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 Member:

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, during the course of the meeting, Councillor Ameet Jogia MBE declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he lived behind Culverlands Close.  He would remain in the room whilst the reports were considered.

That the minutes of the meeting held 12 July 2022 on be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 12 July 2022 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 if 3.00 pm, 4 November 2022.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk

No person may submit more than one question].

RESOLVED:  To note that five public questions had been received and that written responses would be provided.

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).

Four petitions were submitted by local residents.  The residents each read out the terms of reference of their petition as follows:

Petition 1.

A petition was received from residents requesting for speed calming measures on Rickmansworth Road because of over-speeding vehicles on Rickmansworth they expressed concerns about the timing and results of the speed survey.

Petition 2.

A petition was received from Residents requesting for the removal of the Marlborough School Streets Scheme and restore the use of normal traffic calming measures such as lollipop person.

Petition 3.

A petition was received from residents requesting improved and safer crossings around the two North Harrow junctions, main crossings at Station Road and Pinner Road and the main junction around Nower Hill School.

Petition 4.

A petition was received from Radnor Road residents requesting traffic calming measures on Radnor Road.

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

There were none.

Report of the Interim Director of Environmental Services

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

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

Queens Avenue

A speed restriction of 20mph with the appropriate clear signage and speed ramps was requested.

The speed survey results from September 2022 show that the 85%ile speed in both directions is 29.5mph and 29.2mph respectively.  As this is slightly below 30mph, officers will need to investigate further to decide on the next course of action.

Victor Road

Prospective CPZ for Victor Road, Sidney Road, Edward Road, Albert Road, Pinner View, Fairfield Drive and Atherton Place. 

The request will be assessed in accordance with agreed TARSAP criteria before it is prioritised on the parking programme for 2023-24.

Common Road

Signalised Pedestrian Crossing outside Sandringham Estate on Common Road.

officers to investigate complaint and identify short-term safety measures to address concerns in the interim.  The request for the crossing will also be assessed and presented to the February 2023 TARSAP for consideration and prioritisation.

Cowbridge Road

Objection to the installation of Double Yellow Lines (DYLs).

Installation of DYLs was suspended until a decision on whether to proceed with scheme on road safety grounds was made.

Rickmansworth Road

20mph limit, a pedestrian crossing or speed reduction measures.

The speed survey results from October 2022 showed that the 85%ile speed in both directions was 32mph and 30mph respectively.  Further investigation (site observation) was needed before next steps could be decided.

Evelyn Drive Pinner and Hatch End

Speed calming measures. 

The speed survey results from September 2022 showed that the 85%ile was 29.5mph in both directions.  This should not suggest excessive speeding monitoring would continue.

Oakleigh Avenue

Review existing CPZ (Zone X).  After assessment, this would be added onto the parking programme register.

Kings Road, Rayners Lane and Roxbourne

(1)            Provision of pedestrian crossings,

(2)            reduce speed limit to 25mph,

(3)            provide school signs on Kings Road for Newton Farm School and

(4)            amend road humps between Malvern Avenue up to Eastcote Lane.

The issues would be investigated and addressed in accordance with current procedures.  This would include a speed survey to determine the extent of the issues.

Mollison Way, Edgware

Speed calming measures.  The speed survey result from September 2022 showed the 85%ile speed slightly exceeded 30mph.  A site visit was conducted following the fatality in March 2020.  The potential traffic-calming at that stage but could not be determined.  The full police report before deciding on the best course of action.

Pangbourne Drive and Dalkeith Grove, Canons

(1)            implement 20mph limit along Pangbourne Drive and Dalkeith Grove

(2)            install Stop or Give Way sign at same junction

(3)            replace all pavements on Pangbourne Drive and Heronslea Drive.

Officers would investigate requests 1 and 2 in accordance with current procedures.  Request 3 had been forwarded to the Highways Team to investigate.

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

Report of the Interim Director of Environmental Services

Members received the report on the progress with the 2022/23 traffic, cycle training and parking management programme of works which included schemes funded by Transport for London (TfL) and schemes in Harrow’s Capital Programme with the following highlights:

In March 2022 the government approved an initial package of financial support to TfL to cover the period between March and June 2022.  The Council had received a further £925,000 from to TFL in October for schemes set out in the report.  The grant must be spent by end of the financial year.

20 mph zone

Residents would be notified of the change in November and their views would be sought about the installation of the speed cushions, a slight adjustment of the inclusion of additional speed cushions from when that scheme will be delivered on the grounds by the 31st of March.

Station Road and Pine Road

There are junction improvement schemes.  The addition of a pedestrian and cycle facilities to the junction, a feasibility study has been commissioned to explore the junction improvements.  However, due to the concerns with the scope, the original project brief, as well as the quality of work undertaken so far, a review of the junction has now been undertaken.

George the fifth Avenue and Headstone drive

A local safety junction improvement scheme that must be consulted on this financial year and built before March 24.  The scheme was at the feasibility and design stage 

£20K worth of funding being spent on training for cycling locally, around schools and Appendix B goes into the detail of where both schemes are.

Electric Charging Points (EVs)

Currently there were 40 charging points in the borough.  Funding has just been received for an additional 40.  The Council is preparing a bid on a further 160 sites under the new levy funding the aim was to get 100% funded through negotiation with our suppliers.  In addition, a new transport strategy that would go to Cabinet in January 2023 would include a borough-wide strategy for electric charging points across the borough, ideally, to get the council to net zero in line with climate change targets.

