Web Agenda/Minutes Summary Document

Meeting Name:
Alley Gating Panel

Meeting Date:
11/05/2007 Pick

Meeting Time:


Location:


Sub Committee / User Forum etc (if required):




Members Present:

Non-Members Present:

Confidentiality: Part I


Document Type: Agenda


Document Status: Final

contained within the report.

ALLEY GATING – MURRIN ROAD AND HEADINGTON CLOSE

ALLEY-GATING PANEL: 5 November 2007

OFFICER REPORTING: BRIAN MARTIN - COMMUNITY SAFETY CO-ORDINATOR

To consider applications for alley gating in Murrin Road and Headington Close, Pinkneys Green.

Pinkneys Green

Date of application: First quarter 2007

Date of consultation: 19/04/07-31/05/07

Number of objections and from whom: 4 responses objecting to the proposals. These were from: The Open Spaces Society, The Ramblers Association, Norman Iley, and The Local Access Forum.

Number of those in favour and whom: 19 responses in favour, consisting of households of Murrin Road and Courthouse Road and Thames Valley Police
.
Police: Strongly in favour of alley gates being implemented – letter in favour from Inspector Mark Millward.

Officer Consideration: An officer group (consisting of highways, community safety, partnerships and anti-social behaviour) has previously recommended to the Chief Executive and the Executive Members for Community Safety and Highways, and Transport and Environment, that the alley be gated. This is based on the following factors:

Date of application: First quarter 2007

Date of consultation: 19/04/07-31/05/07

Number of objections and from whom: 6 responses objecting to the proposals. These were from: Thames Valley Police, The Open Spaces Society, The Ramblers Association, Norman Iley, Richard and Sylvia Hunt and The Local Access Forum.

Number of those in favour and whom: 15 responses in favour, consisting of households of Tavistock Close, Headington Close and Courthouse Road. (The same letter went out to households from both areas of proposed gating, therefore they had the opportunity to respond regarding both their own area and the other one).

Police: The police do not feel that gating this alley would have a substantial benefit to the local community.

Officer Consideration: An officer Group (consisting of highways, community safety, partnerships and anti-social behaviour) has previously recommended to the Chief Executive and the Executive Members for Community Safety and Highways, and Transport and Environment, that the alley should not be gated. This is based on the following factors:

	Option	Comments
1.	Refuse the request for Alley Gates and ensure that other measures are put in place to tackle the ASB	This needs to be based on sound reasons, in order to justify it to those who have requested the gates. The Panel have to balance the evidence between the duty to protect the public’s right to use the Highway with the issues of ASB and its effect on local residents. If the request is to be refused, the Council will have to ensure that other measures are put in place to reduce the ASB that is suffered by residents in that area.
2.	Implement the Alley Gates	This needs to be based on sound reasons for doing so, in order to justify it to those who have contested the application for the gates. It will need to be shown that the arguments for the use of the highway has been balanced against with the issues of ASB in the area.

New powers, which came into force in April 2006, give the Council the ability to gate off alleys, without recourse to the Secretary of State. Section 2 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 introduces a new power that allows councils to make, vary or revoke gating orders in respect of highways within their area. New sections 129A to 129G in the Highways Act 1980 will enable councils to restrict public access to any public highway by gating it (at certain times of the day if applicable), without removing its underlying highway status. Local authorities will be able to make “gating” orders on grounds of anti-social behaviour as well as crime.

Guidance issued by the Home Office sets out the circumstances in which alley gates may be permitted and explains the necessary requirements that the Council must follow, before allowing them to be installed. This has been incorporated into the Royal Borough’s policy.

The Council’s current policy on alley gating “Policy for the installation of alley gates and policy for the extinguishment of problem alleys” was revised and agreed in September 2007.

The recommendations contained in this report also contribute to the Community Strategy in the following ways:



	Relevant? Yes / No
Key Themes:
Supporting Children & Younger People	Y
Supporting Adults & Older People	Y
A Thriving, Cleaner, Greener Borough	Y
Safer & Stronger Communities	Y

Consultation took place with the residents of Murrin Road, Courthouse Road, Headington Close, Tavistock Close, the Local Access Forum, Ramblers Association and the Open Spaces Society. They were consulted by means of a letter outlining the proposals, on 19 April 2007 and they had until 31 May 2007 to formally respond. Consultation also took place via signs being displayed on lampposts in the affected areas for the same time period.

It is estimated that the installation cost of alley gates for an individual alley would range from £3,000 to £6,000 pounds (excluding fees and administration costs). Capital funding has been identified. However, this estimate takes no account of the cost of Council employees and therefore an indication of resource impact per gating is provided below.

Human Resource Implications of a successful application:
Anti-Social Behaviour Team – 2 weeks
Highways – 1 week
Legal (drafting orders) – 2 days (needs verification)

Section 2 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005
New sections 129A to 129G in the Highways Act 1980

Article 1 of the First Protocol, protection of property, and Article 14, Prohibition of discrimination in the enjoyment of this right are both relevant to this report. Any interference with the right under Article 1 of the First Protocol must be as permitted by law, and proportionate.

The installation of gates in these circumstances would fall under the definition of Permitted Development, provided the work is undertaken by the Council, using it’s powers as Highways Authority.

In terms of the Sustainable Development Policy, the recommendations contained in the report will have the following significantly beneficial/adverse sustainable development implications:
- A positive impact on Murrin Road residents’ quality of life because there will be less anti-social behaviour in their vicinity
- A positive impact on combating crime in Murrin Road because the alley way will no longer be available for criminals to utilise

An Equality Impact Assessment has been carried out on the recommendations in this report. Any possible negative consequences of the recommendations on equality target groups have been minimised and opportunities for promoting equality have been maximised

Background Papers: Alley Gating Policy, file of supporting documents



 Meetings 071105 Alley Gating Policy Appendix1

 Meetings 071105 Alley Gating Appendix2