Any county councillor may, by giving notice to the Proper Officer by 9 am on the working day before the meeting, ask a question on any matter in respect of the Cabinet Member’s delegated powers.
The number of questions which may be asked by any councillor at any one meeting is limited to two (or one question with notice and a supplementary question at the meeting) and the time for questions will be limited to 30 minutes in total. As with questions at Council, any questions which remain unanswered at the end of this item will receive a written response.
Questions submitted prior to the agenda being despatched are shown below and will be the subject of a response from the appropriate Cabinet Member or such other councillor or officer as is determined by the Cabinet Member, and shall not be the subject of further debate at this meeting. Questions received after the despatch of the agenda, but before the deadline, will be shown on the Schedule of Addenda circulated at the meeting, together with any written response which is available at that time.
Minutes:
Councillor Jean Fooks
“Last year I and a local resident, Allan Freinkel, presented a petition from residents in Elisabeth Jennings way for the removal of the rumble strips which are causing serious noise disturbance to the people living nearby. At the time the road was unadopted so outside the control of the County Council. The road has now been adopted and an estimate has s been obtained for the replacement of the cobbles with plain tarmac, but no funds are as yet identified The yellow lines that are now painted have removed the parking that used to occur, and it is felt that traffic speeds have increased as a result to way over the 20mph limit. Residents would like to have some measure in place which was designed to reduce the excessive speeds here; to replace the current raised table and cobbles would cost nearer £7,500 . Would the County Council now please consider the speed issue as well as the noise nuisance and identify funds that could be used to address the problems here? “
Reply from Councillor Rodney Rose, Cabinet Member for Transport
“The design meets the Council’s design requirements and was introduced to reduce speeds in the residential area. We feel that it does achieve what it is meant to. The noise seems to be exacerbated by the speeds of the approaching vehicles from the main entrance road.
As pointed out at a recent site meeting with Councillor Fooks, there have been no complaints from residents close to similar features at other locations in the development.
Whilst I appreciate that this is a concern for Councillor Fooks and some residents it cannot be considered a priority for funding, which we all know is extremely restricted.”
Supplementary
“As well as noise, speed is an issue here so would the Cabinet Member consider at least some speed monitoring work?”
Reply
“There were many areas in the County where noise was a problem and as this work had been designed as part of the original development it would not be a priority to incur costs by removing the strips. He would investigate whether officers could undertake some speed monitoring work.”
Councillor John Tanner
"Will the Cabinet member accept my thanks for rebuilding the Iffley Road which is long overdue for repair?
Will he consider bringing forward the establishment of the pelican crossing at Percy Street to the first phase of the road improvement? The route across Iffley Road at this point between the split school site is much used by children attending Saints Mary & John Primary School and the earlier the installation of the pedestrian crossing the better. I am not arguing against starting the repairs from the Plain but adding the crossing initially as a stand alone feature at an earlier stage.
Will he consider consulting residents about the removal of parking, particularly during peak hours, on the north outward-bound side of Iffley Road? This could allow for a cycle lane east bound (as well as west bound) on Iffley Road. I am not arguing for a delay in starting the works. Once the residents have been consulted and the road works completed lines could then be painted for parking or for a cycle lane as appropriate.
I hope you are fully recovered."
Reply from Councillor Rodney Rose, Cabinet Member for Transport
“Yes!
Officers had considered the possibility of bringing forward the construction of the zebra crossing, scheduled to be built in Phase 2 (Henley Street to Donnington Bridge Road). This would require a temporary facility to be built, including works that would need to be removed and replaced during Phase 2. The budget for the project was limited and there was no additional funding available for this work. A permanent crossing was due to be installed in summer 2012, and until then, people wanting a formal crossing could continue to use the pelican crossing near Fairacres Road, which was only a short walk away.
Officers have had internal discussions about how to accommodate cycle lanes on both sides of the road, particularly near to the Plain, and were making investigations, including looking into the parking situation. They would of course discuss the matter with local councillors before any consultations were carried out.”
Councillor John Sanders
“How do the proposals for the Highfield area address the issue of speeding traffic in the residential streets between Old Road and London Road?”
Reply from Councillor Rodney Rose, Cabinet Member for Transport
“The proposals for the Highfield Area incorporate features which would help to slow traffic. These were side road entry treatments at each side road into the area between London Road and Old Road, and at the junction of Latimer and All Saints Roads, and a raised table junction, incorporating carriageway narrowing, at the junction of All Saints Road and Lime Walk. Side road entry treatments included a raised crossing point and, in some cases, a slight narrowing of the junction. As well as physically slowing traffic as it turned, these indicate to motorists that they were entering a residential area, which could alter behaviour and therefore speeds. The raised table would help reduce speeds because it involved vertical and horizontal deflection, and drivers would need to wait for oncoming traffic.”
Supplementary
“Would transport development ensure that developer funding from the redevelopment of the Churchill site be taken into account when providing raised tables and narrowing points?”
Reply
“Yes it could be taken into account but there could be no guarantee that the money would be used for that purpose specifically.”