Agenda and minutes

At this point, Members are asked to declare:

·        Any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests

·        Any prejudicial interests or

·        Any disclosable pecuniary interests

which they may have in respect of business on this agenda.

Members were asked to declare any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests, any prejudicial interests or any disclosable pecuniary interests they may have in the business on the agenda.  None were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of 14 November 2011.

RESOLVED:       That the minutes of the meeting of 14 November 2011 be approved and signed as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the remit of the committee may do so.  The deadline for registering is 5.00pm on Tuesday 19  February 2013.

Although there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the council’s Public Participation Scheme, an email had been received from a member of the public concerning an incident that had occurred at the junction of Peter Lane.  Copies of the email from Mr Hyland were tabled for consideration.

RESOLVED:       (i)      That the contents of the email be noted.

(ii)      That an officer from the directorate of City and Environmental Services be requested to respond to Mr Hyland’s email.

REASON:                     To ensure that the issues raised are considered by the appropriate officers.

This report sets out the final steps required for this committee in relation to their review on City Centre Access.

Members considered a report that set out the final steps required for the committee in relation to their review on City Centre Access. 

It was noted that a report had been submitted to Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee on 12 November 2012 with an overview of the committee’s findings and some concerns over process and the support received during the course of the review.  The Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee had agreed that there was no further role for this committee but had felt that one further meeting should be convened in order to collate a full summary of the committee’s findings for submission to the Cabinet Member for Planning, Transport and Sustainability prior to any further decisions in respect of the City Centre Footstreets Review.

Members agreed that it would be appropriate to present to the Cabinet Member for Planning, Transport and Sustainability the report that had been considered by the Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee (Annex A to the agenda papers).  In considering whether they wished to add further comments to the report, discussion took place around the following issues:

(i)           Experimental Traffic Regulation Order

An experimental Traffic Regulation Order was to be put in place for an eighteen month period and would then be reviewed.  The measures included:

·        Extending footstreet hours to operate from 10.30am to 5.00pm seven days a week.

·        Closing Davygate to traffic at its junction with St Helen’s Square using bollards during the footstreet hours.

·        Reversing the one way traffic flow around St Sampson’s Square so that access would only be from Davygate rather than from Church Street.

·        Access into St Sampson’s Square area  for Green Permit holders during the footstreeet hours will only be from the Goodramgate direction.

(ii)          Other measures under consideration

In addition to the experimental Traffic Order Regulation, Members were informed of other measures that were under consideration as part of the improvements to the city centre.  These included:

·        The possibility of additional cycle storage at Piccadilly

·        Changes in respect of disabled parking spaces.

·        Decluttering in respect of signage

·        Details were given of the work that was planned in respect of Coppergate which would effectively make it into a two way bus lane during peak hours.  Taxis, both hackney carriages and private, would also be permitted    The proposals were modelled on an arrangement that had been successfully introduced in Oxford.  Members commented on the need to ensure that the signage made it clear that only local buses were permitted.   

Members commented on the level of public interest in the proposals and of the need to ensure that the measures that were put into place worked effectively.

Members questioned officers as to the enforcement arrangements that would be in place.  It was noted that only the Police had powers to stop moving traffic and that enforcement would not be a high priority for the Police outside of core hours.  They were, however, assured that the signage and arrangements that were in place would be sufficient to ensure that appropriate enforcement action  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.