Agenda item

To consider a report which recommends the adoption of the Cheshire East Speed Management Strategy, the Cheshire East Vehicle Restraint System Strategy and the Cheshire East Skid Resistance Strategy.

The Committee considered a report recommending the adoption of the Cheshire East Speed Management Strategy, the Cheshire East Vehicle Restraint System Strategy and the Cheshire East Skid Resistance Strategy.

The Chair read out the written comments of Councillor R Bailey who had been unable to attend the meeting as a visiting member. Councillor Bailey asked the Committee to seek assurance that the speed management strategy took into account the needs of rural parishes and enabled support for speed indication devices (SIDs) and a uniform approach to speed management across the Borough.

Councillor J Clowes attended as a visiting member and, at the invitation of the Chair, spoke on behalf of residents of Hough and Shavington who were seeking a reduction in the speed limit on Newcastle Road to 30 mph to ensure the safety of children and elderly residents crossing the road. Councillor Clowes submitted a petition to the Democratic Services Officer as the petitions scheme did not allow the Committee itself to accept a petition under 5,000 signatures.

Councillor M Goldsmith attended as a visiting member and, at the invitation of the Chair, spoke in support of the speed management strategy.

It was moved and seconded that the recommendations in the report be approved subject to the addition of the following words to recommendation 3.5 on the basis that this would give members oversight and greater understanding of the scheme prioritisation process within the speed management strategy:

‘The Director of Highways shall nominate a named position to have direct point of contact for member submission of speed assessment requests and authority over their subsequent prioritisation. A bi-monthly list of the current prioritisation and any scheme(s) coming forward will be circulated to all committee members.’

The Chair emphasised that the three strategies were living documents capable of being reviewed by the Committee at a future date. He welcomed the fact that the prioritisation matrix within the speed management strategy gave greater weight to local concerns.

RESOLVED (unanimously)

That the Committee

1.    approves that the Cheshire East Speed Management Strategy be adopted as policy and subsequently implemented operationally;

2.    approves that the Vehicle Restraint Systems: Installation, Inspection and Maintenance Strategy be adopted as policy and subsequently implemented operationally;

3.    approves that the Cheshire East Skid Resistance Strategy be adopted as policy and subsequently implemented operationally;

4.    delegates authority to the Director of Highways and Infrastructure to make technical amendments to the Cheshire East Speed Management Strategy, the Vehicle Restraint Systems: Installation, Inspection and Maintenance Strategy and the Cheshire East Skid Resistance Strategy as required and to update the Highways and Transport Committee on any significant changes at a future meeting;

5.    delegates authority to the Director of Highways and Infrastructure to amend/further develop the scheme prioritisation process for the Speed Management Strategy as required and to consider the need for changes to future investment programmes to reflect this process, any proposed changes to investment programmes to be reported to the Committee as part of the annual investment programme cycle. In addition, the Director of Highways and Infrastructure shall nominate a named position to have direct point of contact for member submission of speed assessment requests and authority over their subsequent prioritisation. A bi-monthly list of the current prioritisation and any scheme(s) coming forward will be circulated to all members of the Committee; and

6.    approves the use of Speed Indication Devices (SIDs) on the highway network in accordance with the approach as set out in the Speed Management Strategy.