The Executive Director for Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report informing the Sub-Committee of objections that had been received during statutory consultation that took place between 6 August 2020 and 27 August 2020 for the agreed proposals that had formed the 2019B programme. The objections, support and other comments that had been received during statutory consultation for the 2019B programme were attached to the report at Appendix 1. Those proposals that did not receive objections or other comments would be implemented as advertised. Members were asked to consider whether to implement, amend or reject the proposals.

In addition, the report provided a list of new requests for potential inclusion in the 2020A programme, as set out at Appendix 2. Members were asked to consider whether each request should, or should not, be considered in the next programme.

Resolved -   

(1)     That the report be noted;

(2)     That the following proposals made under the waiting restriction review 2019A, as set out in Appendix 1 attached to the report, be implemented as advertised:

·         Elm Park

·         Elmleigh Court

·         Amersham Road

·         Christchurch Road

·         Elgar Road South – Allotment Access

·         Oak Tree Road

·         Rydal Avenue

·         Parkhouse Lane

·         Taff Way

·         Tuns Hill Cottage

·         Walnut Way

(3)     That the Assistant Director of Legal and Democratic Services be authorised to seal the resultant Traffic Regulation Order and no public inquiry be held into the proposals;

(4)     That respondents to the statutory consultation be informed of the decision of the Sub-Committee accordingly, following publication of the agreed minutes of the meeting;

(5)     That having considered the requests made for waiting restriction changes, as set out in Appendix 2 attached to the report, the requests be investigated by officers as part of the 2020 review programme, subject to the following amendments:

·         Gun Street (Abbey Ward) – Remove from the list pending further investigation by officers, in consultation with Ward Councillors, into the feasibility of the order under the Red Route scheme

·         Albert Road - Should be recorded under Thames Ward

·         Mowbray Drive – Should be recorded under Norcot Ward

(6)     That the officer recommendations, following investigation of the new requests for consideration in the 2020 programme, be shared with Ward Councillors, providing opportunity for their comments to be included in the next report to the Sub-Committee;

(7)     That should funding permit, a further report be submitted to the Sub-Committee requesting approval to conduct the Statutory Consultation on the recommended schemes for the 2020 programme.

Resolved -

That, pursuant to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) members of the press and public be excluded during consideration of item 19 below, as it was likely that there would be disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of that Act.

Further to Minute 55 of the meeting held on 5 March 2020, the Executive Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report providing the Sub-Committee with an update on the list of requests for Resident Permit Parking (RPP), including the progress of developing schemes and any new requests that had been received. Attached to the report at Appendix 1 was an updated list of requests for Resident Permit Parking as at September 2020.

The report explained that since the last update report the RPP schemes in East Reading (Area 2) and additional elements in Redlands, for example Malvern Court, had been implemented.  These schemes had gone live in early August 2020.

The report also explained that Officers would continue to work with Ward Councillors, the Lead Councillor for Strategic Environment, Planning and Transport and the Chair of the Traffic Management Sub-Committee to agree an initial area that should be considered alongside the original request, once a potential scheme became an active project.

The Sub-Committee discussed the report and agreed that the requests set out in Appendix 1 should be retained on the list and that requests 1 to 12 should be dealt with first.  In respect of request 13 it was agreed that further work should be carried out by Ward Councillors.

Resolved –

(1)     That the report be noted;

(2)     That the requests, as set out in Appendix 2 attached to the report, be retained subject to requests 1 to 12 being dealt with first and further work being carried out in respect of request 13 by Ward Councillors.

The Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report informing the Sub-Committee of requests for new traffic management measures that had been raised by members of the public, other organisations/representatives and Councillors.  These were measures that would not typically be addressed in other programmes, where funding was yet to be identified.  The list of requests (three in total) with initial officer comments and recommendations was attached to the report at Appendix 1.

The Sub-Committee discussed the report and agreed that the proposal to install a pedestrian crossing on Pell Street/Southampton Street should be removed from the list of requests.

Resolved –

(1)     That the report be noted;

(2)     That the schemes set out in Appendix 1, attached to the report, be supported for further officer investigation, subject to the removal of the proposal to install a pedestrian crossing on Pell Street/Southampton Street.

