Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in any item on the agenda.

Thee were no declarations of interest.

In accordance with Procedure Rules Nos.11 and 35 a period of 10 minutes is allocated for members of the public to address the meeting on any matter relevant to the work of the body in question.  Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes but the Chairman or person presiding will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned where there are a number of speakers. Members of the public are not required to give notice to use this facility. However, as a matter of courtesy, a period of 24 hours’ notice is encouraged.

Members of the public wishing to ask a question at the meeting should provide at least three clear working days’ notice in writing and should include the question with that notice. This will enable an informed answer to be given.

No members of the public were present.

To consider the disposal of the winter service fleet.

That the whole fleet be sold to ECON at the valuations given for the individual vehicles, subject to the other interested parties being invited to bid for DY57 LYX on a simple sealed offer basis; should the highest offer exceed the ECON valuation then the gritter be sold to that bidder; if the bid falls short of the ECON valuation then the gritter be sold along with all the other gritters to ECON.

It was reported that at the meeting of the Cabinet on 21 July 2015 Members agreed to support the option of transferring the winter service fleet into the Highway Services Contract, including allowing the Service Provider to lead on the procurement of a new fleet subject to confirmation of obtaining best value for money compared to alternative options, with the final decision delegated to the Chief Operating Officer in consultation with the Finance Portfolio Holder; this was approved on 24 August 2015.

It was proposed that for the current winter season a replacement fleet be hired until such time as a new fleet could be procured; this arrangement would allow the Council to dispose of the redundant fleet and also avoid the substantial summer overhaul costs that would be required.  Based on previous experience it was estimated that the sale of the fleet of existing gritters was likely to generate a capital receipt of approximately £100k at auction.

The Councils service provider had sought a valuation of the individual vehicles from ECON, the suppliers of specialist winter service plant. ECON’s estimate was based on the likely return that could be achieved at this time of year.  Following a physical inspection of the vehicles ECON reported that the fleet was likely to achieve a return of approximately £72k in the current market.

ECON also stated that having inspected the vehicles they would be prepared to purchase part or all of the fleet based on their valuations and had indicated they would expect a decision on their offer within a month after which they would need to review their valuation.  It was reported that one of the vehicles (DK57 LYX) valued at £10,000 by ECON had attracted interest from a number of other parties these being ANSA, Willis Bros & Dodgsons.

Selling the bulk or all of the gritters to ECON would avoid the need for the authority to incur auction and associated transportation costs, eliminate the risk that some might remain unsold and would deliver value for money for the authority.

RESOLVED

That approval be given for the whole fleet be sold to ECON at the valuations given for the individual vehicles, subject to the other interested parties being invited to bid for DY57 LYX on a simple sealed offer basis; should the highest offer exceed the ECON valuation then the gritter be sold to that bidder; if the bid falls short of the ECON valuation then the gritter be sold along with all the other gritters to ECON.

To consider the proposed 40 mph Rural Zone application.

That the proposed 40 mph Rural Zone application be submitted for approval to the Department for Transport.

Consideration was given to a proposal to introduce zonal speed limits.  Speed and Road Safety remained one the top priorities for local residents and representation had been made by Members to explore the options available for delivering zonal speed limits within Cheshire East as a way of increasing customer satisfaction, improving road safety and addressing local speeding concerns.

Consideration was given to the proposed application for the introduction of a rural zone in the Over Peover/Jodrell Bank Area.  DfT guidance for setting local speed limits supported the proposal in that the network of minor rural roads within the proposed zone had speeds already in line with such a limit and were heavily used by vulnerable road users.  If the proposal was approved by the DfT it was also proposed to carry out a full before and after evaluation to obtain an understanding of the effectiveness of zonal speed limits for future programmes.

RESOLVED

That the proposed 40 mph Rural Zone application be submitted for approval to the Department for Transport.