The Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report that updated the Committee on the highway policies that had been approved at the Committee meeting on 4 April 2017 (Minute 31 refers).  The report also sought approval for changes to the ‘A’ Board policy and to proceed with a trial ‘Short Frontage Agreement’ for vehicle crossings where the minimum 4.8m depth requirement could not be met.

The report explained that a policy to control ‘A’ Boards on the public highway had been adopted in April 2017.  The ‘A’ Board Policy had been working with measured success since its introduction; however, some minor issues had arisen.  The proposal was to waive the cost of the application fee for all Council Departments and Political organisations.  Each Council department would still need to apply for the ‘A’ Board licence and Councillor Services would apply on behalf of the Political Parties.  For Community, Church & Charity Organisations it was proposed that they would still need to apply for the licence and pay the application fee, but would not then be charged for the annual renewal cost.  There were some applicants whose business property fronts on to different roads, in this instance they could have more than one ‘A’ Board, but would need to make separate applications for each location.  The revised ‘A’ Board Policy was attached to the report at Appendix 1. 

The Vehicle Crossing Policy had been adopted in April 2017.  A review had been carried out of the vehicle crossing criteria/requirements.  The vehicle crossing criteria included for a minimum 4.8m depth of property frontage to ensure that the vehicle could park perpendicular to the boundary and not overhang the public highway.  There were numerous historic examples across the Borough where this minimum depth was not achieved, but a vehicle crossing installed.  The assumption was that they were approved at a time when the obstruction of the public highway was not included in the approval process and presumably met the Council’s criteria in place at that time.  The Council continued to receive applications which were refused because the 4.8m depth criteria could not be met.  The Council had carried out a benchmarking exercise and found that three London Borough Councils employed the use of ‘Short Frontage Agreements’, which reduced the minimum depth criteria to either 4.3m or 4.1m depth.  The Agreement contained conditions to ensure that the vehicle was contained within the property frontage.  The Council proposed to carry out a one-year trial of ‘Short Frontage Agreements’ for vehicle crossings where the minimum 4.8m depth requirement could not be met.  The minimum property frontage depth would be reduced to 4.3m with a requirement for the applicant to prove that they could safely park a vehicle wholly within their property and not overhang the public highway causing an obstruction.  Failure to comply would result in the vehicle crossing being removed and all costs recovered from the property owner.  The Vehicle Crossing Policy was attached to the report at Appendix 2. 

Resolved –

(1)        That the proposed changes to the ‘A’ Board Policy as set out in paragraph 4.5 of the report, be approved;

(2)        That a one-year ‘Short Frontage Agreement’ trial for vehicle crossings be approved, and a report be submitted to the Committee on the findings of the trial, as set out in paragraph 4.6 of the report.