Further to Minute 43 of the meeting held on 9 January 2019, the Executive Director for Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report providing the Sub-Committee with the results of the statutory consultation on the Red Route Bays on Oxford Road and Norcot Road.  The plans that had been advertised publicly showing the location and detail of the west Reading red route proposals was attached to the report at Appendix 1 and the objections and other comments, which had been submitted formally, were attached at Appendix 2.

The report explained that following the introduction of the experimental red route on the west side of Reading in the summer of 2018 a request for an additional loading bay on Oxford Road had been received from a local business and had been installed in October 2018.  After a petition from residents in Norcot Road had been presented to the Sub-Committee in January 2019 parking bays had been installed for the residents on Norcot Road in July 2019.  The Sub-Committee had agreed to make the west Reading red route order permanent and officers had recommended that these additional bays be progressed through statutory consultation, for completeness of process.  Officers had been approved to carry out the statutory consultation for these bays at the September 2019 meeting (Minute 15 refers).  The statutory consultation had taken place between 5 and 26 March 2020.

The report stated that no objections had been received to date in respect of the new loading bay on Oxford Road, so the report recommended that this should be implemented by making the Traffic Regulation Order.  There had been a number of comments provided for the Norcot Road bay restrictions but the view of officers was that the bays were located in appropriate locations for the nature and layout of the road and provided on-street and legitimate parking facilities for nearby residents and visitors.  The report recommended that these be implemented by making the Traffic Regulation Order.  The report also asked that the Sub-Committee noted that the bay on Oxford Road and the bays on Norcot Road had been advertised in a single Traffic Regulation Order.

The Sub-Committee discussed the report and concern was expressed about the implementation of the restrictions along Norcot Road as set out in Appendix 1.  Residents had parked on the verges but with the introduction of the red route this was no longer possible, so they were now parking on the road which was what the red route had been intended to stop.  Residents had also been subject to enforcement action when they crossed the verges to park in their driveways.  It was therefore agreed that the implementation of the restrictions on Norcot Road should be deferred and that a further review and discussion be carried out by officers and a report on the outcome submitted to the next meeting.

Resolved –   

(1)     That the report be noted.

(2)     That having considered the objections set out in Appendix 2, attached to the report, the restrictions be implemented as advertised subject to the implementation of the restrictions on Norcot Road being deferred for further review and discussion to be carried out by officers and a report on the outcome submitted to the next meeting;

(3)     That the Assistant Director of Legal and Democratic Services be authorised to seal the resultant Traffic Regulation Order and no public inquiry be held into to the proposals;

(4)     That the respondents to the statutory consultation be informed of the decision of the Sub-Committee, following publication of the meeting minutes;

(5)     That the delivery of the resultant restrictions be progressed by officers.

Further to Minute 30 of the meeting held on 14 November 2019, the Executive Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report providing the Sub-Committee with the results of the Statutory Consultation on the Wokingham Road Shared Use Bays.  The plans that had been advertised publicly showing the location and detail of the parking proposals were attached to the report at Appendix 1 and the objections and other comments, which had been formally submitted during the consultation period were attached to the report at Appendix 2.

The report explained at the meeting in November 2019 the Sub-Committee had agreed on shared use Resident Permit Parking (Zone 14R)/Pay and Display proposals (and agreed to a tariff) for currently unrestricted bays along Wokingham Road to be publicly consulted.  Following the implementation of the East Reading Study resident permit parking scheme (area 1), these proposals were intended to meet the needs of residents and other establishments by providing additional parking permit bays within the wider scheme area, but also providing flexible parking for visitors throughout the day along with the turnover and relative ease of enforcement that Pay and Display restrictions provided.  The statutory consultation had taken place between 5 and 26 March 2020.

The report recommended that the restrictions should be agreed for implementation, as advertised, particularly in context of the imminent delivery of the second part of the East Reading Resident Parking scheme.  The restrictions would allow free parking, for up to two hours, at any time of the day, which was extendable via a small incremental charge to all visitors.  Those with full or visitor Zone 14R resident parking permits could also utilise these bays for their parking needs.

At the invitation of the Chair Bernadette Cowling, addressed the Sub-Committee on behalf of the Earley Christian Fellowship.

Councillor Page stated that the scheme would continue to be monitored, including feedback from local Ward Councillors, and would be reviewed again in 12 months’ time if need be.

