Agenda and minutes

No substitute members had been appointed to the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest pursuant to the Council’s Code of Member Conduct.

            RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 6 June 2013 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The ECC Highways Liaison Officer (HLO) reported that the Works Programme report was a download of scheme data from the project IT server. It was not organised by division and the main purpose was for the HLO to check that the LHP schemes were in the system for progress and to obtain information on expected dates. The HLO would transfer the relevant information to the more user friendly scheme recommendations reports which were organised by division.

Members advised that they would prefer to see the information in the format that had been presented to them originally i.e. the scheme recommendation reports.

Members queried why a scheme would take so long to finish an example being a scheme put through in September 2012 had a finish date of 2015. County Officers advised that this did not necessarily mean that the scheme would be finished in 2015 it was more likely to be finished in 2014 but the final risk assessment would be finished one year after as work was normally guaranteed for a year.

The Design and Consultancy Manager (Essex Highways) advised that the year add on should not have been added to the scheme works programme. This had been an oversight. Members agreed that they only needed to be aware of the date the scheme works would be finished.

The Chairman asked Officers for clarification on cost increases. If a scheme came in at £179,000 how could the price now be £199,000 an extra £20,000 from the original figure quoted. The Design and Consultancy Manager and HLO advised that ECC Highways had been restructured and they and their new strategic partners “Essex Highways” (provided by Ringway Jacobs) had to adopt new working processes. Staff that had previously been working on schemes had left and a new Essex Highways Design and Consultancy team had to be assembled. There was now a team of 18 design engineers (including temporary staff) working for 12 districts on over 600 schemes all over Essex. The new structure would mean that less was done in-house by ECC and more done by Essex Highways. Therefore the current price of schemes now covers more of the process which was why their feasibility studies and work was costing more to the LHP budget. 

Members enquired how many schemes in the Epping Forest District had been completed since 2012. County Officers advised that at least one scheme was completed. Members also asked County Officers why schemes that had been approved at the design stage did not seem to progress any further. County Officers explained that there was a backlog and Councillor Bass had advised that schemes should go through in the order that they were signed off.

S Bickers (HLO) reported that he had met with all the divisional pairs in pre-meetings where they discussed the reports and specific local issues. It was agreed by Members that there would be no need to cover them in this meeting. An updated version of report 2 would be circulated before the next meeting.

S Bickers (HLO) presented the Scheme list by division. He advised that he had met with each divisional pair recently to discuss the current schemes.

Steven Bickers (HLO) presented the Schemes for Recommendation schedule 2013/14 for the Panel to consider new scheme recommendations for Cabinet Member approval. An updated version of report 3 would be circulated before the next meeting.

S Bickers reported on the Highways Rangers Works Summary for June 2013 (page 70). He advised Members that this was their monthly job sheet of works that the Highways Rangers would do and the time taken to complete. Any requests for Highway Rangers works could be sent to S Bickers or Members could email directly to highway.enquiries@essex.gov.uk marked for the attention of the Highway Rangers.

Members suggested that the Highways Officer for S106 agreements be invited to the next meeting to explain what S106 monies could be used for.

The maintenance schedule was noted.

(1)        Councillor Bassett advised the Panel that the sign for the weight restriction in Dobb’s        Weir Road, Nazeing was wrong. This had been noticed approximately 2 years ago and to date had not been changed. He advised the County Officers that the sign was on the border of Essex and Hertfordshire and could not be enforced because it came under Hertfordshire and although reported, the sign was still incorrect.

County Officers advised that they had contacted Hertfordshire Highways department but had not received a reply.

(2)        Councillor Metcalfe stated that she would like clarification on what the Highways Panel Monies could be used for. There were three roads near Loughton Underground Station that would like a CPZ in those roads to stop commuters parking. A successful CPZ in Meadow Road, Loughton had recently been installed to the satisfaction of the residents. She requested Councillor Bass be approached to see if such schemes could be funded through the Local Highways Panel.

AGREED:

(1)        That County Officers would again contact Hertfordshire Highways regarding the sign.

(2)        The Chairman would write to Councillor Bass asking if the Panel could have more flexibility on the way the monies could be spent.

It was agreed that the next meeting would be held on Thursday 21 November 2013 at 6.30pm in Committee Room 2 at the Civic Offices, Epping.