Agenda and minutes

An opportunity to meet the Cabinet Member, Director and Highways Officers.

Those in attendance had the opportunity to partake in an informal networking session with the Cabinet Member, Director and Highways Officers.

The Area Board Chairman will welcome those in attendance and provide an overview of the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed those in attendance and provided an overview of the meeting. The Chairman also provided Councillors and Officers in attendance an opportunity to introduce themselves.

It was outlined that there would be presentations covering the following matters:

·       Strategic Business Plan Priorities

·       Maintenance

·       Local Transport Plan

·       Congestion

·       Public Transport

·       Air Quality

To receive presentations that will cover topics such as the strategic business plan priorities, maintenance, LTP, congestion, public transport, and air quality.

The Area Board received a presentation from Sam Howell (Director Highways and Transport), Allan Creedy (Head of Sustainable Transport) and Cllr Caroline Thomas (Cabinet Member for Transport, Street Scene, and Flooding). The presentation covered, but was not limited to, the following matters:

Introduction:

·       An overview of the Wiltshire transport context was provided, including how the highway network represented the Council’s largest and most valuable public asset with a replacement value of over £5billion including over 2,8000 miles of road.

·       The relation of Highways and Transport to the Wiltshire Council Business Plan was outlined.

·       Statistics were provided regarding asset management, including statistics of how many parts of the asset needed to be maintained.

Investment in the Network:

·       An overview of the funding available to Highways maintenance was outlined, including that there was a Highways Maintenance fund of £21million, which was topped up by additional funds, such as an additional £3.6million pothole fund.

·       Other additional sources of funding top ups were covered, including additional investment from Wiltshire Council and further Government funding to span a two-year period.

·       It was noted that as a local authority, Wiltshire was robust and had a preventative eye with the importance of prioritising issued outlined.

The Local Transport Plan:

·       The importance of having a Local Transport Plan was outlined, with it setting a framework for maintaining and improving transport in Wiltshire.

·       The importance of the Local Transport Plan aligning with the Local Plan Review to help deliver Wiltshire Council’s Business Plan priorities was stated, with key themes identified including decarbonisation, freight, and active travel.

Public Transport Review:

·       An overview was provided regarding the public transport review, which would aim to shape the future bus policy as well as priorities for support.

·       The consultation timeframe, which ended on 10 November 2023, was outlined as well as that there had been over 1,000 responses.

·       The aim was for a new policy and network to be implemented from April 2024.

Highways Maintenance:

·       It was outlined that the Council has three different approaches to maintenance:

o   Reactive Maintenance - Responding to issues as they arise, such as repairing potholes or replacing damaged signs.

o   Planned Maintenance - Scheduling regular maintenance tasks to prevent issues from arising in the first place or getting worse.

o   Asset Maintenance - Taking a long-term view of highways maintenance and involves evaluating the condition of roads and infrastructure and prioritizing maintenance tasks based on factors like condition, safety, cost, and rate of deterioration.

·       An overview of benchmarking for Highways was provided following a 2022 South West Road condition scanner survey, with Wiltshire in a good position compared to other local authorities. Furthermore, it was noted that this data was used to prioritise investment.

·       An explanation of why so many potholes have occurred was provided as well as detail regarding interim and permanent repairs.

·       It was noted that officers have a defect dashboard which enables them to monitor data relating to reported and completed defects by area.

·       Work regarding flood prevention was outlined.

Local Highway & Footway Improvement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Those in attendance will have the opportunity to partake in a Q&A session coordinated by the Area Board Chairman.

A question-and-answer session took place coordinated by the Area Board Chairman.

Question – Cllr Matt Dean: Westbury suffers from poor air quality and there have been ongoing issues for 30 years with debates about bypasses. Now that investment from Wiltshire Council in the north of the county should be finishing following the completion of developments, it is thought that it is now time to start thinking about a bypass in Westbury following the Department of Transport route study from Southampton to Bristol.

