Agenda AGENDA for a meeting of the ENVIRONMENT, PLANNING AND TRANSPORT CABINET PANEL in COMMITTEE ROOM B at County Hall, Hertford on THURSDAY, 30 JUNE 2016 at 10.00 AM ___________________________________________________________________ MEMBERS OF THE PANEL (11) (Quorum 3) D Andrews (Vice-Chairman), D A Ashley (Chairman), D J Barnard, N Bell, H K Crofton, A S B Walkington, N A Hollinghurst, M D M Muir, S J Taylor, R Sangster, R H Smith. Meetings of the Cabinet Panel are open to the public (this includes the press) and attendance is welcomed. However, there may be occasions when the public are excluded from the meeting for particular items of business. Any such items are taken at the end of the public part of the meeting and are listed under “Part II (‘closed’) agenda”. Committee Room B is fitted with an audio system to assist those with hearing impairment. Anyone who wishes to use this should contact main (front) reception. Members are reminded that all equalities implications and equalities impact assessments undertaken in relation to any matter on this agenda must be rigorously considered prior to any decision being reached on that matter. PART I (PUBLIC) AGENDA 1. MINUTES To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 10 May 2016 (attached). 2. PUBLIC PETITIONS The opportunity for any member of the public, being resident in Hertfordshire, to present a petition relating to a matter with which the Council is concerned, which is relevant to the remit of this Cabinet Panel and which contains signatories who are either resident in or who work in Hertfordshire. Members of the public who are considering raising an issue of concern via a petition are advised to contact their local member of the Council. The Council's arrangements for the receipt of petitions are set out in Annex 22 - Petitions Scheme of the Constitution. If you have any queries about the procedure please contact Theresa Baker, by telephone on (01992 556545) or by e-mail to [email protected] At the time of the publicationAgenda of this Pack agenda 1 of 353no notices of petitions have been 1 received. 3. PRESENTATION: UPDATE ON COUNTYWIDE TRANSPORT MODEL (COMET) Report of the Chief Executive and Director of Environment The Cabinet Panel will receive a presentation from Sue Jackson and Rupert Thacker covering COMET, a suite of models covering Hertfordshire and the surrounding area and comprising: - Highway model – all A, B & C roads, - Public Transport model (scheduled bus and rail services), - Demand model – Links models and allows tests of time shifts and mode shift. 4. TRANSPORT VISION- DRAFT LOCAL TRANSPORT PLAN PUBLIC CONSULTATION PROPOSALS AND PROJECT UPDATE Report of the Chief Executive and Director of Environment 5. RAIL STRATEGY Report of the Chief Executive and Director of Environment 6. INTERCITY WEST COAST RAIL FRANCHISE CONSULTATION Report of the Chief Executive and Director of Environment 7. A120 STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT – STANDON CONSULTATION UPDATE Report of the Chief Executive and Director of Environment 8. REVIEW OF HERTFORDSHIRE’S LOCAL FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGY – ISSUES AND OPTIONS CONSULTATION Report of the Chief Executive and Director of Environment 9. GROWTH DEAL ROUND 3 – UPDATE ON PROPOSED BIDS Report of the Chief Executive and Director of Environment 10 ENVIRONMENT, PLANNING & TRANSPORT PERFORMANCE MONITOR Report of the Chief Executive & Director of Environment 11. OTHER PART I BUSINESS Such Part I (public) business which, if the Chairman agrees, is of sufficient urgency to warrant consideration. PART II (‘CLOSED’) AGENDA EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC There are no items of Part II business on this agenda. If Part II business is notified the Chairman will move:- “That under Section 100(A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item/s of business on the grounds that it/they involve/s the likely disclosureAgenda of exempt Pack 2 information of 353 as defined in paragraph/s 2 ……. of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the said Act and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.” If you require further information about this agenda please contact Theresa Baker, Democratic Services, on telephone no (01992 556545) or email [email protected]. Agenda documents are also available on the internet at: http://www.hertsdirect.org/hccmeetings Agenda Pack 3 of 353 3 Minutes To: All Members of the From: Legal, Democratic & Statutory Services Environment, Planning and Ask for: Theresa Baker Transport Cabinet Panel, Chief Ext: 26545 Executive, Chief Officers, All officers named for ‘actions’ ENVIRONMENT, PLANNING AND TRANSPORT CABINET PANEL, 10 MAY 2016 ATTENDANCE MEMBERS OF THE PANEL P A Ruffles (substituting for David Andrews), D A Ashley (Chairman), N Bell, H K Crofton, A S B Walkington, N A Hollinghurst, M D M Muir, R Sangster, R H Smith, S J Taylor Upon consideration of the agenda for the Environment, Planning and Transport Cabinet Panel meeting on 10 May 2016 as circulated, copy annexed, conclusions were reached and are recorded below: Note: No conflicts of interest were declared by any member of the Cabinet Panel in relation to the matters on which conclusions were reached at this meeting. PART I (‘OPEN’) BUSINESS ACTION 1. MINUTES 1.1 The Minutes of the Cabinet Panel meeting held on 8 March 2016 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. 