Agenda item

Report of the Corporate Director, Community.

The Panel received a report of the Corporate Director, Community which set out the proposed programme of traffic schemes to be implemented with the £100k local transport fund allocated to Harrow by Transport for London (TfL).

The Chair advised that 8 schemes had been selected in accordance with a scoring system by officers and it was for the Panel to decide which of these should be recommended for implementation and that the total cost of those schemes should not exceed the £100k TfL fund available.

Following questions and comments from the Panel, an officer advised that the Chapel Lane scheme, had received a high score because a petition from residents of the road had been presented at a previous Panel meeting.  Implementing the scheme would require minimum intervention and would reduce the likelihood of accidents there.

An adviser to the Panel stated, that in his view, implementation of this scheme was desirable, but not essential and there were other schemes on the list which should be prioritised.

A Member stated that this scheme should be progressed because of the large volume of traffic and congestion in the area, which was likely to increase as a result of the new developments in the area.

A Member back benching asked what was being done to tackle the large number of potholes on Harrow’s roads and quoted statistics provided by the RAC which suggested that twenty-five thousand car breakdowns were due to and whether there was a separate budget and a programme of repairs for dealing with these.

An officer undertook to request this information from the maintenance team and forward it to the Panel after the meeting.

Panel Members expressed concern regarding the issue of potholes and the Chair stated that he would urge the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Crime and Community Safety to write to the new Mayor of London and ask the Leader to speak to London Councils to ask whether any London-wide funds were available for repairing potholes in 2017.

It was noted that the Secretary of State had announced that a fund of £6bn would be available for dealing with the problem of potholes in England, however, clarification would be sought regarding whether this included London.

The Chair proposed a motion  that schemes 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8 be recommended for implementation.  The motion was seconded, put to the vote and won by a majority of votes. 

Councillors Barry Kendler, Jerry Miles, Nitin Parekh, Jeff Anderson and Ameet Jogia voted for the proposal.  Councillor Manji Kara voted against the proposal.  Councillor Mrs Vina Mithani abstained from voting.

It was further unanimously agreed that schemes 6, 1 and 7 be earmarked for implementation in the 2017/18 Municipal Year.

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

That:

(1)          schemes 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8 be recommended for implementation;

(2)          schemes 6, 1 and 7 be earmarked for implementation in the 2017/18 Municipal Year.

Reason for Decision:  In order for the Council to agree a programme of prioritised local schemes funded by the local transport fund (£100k) and allocated by Transport for London to the London Borough of Harrow within the 2016/17 financial year.