Answer: Regarding the M4 to South Coast Study, Wiltshire along with neighbouring authorities wanted to press the Secretary of State to have a study to explain and address the poor connectivity between the M4 and south coast. The study has been successfully mandated with only two of such studies in the whole of the country. The study has been undertaken through the last year by National Highways, who have agreed that there are issues with this route. Currently the study has been submitted to the transport minister responsible for roads, and the Council wants to make sure that every stage of the process proceeds and moves to the next stage. The next stage would be for something real to be proposed, with consideration of bypasses for Melksham and Westbury to make improvements to the A350 corridor. It is hoped that there will be an announcement from the Department of Transport early next year regarding the next funding period of 2025 and Wiltshire is working alongside neighbouring authorities to make sure that voice isn’t lost, and the minister is encouraged.

Question – Cllr Matt Dean:  There is an ongoing problem with congestion in Westbury because of the Cleveland Bridge closure and no traffic zone in bath, which has had a negative impact on the town. It seems after making vital public interventions, Westbury is no closer to improving hotspots of congestion.

Answer: Linking back to the M4 to South Coast study, if this work was to prevail, this would mean that those in Bath would be able to do things more easily to protect the city and not at the expense of Wiltshire. Work is being conducted at an officer and political level to do all that can be done regarding the clean air zone and the bridge weight restriction with hard work conducted to try and change things which produce detriment to communities in Wiltshire.

Question - Cllr Matt Dean: A lot of residents of the Oldfield Park former Council estate have exercised the right to buy their properties and there is a lot of land in that area under the ownership of Selwood Housing, which used to be Highways land. The estate currently has more cars than it was designed for and is in desperate need of more parking spaces. How might more carparking spaces be created?

Answer: It is unusual for the Highways Authority to invest in parking for private parking and normally, attempts are made to put things in place to manage the existing situation.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

For the Area Board Chairman to summarise the session and outline next steps.

The Chairman of the Area Board summarised session as well as next steps with key actions to be provided in due course.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 3 October 2023.

The minutes of the meeting held on 3 October 2023 were presented for consideration. An amendment was raised regarding minute item 8, in which it was clarified that the question raised relating to capacity for dealing with an increase in shoplifting was to do with a recent policy change where police officers would have to attend each case.

After which, it was;

Resolved:

To approve and sign as a true and correct record of the minutes of the meeting held on 3 October 2023 following the completion of the suggested amendment.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of disclosable interests.

To note the remaining budgets and to consider any applications for funding, as detailed in the attached report and summarised below:

Remaining Budgets:

Community Area Grants:

Young People Grants:

Further information on the Area Board Grant system can be found here.

The Chairman informed the Area Board of the opening balances for grant funding.

The Area Board considered the following applications for funding:

Community Area Grants:

Leigh Park Community Centre - £2,000 towards replacement tables.

Decision:

Leigh Park Community Centre was awarded £ towards replacement tables subject to the Community Centre being able to demonstrate the rest of the match funding for completing project.

Moved – Cllr Matt Dean

Seconded – Cllr Carole King

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2023/24.

Westbury and District Cricket Club - £5,000 towards mower for Leighton Sports ground.

Decision:

Westbury and District Cricket Club was awarded £5,000 towards mower for Leighton Sports ground subject to the Cricket Club being able to demonstrate the rest of the match funding for completing project.

Moved – Cllr Matt Dean

Seconded – Cllr Gordon King

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2023/24.

Youth Grants:

Leigh Park Community Centre - £5,000 towards Skills for personal development and employment 2023.

Decision:

Leigh Park Community Centre had contacted the SEPM earlier in the day in to ask to defer the application to a future meeting.

The Equivalent Project CIC - £1,500 towards self-harm support programme.

Decision:

The Equivalent Project CIC was awarded an amended amount of £1,388.89 towards self-harm support programme.

Moved – Cllr Matt Dean

Seconded – Cllr Carole King

Reason – The application met the Community Area Grants Criteria 2023/24.

To note the minutes and consider any recommendations arising from the last LHFIG meeting held on 19 October 2023, as set out in the attached report.

Further information on the LHFIG process can be found here.

The Chairman introduced the minutes and recommendations from the LHFIG meeting held on 19 October 2023.

After which, it was;

Resolved:

The minutes of the Local Highways and Footway Improvement Group meeting held on 19 October 2023 were agreed as a correct record with it noted that no spending recommendations had been made.

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.

The next meeting of the Westbury Area Board will take place on 15 February 2024.

The date of the next meeting was 15 February 2023.