Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 12^th August, 2019 were signed as a true record. There were no matters arising.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

To consider the above petition bearing 64 signatures. The petition organiser has been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item.

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) concerning a petition, bearing 64 signatures, which had been submitted by the petition organiser who was invited to the meeting but was unable to attend. The report had been requested by the petition organiser following the receipt of the determination letter. The petitioners were requesting the removal of the double yellow lines (no waiting at any time) from one of the bends on Ena Road (outside 1 Ena Road).

The report indicated that Ena Road together with Newland Road and Thornhill Road formed a ‘loop’ of roads accessed from Leicester Causeway, with the roads all being one way. There was a bend at each end of Ena Road and the road narrowed at these locations. A location plan was set out at an appendix to the report.

The double yellow lines were originally proposed on the bends at each end of Ena Road in response to a request from Waste Services; parked vehicles were creating access issues resulting in missed collections.

The installation of double yellow lines required a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) and the statutory legal procedure to install a TRO included the advertisement of the proposal and a 21 day objection period.  The TRO was advertised in the local press and notices were posted on lamp columns in the area of the proposed restrictions on 29th March 2018, advising that any formal objections should be made in writing by 19th April 2018.  In addition, letters were also sent to residents who would be directly affected, due to waiting restrictions being installed on the public highway outside their property. No objections were received to the Ena Road proposals and the TRO became operational on 28th August 2018.

The Cabinet Member had received a copy of the covering letter with the petition which referred to personal reasons for the objection to the double yellow lines.

The determination letter had advised that the double yellow lines were implemented in the summer of 2018 and no objections to the proposals had been received. It also advised that the no waiting restriction applied to the back of the footway and that the area outside no. 1 was not suitable for parking due to the adjacent pedestrian accesses, in particular to the play area. Therefore, it was not proposed to remove the double yellow lines. A copy of the determination letter was set out at a second appendix.

RESOLVED that:

(1) The concerns of the petitioners be noted.

(2) The actions confirmed by determination letter to the petition spokesperson (as detailed in paragraph 1.9 of the report) be endorsed.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

Note: The objector has been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item

Further to Minute 26/19, the Cabinet Member received a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) concerning an objection to a proposed waiting restriction for Brown’s Lane that had been advertised in a Traffic Regulation Order. The Cabinet Member was informed that the objector was unable to attend the meeting for the consideration of this item and had requested that the item be deferred until the next meeting to allow for his attendance in support of his objection.

RESOLVED that consideration of the report be deferred until the next Cabinet Member meeting on 21st October to allow the objector the opportunity to attend in support of his objection.

To authorise the attendance of Andrew Walster, Director of Streetscene and Regulatory Services, and Grant McKelvie, Commercial Business Director, at a Plant Energy Site Visit in Seville, Spain, from 18^th to 20^th September 2019. 

RESOLVED that approval be given for Andrew Walster, Director of Streetscene and Regulatory Services, and Grant McKelvie, Commercial Business Director, to visit a Plant Energy Site Visit in Seville, Spain from 18th to 20^th September, 2019.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) which provided a summary of the recent petitions received that were to be determined by letter, or where decisions had been deferred pending further investigations and holding letters were being circulated. Details of the individual petitions were set out in an appendix attached to the report and included target dates for action. The report was submitted for monitoring and transparency purposes.

The report indicated that each petition had been dealt with on an individual basis, with the Cabinet Member considering advice from officers on appropriate action to respond to the petitioners’ requests. When it had been decided to respond to a petition without formal consideration at a Cabinet Member meeting, both the relevant Councillor/petition organiser could still request that their petition be the subject of a Cabinet Member report.

It was noted that where holding letters were being sent, this was because further investigation work was required. Once matters had been investigated either a follow up letter would be sent or a report submitted to a future Cabinet Member meeting.

RESOLVED that the actions being taken by officers as detailed in the appendix to the report, in response to the petitions received, be endorsed.

There are no outstanding issues

There were no outstanding issues.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) which sought approval for the installation of two new Average Speed Enforcement (ASE) sites on Binley Road and Henley Road as part of the Local Safety Scheme programme. As part of the ASE programme, approval was also sought for the extension of the Ansty Road and London Road ASE projects. The report had been submitted as an additional item of public business because of the special circumstances involved, these being the need to be able to complete the works required to implement the schemes in the current financial year and to gain approval of the proposed sites.

The report indicated that whilst the total number of accidents in Coventry was falling, the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) on the city’s main roads was increasing. Over the 3 year period (1st June 2016 to 31st May 2019), a total of 367 people were killed or seriously injured on Coventry’s road network. The City Council was the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Road Safety Lead, and was committed to reducing the numbers of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) by 40% over the next 10 years using the 3 year average (2014, 2015 & 2016) as the baseline.

In pursuance of mitigating the KSI trends on high traffic volume routes within the city, the Council introduced ASE on London Road and Ansty Road. ASE cameras were a relatively new speed enforcement technique. The cameras detected vehicles through Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and calculated their average speed by measuring the time taken to travel between defined points, a known distance apart. A clear signing strategy was used to inform drivers that they were entering an average speed control zone. The criteria for selecting a site was very similar to conventional ‘fixed’ camera enforcement sites and the report detailed the criteria.

ASE was introduced on Ansty Road and London Road in January 2019. The Cabinet Member was informed that early indications had revealed that in the first 6 months of operation there has been no recorded personal injury collisions on either Ansty Road or London Road in the area where ASE was in place since the projects became operational. Vehicular speeds had also reduced since the projects were introduced.

A citywide analysis of KSI trends highlighted the worst affected roads (in terms of high numbers of injury collisions attributed to inappropriate speeds) during the previous 3 years as Binley Road and Henley Road.  Appendix A to the report set out a personal recorded injury collision breakdown for each of these locations which highlighted speed as the significant contributory factor. 

The report detailed that over the three year period (1st June 2016 to 31st May 2019), 33 personal injury collisions had been recorded on Binley Road (from its junction with A444 Jimmy Hill Way to its junction with Brinklow Road), resulting in 3 fatalities and 5 serious personal injuries. This included a significant number  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.