A Member asked if the 40 sites for the EV charging points have already been identified.  The officers confirmed that the sites have been identified.

A Member asked how residents could let the Council know if they want an EV charging point located where they live.  Implementation was demand led.  The Council was putting them where residents want not where they think they might want them.

The officer explained that there was a list on the Council website, and they could add their local area to the list.

A Member questioned if there were any plans for cycle training for adults as had been for children.  The officer responded that that with the council could not take on both Children and adults with the existing funding. The Member suggested that parents were more likely to let their children cycle if they could cycle with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

Report of the Interim Director of Environmental Services

Members received the report which provided an update on the Marlborough School Streets Scheme consultation of 21 July 2022 to 9 October 2022 and the outcome of that consultation.

The consultation was originally scheduled to run from 21 July 2022 to 25 September, however, due to the Queen’s passing, some engagement sessions were rescheduled and therefore the consultation was extended to 9 October 2022.

The officer informed the Panel that although the recommendation was to delete the scheme based on the consultation results, officers were still looking into suitable alternatives to address the issues on Marlborough Hill. 

A Member thanked the officers, for carrying out the survey and commented that it was clear that local residents had voted against the scheme.  He said it was apparent that the mitigation before the latest consultation had not had the desired effect due to long standing issues.  7% consultation response was normally too low to make recommendations perhaps this was due to the summer holidays.  Assurance was needed to ensure that this would be a new low bar for decision making and hoped in the government was still funding school streets scheme and in future could still aim for a cleaner and pollution free environments in Harrow.

A Member questioned if any comments had been received from ward councillors on the proposal to delete the Scheme.

The Chair Cllr Ameet Jogia commented that he had not received any notice of any representations from the local ward councillors and would take that to mean that they had no objections to the officer’s recommendations.  The officer confirmed that no response had been received to the emails sent to ward councillors.

A Member confirmed that based on the results of the consultation that with regret the Ward Councillors had confirmed their agreement with the proposal to delete the scheme.

An Advisor questioned why the views of teachers from Newton Farm and Grimes Primary were not considered during the consultation and the officer explained that the consultation was for local residents and businesses in the area.

An Advisor commented that Harrow Cyclist’s vision every child should cycle to school was unlikely to materialise if traffic was reintroduced on Marlborough Hill and as the recommendation was contrary to the equality impact assessment and many benefits of a school streets scheme to the elderly and disabled would be lost, she urged the Panel to refuse the officer’s recommendation.

Another Advisor commented that School streets schemes could be successful as was the case in the Grimes Dyke School Scheme but that in this case it had not been successful.

A Member suggested that perhaps a review could be carried out to identify what went wrong and take those into consideration in the implementation of other street schemes in the future.

A Member commented that lessons could be learnt from the successful implementation of the implementation of Margaret school streets scheme and issues raised by residents about the Marlborough School streets scheme should have been mitigated.  He suggested that a report  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

Report of the Interim Director of Environmental Services

Members received the report of the Interim Director of Environmental Services which provided Members with an update on the traffic related incidents which resulted in fatalities on borough roads in the last 18 months.  The report also outlined the actions taken by officers following these incidents.

·       The Car-on-car collision on Mollison Way, Edgware on 20 March 2022 involving an elderly lady who subsequently passed away.  Officers were awaiting the report from the Police before deciding what, if any, speed measures can be implemented.

·       The incident involving a car and an elderly male pedestrian incident which occurred on 31 July 2022 at Uxbridge Road/Waxwell Lane Junction (Pinner) who passed away.  Based on the outcome of a site visit, officers were recommending the junction be included in the TfL LIP programme for improvement commencing with the design of potential options this financial year and consultation and possible implementation in 23/24.

·       The incident occurred at Culver Grove (near junction with St Andrew’s Close) (Centenary) 7 August 2022 involving a car and a 62-year-old man who passed away at the location.  Officers were awaiting the report from the Police before deciding what, if any, speed measures can be implemented.

The officer informed Members that the Council’s killed and seriously injured stats were the lowest around our surrounding boroughs and a TFL dashboard of all the killed and seriously injured across all the London boroughs could be presented at the next meeting of the committee for comparison. 

The officer that there was an issue with speeding across the borough that need to look at traffic calming measures, but speeding needed to be addressed because four was very high for the number of fatalities in a year

Chair expressed the Panel’s condolences to the family of the bereaved residents and said one fatality was one too many. 

A member questioned if the police’s delay in provision of causation report has been escalated to the Borough Commander.  The officer responded that the portfolio holder and Head of Community Safety had escalated it.

Another Member commented that the response rate of the police was unacceptable, something needed to be done to get a response perhaps a deadline.

Another Member questioned how long the Council would give the Borough Commander to comment on the cause of the accidents.  The officer responded that it was a resourcing issue as only one officer was covering multiple boroughs.  The officer was overworked.  In other boroughs it would have been resolved in 7 days instead of 4 months.

Another Member questioned if anything else could be done to reduce speed a perhaps a publicity campaign might work.  The Panel needed to commit to working towards zero fatality on Harrow roads.  The officer accepted that a publicity campaign would be of value.

An adviser commented that people were scared to cycle due to the fatalities.  To improve active travel, this needed to change.

Another Member expressed concern at the lack of pedestrian crossing near Pinner Hill School.  The officer responded that pedestrian crossing near  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

Which cannot otherwise be dealt with.

There was none.