Issue - meetings

Report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport.

11.1     The Team Manager, Strategic Economic Infrastructure introduced the report. He outlined that dropped kerbs are important for people with a range of disabilities and those who use mobility aids. Scrutiny had identified two outstanding issues from the previous report which were:

·        a lack of a prioritisation process and policy for the provision of dropped kerbs; and

·        that there is no dedicated budget to pay for dropped kerbs.

11.2     In developing a dropped kerb policy, the Team has worked with the Eastbourne Access Group. Section 2.3 on page 2 of report summarises the key issues that were identified. The report looks at these issues and the wider funding opportunities for dropped kerbs, as well as what is happening nationally in the provision of dropped kerbs.

11.3     The Principal Transport Policy Officer explained that stakeholder feedback had been used to develop and refine the draft policy in appendix 2 of the report. The mechanisms for requesting dropped kerbs have also been improved with a streamlined application process. There are opportunities where ESCC can incorporate the provision of dropped kerbs in existing transport schemes, and they will be taken into account as standard when considering new schemes.

11.4     It is proposed to earmark £50,000 of capital funding for the provision of dropped kerbs and a draft prioritisation framework has been developed with input from the Council’s Equalities Officer. The draft prioritisation framework (appendix 3 of the report) will focus on the person’s needs and the site conditions where it is proposed to site a dropped kerb. It will also take into account the pedestrian flow and whether it supports access to services.

11.5     The design of dropped kerbs will reflect National Guidance, but will also take into consideration local site conditions (e.g. steep slopes, adverse cambers etc.). The draft policy does not advocate the provision white lining of all dropped kerbs to protect them from inconsiderate parking, but white lines will be considered on a site by site basis. It is expected that new guidance on the provision of dropped kerbs will be published later in the year. So it may be necessary to make changes to the draft policy once the new guidance is available. The Assistant Director, Economy added that the development of the draft policy had deliberately been paused to allow for input from the Scrutiny Committee.

11.6     The Committee welcomed the report and the proposed dropped kerb policy. The Committee asked for clarification on the duration of the dedicated funding; what the demand across the County is likely to be for the provision of dropped kerbs and; would Community Match funding also be available for providing dropped kerbs.

Funding

11.7     The Team Manager, Strategic Economic Infrastructure outlined that the dedicated funding is £50,000 per annum for the next three years up until 2021. This is timed to coincide with the duration of the Local Transport Plan, and will be reviewed as part of the development of the new plan. It will be possible to spend the £50,000 on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11

Report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport.

26.1     The Team Manager, Strategic Economic Infrastructure introduced the report. He outlined that in response to the recommendations of the Scrutiny Review, limited funding was made available for the provision of dropped kerbs up until 2010. After that time, no dedicated funding was available and dropped kerbs requests were unlikely to be funded through the capital programme due to the prioritisation process.  This has resulted in fewer dropped kerb schemes reaching fruition. Where possible, requests for dropped kerbs are delivered through Local Transport Plan (LTP) project work, Section 106 Planning agreement works, or through the Community Match programme.

26.2     The Team Manager, Strategic Economic Infrastructure explained that there is no agreed policy for prioritising requests for dropped kerbs. This is because there has been no dedicated funding for their provision since 2010.  It is proposed to address this situation through the development of the Walking and Cycling Strategy and associated policies. The Strategy work involves undertaking an audit and then developing the draft Strategy for consultation in the summer of 2018.

26.3     The Committee discussed the current situation regarding funding and the provision of dropped kerbs. It asked for further information on the number of requests and the cost of providing dropped kerbs. The Team Manager, Strategic Economic Infrastructure responded that approximately 1,500 dropped kerb requests had been received since 2010, and each dropped kerb costs around £2,000 to install. Each request is assessed initially, so the department can see if the dropped kerb can be installed if an opportunity to fund it arises.

26.4     The Committee asked the Assistant Director, Economy to provide an estimate of how many of the 1,500 requests for dropped kerbs are outstanding. The Assistant Director, Economy agreed to give the Committee an idea of how many of 1,500 requests have been met and those that have been assessed as not appropriate.

Funding for dropped kerbs

26.5     The Committee considered that there should be an identified budget for the provision of dropped kerbs.  It also noted that the Community Match scheme did not provide an opportunity for funding dropped kerbs in areas where there are no Parish or Town councils, or where the Borough or District council is unable to provide match funding. The Committee asked if funding could be provided from parking surpluses or other revenue or capital budgets.

26.6     The Director of Communities, Economy and Transport (CET) outlined that since 2010 over £20 million had been taken out of the department’s budget as savings, and there are competing priorities for the funding that is available. If the department were to deliver all the outstanding requests for dropped kerbs, the money for this would have an impact on service delivery elsewhere. It should be noted that the strategic transport budget is already heavily over- subscribed.

26.7     The Assistant Director, Economy acknowledged that the Community Match scheme may not be an approach that can be followed everywhere, but there may be other sources of funding that could be examined. The Assistant Director Operations explained that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26