Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Cabinet Member for Sustainable Stockport.

This report provides an overview of several recent requests from Councillors, motions to Council and a Scrutiny Review requesting a more joined up approach to managing the highway networks and transportation improvements within Stockport.

The Cabinet is asked to:-

(1) note the proposed approach to developing neighbourhood transport plans and note the responses to the motion to council regarding slower speed 20mph and the Scrutiny Review on Active Streets and School Streets.

(2) Approve the proposal to sign the Walking Charter.

Officer contact: Mark Glynn on 0161-474-3700 or email: mark.glynn@stockport.gov.uk or Sue Stevenson on 0161 474 4351 or email: sue.stevenson@stockport.gov.ik

The Cabinet Member for Sustainable Stockport (Councillor Sheila Bailey) submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) providing an overview of several recent requests from Councillors, motions to Council and a Scrutiny Review requesting a more joined up approach to managing the highway networks and transportation improvements within Stockport.

RESOLVED - (1) That the proposed approach to developing neighbourhood transport plans and note the responses to the motion to council regarding slower speed 20mph and the Scrutiny Review on Active Streets and School Streets be noted.

(2) That approval be given to the proposal to sign the Walking Charter.

To consider a report of the Director of Place Management.

This report provides an overview of several recent requests from Councillors, motions to Council and a Scrutiny Review requesting a more joined up approach to managing the highway networks and transportation improvements within Stockport. Councillors have also requested more visibility of proposed schemes within their areas and a clearer overview of how individual schemes fit together.

The Scrutiny Committee is asked to:-

(1)  Comment on the proposed approach to developing neighbourhood transport plans and note the responses to the motion to council regarding slower speed 20mph and the Scrutiny Review on Active Streets and School Streets.

(2) Comment on the proposal to sign the Walking Charter.

Officer contact: Mark Glynn on 0161-474-3700 or email: mark.glynn@stockport.gov.uk

The Director of Place Management submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) providing an overview of several recent requests from Councillors, motions to Council and a Scrutiny Review requesting a more joined up approach to managing the highway networks and transportation improvements within Stockport.

Councillors had also requested more visibility of proposed schemes within their areas and a clearer overview of how individual schemes fit together.

The Cabinet Member for Sustainable Stockport (Councillor Sheila Bailey) attended the meeting to respond to questions from the Scrutiny Committee.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

·         Any work to ensure that highways work was co-ordinated more effectively was to be welcomed.

·         Concern was expressed that there would be difficulty in implementing the strategy and plans without local budgets administered by the area committees.

·         Area Committees would retain delegated responsibility to act as the local highways authority, but without the budget to act, this role and function would be significant diminished.

·         It was unclear how future residents permit parking schemes would be funded as the newly introduced policy stated that this would be borne from the area committee’s delegated budget.

·         In response, it was stated that it was not intended that there would be a loss of ability for local councillors to undertake smaller schemes within their wards.

·         It was stated that there was currently an identified budget in place that allowed members to readily understand whether it would be financially possible to deliver a local scheme, whereas in the future this may have to be done by way of a competitive bid against the priorities of other wards throughout the borough.

·         It was stated that against a borough wide metric for scheme prioritisation, some wards might struggle to deliver local schemes.

·         The intention of the proposed strategy and plans was to encourage and support members to think more strategically about the delivery of schemes within neighbourhoods and when funding resources became available these could be used to deliver their priorities in that more strategic way.

·         It was commented that the area committees’ delegated budgets were not solely highways budgets used to deliver highway schemes, but had been used by area committees to support initiatives such as fencing to prevent anti-social behaviour, CCTV, new noticeboards and replacement benches.  It was noted that the removal of these budgets would also have a consequential impact on these activities in the future.

·         The approach towards local transport plans was welcomed as a means of applying further rigour to the delivery and co-ordination of highways activities.

·         It was confirmed that the recommendations of the scrutiny review in relation to the Council's policy for active streets, school streets and play streets had been fully accepted by the Cabinet and would be implemented as soon as possible.

·         It was clear from the report that a lot of the interventions that would be introduced in the future were designed to tackle speeding, and consideration should be given to a greater use of average speed cameras.  In response, it was stated that the siting of speed cameras was agreed at a Greater Manchester level but was largely determined by government criteria that significantly limited the number of locations that could be considered suitable.  It was also noted that the cost of such cameras was prohibitive.

·         An all-party working group was looking into the implementation of a 20 mph speed limits, and it was stated that it needed to be as easy as possible for members to initiate these schemes.

·         The proposal that the Council sign the Walking Charter was welcomed.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.