A report recommending that a statutory consultation be conducted on an element of the Lower Caversham area Resident Permit Parking scheme relating to The Willows and St Stephens Close.

Further to Minute 77 of the meeting held on 9 March 2017, the Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report recommending that a statutory consultation be conducted on an element of the Lower Caversham area Resident Permit Parking scheme relating to The Willows and St Stephens Close.  A drawing of the proposed restrictions for The Willows and St Stephens Close was attached to the report at Appendix 1.

The report explained that the Sub-Committee had set priorities for scheme development on the list of requests for Resident Permit Parking (RPP) at the March 2017 meeting; the request for St Stephens Close and The Willows had been separate to the Lower Caversham area and had been set at a lower priority than this area scheme.  Due to the proximity of St Stephens Close and The Willows to the wider Lower Caversham area, it was recommended that the initial scheme development work (informal consultation and concept design) be conducted as a single scheme to expedite the progression of this relatively small scheme.  The dedicated scheme steering group agreed the concept designs for informal consultation and this consultation had been conducted over the summer 2018, including a public drop-in.  The feedback from this informal consultation had been reviewed and it was clear that the area scheme required areas of further consideration.  The steering group had agreed that it was now appropriate to separate St Stephens Close and The Willows from the wider area scheme and progress this section while final decisions were being made for the wider area proposals.

The report recommended that the area be part of the ‘01R’ parking zone and that any objections to the statutory consultation be reported to the January 2019 meeting.  It was acknowledged that some informal consultation feedback had requested the placement of additional double-yellow lines within this proposed area restriction.  The steering group had agreed with the officer recommendation to consider any changes to parking behaviour following the potential implementation of RPP before adding further restrictions.  If issues occurred, despite those parking in the RPP zone having a vested interest in their local area, these could be addressed in the bi-annual Waiting Restriction Review Programme.  It was intended that the steering group would be in a position to agree the wider area Lower Caversham RPP statutory consultation proposals for submission to the January 2019 meeting.

Resolved -

(1)     That the report be noted;

(2)     That the scheme, as set out in Appendix 1 attached to the report, proceed to statutory consultation;

(3)     That the Head of Legal and Democratic Services be authorised to carry out the statutory consultation and advertise the proposals in accordance with the Local Authorities Traffic Orders (Procedure) (England and Wales) Regulations 1996;

(4)     That subject to no objections being received, the Head of Legal and Democratic Services be authorised to make the Traffic Regulation Order;

(5)     That any objections received during the statutory consultation be reported to a future meeting of the Sub-Committee;

(6)     That the Head of Transportation and Streetcare, in consultation with the Lead Councillor for Strategic Environment, Planning and Transport, be authorised to make minor changes to the proposals;

(7)     That no public enquiry be held into the proposals.