Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Members:-

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interests were declared:

Agenda Item 7 – References From Other Committees/Panels &

Agenda Item 8 – Information Report:  Petitions

Councillor Mrs Vina Mithani declared a non-pecuniary interest in that she was a Member of the Health & Social Care Scrutiny Sub-Committee and that she lived in Brampton Grove, which was in the vicinity of several local schools.  She would remain in the room whilst the matters were considered and voted upon.

Agenda Item 7 - References From Other Committees/Panels

Councillor Lynda Seymour declared a non-pecuniary interest in that she was Ward Councillor for Belmont Ward, where a walk-in centre may be built.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Agenda Item 10 – Information Report: School Travel Plans Update

Councillor Jeff Anderson declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he was Chair of Governors at Kingsley School.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Councillor Jean Lammiman declared a non-pecuniary interest in that she was Chair of Governors at Shaftesbury School.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

That the minutes of the Ordinary meeting held on 11 February 2016 and of the Special meeting held on 27 June 2016 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the ordinary meeting held on 11 February 2016 and of the special meeting held on 27 June 2016 be taken as read and signed as correct records.

To receive any public questions received in accordance with Executive Procedure Rule 49 (Part 4D of the Constitution).

Questions will be asked in the order notice of them was received and there be a time limit of 15 minutes.

[The deadline for receipt of public questions is 3.00 pm, Thursday 14 July 2016.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk  

No person may submit more than one question].

1.    To receive a public question from Mr Roberts regarding road markings on Gayton Road/Station Road, Harrow.

To note that two public questions had been received and responded to and in line with the statement made by the Chairman, the recording had been placed on the website.

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors under the provisions of Executive Procedure Rule 47 (Part 4D of the Constitution).

1.    Petition to be received from residents of Eastleigh Avenue, South Harrow HA2 0UF, regarding parking problems on their cul-de-sac.

RESOLVED:  To note the receipt of the following petition, which was referred to the Corporate Director, Community, for consideration:

Petition from residents in Eastleigh Avenue, South Harrow, containing 20 signatures, with the following terms of reference:

‘Draw white parking lines in our cul-de-sac, for vehicles to park within the lines, and to implement a “No Parking Zone”, in the middle of the cul-de-sac and put designated parking spaces (2) in the centre’.

To receive deputations (if any) under the provisions of Executive Procedure Rule 48 (Part 4D of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that none were received.

To receive

1.    a Reference from the Planning Committee meeting of 17 February 2016;

2.    a Reference from the Health & Social Care Scrutiny Sub-Committee meeting of 1 March 2016.

The Panel received a Reference from the Planning Committee meeting of 17 February 2016 which requested that a review of school travel plans be carried out because of their importance in mitigating the impact of traffic and parking issues outside schools.

An officer advised that the Council’s travel planners worked closely with schools, particularly those undergoing expansion, to ensure they had robust travel plans in place.  In the case of Grimsdyke School, it had achieved TfL’s Gold accreditation, had reduced car use by 12-13% and had demonstrated over twenty-five initiatives, such as a walking bus to reduce car journeys to the school.

A Member stated that Grimsdyke School was unusual in that there was a very narrow access road (Sylvia Avenue) to the school site and she continued to receive complaints about traffic and parking from residents in Hillview Road.  She had concerns regarding access for emergency vehicles on Sylvia Avenue during school pick-up and drop-off times.  Expanding the school would worsen the traffic congestion issues in the area and officers should continue to monitor and review the situation there.

The Chair advised that adhering to the STP was often a condition of being granted planning permission for schools to expand.

The Panel received a Reference from the Health & Social Care Scrutiny Sub-Committee meeting of 1 March 2016, which requested that the Panel look into the lack of adequate public transport provision and lack of free parking in the vicinity of Alexandra Avenue Clinic.

An officer advised that there was a single, twice hourly bus service, the 398, which serviced the clinic.

An adviser to the Panel stated that TfL had recently announced that the 398 bus service would be extended to evenings and Sundays, nevertheless, the 398 route did not correspond exactly to the catchment area of the Alexandra Avenue clinic and an additional bus route would be helpful.  The adviser undertook to take this item to the next meeting of the Bus and Rail liaison Group in October 2016.

The Panel agreed that TfL should be lobbied regarding this and the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Crime and Community Safety be urged to discuss this further with the Deputy Mayor of London.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)          to note the Reference from the Planning Committee;

(2)          to note the Reference from the Health & Social Care Scrutiny Sub-Committee;

(3)          the Reference from the Health & Social Care Scrutiny Sub-Committee be referred to the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Crime & Community Safety with a request that he write to the Deputy Mayor for Transport (GLA) asking for a meeting to discuss improving bus services to the Alexandra Avenue Clinic.

Report of the Corporate Director, Community.

The Panel received a report of the Corporate Director, Community which set out the current position with regard to cycling in the borough and recommended a way forward for delivering the aspirations of the Cycle Strategy.

