Agenda and minutes

Councillor Alan Armitage sent apologies, Councillor Jean Fooks substituted.

Councillor Rodney Rose, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Transport, declared an interest as Deputy Chairman of the East West Rail Joint Delivery Board under item 7.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 25^th June (GI3) and note matters arising from them.

Some minor amendments were made to the minutes of the meeting held on 25th June, after which they were approved and signed.

Councillor John Tanner requested an update on the status of the Kidlington Recycling Centre.

Martin Tugwell, Deputy Director (Strategy and Infrastructure Planning) referred Councillor Tanner to the update provided when the subject was under discussion at full Council.

Mr Ian Leggett, Chair of Bike Safe, addressed the committee with regards to item 5, his comments and subsequent discussion are noted under that item.

10.15

Martin Tugwell, Deputy Director (Strategy and Infrastructure Planning) will present a paper (GI5) headlining the changes made to the Local Transport Plan 2011-2030 during 2011/12 and which were agreed at full council as part of the Plan’s annual review in July. The paper also outlines proposed changes to the Plan’s update process for 2012/13.

The committee will be invited to comment on both the changes made to the Local Transport Plan during 2011/12 and the proposed update process for 2012/13.

Councillor Rose was invited to join the meeting.

Mr Leggett urged the committee to set in motion the production of a new cycling strategy that would promote safe and convenient cycling in Oxfordshire. He praised the Council’s previous cycling strategy, but questioned whether it had been enacted effectively. Mr Leggett stated that time was now right for the Council to produce a new comprehensive strategy which would set out a clear vision for transforming the county’s cycling infrastructure and deliver the many benefits associated with this; including cost effectiveness, improved health, and reduced congestion and carbon emissions.

Members acknowledged the many benefits associated with cycling as a method of travel.

Councillor Charles Mathew requested a copy of the Council’s previous cycling strategy, officers undertook to circulate the strategy to all committee members.

Members discussed the importance of embedding any strategy for cycling into the Local Transport Plan 2011-2030 (LTP3); both to prevent conflict between the two documents, but also to ensure any comments on cycling were not overlooked when allocating developer funding.

The committee thanked Mr Leggett for his comments and agreed that the role of cycling as outlined in the LTP3 be reviewed.

Martin Tugwell and John Disley, Strategic Manager (Policy & Strategy) outlined changes made to LTP3 during 2011/12. Officers acknowledged that the committee had not been suitably engaged in updating the document, and proposed that the LTP3 working group be reformed in order to feed into the process for future updates.

The committee agreed that the working group be reformed and welcomed the commitment to involve the committee in future updates of the LTP3 document. Councillor David Nimmo-Smith undertook to get in contact with Councillor Lorraine Lindsay-Gale, Chairman of the Strategy and Partnership’s committee to discuss how the committee’s work on the LTP3 might be picked up in that committee’s on-going review of the scrutiny function.

Councillor Pete Handley questioned why RAF Brize Norton and the implications of the changes due to take place at the base had not been included in the LTP3.

Martin Tugwell responded by saying that the District Council was due to consult on its core strategy in the next six months, and that this would offer an opportunity to provide comment on any major infrastructure projects in the area, including planned work at RAF Brize Norton. Councillor Rose added that the LTP3 document was not intended as an exhaustive list of all infrastructure projects in the county.

Members asked whether the 20mph speed limit which had been introduced in Oxford City would be rolled out to other parts of the county.

Officers said that this would be subject to evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of the measures and consideration as to whether the measures were appropriate in other locations. Councillor Rose added that before any further roll out was considered a more effective method of enforcing the limit would have to be found.

Councillor Mathew requested a review of the Council’s policy on HGV restrictions as outlined in the LTP3.

Martin Tugwell  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79/12

11.15

Jim Daughton, Highways and Transport Operations Delivery Service Manager, will provide members with a delivery progress report (GI6) for 2012/13 of the Council’s Area Stewardship Fund.   This brief will highlight the spend and the types of schemes by locality and will provide members with an update of the activity being undertaken to ensure the Fund is maximised across all localities going forward.

Jim Daughton, Highways and Transport Operations Delivery Service Manager, presented the committee with a delivery progress report for 2012/13 of the Council’s Area Stewardship Fund.   The paper highlighted the level of expenditure and types of schemes funded by locality and provided members with an update of the activity being undertaken to ensure use of the Fund is maximised across all localities in the current financial year.

Members praised the Fund along with the officers involved.  However, members expressed concerns at the delays sometimes experienced in receiving a price estimate for proposed work to be delivered, and also at the variance between quoted prices and actual costs.

Jim Daughton responded by saying that the service recognised these issues and that work was underway to resolve them. He said that the service was in the process of developing an indicative price book for common works, and that this would help give members a better idea of average costs. He added that Atkins was developing a more robust system for pricing of works which would significantly reduce variance between quoted and actual costs. Finally he said that the service was building a tracking system for the Fund which would help tackle delays by providing greater visibility over everything in the pipeline.

Councillor Rose added that a large number of delays were due to Area Stewards researching members’ proposals and discovering that Section 106 funding was available for their delivery instead, thereby enabling Area Steward funding to be deployed elsewhere.

Members asked whether they were tied to Atkins for quotes.

Robert Adams, Area Stewards Manager, responded by saying that for Parish Council schemes third parties could be used to deliver works and that in other cases third party quotes would be fed back through to Atkins.

Councillors asked that members of the public requesting highways work to be carried out were not redirected to their local member for Area Steward funding.

Officers said that the message had been passed to all staff, and that individuals were now being redirected to their local Parish Council in such instances, with the local member blind copied into correspondence.

12.15

Martin Tugwell Deputy Director (Strategy and Infrastructure Planning) will outline the OCC implication of the electrification of the Great Western Main Line, following a brief discussion at the committee’s previous meeting. (GI7)

Martin Tugwell, and Colin Bailey, Highways & Transport Asset Manager outlined the Oxfordshire County Council implication of the electrification of the Great Western Main Line.

Colin Bailey explained that he was established as the single point of contact for Network Rail, and that a project team was being set up for this area of work to ensure sufficient OCC involvement given the potential impact on Council assets.

Members asked to be kept updated on the programme as it developed.

Officers said that they would be liaising with all local members affected by the work, and undertook to circulate the current programme of work to all committee members.

13.00

The meeting closed at 12.30