MINUTES
Minutes of a meeting of the HIGHWAYS SUB-COMMITTEE held at 7.30pm on Wednesday 1st February 2023 in The Mountfitchet Exchange, Crafton Green, 72 Chapel Hill, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex
PRESENT Cllr G Sell (Chair), Cllrs M Jessup, P Jones, A Khan, J O’Brien, L Prior,
F Richards and co-opted member Ray Woodcock
ATTENDING Mrs Ruth Clifford – Parish Clerk
Mrs Emma Philbrick – Deputy Clerk
County Councillor Ray Gooding
1 member of the public
345 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Caton (holiday)
Having been proposed by Cllr Richards and seconded by Cllr Jones, it was unanimously:
RESOLVED To accept the apologies from Cllr Caton
346 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – None
347 TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 19TH OCTOBER 2022
RESOLVED To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 19th October 2022 as a true and accurate account.
348 TO RECEIVE AN UPDATE ON THE ACTION POINTS SINCE THE LAST MEETING
A meeting was due to take place on Friday of this week between Cabinet Member Lee Scott and residents of Grove Hill but this was now cancelled due to personal issues and Cllr Lee Scott is now attending the Parish Council’s Full Council meeting on 8th February. Cllr Sell advised that he would like to see a document / plan regarding the proposed removal which outlines the timescales. Cty Cllr Gooding advised that they are looking at legislation and there is currently a viability study taking place. They need to look at where the vehicles would go to if removed from Stansted. The option of Hall Road is not popular with the residents of Elsenham. Ringway Jacobs are undertaking the study and Cty Cllr Gooding has a meeting with them tomorrow.
Cllr Sell asked for the Committee’s best wishes to Cllr Scott be recorded.
Ray Woodcock commented that a written report from Essex County Council has been requested on numerous occasions over a long period of time and it’s important to ensure this is received as we need clear clarification.
Cllr Khan advised that it is not just Grove Hill but that he had been pushing for a review of all traffic in Stansted. We need to see a document with a project plan and timescales.
Cllr Jones stressed that he does not accept what we are being told. It will be two years in May when we were given a firm commitment to this scheme and there is only one alternative route. It should not take two years to decide if the alternative route is a viable one. Even if the answer is that it isn’t an option, it would have be accepted even if we don’t like the answer. A viability study should not have taken two years to take place.
Cllr Gooding advised that he too was disappointed at the length of time but that anything put in place has to work and how do they ensure/enforce the use of another route. The Clerk advised that it is a timeline of the visibility study that has been requested on a number of occasions.
190 – Cty Cllr Gooding advised that this had been put forward under the members pothole scheme
190 – The Clerk confirmed that Air Quality Assessment data had been received
190 – The scheme is currently in validation
192 – Submitted to panel
193 – Submitted to panel
194 – Submitted but advised by NEPP that consultation needs to be done with residents. Was in which to consult were discussed. This included trying to get in into the next months The Link alongside the pages for the Annual Parish Meeting.
194 – Linda Howells had advised that this was being worked on but it was not yet ready to come to us. Cllr Sell advised that at a meeting the previous evening, Adrian Webb had advised that after the elections, they would be looking at the charges of the car parks.
194 – Annette Thornton had been contacted and a site visit had been arranged with Cllrs O’Brien and Jones.
Ray Woodcock addressed the meeting to advise that he had been made aware of several accidents which had taken place over the years involved disabled residents due to the state of the main footpaths in Stansted. He believes that this issue should be on the agenda more frequently. Cllr Richards commented that it is not just the pavements but the road ways also. This is especially the case where Highways maintained roads meet unadopted roads. Cllr Khan advised that he had sympathy with disabled residents and that there is an Equality Impact Assessment which authorities were obliged to complete and that we should ensure these has been carried out. Public Bodies should be pressed for them.
Cllr Gooding advised that an accident in Clarence Road had taken place due to a pothole, this was put forward as part of the pothole scheme and was due to be repaired in the next couple of days.
Cllr Jones proposed that two or three members of the Sub-Committee should get together and work out where the worst areas were in Stansted and what authority was responsible for each area. Ray Woodcock and Cllr Khan agreed to do this and Cllr Jones agreed to speak to Touchpoint as they often have a lot of interaction with the members of the community who are affected mostly by these issues. Findings should then be reported back to this Sub-Committee.
Cllr Sell advised that Linda Howells looks after a sum of money for Economic Development and that we should approach her and advise that we would like to do something which is disability friendly.
196a – Requested again but nothing received back
196b – This was not looked into as there is no budget for the signs but it is something that could be thought about when setting the next budget.
