Agenda item

25.1     The Chair invited Cllr Field to introduce her Notice of Notion, which the Chairman of the Council had referred to Place Scrutiny prior to consideration at Full Council. Cllr Field expressed concern about driving on new estates, and raised evidence that 20mph speed limits reduces risk to pedestrians and increases quality of life for residents. She suggested it was possible implement 20mph speed limits in new developments, and requested that Place Scrutiny support the Notice of Motion to Full Council. Cllr Wright, who seconded the motion, commented that he thought that introducing 20mph limits in new estates would encourage active travel and improve the sense of place in new developments. Cllr Field and Cllr Wright did not support the amended Notice of Motion as set out in the report.

25.2     The Assistant Director Economy introduced the report responding to the Notice of Motion. He noted that the issue was considered during the Place Scrutiny Review of Speed Limit Policy, which found that the Council’s local speed limit policy was consistent with national guidance, but that it would be reviewed should there be any changes to the guidance. The Council’s own guidance clearly states that the design speed of streets in new estates should be to a 20mph speed, which could be achieved through the design of street scape to make it difficult to drive at excessive speeds, which the Manual for Streets (MfS) gave guidance on how to do. The role of ESCC in housing developments is that of a statutory consultee; the council examines proposals to ensure that they are in line with guidance and make recommendations on the design but are ultimately not the decision-maker. The aspiration of the Motion was therefore supported by the Department as it was consistent with its own guidance. The setting of speed limits is a separate matter to the design speeds of roads and can only be delivered when a development has been occupied for some time and speed surveys are undertaken, at which point formal speed limits may be set based on the average speeds people are driving at. Any formal limit also needs a separate Traffic Regulation Order process and Police support. The Department had therefore recommended an amendment to the Notice of Motion which better reflected what it was possible for the Council to achieve within legislation.

25.3     The Committee welcomed the ambitions of the Notice of Motion to try and reduce speeds and discussed the potential positive impacts of implementing 20mph design speeds, including encouraging more walking and cycling, making streets safer for people living there and a calmer environment for the local residents. The Committee noted that there had historically been difficulties implementing 20mph speed limits, but that the situation has changed in recent years meaning many areas of the county now had 20mph limits in place. The Assistant Director Economy commented that the MfS outlines that new developments should designed in a way to encourage active travel, and the Council followed this guidance.

25.4     The Committee discussed the challenges of implementing design speeds within the planning framework, noting that district and borough councils had the final decision on the design of developments, despite the County Council being the Highways Authority. The Committee noted that planning authorities had the ability at the planning stage to design in measures that would reduce driving speeds on new developments, and that the Council supported this through its role as a statutory consultee. The Committee expressed disappointment in the limitations in setting local speed limits and commented that further guidance from the Department for Transport would be welcomed to support councils in achieving this aspiration and to allow 20mph speed limits to be included in design.

24.5     The Committee asked whether the Council could respond to planning applications to require that roads have a 20mph speed limit. The Assistant Director Economy responded that as a statutory consultee the Council commented on designs of new developments brought forward by developers, and the local planning authority have the final say on what goes forward. The Council did everything it could to have roads in new developments with a 20mph design speed, but the district and borough councils had the final say.

25.6     Some members of the Committee queried why it was not possible to implement a 20mph speed limit at the planning or road adoption stage, as it was the Council that was responsible for setting local speed limits. It was discussed whether the Council could have a policy to recommend 20mph speed limits, even if these could not be implemented at the planning stage. Some members suggested that a lack of policy seemed to not follow the guidelines for a 20mph street design in new developments, and indicated there may be a gap in the Council’s policies, and suggested that the Council make a policy to implement these aspirations. The Committee noted that in some parts of the country blanket 20mph speed limits had been implemented and queried why it was therefore not possible in East Sussex.

25.7     The Assistant Director Economy responded that the development of a policy that set speed limits at 20mph at the planning stage would contradict legislation. Sussex Police have to be consulted on the setting of speed limits, and they would not support a blanket 20mph policy without supporting evidence demonstrating that vehicles are travelling at excessive speeds, which is not available. He added that developers are similarly aware of national legislation, and they would likely challenge the Council’s proposals if they go against legislation. The Team Manager Transport Development Planning explained that in other areas, blanket 20mph policies only applied to existing public highways, whereas the Notice of Motion referred to roads in new developments where a different process applied.

25.8     The Assistant Director Communities clarified that the Council’s speed limit policy is set in line with DfT national guidance. The DfT guidance requires Highway Authorities to monitor speeds that vehicles are actually travelling at on a road in order to determine the appropriate speed limit to set. This monitoring cannot be done until the roads are in use and data can be gathered about average speeds, and emphasised that the Police would require this data before they would consider a speed limit being implemented and a Traffic Regulation Order being taken forward. The Committee recognised that speed limits can only be put in place once evidence has been presented of actual speed measurements.

25.9     The Committee discussed the development of a policy to request districts and boroughs to enforce 20mph design into housing developments, as a statutory consultee on new developments. The Lead Member for Transport and Environment suggested that members raise these issues with district and boroughs to ensure that they take those comments on board when making final decisions on applications.

25.10   The Committee raised that the planning authority does not have the power to amend reports regarding new developments, only to approve or refuse them. However, ESCC as a statutory consultee has the power to make those recommendations, and putting a policy in place to recommend 20mph speed limits in new development applications would be beneficial.

25.11   Cllr Murphy raised that some developments on town outskirts do not have streetlights or bollards, which delayed the adoption of the highways in them, leaving them as unclassified roads without a set speed limit. If it takes some time for the area to be occupied or come under ESCC control, he stressed that ensuring that 20mph speed limits are included in the planning process would ensure that roads are safe as soon as ESCC adopted them. The Committee asked how soon after completion of a development roads could be adopted by the Council and at what the occupancy level a new development had to be in order for average speed measurements to take place.

25.12   The Team Manager Transport Development Planning responded that as developments are built-out, ESCC conduct inspections of the roads and once they reach the approved specification the roads will go on to a 12-month maintenance period, after which it would adopted by the Council as set out in Section 38 agreements. Full occupancy of the development is required before speed monitoring can take place. Officers noted the legislative restrictions between planning, highways and road safety laws that relate to different areas of the process, which is why they had proposed an amended motion to lobby Government to review this area and the associated challenges in order to simplify the process and make it easier to achieve the Council’s aspirations for 20mph roads.

25.13   The Committee noted that Police capacity was a challenge in enforcing 20mph speed limits on estates, but that 20mph signs would help encourage more drivers to drive at slower speeds.

25.14   Some members of the Committee noted that since the proposer and seconder of the Notice of Motion did not support the amendment that Full Council should consider the original motion.

25.15   Cllr Tutt moved the following motion, which was seconded by Cllr Shing:

“The Place Scrutiny Committee recommends to Full Council that it supports the Notice of Motion as put forward by Cllr Field.”

25.16   The Committee RESOLVED by a majority of 7 to 4 to agree the motion put forward by Cllr Tutt.