this area.
(iv) Moor Lane and Princess Road in Strensall, seeking to have these roads fully resurfaced.
14. There are 114 signatures on this petition. A plan of the location can be found in Annex D.
15. There are schemes proposed both these streets but as they have not been identified for urgent works as they are not near to any’ trigger’ sites such as schools or doctors they only score a 4 so have not been prioritised for work this year. A scheme may be possible in the 2024/25 programme. Additional inspection will be undertaken in these locations.
16. Further discussion will be had with Ward councillors to identify any further evidence for consideration in prioritisation and whether a scheme can be achieved through Ward funding.
(v) The council is asked to provide options for a Low Traffic Neighbourhood to reduce through traffic on residential streets in this area (Westminster Road, Greencliffe Drive and The Avenue) 7 on the waiting list, 2 or 3 LTN
17. There are 33 signatures on this petition. A plan of the location can be found in Annex E. It is proposed to manage this as described above as an LTN scheme and added to the list for consideration. The list will be prioritised at the Executive Member for Transport decision session later in the year.
(vi) Action to tackle the problems of vehicles using St Benedict Road as a 'rat run'.
18. There are 49 signatures on this petition. A plan of the location can be found in Annex F. It is proposed to manage this as described above as an LTN scheme and added to the list for consideration. The list will be prioritised at the Executive Member for Transport decision session later in the year.
(vii) The application of parking permits (resident parking scheme) on Highcliffe Court
19. There are 25 responses within the petition requesting that the street becomes a residents parking zone. Annex G is a plan showing the location and existing residents parking zones. We currently have 6 areas on the waiting list (including this area) and this will be number 7 on the list. The list will be prioritised at the Executive Member for Transport decision session later in the year.
(viii) Executive member for Transport to agree a scheme for closure to through traffic for the old village, Huntington
20. There are 69 signatures on this petition. A plan of the location is included in Annex H. It is proposed to manage this as described above as an LTN scheme and added to the list for consideration. The list will be prioritised at the Executive Member for Transport decision session later in the year.
21. A recent accident has occurred at the northern end of Old Village. Work is ongoing to identify any short term measures that can be implemented to mitigate any issues that are identified. This will run in advance of the exploration of any closure scheme. Residents have proposed options including a closure immediately to the south of Church Lane and speed cushions to slow traffic entering and exiting the corner at the location of the accident. These will be considered when the work is progressed.
Council Plan
22. This report is supportive of the following priorities in the Council Plan which focuses on key outcomes that include:
· Good health and wellbeing
· Getting around sustainably and
· A greener and cleaner City of York Council safe communities and culture for all.
Implications
Financial
23. There are no direct financial implications resulting from the report recommendations. Any financial impact of each petition outcome will be considered as part of future reports.
Human Resources (HR)
24. There are no implications around the decisions in this report.
Legal
25. There are no direct legal implications resulting from the report recommendations. Any legal impact of each petition outcome will be considered as part of future reports.
Equalities
26. The Council recognises its Public Sector Equality Duty under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other prohibited conduct; advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it in the exercise of a public authority’s functions. Equalities Impact assessments will be carried out where work is taken forward on schemes as a result of this paper.
Crime and Disorder
27. There are no implications around the decisions in this report.
Information Technology (IT)
28. There are no implications around the decisions in this report.
Property
29. There are no implications around the decisions in this report.
Other
30. There are no other implications identified.
Risk Management
31. The risks associated with the delivery of the outcomes of this report with respect to responding to petitions will be managed in each individual projects.