Presentation by Cllr Stuart Hughes and Mr John Fewings (Devon County Council) and opportunity for Member questions
Minutes:
*O&S 14
The Committee were given a presentation by Cllr Stuart Hughes, the Portfolio Holder for Highways, and Mr John Fewings, Neighbourhood Highways Manager (South), both of Devon County Council (DCC). During the presentation, the following points were made:
· There were two main types of works on the highway: road works (road maintenance works) and street works (mainly utilities works).
· Road works were generally known well in advance for budget, design, and consultation purposes. Utility works tended to be more problematic because there was less time to plan and it was a legal requirement to concur with the organisation’s needs if at all possible. It was noted that utility organisations were now required to apply for a permit for street works.
· Meetings were held with Utility organisations at the beginning of the year to try to plan what activities there would be around the area throughout the year, to try to co-ordinate works, but it was accepted that unforeseen emergency works would always need to be dealt with quickly.
· Planning guidelines altered in recent years making it much more difficult to refuse a planning application for highways reasons.
· It was acknowledged that many major highways were close to capacity so any small event, eg road works, could inevitably cause long delays and added congestion.
· The Strategic planning team annually reviewed its local transport plan, which included cycle routes and bypasses. Following a question asked by the Chair for an overview of strategic planning and any correlation between that and Local Plans to see any impact on roads, the Officer offered to send a link to Devon County Council’s (DCC) strategic documents.
· Cllr Hughes confirmed that officers from West Devon Borough Council would discuss all new proposed developments with their DCC planning colleagues to review the potential impacts on nearby roads.
· Following a question regarding speeding within the Dartmoor National Park area, the officer outlined the process required for the introduction of a speed limit on the Moor and the need to request for individual speed signs to be erected on the road.
· It was confirmed that DCC held a capital drainage budget and a revenue drainage budget: both budgets were described as limited. DCC would soon be asking local Town and Parish Councils what were their priorities and the responses received would be used to determine which schemes could be implemented. Many under highway drains were at capacity, therefore Cllr Hughes encouraged Members to canvas their local MPs, following a reduction of £20 million from the Highways budget last year. Any construction on the roads would look at drainage issues at that point.
· Following a question regarding the severe traffic congestion in Okehampton Town Centre, it was confirmed that three large shopping centres had been built just off the main street which had impacted on vehicular movements. The re-opening of the rail station should help in this regard. Medieval towns like Okehampton were trying to cope with modern traffic which was very difficult. Signals in middle Okehampton were synchronised to try to ensure movement through the town centre as quickly as possible but these were restricted.
· Clarification was given on how capacity was defined for roads and it was stated that most town centres were very close to their capacity. The Officer offered to send the definitive figures to the Committee but pointed out that the figure was often lower in towns as the street layout would impact, eg bus stops.
· Single track and narrow roads should be limited to 30mph was one Member’s view. It was confirmed that a blanket policy of 30mph was not possible
· Following several questions from Members, the Officer confirmed he would be happy to pass on any queries to his colleague in Highways Planning. It was agreed that any questions would be sent to the Democratic Services Specialist for forward transmission.
· It was agreed that the Officer would circulate details relating to the ‘Doing What Matters’ budget changes.
· Although the Officer confirmed there was a disconnect between highways planning and function areas, it was confirmed that the two areas held regular meetings to review up and coming developments and to review Section 106 monies and their potential uses.
· Following a question regarding the Council’s declaration of a climate change and biodiversity emergency, it was confirmed that DCC had been actively promoting cycling and walking for many years. It was acknowledged that it was harder for those living in rural areas to access public transport as often provision did not exist. Cllr Hughes agreed to update the Committee on the A386 cycling route proposals.
· One Member queried what measurements determined responses on planning applications after being informed that there was only one yardstick used, and that was how many accidents, major or minor, and number of deaths had occurred in the vicinity of the application. The DCC Officer agreed to find out and update the Committee outside of this meeting.
· It was explained that roads were prioritised for repairs through information garnered from Neighbourhood Officers, and by using two types of scanning device: one for road deformation and another that registered cracking and surface deterioration. The collation of this information produced a county wide map highlighting road conditions which would be used to prioritise repairs. Major roads were prioritised over minor roads. Further to a question from a Member, it was confirmed that workers should be filling all nearby potholes and not just the one that had been assigned for filling. The Officer stated that he would remind the contractor of this requirement. The reduction in the Highway’s budget meant that the repairs were severely limited.
· Following a question about speed limits in the Borough, it was outlined that a Borough wide speed limit of 20mph would not be possible but specific areas could be added to the list waiting for review. It was requested that any such areas should be highlighted with the relevant County Councillor.
The Chair thanked Cllr Hughes and Mr Fewings for their time, and confirmed that the Democratic Services Specialist would send a list of the items to be investigated further following this Meeting.