Decisions

Petition from residents of Farmlands Way, Polegate calling for reduced speed limit and the road structure to reduce vehicle speeds and minimise noise and vibrations in surrounding properties.

17.1     The Lead Member considered a report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport.

17.2     Mrs Deborah Tyler, Mr Melvyn Tyler and Ms Lynda Nichols spoke in support of the petition’s aims on behalf of local residents.  The written comments of Mrs Pauline Sharpe, another Lead Petitioner, were read out. 

DECISIONS

17.3     The Lead Member RESOLVED to inform the petitioners that (1) a reduction in the 30mph speed limit to 20mph in Farmlands Way, Farmlands Avenue and Coppice Avenue in Polegate and Willingdon, is not a priority for the County Council; and

(2) the road surface is not in need of repair apart from a section outside of 40 Farmlands Way, and there should be a broader investigation of the construction and setting of the concrete slabs and how this can best be managed in the long term.

Reasons

17.4     A 20mph speed limit in Farmlands Way, Farmlands Avenue and Coppice Avenue is not a priority for the County Council at the present time due to its relatively good safety record.

17.5     The County Council will be looking to carry out a minor repair to one section of the road outside house number 40 on Farmlands Way which was found to be in poorer condition than the rest of the road. This will include removing two of the slabs and replacing them with a tarmac construction.

17.6     East Sussex Highways officers will meet with residents on-site, to investigate and discuss other areas of concern on Farmlands Way, Farmlands Avenue and Coppice Avenue.  

Update requested by the Lead Member following a question at the County Council meeting of 16 October 2018.   

20.1     The Lead Member considered a report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport, which contained a response to a petition submitted by Councillor Ruth O’Keeffe.  The comments of Councillor Godfrey Daniel, the Local Member for Hastings Library, were conveyed to the Lead Member.

20.2     Councillor Stephen Catlin of Lewes District Council, the Lead Petitioner, spoke regarding the petition and the response. 

DECISIONS

20.3     The Lead Member RESOLVED to (1) Note how the Libraries and Parking Partnership has been implemented;

(2)        Note the issues which have arisen which caused difficulties for some customers, and the measures implemented to improve the customer experience;

(3)        Agree that the NSL and ESCC websites are comprehensively reviewed to ensure that the online system is easy to use, and that user testing is carried out on the new webpages to make sure that they provide a clear and simple customer journey;

(4)        Advise the petitioners of the changes that will be undertaken on the NSL system in order to provide a simpler and improved service for customers wishing to purchase visitor scratch card permits; and

(5)        Request that officers write to the Local Members in the New Year when the webpages on the Parking Service has been reviewed, to invite comments to be submitted to the Lead Member for Transport and Environment to ensure the content is as accessible as possible.

Reasons

20.4     The fundamental overhaul of the way in which the Council delivers parking services to customers is part of the drive to provide modern, efficient and affordable public services, making best use of diminishing resources, whilst at the same time providing greater flexibility and accessibility to the service for the vast majority of customers.  Mitigations and support have been put in place for customers who cannot access online services.

20.5     The Partnership has also enabled the Council to better manage underutilised space at libraries and bring together parking and library services so that customers are able to access both at the same location.  To implement The Partnership preparations were made within the buildings, new systems were developed and additional library staff were appointed and trained.  To date nearly 90,000 permits have been issued and 80% of payments have been made online.

20.6     There have been some transitional problems in implementing the changes, including negative customer feedback, and we would like to apologise for the difficulties that some customers have experienced. The Partnership has identified and resolved the majority of the issues which have arisen, taking steps to improve the customer experience significantly.  We continue to monitor this while improvements to the Council and NSL Apply websites continue.  It is recommended that the NSL and ESCC websites are comprehensively reviewed to ensure that the online system is easy to use, and that user testing is carried out on the new webpages to make sure that they provide a clear and simple customer journey. This work could be undertaken during December and January, with new pages launched by February 2019.

20.7     Following feedback from residents and councillors requesting a system that avoids the need for multiple visits to libraries to apply for and then collect visitor scratch card permits, we will make changes on the NSL system in order to provide a simpler and improved service for customers wishing to purchase visitor scratch card permits.  These changes will come into effect in January 2019.

To seek approval to add the Local Full Fibre Network to the Capital Programme

28.1     The Lead Member considered a report by the Chief Operating Officer, together with the exempt information contained in Item 7. 

DECISIONS

28.2     The Lead Member RESOLVED: (1) to note the background and the scope of the Local Full Fibre Network proposal;

(2) to agree to the principle of replacing a leased public service network core infrastructure with a public sector owned fibre spine;

(3) to agree to the inclusion of the proposal to the capital programme; and

(4) to delegate authority to the Chief Operating Officer to take all actions necessary to give effect to recommendations 2 and 3 above, subject to the Council’s bid to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) being approved and receipt of the DCMS funding.

Reasons

28.3       The LFFN Challenge Fund scheme provides an opportunity for East Sussex County Council and partners within the Link Consortium to move from a lease model to an ownership model for the core component of the Link Wide Area Network. It is anticipated that this transition from leasing to ownership would reduce operating costs and also allow for the delivery of a higher capacity and more scalable infrastructure. Alongside these benefits the ultra-fast infrastructure would also contribute to the development of the rural digital economy, enabling the private sector to leverage the infrastructure assets to offer a Full Fibre service beyond public sector, which in turn would offer a greater opportunity for small and medium sized digital enterprises to operate within the County.