349 TO RECEIVE A REPORT FROM THE CHAIR, CLLR SELL
Cllr Sell advised that most things he had to report on were already on the agenda but he did meet with a Essex Live journalist and showed them the new developments and site of potential new developments and they discussed the highways infrastructure.
350 TO RECEIVE AN UPDATE FROM COUNTY COUNILLOR RAY GOODING ON HIGHWAYS PROJECTS FOR STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET
Cty Cllr Gooding acknowledged that the road surface on Grove Hill was appalling and advised that it had been put forward for repairs.
The zebra crossing on Silver Street will be going ahead
Church Road – With regards to the constant flooding, Highways had dug up the road on a number of occasions to alleviate the issue but in terms of the below ground drainage, there is little else they can do. A flood alleviation scheme has been put in place to look at where the water goes to / comes from etc. Cllr Khan questioned if this meant that nothing was going to happen and that residents would just have to put up with the flooding? Cty Cllr Gooding advised that there was a limit to the responsibility of Highways and that some of the issues was the responsibility of adjacent landowners. All of these factors were being looked at. He agreed to provide details of the scheme in writing so that residents could be given the correct detailed updates
With regards to heavy goods vehicles, it is a difficult problem which is also being experienced in villages such a Quendon, Ugley, Burton End, Stansted and Elsenham. He is trying to get the Police and Environment Agency together to discuss the breaching of limits which is enforceable by the Police. He will invite all respective Parish Councils and Cllr Sell stressed that we would like to be a part of the process.
351 FORESTHALL PARK – TO RECEIVE AN UPDATE FROM THE FHP PARKING WORKING GROUP
Cllr Jones gave an update on the meetings that had taken place and that he had come up with a draft proposal for a consultation. Once the document has been agreed the they will need to agree on how to consult. Discussions took place on the timescales of this due to the Purdah soon coming into action and the elections taking place and how the consultation should be done.
352 CHAPEL HILL – TO CONSIDER ASKING ESSEX HIGHWAYS TO RESURFACE DAMAGED/WORN SECTIONS OF THE FOOTWAY
As discussed earlier in the meeting, a working group would assess which areas are the worst affected around the village and which authorities were responsible for each area. Ray Woodcock commented that drop kerbs were really bad.
353 TO RECEIVE AN UPDATE ON SECTION 106 PROJECTS
The Clerk advised that the lengthy emails she had received back regarding the projects were suitably vague and that the information they say had been provided regarding certain projects has not been. Cllr Jones asked Cty Cllr Gooding to take this up as this was not true. A meeting between Annette Thornton and Cllrs Jones and O’Brien was due to take place as advised earlier in the meeting. Cllr Jones feels like her mind is already made up though. The Clerk advised that they will get Annette to meet at the office first so that discussions can be had before the site visit takes place.
354 UTTLESFORD HIGHWAYS PANEL
A) TO RECEIVE A REPORT FROM THE CHAIR/CLERK ON SUBMITTED PROJECTS
The 20 is plenty scheme is in validation and a decision should be made in March, If this goes ahead then it should be implemented in the next financial year. Cllr Khan agreed to speak at the meeting regarding this scheme and all of the other that we had submitted.
B) TO CONSIDER SUGGESTIONS FROM MEMBERS FOR FUTURE PROJECTS
None
Meeting closed at 8.56pm
ACTION POINTS
348 – The Clerk to try and get the consultation for Bentfield into the next edition of The Link
348 – Selected group to look at worst areas for disabled residents around the village and find out which authority is responsible – Will bring back to the Sub-Committee
AGENDA
You are summoned to attend a meeting of the HIGHWAYS SUB-COMMITTEE which will be held on Wednesday 1st February 2023 at 7.30pm in The Mountfitchet Exchange, Crafton Green, 72 Chapel Hill, Stansted, Essex where the following business will be transacted:
1 To approve apologies for absence.
2 To receive declarations of interest.
3 To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 19th October 2022
4 To receive an update on the action points from the last meeting.
5 To receive a report from the Chair, Cllr Geoffrey Sell
6 To receive an update from County Councillor Ray Gooding on highways projects for Stansted Mountfitchet
7 Foresthall Park – To receive an update from the FHP Parking Working Group and to consider proposals relating to the consultation – To follow
8 Chapel Hill – To consider asking Essex Highways to resurface damaged/worn sections of the footway.
11 To receive an update on Section 106 projects.
12 Uttlesford Local Highways Panel
a) To receive a report from the Chair/Clerk on submitted projects
b) To consider suggestions from members for future projects
Ruth Clifford, Parish Clerk – 26 January 2023