Agenda item

This report sets out progress made within the areas covered by the Portfolio Holder for Front Line Services which fall within the remit of this Committee.

Discussion:

 

Members received an overview of progress on the areas within the terms of reference of this Committee and covered by the Portfolio Holder for Front Line Services as set out below:

 

·         Highways

·         Parking

·         Public Transport

·         Street Cleaning and Waste Collection/Recycling/Waste Disposal

·         Street Lighting

·         Traffic Management

·         Transport Strategy

·         Travel Safety

 

The Portfolio Holder for Front Line Services, Councillor Filmer responded to Member’s questions and comments as follows:

 

·         Highway Asset and Management Funding -A Member referred to the Council’s bid to the Government for local highways capital funding and that Medway had been self assessed as band 2. He sought information as to how much funding would have been available had Medway been assessed as band 3.

 

The Portfolio Holder advised that he did not have this information to hand but would endeavour to obtain this and advise the Committee via a briefing note.

 

·         Flooding on the A289 Pier Road, Gillingham - A Member referred to a recent incident involving surface water flooding on the A289 Pier Approach Road during a period of heavy rainfall. He stated that as this road was a major trunk road through Medway, the flooding had affected many road users and he questioned whether this had been purely as a result of the heavy rainfall or any other reason.

 

The Portfolio Holder confirmed that he was aware of the incident during heavy rainfall and stated that as works had been undertaken in the area, he would  ask officers to check and ensure that the gullies were clear.

 

He further advised that the Council had a rota of gully cleaning but pointed out that gully clearance could not take place at specific locations if access to the gully was blocked by parked cars.

 

·         Travel Safety - A Member referred to the number of killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties recorded in Medway during 2016 and noted that there had been an increase of 16 compared to 2015. He asked for information as to where these casualties had occurred and whether this provided an indicator as to any particular hotspots that required prioritisation for road safety projects.

 

The Portfolio Holder expressed disappointment that the KSI casualties had increased in 2016 and he agreed that this required investigation. He reassured the Member that road safety projects were prioritised according to the information received. He agreed to investigate and, if there was identified hotspots, he would let Members know via a briefing note.

   

·         Parking Enforcement - A Member thanked the Portfolio Holder for the provision of parking enforcement signage on Gillingham Business Park which had reduced the amount of lorries parking overnight in this area.

 

·         Waste Services - A Member referred to the improved arrangements for waste collection over the 2016/17 Christmas New Year period and asked whether arrangements were in place for 2017/18. She also asked if waste collection arrangements would be advertised on social media.

 

The Portfolio Holder agreed that the 2016/17 arrangements had been an improvement upon those in 2015/16 and he pointed out that many of the problems in 2015/16 had been a direct result of the way in which the Bank Holidays had fallen. Many of the problems had also been outside the Council’s control.

 

He confirmed that the Council would be advertising the Christmas/New Year waste collection arrangements soon and this would include social media.

  

·         Promotion of recycling in schools - A Member suggested that the Council undertake work in local schools encouraging recycling.

 

The Portfolio Holder confirmed that the Council already ran recycling campaigns in schools and that these would continue. He stated that school children were keen to recycle and played a large part in encouraging their parents to recycle.

 

·         Winter gritting - A Member asked when the salt bins were checked in preparation for winter and whether this included replenishing the salt and replacing any bins that were damaged.

 

The Portfolio Holder advised that work on replenishing and checking salt bins would begin shortly and should be complete by the end of October/early November. He further advised that owing to the mild winter in 2016/17, very little salt had been used during that period.

 

·         Medway Tunnel - A Member sought information as to whether any funds remained from the Rochester Bridge Trust donation for Medway Tunnel.

 

The Portfolio Holder confirmed that this was still the same sum as in 2016 i.e.£500k and he would confirm this direct via a briefing note.

 

·         Parking ranking - A Member referred to a recent published league table which indicated that Medway Council had been listed as being in the top 5 local authorities in the Country for the level of parking income received (£3.1 million). This ranking was higher than Liverpool, despite Liverpool being a large City. He asked the Portfolio Holder if he was happy for Medway to be ranked in this position.

 

In response, the Portfolio Holder stressed that any income received from parking was re-invested back into the provision of Council services. He advised that he was unable to comment directly on the league table referred to as he did not have access to the facts or figures referred to.

 

The Chairman advised the Member that the Portfolio Holder could not be expected to respond to information that he had not seen or for the Committee to discuss such information.  

 

·         Smart card - In response to a question as to the take up of the ‘Kent and Medway Connected’ Smartcard, the Portfolio Holder advised that to date the take up had been mixed.

 

·         Bulky waste - A Member sought clarification as to whether there were other flytipping figures not included in the report.

 

In response, the Portfolio Holder confirmed that he kept a regular check on bulky waste and flytipping statistics and, although there had been some concern that flytipping statistics would increase once the charge for bulky waste was introduced, the statistics did not reflect this.

 

·         Street lighting - A Member asked the Portfolio Holder whether the street lighting programmes were on schedule.

 

In response, the Portfolio Holder confirmed that regular meetings were held with Volker who now had responsibility for street lighting in Medway. The possibility of working with Kent County Council on a large scheme was being investigated in a bid to benefit from bulk purchasing. 

 

·         Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Service – Videos - A Member advised the Committee that the new Fire Station at Rochester had a theatre facility and suggested that this facility would be ideal for showing films such as ‘Licence to Kill’. He referred to a film that he had recently viewed showing the work of the Fire Authority attending a road traffic accident. He suggested that Council Officers and schools be made aware of this facility.

 

The Portfolio Holder confirmed that he was aware of this facility and agreed that it would be useful for it to be promoted. The film referred to had been made by the Road Safety Team.

 

·         Rochester multi storey car park/other car parks - A Member commended the Portfolio Holder on the condition of roads within Medway and thanked the Portfolio Holder for work undertaken to address the use of unauthorised use of the new Rochester multi storey car park by car clubs.

 

The Portfolio Holder confirmed that the situation at the Rochester multi storey car park was continuing to be monitored. He also commented that he was generally pleased with the standard of Medway’s roads, particularly when compared to roads in other local authority areas.

 

The Portfolio Holder also added that he had requested that Officers maintain a watching brief on those car parks where there had been an increase in or, the introduction of car parking charges including the Strand Leisure Park.

  

·         Enforcement of parking around schools - In response to a comment concerning the indiscriminate parking of vehicles around schools, the Portfolio Holder advised that a number of initiatives had been tried to alleviate this issue, including the use of banners. It was now time to work with other agencies to increase enforcement and from September 2017, PCSO’s would be issuing penalty tickets where individuals parked their vehicles on double yellow lines close to schools. The income from these penalty notices would be received by Medway Council.

 

·         European Parking Collections - The Portfolio Holder confirmed that the collection rate of European Parking Charges had improved and this was continuing to be pursued by Officers.

 

Decision:

 

The Committee thanked the Portfolio Holder for attending the meeting and answering questions on his portfolio and noted that the Portfolio Holder had agreed to report back on the following issues via a briefing note to be circulated to all Members of the Committee:

 

·         Highway Asset and Management Funding - information on the level of funding which would have been available had Medway been assessed as band 3.

 

·         Medway Tunnel – Information on the level of funds remaining from the Rochester Bridge Trust donation for the Medway Tunnel.

 

·         Travel Safety - Information as to where the killed and seriously injured casualties had occurred in 2016 and whether this provided an indication as to any particular hotspots that required prioritisation for road safety projects.