Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - Town Hall - Maidenhead

Items
No. Item

29.

Electing a new Vice Chairman

Process of electing a new Vice Chairman.

Minutes:

The Clerk requested nominations for position of Vice Chairman since Jim Sloan had resigned.

 

The Chairman, Angela Clark, nominated Mary Smith and this was seconded by Councillor Charles Hollingsworth.

 

Congratulations to Mary Smith.

30.

Apologies For Absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Robin Pemberton, Daniel Gigg and Kevin Mist.

31.

Chairman's Introduction

To receive the Chairman’s introduction.

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting. The Chairman informed all Members that Jim Sloan had step down from the vice chairman position of the Access Advisory Forum due to health issues.

 

The Chairman congratulated Mary Smith as the new Vice Chairman.

 

The Chairman congratulated Councillor Luxton on becoming Mayor and welcomed Councillor Love to the Access Advisory Forum as a full member.

 

The Chairman informed the Forum that two members of the MS Society were in the public, observing the meeting with an interest to become members.

32.

Minutes Of The Last Meeting pdf icon PDF 68 KB

To agree the minutes of the last meeting.

Minutes:

The minutes of the last meeting held on Monday 11 April 2016 were unanimously agreed.

33.

Matters Arising

To go through any matters arising.

Minutes:

See next six items.

34.

Stafferton Way Link

An update provided by Gordon Oliver, Principal Transport Policy Officer.

Minutes:

Gordon Oliver informed Members that the work was completed on the Stafferton Way Link and the project was completed. The last part of the work was a bus route and bus stops on the Stafferton Link. There was a Courtney Bus, route 16 running along Stafferton Link, which stopped at Lidl.

 

Councillor Love asked about the lengthy queues to get out of the Homebase carpark, had this been noticed by the council. Gordon Oliver advised that post-construction survey was being carried out and any issues would be identified in that.

 

ACTION: Response from Vikki Roberts to go all Forum Members.

 

The Chairman suggested changing the position of the traffic lights, however, it was advised that the current position was serving the Green Way as well as Lidl.

 

35.

First Great Western - access to Maidenhead train station

An update provided by Gordon Oliver, Principal Transport Policy Officer.

 

Minutes:

Gordon Oliver informed the Forum Members of the following points:

 

Maidenhead Station:

The LEP has provisionally allocated funding to the interchange. We are working closely with rail industry partners who are supportive of the project.

 

We have looked at a large number of options and have concluded that we can’t progress an interchange without third party land.  We have had discussions with neighbouring private landowners who have thus far indicated that they do not wish to work with us on a joint development of the site as a whole. We have therefore had to look at compulsory purchase options - these will increase costs considerably. A significant amount of new development will be required in order to address the resulting funding gap.

 

We have looked at various different permutations, including development on Network Rail land and on adjacent private land. We are currently working up the last of these options before discussing them with members.

 

We hope to agree the preferred option shortly, before working up the detailed design and business case in order to secure the LEP funding.

 

Station Travel Plan Workshop:

Great Western Railway (GWR) are committed to preparing station travel plans in 2016/17 for:

·         Maidenhead

·         Windsor and Eton Central

·         Twyford

·         Newbury

 

A station travel plans seeks to manage travel generated by the station in order to reduce its impact on the environment and the local community.

 

GWR has undertaken surveys to understand how people arrive at the station and which entrance they use. They have done surveys of car and cycle parking to understand usage. They have also carried out an audit of the station to identify problem areas.

 

On Friday, they held a stakeholder workshop to get feedback on their initial findings and to capture any additional issues that were not flagged up in their initial work.

Issues were mostly focused on car parking, bus interchange, taxis, cycle parking and signage.

 

The Council will prepare a follow up response to reiterate our concerns and ensure that all issues are captured for Maidenhead and Windsor and Eton Central.

If any Access Advisory Forum members have any issues that they would like to raise, then please email transport@rbwm.gov.uk as soon as possible and we will forward them on.

 

We are expecting a draft Station Travel Plan by the end of July.

 

Forum Members discussed the item and made the following points:

 

·         No land by Taplow station for car parking so Maidenhead Station will be even busier.

·         The Weightwatchers site opposite Maidenhead Station could be obtained once the current lease ended.

·         An additional high level entrance was proposed with direct access onto platform 1. However this platform is very narrow and trains pass at high speed, thus creating a safety issue. Also, the platform is little used and passengers would need to use the subway or lifts to access the other platforms, which would be poor from an accessibility perspective.

·         The council is looking at an additional car park at Stafferton Way to deal with the parking issues at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

36.

St Marks/Courthouse Road junction

Update provided by Councillor Charles Hollingsworth.

