Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)            to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)          where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)         the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)         if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

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

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)          all Members of the Panel;

(b)          all other Members present.

RESOLVED:  To note that the declaration of interests, which had been published on the Council website, be taken as read and that in the course of the meeting.

(1)            The Declarations of Interests published in advance of the meeting on the Council’s website were taken as read.  And the following further declarations were made at the meeting for agenda item 9 – Information Report – Petitions: 

·                 Councillor Sasi Suresh declared a non-pecuniary interest in that their brother resides in an area a petition related to.

For agenda item 10 – Information Report – Traffic and Parking Schemes Progress Update, it was declared that:

·                 That Councillor Sasi Suresh is the ward Councillor for Headstone South.

(2)            Members and Advisers who had declared interests remained in the virtual meeting whilst the matters were considered and voted upon.

It was noted that clarification would be required from legal, if being a Ward Councillor was an interest to be declared when discussing reports that would cover particular areas where a Panel Members was a Ward Councillor.

To consider the appointment of a Vice-Chair to the Traffic and Road Safety Advisory Panel for the Municipal Year 2021/22.

RESOLVED:  To appoint Councillor Kairul Kareema Marikar as Vice-Chair of the Traffic and Road Safety Advisory Panel for the 2021/2022 Municipal Year.

Report of the Director of Legal and Governance.

The Chair introduced the report in brief and noted the nominees to be appointed as advisors to Panel and for a review of the advisors to be conducted as there were two vacancies.

It was raised by a Panel Member that a motorist advisor and a local business advisor would be welcomed to the panel.

RESOLVED:  That the following nominees be appointed as Advisers to the Panel for the 2021/22 Municipal Year:

·                 Veronica Chamberlain (Harrow Cyclists)

·                 Anthony Wood (Harrow Public Transport Users’ Association).

That the minutes of the meeting held on 22 April 2021 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 22 April 2021, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

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 in which they were received.  There will be a time limit of 15 minutes for the asking and answering of public questions.

[The deadline for receipt of public questions is 3.00 pm, 9 July 2021.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk

No person may submit more than one question].

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions had been received.

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).

RESOLVED:  To note that one petition was received from a Panel Member, on behalf of the Sri Lankan Muslim Cultural Centre and was handed to the Chair.

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

RESOLVED:  To note that no deputations had been received.

Report of the Acting Corporate Director of Community.

The Panel received a report which sets out details of the petitions that have been received since the last TARSAP meeting and provides details of the Council’s investigations and findings where these had been undertaken.

An officer reported that there had been six petitions since the last meeting which included:

·                 Royston Park Road, which requested traffic calming measures.  This was discussed at the previous meeting, and it was agreed that an initial allocation of funding was to be released by TfL which had allowed this scheme to be developed.  An initial scheme design was made for public consultation which had been planned for July 2021.

·                 Rainsford Close, Stanmore, which requested an individual Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ).  This request would be assessed and included in the next annual parking report.

·                 Wynlie Gardens, which requested for a controlled parking report.  This request would be assessed and included in the next annual parking report.

·                 Stanmore Hill, which requested for the CPZ hours to be changed.  This request would be assessed and included in the next annual parking report.

·                 Canons Drive, which requested for a CPZ.  This request would be assessed and included in the next annual parking report.

·                 Northumberland Road, which requested for better road safety and crime reduction.  The officer noted that the most up to date personal injury accident data was examined.  The data revealed that there were no speed related personal injury accidents in Northumberland Road or Grove Road within the last three years.  The current data provided no basis for this request to be prioritised at the present time.

The Chair thanked the officer for their presentation and opened the floor to questions from the Advisory Panel to which officers answered as followed:

·                 A member raised there was concern over the Royston Park Road design with the amount of speeding measures suggested in a small area.  An officer acknowledged that they were aware how some residents had felt about this but highlighted that the scheme had been designed accordance with the guidance from the Department of Transport.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Acting Corporate Director of Community.

The Panel received a report which provided members with an update on the current programme of transport schemes and initiatives funded in 2021/22.  This included the Transportation Programme funded by an external grant from Transport for London (TfL) and the Parking Management programme funded from the Harrow capital programme.

An officer gave a presentation in brief with the following being highlighted:

·                 That 8 parking schemes were carried over from 2019/20 to this year which was a result of delays caused by the pandemic.

·                 The transportation programme had experienced funding complication as Transport for London faced financial difficulties during the pandemic.  Although some funding had been received, this was for initial development of projects only, during April and May.

·                 Taking these projects forward between June and December 2021 would not be possible until confirmation of funding from TFL had been given.

The Chair thanked the officer for their presentation and opened the floor to questions from the Advisory Panel to which officers answered as followed:

·                 Concern was raised regarding the school streets consultation as it was felt that the scheme was in relation to the pandemic, and it was noted that the schemes appeared to have inconsistencies.  It was also questioned why a consultation would start when schools had not yet been fully opened.  The Officer explained that appendix G of the report explained that the consultation had taken place earlier in the year in April / May when the schools had been open, and the results of the consultation had more negative than positive responses during the consultation and the schemes were therefore abandoned.

·                 A member raised if there were details regarding times for when bus lanes would be operating, particularly in highly congested areas which would only add to pollution and air quality, in particular the Wealdstone area was mentioned.  The Officer explained that the Wealdstone project was currently at phase 2 of 8, and it was expected to be completed by early 2022.  It was noted that the completed project would improve bus journey times and improve air quality and reduce congestion.  An Adviser confirmed that the bus lane would operate 24-hours a day.

Questioned if a 24-hour bus lane would be necessary, it was raised by a Member of Panel that preference should be given to motorists and emphasised that feasibility studies needed to be done to ensure that the best possible services could be delivered.  The Officer explained that extensive modelling had been carried out and the scheme and it would have significant benefits for the local highway network.

·                 An Adviser to the Panel raised that in order to gain particular funding Harrow would need to adhere to the local transport note 120 and wanted to know if Harrow Council included this in the schemes.  The officer explained that all guidance that had been issued by Government’s Department for Transport had been considered.  The Officer noted that when a project has been developed all stakeholders would be consulted and would be mindful of the Council’s wider  ...  view the full minutes text for item 136.

Which cannot otherwise be dealt with.

A member of the Panel highlighted that a motorist representative should be looked into for the Panel by the relevant officer.

RESOLVED:  That the point raised be noted.

The audio recording of this meeting can be found at the following link:

https://www.harrow.gov.uk/virtualmeeting