2. PUBLIC PETITIONS 2.1 There were no public petitions. HIGH SPEED 2 - FORMAL RESPONSE OF HERTFORDSHIRE 3. COUNTY COUNCIL [Officer Contact: Jenny Foster, Senior Planning Officer, (Tel: 01992 556245)] 3.1 The Panel received a report to update and inform Members of the progress of the High Speed 2 (HS2) scheme and subsequently to enable Cabinet and the County Council to consider a proposal to authorise a petition to the House of Lords opposing the High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Bill. It also described the current level of engagement that theAgenda County Pack Council 4 of 353 had with HS2 Ltd on the scheme, the arrangements for joint working with Three Rivers 1 District Council and the need for community engagement. To clarify for Members the scenario and HS2 issues in relation to Hertfordshire, officers tabled maps of the proposed Old Shire Country Park and the Colne Valley including the main construction site and tunnel : HS2 Interactive Map; TABLED Maps for Colne Valley HS2 Site Map: HS2 Compound & Tunnel; Proposed Old Shire Country Park. 3.2 Officers advised Members that, subsequent to the success of the Council’s first petition in the House of Commons against the HS2 Bill in May 2014 (which resolved detailed local access and environmental issues but most importantly slip roads on to the M25), additional provisions had been introduced by HS2 in respect of other petitioners’ issues. For Hertfordshire the most significant of these was AP4, which proposed a longer tunnel under the Chilterns and would result in more spoil and a longer construction period. Members were informed that the Council had submitted its comments on AP4 to HS2 in November 2015 but as yet had not received a response. Consequently a further petition against the Bill (Hybrid) was submitted to the House of Lords on 18 April 2016 to formally raise these concerns and negotiate their resolution with HS2 and the Secretary of State for Transport. 3.3 Officers updated the Panel that the first meeting between the County Council and HS2 to discuss the issues raised in the petition had just taken place on 9 May 2016. 3.4 The Panel noted that the 2.6km increase in length of the Chiltern Tunnel was not proportionate to the increase in construction time from 1 to 4 years and remarked that there may be reasons other than purely constructional. Officers commented that that the increased time frame could be due to having to tunnel deeper and a wider Northern Portal. 3.5 Concern was expressed about increased environmental impact, e.g. on air quality, when removing chalk from the tunnel in the summer months. Officers reported that the County Council had requested air quality monitoring every quarter as there was insufficient environmental impact data in HS2 documentation. 3.6 Changes to the profile of the landscape were discussed by Members particularly the impact on nearby West Hyde village and Maple Cross. Officers confirmed that HS2 projected a 3-10m increase in height across the land in general, which would obscure the trains from view and reduce noise levels. The exact height would depend on the quality of material extracted during tunnelling; e.g. the chalk may be tunnelled using slurry methods and the resultant material would require drying and ultimately may not be 2 CHAIRMAN’S INITIALS Agenda Pack 5 of 353 ……………. suitable for landscaping use. It was clarified that the land was currently chalky arable; the top soil would be stripped off and later replaced on top of the new profile made from the tunnelled chalk 3.7 The requirement for a direct link from the extraction site to the HS2 compound (e.g. exit of Denham Park Farm pit (sand and gravel and restoration site) and also the movement of any imported material via the M25 was emphasised by the Panel . 3.8 The proposed excavation of minerals at Pynesfield (due to come to the County Council Development Control Planning Committee on 26 May 2016) was raised by the Local Member. Excavation of minerals from this gravel pit prior to and during the HS2 process for use by HS2 was suggested, thus shortening disruption to the local community and reducing vehicle movements over the rest of Hertfordshire.