Members considered approval of the detailed highways schemes which made up the individual work programmes totalling £2,810,000 of the total capital investment of £5.4m.

The Lead Member explained that the report had been circulated to Members of the Highways, Transport and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Panel; no comments had been received. For those who were unaware, he explained that haunching involved smoothing out the road surface when it had spread out and rippled towards the edge. Schemes were included in the programme following requests from residents and Ward Councillors and also technical assessments by officers. Appendix B provided an indicative list of schemes in sight for the next two years.

Of the £5.4m budget, £2.2m was grant funding from the Department for Transport and £190,000 came fromS106 funding.

Councillor Ed Wilson stated this was an important report for Dedworth. A lot of roads were in need of repair and  it felt like the council was playing catch-up. He asked whether the council should have a separate remediation programme for the Dedworth area just to bring it up to the standard of the rest of the borough. He also asked the following questions:

·         Bell View was a very badly repaired road therefore he asked for an update.

·         When would the major patching programme start and finish?

·         There had been a number of cycle parking requests from Neighbourhood plan groups but just the one from the Cycle Forum? Where did accountability for the schemes lie?

The Lead Member responded that he was happy to answer in general terms at the meeting and write to councillor E Wilson after the meeting. The Bell View site had been assessed following a request by Councillor Wilson in May 2017 and was subsequently included on the reserve programme for delivery in 2018/19 or review earlier if additional funding became available. The exact cost of repairs was not yet known.

The resurfacing and surface dressing programme was due to start at the beginning of July, and would run through until the middle of August. The patching programme had commenced and was on-going, encompassing patching requirements that were identified throughout the year

Councillor Cox joined the meeting at 7.55pm.

The Lead Member explained that there was an budget for road maintenance to manage the whole road network, over 600km. The A and B roads programme was derived from technical assessment data focussed on those road most in need of attention. This had proved successful in performing very well against performance targets. The C, D and unclassified roads in the programme were developed from a combination of the assessment data, highway inspections and Member requests. All of the proposed sites were subject to a detailed visual assessment to confirm the need for work, the treatment type and extents. This then formed the draft capital programme, which was presented to Cabinet for approval.

Members of the Cycle Forum tended to be more concerned with cycle routes than cycle parking. The Cycle Forum had been consulted on the draft Cycling Action Plan and they were happy with all of the schemes that were proposed within it. As an example of Neighbourhood Plan engagement, addressing cycle parking issues in Eton has been a major concern of the Eton & Eton Wick Neighbourhood Plan Group and Councillor Alexander had been closely involved in all discussions and was supportive of the proposals to be delivered. The cycle parking at Osgood Park and Victoria Park were put in the capital programme at Councillor Wilson’s request.

The Chairman commented that the roads in Dedworth did need work as their had been a period of under-investment over the years. This should be a priority in the next couple of years.

The Lead Member for Finance commented that the programme was extremely competent and effective. He had shared the draft programme with his colleagues on Cookham Parish Council. The only comment he had received related the reliability of road dressing following a previous bad experience in the parish. The Parish Council had been happy with the officer response received. Therefore the Parish Council had not had to add or deduct any item on the proposed programme despite being given the opportunity to do so. He commented that when he drove outside the borough boundaries, particularly to the north, the road surface quality significantly dropped. He was therefore impressed with the on-going programme in the borough. From a financial point of view he was conscious of the importance of a substantial and meaningful amount being allocated to the programme, despite other competing demands.

The Principal Member for Public Health and Communications commented that he was very happy to see Altwood Road in his ward included in the programme. The proposal was for a pedestrian crossing to allow children from Altwood and St Edmund Campion to cross safely.

Members noted that the recommendation would be updated to remove the word ‘Interim’ from the Executive Director title.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Cabinet:

i.      Delegates authority to the Executive Director, in conjunction with the Deputy Leader and Lead Member for Highways and Transport  to implement the programme of work set out in Appendix A, and for them to agree minor amendments to the approved schemes within approved budgets, and implement reserve or substitute schemes should this become necessary;

ii.     Approves the indicative programmes for 2018-19 and 2019-20 as set out in Appendix B.

Councillor E. Wilson left the meeting at 7.05pm