abcde Buckinghamshire County Council Minutes WYCOMBE LOCAL COMMITTEE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE WYCOMBE LOCAL COMMITTEE HELD ON THURSDAY 19 APRIL 2007 IN PRINCES RISBOROUGH SCHOOL, MERTON ROAD, PRINCES RISBOROUGH, COMMENCING AT 6.04 PM AND CONCLUDING AT 8.15 PM MEMBERS PRESENT Representative Council, Organisation or Society Mr D Watson (Chairman) Buckinghamshire County Council Mr Z Mohammed (Vice-Chairman) Mrs V Letheren Mr R Pushman Mr P Rogerson Mr J Herschel Chepping Wycombe Parish Council Mr J Hambly Ellesborough Parish Council Mr S Appleby Great and Little Hampden Parish Council Mrs S Henson Hambleden Parish Council Mr R Thomas High Wycombe Group of Advanced Motorists Mr D Davies Hughenden Parish Council Mr P Pilkington Lacey Green Parish Council Mrs S Wright Lane End Parish Council Mr G O'Neill Longwick Parish Council Ms H Reed Medmenham Parish Council Mr L A Benifer Princes Risborough Town Council Mrs E Clifford Princes Risborough Town Council Mr A Turner Princes Risborough Town Council Mrs M A Wooster Princes Risborough Town Council Mrs S Storey Piddington and Wheeler End Parish Council Mr J Hughes RACA Mr M Penny Stokenchurch Parish Council Mr M Coffey Thames Valley Probation Mr D Callaghan West Wycombe Parish Council Ms V Smith West Wycombe Parish Council Officers Mr I Reed Buckinghamshire County Council Mr M Averill Mrs S Khan Mr J Stevens Mr D Divall Mrs K Jones Ms L Huby Wycombe District Council Ms J Fowler Wycombe District Council Mr S Tinnelly Jacobs Babtie 1 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE / CHANGES IN MEMBERSHIP Apologies were received from Lesley Clarke and Dennis Green, Buckinghamshire County Council, Bill Bendyshe-Brown and Gary Hall Princes Risborough Town Council. 2 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST None were declared. 3 MINUTES The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 25 January 2007 were confirmed after the following changes had been made: • Mr J Herschel Chepping Wycombe Parish Council had been added to the list of attendees. • The sentence on street lights be revised as follows: A member asked if all the street lights were to be completely removed from Hughenden Valley i.e. for 24 hours 7 days a week. 4 MATTERS ARISING • Mark Averill reported that Colin Price would be joining Buckinghamshire County Council as a Local Area Technician for the Princes Risborough area in May. This was noted and welcomed. • A member asked for guidance on how Parish Councils should contact Highways on Call. Mark Averill replied that the Parish Clerks would be notified of the contact details for the Local Area Technicians. He recommended that the Public telephone Highways on Call. • Ian Reed reported that a Public meeting had been arranged by the residents of Little Kimble about local bus services. At the Princes Risborough cluster meeting held on 12 April members had been provided with an update and unanimously supported the request to support the residents’ request for the bus route to be reinstated. The lead officer Jackie Yates Interim Head of Finance had also agreed to pursue this with John Hodgkins. Members were advised that the cluster meeting had requested that the Local committee supports them in this request. During a discussion a member explained that in his opinion there was a need for a clear definition of the role of cluster meetings and for the Terms of Reference to be clearly identified. It was also noted that there was no guidance on how matters requiring action were handled and it was agreed that this be clarified. The Cabinet Member for Transportation replied that BCC is responsible for general issues such as gritting and bus routes and that the clusters discuss more specific and local matters. Ian Reed acknowledged that clusters were still evolving and that clusters would discuss matters as they arise. The discussion concluded with agreement on the following: • Rural transport is on the agenda for a future meeting • Terms of Engagement of the Clusters be clarified • Results were essential in order for the cluster meetings to succeed. 5 QUESTIONS (a) Petitions (i) Mr Andy Rackstraw of Saddle Safari, Marlow - re Proposed Cycle Route, Marlow “The undersigned are requesting a cycle route in Marlow” Reply Darren Divall, Team Leader, Cycling and Walking will attend the meeting to report on the work being carried out by the County Council to meet the demand for cycle routes in Marlow. (ii) Ellesborough Parish Council have submitted a petition from the residents in North Lee Lane - re Speed Limit Reviews in Ellesborough Area “We, the residents of North Lee Lane, wish to inform you that a SID speed check took place on the road on 6 July 2006 from 4.15pm to 6.30pm, and following the results wish action to be taken in relation to the speed traffic is allowed to travel on this