Members of the public are invited to put questions to the Chair and Cabinet Members on any matters within the powers and duties of the Cabinet, subject to the exclusions set out in the Code of Practice. (Questions must be submitted no later than 30 minutes prior to the commencement of the meeting on the card provided. These are available at the meeting. You can also submit via the Council’s website at www.stockport.gov.uk/publicquestions)
Minutes:
Members of the public were invited to submit questions to the Chair on any matters within the powers and duties of the Cabinet, subject to the exclusions set out in the Code of Practice.
Four public questions were submitted.
(i) The first questions asked the Cabinet to inform other councillors and the public that the Council’s request for further funding toward the A6-M60 Bypass scheme had been rebuffed by the Department, and asked that no further resources be used on transport plans that included the Bypass, thereby lifting the threat to the Goyt and Poise Brook Valleys.
In response, the Cabinet Member for Economy & Regeneration stated that the Council was currently consulting on the draft South East Manchester Multi Modal (SEMMM) Strategy so was encouraging the public to feedback on the package of potential measures included in the draft strategy, which included the A6 to M60 Relief Road. The Council had been in contact with the Department for Transport regarding potential funding to undertake the next stage of development work and no funding was available at this time. However, as with all the proposed schemes identified in the draft Strategy, the Council would continue to work with partners to identify funding opportunities and pursue these when available.
(ii) The second question referred to the SEMMMS website and a statement that there was no current window scheduled for funding applications to the Government for the A6-M60 Bypass, and asked when the relevant funding round would be and if the Council would be submitting a funding request to it; the same website also referred to discussions with Transport for Greater Manchester and Transport for the North over funding and the outcome of those discussions was requested.
In response the Cabinet Member for Economy & Regeneration reiterated that the Council has been in contact with the Department for Transport regarding potential funding to undertake the next stage of development work and no funding was available at this time but the Council would continue to seek clarification from the Department on the timescales for upcoming funding rounds. As with all the proposed schemes identified in the draft SEMMM Strategy, the Council would continue to work with partners to identify funding opportunities and pursue these when available.
(iii) The third question referred to the SEMMMS Strategy document and Consultation and suggested that it hid support for the A6-M60 Bypass within the document and made no reference within its the Executive Summary. It was also stated that the consultation failed to provide an option for to state a preference or not for the bypass. It was asked whether this reflected the fear of manipulation of information that had been expressed when a consultation on the Bypass was proposed.
In response the Cabinet Member for Economy & Regeneration again reiterated responses to earlier questions and stated that the Strategy was a long term transport strategy for both Stockport and the wider north Cheshire area, and it identifies a multi-modal package of projects for the area. The A6 to M60 relief road was just one scheme proposed as a part of an extensive package of schemes which included Metrolink, bus rapid transit, walking and cycling, as well as highway related schemes. The consultation had been designed to allow people to feedback on the strategy’s approach as a whole as well as provide feedback on individual schemes. She reiterated that since no funding had been made available from the Department of Transport for the consultation on the possible bypass scheme, this would not be pursued nor would any further work be done on preparing a business case at this time.
(iv) The fourth question referred to the iron age roundhouse discovered and excavated at Woodford during work on A6MARR in the autumn of 2015 and asked what had happened to the site since.
In response, the Cabinet Member for Economy & Regeneration stated that due to the technical nature of the question she had asked for further detail on this site to be provided and she would write to the question with that detail once it became available.