Agenda and minutes

Venue: Desborough Suite - Town Hall

Contact: Wendy Binmore  01628796251

Items
No. Item

34.

Apologies

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Hunt.

35.

Declarations of Interest pdf icon PDF 219 KB

To receive any Declarations of Interest.

Minutes:

None.

36.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 78 KB

To confirm the Part I Minutes of the previous meeting.

Minutes:

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 November 2018 be approved.

 

Actions from previous minutes

 

Ben Smith to organise a meeting with Councillor Da Costa before the next Panel

 

Ben Smith, Head of Commissioning – Communities, stated he had tried to arrange a meeting with Councillor Da Costa and emails had been exchanged. However, no date to meet had been confirmed as the list of dates to meet were not compatible with their diaries.

 

The Head of Commissioning – Communities explained to Members that a trial would be commencing the week beginning 28 January 2019 at the junction of Dedworth Road and Hatch Lane. Two mini roundabouts would be installed and the traffic lights switched off. Data would be collected for a few weeks and that would inform how the Council proceeded with managing the traffic at the junction. Members and residents had been informed of the trial and there was a budget allocated in to implement the scheme.

 

Electric Charging Points Update

 

Gordon Oliver, Principal Transport Planner, explained the Council had received 30 requests for charging points of which 22 were valid, since the properties had no off-road parking. Five charging points will be installed at Alma Road in Windsor by Connected Kerb; these are smart charging points with sensors that notify the user when a parking space is free and they also monitor air quality. Ubitricity are installing charge points in Windsor. These are integrated into street lights, with three charge points to be installed in Park Street. The Borough is also looking to trial slot drains which allow resident to charge their cars from their homes without trailing cables that cause a trip hazard.

 

Councillor E. Wilson stated lots of things were going on regarding electric charging points and residents wanted to know how all the different schemes were going to come together. Councillor Sharpe asked how many points the borough currently had installed. The Principal Transport Planner confirmed there were currently two fast charge points at Hines Meadow in Maidenhead and one rapid charge point at the Windsor Tennis Club but, the Borough was in the process of installing points at Braywick Leisure Centre and more will be installed as part of Vicus Way car park. The council is also requesting developers to install charging points in new developments. There are 8 to ten sites in RBWM that are earmarked for on-street charging points.

 

The Chairman stated there was 75% funding from central government for installing charging points. The Principal Transport Planner confirmed that to be the case and explained the trial site in Alma Road and the new charge points in Park Street, Windsor were being provided at no cost to the Council as the suppliers were demonstrating proof of concept.

 

Councillor Quick said she had seen an item on the BBC where residents were plugging their cars into their own homes and trailing the cables across the pavements. She wanted the Borough to monitor that. The Principal Transport Planner said  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

37.

Additional Highways Investment 2018/19

To receive the above report.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed residents from Oaken Grove to the meeting and explained that one resident, Mandy Hall would be given three minutes to address the Panel. He wanted to go through a few points of the report before opening the debate and allowing the residents of Oaken Grove to speak.

 

the Head of Commissioning – Communities stated the report was a positive paper as an additional £420m had been awarded to local authorities from central government to improve the conditions of the highways; £965,000 of that funding had been awarded to RBWM. In addition to the £3.4m already spent on the Council’s highways, the report reiterated the process the Borough went through to produce a list of programmes to be considered. Oaken Grove were to receive £20,000 to improve the footways and the rest of the report illustrated a suggested programme of how the rest of the funds could be spent.

 

The Chairman stated on page 12, it listed a surface dressing scheme but, the scheme was not fit for purpose in areas it had already been carried out. He had exchanged emails with the Leader of the Council and the Head of Commissioning – Communities had agreed to look into the issues. He understood surface dressing was a cheaper option but, he had been receiving emails from residents complaining about it. A lot or residents were experiencing chipping of the surface and areas where the surface dressing was already bare. The Head of Commissioning – Communities stated there were sites that failed and others that did not fail; it was a cost effective way of mending a road and prolonging the life of the road. It was a very weather dependent scheme and if the weather was not right, it could affect the surface; if there were a lot of turning movements of vehicles on the surface dressing, that would also increase chippings. If the dressing was carried out on a straight road, it worked well but, some areas failed and would be repaired free of charge. He added that paragraph 2.9 of the report showed the areas of surface dressing which failed and that no surface dressing was being carried out in 2019.

 

The Chairman stated the report listed Frescati Way to Norfolk Road to receive a resurfacing programme but, it needed to be extended further towards Pinkneys Green because there were schools and traffic lights there and the vehicle movements had caused damage to the road surface.

 

Councillor E. Wilson said the resurfacing debate was being held up and down the country where officers stated what treatment should be used, but residents and Councillors state it was not good enough. The same happened in the Clewer area of Windsor. The Borough had always used it on big, straight roads but, in Windsor it had been used in residential roads that were not busy and so residents were still finding lots of loose stones. He wanted to know if surface dressing treatments were to continue being used in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

38.

Cycling Action Plan

To receive the above report.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Gordon Oliver, Principal Transport Planner, explained the Cycling Action Plan sought to encourage residents, commuters and visitors to cycle and set out the aspirations of the Council for improvements to cycling infrastructure. The plan was developed with the Cycle Forum and other stakeholders and was a robust and comprehensive document. that It acknowledged the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group recommendation to raise the provision for cycling to £10 per head per year. The Borough had received funding from the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) which would provide parking for 300 bikes at Maidenhead Station and improve the crossing between the station and town centre. Additional money had been secured from the LEP for the Maidenhead Missing Links scheme will improve cycle links to and through the town centre from North Maidenhead.

 

The Chairman said the Action Plan had been presented to Panel a number of times previously and asked why the Plan had been brought back again. The Principal Transport Planner stated there had been no significant changes to the plan since the last time, there were just minor tweaks and an update to the figures. Having the recommendations endorsed at Panel gave the Plan greater weight when approved at Cabinet.

 

The Chairman stated the Maidenhead Missing Links scheme was now included in the Plan. The Principal Transport Planner confirmed that the Missing Links Scheme connected Maidenhead Station to the bridge by Holmanleaze which would be replaced with a wider bridge.

 

The Principal Transport Planner stated some schemes within the Cycling Action Plan were already being implemented and the Maidenhead Station scheme was due to start the week commencing 28 January 2019 with the Missing Links scheme due to begin next financial year.

 

Councillor Story stated the report referred to the Windsor Great Park and asked if cyclists were restricted. The Principal Transport Officer confirmed that cyclists were restricted as it was a private park. Only certain roads could be used in the park and the Crown Estate did not like signage to be installed. The Cycle Forum had previously looked at routes between Ascot and Windsor but, they could not find a route that did not go through Crown Estate land and the Council had not received permission to implement a cycle route. The Crown Estate would not give up any land for the Council to build a cycle lane. It is in a  Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and therefore ecologically sensitive. There was a compromise when the Crown Estate allowed cyclists to use routes through the park after dark but, recently, a Bracknell resident was challenged by a ranger who said cycling through the park after dark was no longer permitted. Councillor Story said a high level meeting with the Crown Estate was needed. The Leader and Lead Member for Highways and Transport should meet with the Crown Estate to go over the issues.

 

Councillor Shelim stated Royal Windsor Way had a 60mph speed limit and there were cyclists on that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.