road. Approximately 186 vehicles travelled the road at that time – of those: • 30 travelled at 50 – 54mph • 43 travelled at 55 – 59mph • 16 travelled at 60+mph • 1 car and 1 motorbike did not register because they were travelling over 70mph • The remainder were travelling mid to high 40s.” Reply The above petition will be taken into consideration by the Area 5 Speed Limit Review Working Group at its next meeting, which is likely to take place in early Summer 2007. The Working Group consists of all County Councillors within Area 5; a District Council representative; Thames Valley Police Traffic Management Officer; Bucks County Council spee d limit review and traffic management officers and Local Area Co-Coordinator. The Area Group Manager may also attend some meetings. The Working Group will evaluate all the new speed limits introduced in April 2006, (to include a review of public feedback, speed measurements and crash records), and decide whether to recommend any modifications or additions to these speed limits in the light of this information/requests. Any changes recommended by the Working Group would then need to go through the legally required public consultation process, which includes advertising Public Notices in local papers, and on site, before any new speed limits can be put in place. It may be possible for installation of any subsequent new limits in Area 5 to be put in by March 2008. However, at the time of writing, it has not been decided whether Speed Limit Review Areas 3-7 should receive their 'extra' speed limit modifications before Areas 8-14 have received their initial speed limit changes , or for these to be put in place only after the initial review has been completed countywide. To put this in context, Areas 8 & 9 are timetabled for new speed limits by March 2008- the last Area (Area 14) is currently scheduled to have its new speed limits by 2010. (iii)Mr F J Smith on behalf of Carver Hill Residents Against the Salting Stoppage (CHRASS) – Re the Withdrawal of Winter Maintenance Schedule from the Poets Corner Estate, High Wycombe “We the undersigned residents and users of the roads on the Poets Corner Estate, High Wycombe wish to register our outrage at the decision by Buckinghamshire County Council to withdraw the Winter Maintenance Schedule of preventative road salting from our estate due to recent budget cuts. As there are only two access roads onto the estate, both of which are very steep and lead directly onto two of the towns busiest roads, Marlow Hill Dual Carriageway and Desborough Avenue, the withdrawal of this vital service has left residents of almost 400 homes and potentially 1000 car owners without a safe route to or from the estate in the adverse weather conditions. We therefore formally request that Buckinghamshire County Council: • Revisit their decision to withdraw the Winter Maintenance Schedule as a matter of the utmost urgency and, • Reinstate the service with immediate effect on the Poets Corner Estate, in the interests of public safety and the Council’s duty of care to it’s residents. Signatures from over 275 properties across the estate are presented on the following pages…” Reply Please see attached report (iv) Terry Mackintosh, Chairman of Magnum (Marsh Action Group) - Speed and Volume of Traffic in Marsh Area “I present to you a petition signed by over a hundred residents and friends of Marsh, over 98% of the residents of Marsh have put their name to this petition to express their deep concern over the increase in speed and volume of traffic now using this quiet backwater as a commuter rat run. Over the past 5 years we have been active in campaigning not only to reduce the speed limit through our village to 30mph but to also restrict volume. Our campaign is supported by our local representatives of Wycombe District Council, Buckinghamshire County Council and the local Parish Council all of whom recognise the need to deal with this problem quickly and decisively to avoid the situation becoming intolerable. Our hopes of a further reduction of the speed limit to 30mph or possibly 20mph were firmly pinned to the Tranquil project that was to be the vehicle to help communities such as ours, this we now understand has been shelved with no plans to introduce at a later date. This we feel is a loss of an ideal opportunity!! Our request is simple, a 30mph would help the people of Marsh to live the life they have chosen in peace and safety and although they recognise there will always be the few who will flout the law the majority will abide by it, in doing so they will be helping not only Marsh but many other communities and themselves enjoy the benefits of the countryside in safety. Reply The above petition will be taken into consideration by the Area 5 Speed Limit Review Working Group at its next meeting, which is likely to take place in early summer 2007.