Members are asked to consider whether they have personal or

prejudicial interests in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and,

if so, to declare them and state what they are.

Members are reminded that they should also declare, pursuant to

paragraph 18 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules, whether

they are subject to a party whip in connection with any item(s) to be

considered and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of the whipping

arrangement.

Members were asked to consider whether they had personal or prejudicial interests in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state what they were.

Councillor D Mitchell declared a personal interest in respect of minute 8 (Objections: Pedestrian Refuge Scheme – Seabank Road, Liscard) by virtue of his membership of Merseytravel.

Members were reminded that they should also declare, pursuant to paragraph 18 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules, whether they were subject to a party whip in connection with any item(s) to be considered and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of the whipping arrangement.  No such declarations were made.

The Director of Technical Services submitted a report giving consideration to  a 20 signature petition submitted in July 2009 requesting the provision of a Residents’ Parking Scheme in Lingdale Road North, Claughton.

The current policy in respect of new resident parking schemes was that they must be self-financing and that the level of support for a scheme must be at least 80% of all households.  A survey carried out within Lingdale Road North, Mona Street and Scotts Place indicated that this level of support for a self-financing scheme had not been met and, without this level of support, there would be significant objections from residents and local businesses. There would also be problems associated with the displacement  of parking into adjacent streets (such as Valerian Road and Alderley Avenue), where parking space for residents was already at a premium. 

The report concluded that the road did not meet the Council’s criteria for the provision of a residents’ parking scheme and it was therefore recommended that no further action be taken in respect of the petition.

Resolved -  That the Panel: 

(1)  note the petitioners’ request for a Residents’ Parking Scheme to be implemented in Lingdale Road North and the recent consultation exercise carried out in Lingdale Road North, Scotts Place and Mona Street which indicated that support for such a scheme did not meet the Councils approved criteria of 80% in any of the roads. 

(2)  recommend to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee that no further action is taken in respect of the petition requesting the introduction of a Residents’ Parking Scheme in Lingdale Road North.

The Director of Technical Services submitted a report giving consideration to objections to the proposed provision of a Pedestrian Refuge and complementing bus stop relocations in Seabank Road, Liscard.  A further letter of representation regarding the siting of the bus stop was submitted as supplementary supportive information to the report.

Arising out of local consultation in the Liscard and Seacombe area, the Liscard and Seacombe Area Forums had chosen this particular refuge scheme for Seabank Road as a scheme to be funded from its allocation.

To facilitate the construction of the pedestrian refuge it would be necessary to relocate two bus stops on the north-east and south west sides of Seabank Road.  The cost of relocating the 2 bus stops would be funded by Merseytravel.

As part of the detailed design, it was originally proposed to relocate the bus stop on the south-west side of Seabank Road to a position opposite Seabank Road’s junction with Maddock Road Plan No. BEng/10/10a refers.  Following further consultation with Merseytravel however, it was agreed that the proposed relocated bus stop was too close to the bend on Seabank Road and also that its position was too far away from its current one to properly meet residents desires.

Councillor Leah Fraser, ward councillor, addressed the meeting. She referred to her experience of this site indicating that the bus stop could be located closer to the bend on Seabank Road and therefore questioned the above proposals.  She also highlighted the need for a pedestrian controlled crossing at this location. 

The Director reported that the accident record for this site indicated that there would be some merit in introducing a pedestrian refuge scheme, as there have been 2 recorded personal injury accidents in the current three-year study period, one of which could have been prevented if a pedestrian refuge had been present. He reported that careful consideration had been given to the points raised by the objectors in relation to the position of the relocated bus stop but it was considered that the benefits of the proposed scheme outweighed the objections.

Resolved –

(1) That the Panel note the contents of the report and recommend to the Sustainable Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee that the “pedestrian refuge” scheme together with complementary bus stop and shelter relocations (as shown on drawing number BEng/10/10a) be approved for implementation in Seabank Road, Liscard.

(2)  That officers investigate the feasibility of a pedestrian controlled crossing at this location and report back to a future meeting of the Panel.

The Director of Technical Services submitted a report giving consideration to an  objection received to the proposed “Safer Routes to School” scheme for Sandbrook Primary School, Moreton. The reasons for the objection were detailed in the report.

A report setting out a programme of physical and encouragement measures to assist schools, parents and children adopt more sustainable travel habits in their journey to and from school as part of the 2009/10 Safer Routes to School Programme was approved by on Cabinet 23rd July 2009. One of the measures identified within the programme was to provide safer pedestrian crossing points on Stavordale Road and Chapelhill Road, Moreton, by constructing two footpath buildouts adjacent to Sandbrook Primary School. To improve the visibility sight lines at the proposed crossing points and restrict parking adjacent to the build-outs it was also proposed to introduce a Prohibition of Waiting restriction as shown on the attached drawing number B.Eng/16/10.

The report concluded that the benefits associated with this scheme in terms of improving road safety and assisting pedestrian movements outweighed the points raised by the objector.

Resolved -  That the Panel note the contents of the report and recommend to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee that the “pedestrian build-out” scheme and associated prohibitions of waiting restrictions (as shown on drawing number Beng/16/10) be approved for implementation in Stavordale Road and Chapelhill Road, Moreton.