Agenda item

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 dropped kerbs by the end of this financial year, with an average cost of between £2,000 and £4,000 for each pair of dropped kerbs. He confirmed that Community Match funding would also be available, as well as a range of other funding sources that will also be used to address the provision of dropped kerbs. The Assistant Director, Economy added that having a policy in place will also strengthen requests from developers for the provision of dropped kerbs.

Parking on Dropped Kerbs

11.8     The Committee discussed the problem of parking across dropped kerbs and that white lining should be used to protect them. The Committee noted that Police enforcement is unlikely in the situation where people park across dropped kerbs. Whilst white lining is not mandatory, the Committee recognised that providing it will have financial impact (approximately a £40 additional cost). The Committee agreed that white lining may not be necessary in all locations, but would like to see it provided as standard in urban areas where the occurrence of inconsiderate parking across dropped kerbs was most likely.

Tactile Paving

11.9     Cllr Godfrey Daniel outlined that the provision of tactile paving increases the costs of providing dropped kerbs, which is not universally popular within the disabled community. The Assistant Director, Economy responded that tactile paving is in DfT standards for dropped kerbs and is part of the Department for Transport’s Inclusive Transport Strategy. The policy was developed to take into account that those people who are most vulnerable at road crossings are sight impaired or blind people. Councillor Godfrey Daniel acknowledged that tactile paving was appropriate at signalised crossings. The Principal Transport Policy Officer added that guidance on the provision of tactile paving is being revised and the Council will know imminently what is in the new guidance.

11.10   The Committee RESOLVED to note the allocation of capital funding for dropped kerbs and endorsed the proposed draft policy and prioritisation process.