Resolved –

(1)     That the report be noted;

(2)     That having considered the objections set out in Appendix 2, attached to the report, the restrictions be implemented as advertised;

(3)     That the Assistant Director of Legal and Democratic Services be authorised to seal the resultant Traffic Regulation Order and no public inquiry be held into to the proposals;

(4)     That the respondents to the statutory consultation be informed of the decision of the Sub-Committee, following publication of the meeting minutes;

(5)     That the delivery of the resultant restrictions be progressed by officers.

The Executive Director for Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report providing the Sub-Committee with an update on the Council’s Active Travel Programme that had been approved by Policy Committee on 18 May 2020 (Minute 97 refers).  The Schedule of Schemes was attached to the report at Appendix 1.

The report explained that at the meeting of Policy Committee on 18 May 2020 the progression of a series of Active Travel proposals in Reading had been approved.  These proposals had been presented in response to the Coronavirus Pandemic, which, alongside the Climate Emergency, had dramatically enhanced the focus on enabling greater levels of active travel through the provision of walking and cycling facilities.  The proposals had been developed with a view to short term measures that could be implemented quickly, and medium to longer term measures that, subject to the level of funding released by the Department for Transport (DfT), could be developed and implemented over the next few years.  The report set out the approved schemes as short, medium and long term projects.

The report explained that in early June 2020, the DfT had formally announced the Active Travel funding programme and had confirmed the available funding (subject to application) for each authority.  Reading had been allocated funding in two tranches, £295k in the first tranche and £1,179k in the second.  The DfT had not confirmed when the first tranche of funding would be released, nor had they confirmed the process for applying for the second tranche.  In line with the DfT funding announcement and the likely funding that would be allocated to Reading officers had prepared a schedule detailing the Active Travel schemes that had been approved by Policy Committee, alongside the estimate programme and estimated costs.  Not all schemes could be fully funded by the DfT Active Travel funding allocation alone and an element of ‘local’ funding would be required, such as Section 106 or Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).

The Council’s Network Management Team had recently introduced the first scheme in the programme, the Reading Bridge advisory cycle lanes.  The designs for both Sidmouth Street and Gosbrook Road/Westfield Road were at an advanced stage and, subject to securing the traffic management equipment for each scheme, it was hoped these schemes would in introduced in July 2020.  This was slightly later than had been planned and was mainly due to the overall response to Active Travel across the country affecting the supply chain.  Due to the considerable resource required to deliver the Active Travel Programme, on top of existing workloads, the remaining projects would be supported by consulting engineers who would work alongside the Council’s Network Management Team to develop, design and introduce each project.  Officers would commence the review process of each temporary scheme in early 2021 which would be based on traffic data, user feedback and safety records. 

Cris Butler, Strategic Transportation Programme Manager, informed the Sub-Committee that on 26 June 2020 the DfT had announced the first phase of funding; Reading had been allocated an indicative first tranche of funding of £295 but had then actually been allocated just over £221k, or 75% (some authorities had only received 25% of their allocation).  This clearly had implications for the second tranche of funding where an indicative amount of £1,179k had been allocated.  This would be taken up with the DfT.

The Sub-Committee discussed the report and a number of points were raised including the following:

·         The introduction of 20mph zones was welcomed, although the enforcement of speed limits was considered to be better placed with the Council rather than the police as it was currently.  These zones would only be introduced when there was support from local residents to do so;

·         Officers confirmed that they would look into the possibility of delaying the implementation of the Gosbrook Road and Westfield Road schemes until the work on Reading Bridge to replace two gas mains, that had resulted in its closure for six weeks, was completed;

·         Concern was expressed about the width of the advisory cycle lanes on Reading Bridge and the number of pot holes.  However, the closure of the bridge had given the Council the opportunity to review the road surface and to carry out some works to the bridge including repairs to the road surface;

·         Concern was also expressed about one inbound lane being removed on Reading Bridge, the resulting impact on traffic flow and the potential for congestion when traffic levels returned to normal;

·         A request was made for enforcement action to be increased in respect of double-yellow lines north of the river during the closure of Reading Bridge to ensure that the traffic that now had to go through Caversham moved as smoothly as possible;

·         The Council had been under instruction to progress the schemes as quickly as possible so it was unable to carry out consultation but with the supply chain problems impacting the introduction of the schemes it was agreed that officers would share details with relevant Ward Councillors to brief them on what was being taken forward.

Resolved -    That the report, and the schedule of schemes set out in Appendix 1, be noted.