Following a brief overview of the report, Panel Members made the following comments:

·                     the strategy was excellent.  The relevant contact at the Mayor of London’s office should be approached regarding the Strategy and Action Plan;

·                     the limited extent of the cycling infrastructure in Harrow prevented more people from cycling.  It was important to continue to lobby Transport for London and the Mayor of London for increased funding to improve and expand the cycling infrastructure, in Harrow and in London generally.  It would be useful to carry out a survey of residents to gauge the level of unmet needs, for example, how many people owned bicycles but did not use them or would like to cycle but did not do so due to safety and other concerns;

·                     any statistics and information from such a survey would support Harrow’s case when lobbying TfL and the Mayor of London. The Communications Team should be approached regarding the possibility of such a survey being included in the next issue of Harrow People;

·                     the Strategy demonstrated that Harrow had ambitions to become more cycle-friendly.  However, the lack of progress in Harrow was in sharp contrast to excellent schemes in other parts of London, for example, the Embankment super-highway and the mini-Hollands initiative.  Waltham Forest had been transformed by the mini-Hollands scheme and Harrow could contact them to take advantage of their expertise and experience. The London Cycling Design Standards should be adopted in Harrow;

·                     the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Crime and Community Safety should be urged to make representations to TfL and the Mayor of London for additional funding;

·                     it was important to educate pedestrians as well as drivers to respect cycle lanes and cyclists

·                     some cycle lane markings on roads that had been recently dug up by statutory providers were in need of repainting

Officers responded to Members questions and comments as follows:

·                     the Council ran sustained and targeted promotion campaigns regarding cycling;

·                     it was incumbent on Statutory Providers to re-instate any areas of road and pavement that they dug up and any breaches should be reported and would be investigated by the Network Policy Team.

Resolved to RECOMMEND:  (to the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Crime and Community Safety)

That

(1)          the work programmes and initiatives to deliver the cycling strategy to date using TfL grant funding be noted;

(2)          the Borough Cycle Action Plan be reviewed and updated to set out specific, realistic and deliverable short, medium and long term goals based on anticipated funding levels;

(3)          the Harrow cycle skills network audit be noted and the findings used to prioritise the infrastructure improvements in the Borough Cycle Action Plan;

(4)          the Traffic and Road Safety Advisory Panel reviews progress with the Borough Cycle Action Plan annually;

(5)          the 2017/18 LIP programme increases the proportion of investment  ...  view the full minutes text for item 113.

Report of the Corporate Director, Community.

The Panel received a report of the Corporate Director, Community which set out details of the petitions that had been received since the last meeting of the Panel and provided details of the Council’s investigations and findings where these had been undertaken.

Following questions and comments from Panel Members, an officer advised:

there was a statutory process to be followed in relation to the introduction of parking controls or a Controlled Parking Zone – namely an initial stakeholder meeting followed by informal and then statutory consultation;

officers would however take on board the comments from the Panel regarding the need to look into speeding, congestion and safety issues in the vicinity of Harrow Leisure Centre resulting from the introduction of parking charges at the Leisure Centre and local schools traffic; 

once a parking scheme was implemented, it was monitored, and officers had received a number of queries regarding the scheme in Paines Lane. Any change to parking controls in Paines Lane or new intervention there would need to be discussed at the February 2017 meeting of the Panel.

The Chair requested that the response letter which would be sent to the Petitioners from the 19th Harrow Scout hut, be sent in his name, once he had been consulted on the draft.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Corporate Director, Community.

The Panel received a report of the Corporate Director, Community which provided an update on progress with the 2016/17 traffic and parking management programme of works.  This included schemes funded by Transport for London and schemes which had been included in Harrow’s Capital Programme.

An officer provided a brief overview of the report and responded to Panel Members questions and comments as follows:

·                     implementation of the proposed Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) in South Harrow had been delayed and would probably begin in October 2016;

·                     the proposed works on the Ridgeway would include bus stop clearways and cages on the road;

·                     Eastern Parade - the investigation was ongoing as there had been some issues with some unidentified STATS (Statutory Undertakers Appliances) in the form of cabling had been found and officers were working on the assumption that these would need to be moved and were seeking additional funding for this to be carried out.

An officer undertook to provide the HPTUA adviser with more detailed information regarding the nature of bus stop accessibility works in Pinner after the meeting.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Corporate Director, Community.

The Panel received a report of the Corporate Director, Community which set out details of the status of School Travel Plans (STPs) in the borough.

Following a brief overview of the report, an officer responded to the Panel’s Members and back-benching Members questions and comments as follows:

·                     STPs were owned by schools and not by the Council and schools were ultimately responsible for delivering their STPs.  The Council’s travel planners would offer support and encouragement to help schools develop realistic and achievable targets and implement their STPs;

·                     it was true that the Council currently only had 3 enforcement vehicles to deal with over 70 schools in the borough.  However, in the past it had never been necessary to have dedicated enforcement vehicles to deal with traffic and parking violations in the vicinity of schools.  This was a recent phenomenon, due in part to the school expansion programme.  Officers had to target resources appropriately and enforcement vehicles would be deployed as necessary;

·                     three schools in the borough (one of which was Grimsdyke School) either had or would shortly be introducing a walking bus scheme and others were being encouraged to follow suit.

The Chair added that in the case of new schools or the expansion of existing schools, fulfilling the aims of the STP was often a condition of being granted planning permission.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.