Agenda item

(Safer, Greener & Transport Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached report (C-074-2014/15).

(1)        That authority be delegated to the Portfolio Holder for Safer, Greener & Transport to nominate minor parking and waiting restrictionschemes for consideration by the North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP), subject to the following:

            (a)        greater consideration to be given to local factors in addition to the NEPP priority     ranking;

            (b)        consultation with relevant ward Councillors and Town/Parish Councils and only     nominate schemes for which sufficient local support existed; and

            (c)        publication of the schemes submitted to NEPP in the Council Bulletin; and

(2)        That authority be delegated to the Portfolio Holder for Safer, Greener & Transport to rationalise the existing long list of schemes under the above criteria if approved and following consultation as above.

The Portfolio Holder for Safer, Greener & Transport presented a report on the nomination of schemes to the North Essex Parking Partnership.

The Portfolio Holder reminded the Cabinet that the County Council (as the Highway Authority) had delegated authority to the North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP) in respect of on-street civil parking enforcement and powers to make new traffic regulation orders. This Council was a member of the Partnership along with Braintree, Colchester, Harlow, Tendring and Uttlesford District Councils. The Partnership had a Joint Committee that considered all matters relating to Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs), which consisted of Executive Cabinet Members from each District Council as well as the County Council Cabinet Member for Highways.

The Portfolio Holder reported that each District Council nominated minor parking and waiting restrictions schemes to NEPP, for funding and approval. The schemes were investigated by NEPP officers who carried out feasibility studies and scored each scheme under a set of criteria approved by the Joint Committee. Lists of schemes ranked in the order of their score, highest to lowest, were then submitted to the District Councils for consideration. Each District had to then nominate its top schemes to the Joint Committee for approval.

However, the Portfolio Holder stated that the NEPP scoring criteria did not take into account the full extent of local factors. At present, only those schemes which scored the highest under the scoring criteria were nominated, which meant that lower scoring schemes could not be nominated, even if there was a high level of local support. In order to give due regard to local factors and not rely solely on the NEPP score, it was proposed that the Portfolio Holder be given delegated authority to only put forward schemes where sufficient local support was available; such support to be established by consultation with the relevant ward Councillors and Town or Parish Councils. All schemes nominated to the Partnership by the Portfolio Holder would be published in the Council Bulletin.

In addition, the Portfolio Holder observed that the current list for the District comprised of 110 potential schemes. Some of these schemes had a low or even zero score, and it was proposed to delegate authority to the Portfolio Holder to reduce the list of potential schemes to a more realistic and manageable size, using the same criteria as for the nomination of schemes to the Partnership.

The Cabinet welcomed the proposals as it would enable important parking and waiting restriction schemes to be approved and implemented quicker than was currently the case. It was acknowledged that local consultation was important as the general public did not appreciate how long it sometimes took to implement these schemes. When questioned about what local factors would be taken into account, the Portfolio Holder responded that local public opinion would be the most important factor, whilst safety would also feature as an important factor. The establishment of Taxi Ranks would also be given a greater priority than was currently reflected in the NEPP scoring criteria. The Portfolio Holder advised the Cabinet that the creation of a second matrix of local factors had been avoided to give greater flexibility.

Decision:

(1)        That authority be delegated to the Portfolio Holder for Safer, Greener & Transport to nominate minor parking and waiting restrictionschemes for consideration by the North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP), subject to the following:

            (a)        greater consideration to be given to local factors in addition to the NEPP priority     ranking;

            (b)        consultation with relevant ward Councillors and Town/Parish Councils and only     nominate schemes for which sufficient local support existed; and

            (c)        publication of the schemes submitted to NEPP in the Council Bulletin; and

(2)        That authority be delegated to the Portfolio Holder for Safer, Greener & Transport to rationalise the existing long list of schemes under the above criteria if approved and following consultation as above.

Reasons for Decision:

To ensure the delivery of the highest priority minor parking and waiting restriction schemes across the District.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

To continue to nominate schemes using only the current NEPP scoring criteria. However, the nominated schemes would not necessarily take account of local factors or support.

To leave all 110 potential schemes across the District on the current list. However, a number of these potential schemes had a low or even zero score under the NEPP scoring criteria and were highly unlikely to ever be implemented.