Minutes:

Councillor Hollingsworth informed Forum Members that there were two schemes that had been suggested for this junction, traffic lights or a roundabout. One scheme had been selected to go ahead, however, this was a capital scheme so would not go ahead till next year. Another issue that was highlighted was that the bollards were obstructing the view for mobility scooter and wheelchair users, making it dangerous to cross the road. These had now been moved making it a safer crossing for all pedestrians. Many parents had also complained about crossing being unsafe when taking their children to school. The idea of employing a lollypop lady for the crossing was being investigated.

 

Councillor Love highlighted that the problem was being caused by cars being parked on the left hand side of the road. These cars belong to the garage.

 

Councillor Hollingsworth highlighted that the parking problems had got worse since the hospital had introduced parking charges. The Chief Executive of the hospital had been contacted.

 

Lynne Penn stressed that it was important to meet everyone’s needs, residents and businesses. This was being looked into and would keep on agenda for next meeting.

 

The Chairman agreed that safety was paramount and garage customers should park further away. The introduction of double lines was a sensible solution to the issue.

37.

Adult Social Care Charging

Angela Clark, Chairman, to discuss Adult Social Care Charging with Forum Members.

Minutes:

The Chairman informed Members that Nick Davies would be present at the next meeting to inform and update Forum Members on the consultation on Adult Social Care Charging.

38.

Guildhall Access

To receive an update from Kevin Mist, Head of Communities & Economic Development.

Minutes:

Lynne Penn informed Members that Kevin Mist would be present at the next meeting to inform and update Forum Members on the Guildhall access.

 

39.

Accessible Parking Campaign

To receive an update from  Neil Walters, Parking Principal.

Minutes:

Neil Walters was unable to attend the meeting. The following update was provided by Neil Walters by email after the meeting to all Members:

 

Please accept my apologies for my failure to attend yesterday.

 

My role in Parking has changed recently and I was dealing with ongoing issues.

 

I would like to do a morning of awareness in Ascot on Monday 8th August. It is my intention to suspend limited waiting bays between Course Road and the pedestrian crossing and place wheel chairs in all of the suspended bays whilst leaving the blue badge bay free in an attempt to show motorists how frustrating it is when the only bay that is accessible to you is being used by those it is not intended for.

 

It would be ideal if 2 or 3 members of the forum could attend to provide support and assist in logging comments from motorists and if anyone knows where I can access 5 wheel chairs for the day please let me know.

40.

Consultations

Lynne Penn, Transport & Access Team Leader, to provide an update to Forum Members.

Minutes:

See next three items.

 

If anyone wishes to see the consultations online, they can be found at:

 

https://www3.rbwm.gov.uk/consultations

 

The Current consultations are:

 

Consultation

Closing date

Proposed Permit Scheme for Roads and Streetworks

Friday 12 August 2016

Parking Reviews

Sunday 24 July 2016

Ascot Primary Schools

Friday 15 July 2016

Changing the Home to School Transport Policy

Friday 15 July 2016

Old Windsor Road Safety Review

Sunday 10 July 2016

 

Lynne Penn suggested that Forum Members look at the ‘Changing the Home to School Transport Policy’ consultation and make comments.

 

41.

Bus stop accessibility pdf icon PDF 255 KB

James Hall to provide a report to Forum Members.

Minutes:

Lynne Penn showed a presentation, attached.

 

The borough has nearly 800 bus stops. The bus stop accessibility programme has focussed on town centres and the busiest bus stops and routes.

 

All work to be completed by the end of the financial year.

 

 

The Chairman highlighted that on Market Street had a litter bin obstructing access to the bus stop.  Lynne Penn undertook to raise this issue with the appropriate officers.

 

It was noted that as bus stops were being surveyed a wider condition survey was taking place, looking at the bus shelters, flagpoles and displays.  It was noted that a large number of bus shelters in the borough were replaced last year.

 

Councillor Love informed Members that as part of the Maidenhead Regeneration, Market Street would be the important entrance into the town and a scheme to improve that area was under consideration. With companies such as Mersk moving into Maidenhead from Canary Wharf and Blackberry moving soon, we are looking at improvements in Maidenhead within the next 12-18 months.

 

 

42.

Maidenhead Shopmobility

Peter Hayley to update Forum Members.

Minutes:

Peter Hayley informed Members that there had been a number of incidents where drivers were using the Shopmobility exit to park in the Shopmobility area and then going to pay for their parking..

 

This was causing a safety concern at the pedestrian crossing.

 

Suggestions made by Members included adding a barrier or the small plates on the ground that prevent cars going the wrong way.

 

ACTION: To take this issue to Neil Walters.

 

43.

Date Of The Next Meeting

Members to note dates of next meeting:

 

Monday 26 September 2016

Minutes:

PLEASE NOTE THE NEXT MEETING IS ON MONDAY 31 OCTOBER 2016 at 11AM IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER.