Agenda and minutes

Regeneration, Culture and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Thursday, 19 December 2024 6.30pm, NEW

Venue: St George's Centre, Pembroke Road, Chatham Maritime, Chatham ME4 4UH. View directions

Contact: Nicola Couchman, Democratic Services Officer 

Media

Items
No. Item

554.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Animashaun, Cook, Fearn, Filmer, Myton and Peake.

 

555.

Urgent matters by reason of special circumstances

The Chairperson will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he/she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report.

Minutes:

There were none.

556.

Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Significant Interests and Whipping pdf icon PDF 471 KB

Members are invited to disclose any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Significant Interests in accordance with the Member Code of Conduct. Guidance on this is set out in agenda item 4.

Minutes:

Disclosable pecuniary interests

 

There were none.

  

Other significant interests (OSIs)

 

There were none.

 

Other interests

 

Councillor Lawrence informed the Committee that he was the Chair of Trustees for The Inspire Partnership which governs 9 schools including the Delce Academy and explained that he had considered whether he had a pecuniary interest or an OSI and have concluded that he had neither.

 

Councillor Lawrence explained that a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would not reasonably think that his interest is so significant that it would be likely to prejudice his judgement of the public interest. On that basis he declared that he would participate in the debate and vote on this matter.

 

Councillor Field informed the Committee that as part of his day job for Transport for London he assesses School Streets but has not stated whether he is in favour of School Streets or not and this does not impact his ability to participate in and vote on the debate.

557.

Call-in: Safer, Healthier Streets Programme - School Streets Tranche 2 pdf icon PDF 155 KB

This report advises the Committee of a notice of call-in received from six Members of the Council regarding the Cabinet decisions made on 19 November 2024 relating to the Safer Healthier Streets Programme – School Streets Tranche 2.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Discussion:

 

Officers addressed the Committee to provide context to the School Streets Tranche 2 decision and explained that this was part of the Safer, Healthier Streets Programme which also included red routes and moving traffic schemes.

 

The Committee were informed that School Streets Tranche 2 was not far enough along the process to accept formal representations against the schemes, and it would get to that stage when statutory consultation begins. Officers explained that the aim was to work with schools, parents and residents to co-design the schemes and this would take place before any scheme reaches statutory consultation. 

 

Officers summarised key figures regarding the number of cars on the road and children killed on the roads and reported that in Medway, over the 3-year period up to the end of December 2023, there were 223 collisions which involved 248 child casualties up to the age of 16.

 

Officers explained that the principle behind school streets was to temporarily suspend the access roads around schools so that children can walk and cycle safely at drop off and pick up times. This in general created a safer environment for all, particularly vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists. Although officers understood that not all children can take advantage of walking and cycling, the vast majority can and the idea was to encourage those who can, to change their behaviours and the behaviours of their parents and carers.

 

The Committee were informed that the feedback from 7 school streets already implemented was positive and the Council had received national recognition and praise from Active Travel England. Officers explained that they had recently been awarded the Road Safety award from the City Transport & Traffic Innovation publication for the Councils schemes, however, they were not complacent and intended to review the outputs of the existing sites once a full year’s data was available in Spring 2025.  

 

With regards to Tranche 2, officers informed the Committee that stage 1 involved looking at locations and deciding if a school street would potentially benefit the children and each location was subject to an extensive review. Officers would then draw up an indicative design and engage with the schools, parents and local residents to gain their thoughts. This could lead to some changes in design and informs if the location was suitable.

 

Officers explained that following any agreement by Cabinet to proceed, the work would then start in earnest and where necessary officers would work with schools, residents, and parents to agree a final design and operating times. This would then be followed by a statutory consultation process and following statutory consultation, any objections or formal comments would be considered and changes made if required before the scheme was taken to implementation.

 

Officers clarified that they were at the very start of this process for the schools in Tranche 2, they had not carried out a statutory consultation nor had Cabinet given the go ahead to implement any schemes. At this stage officers had just engaged with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 557.