Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 5^th July 2021 were agreed as a true record. There were no matters arising.

Report of the Director of Transportation and Highways

Notes:

(i) The objector has been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item

(ii) In accordance with the Constitution, Councillor N Akhtar, Chair of the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee, has been invited to attend the meeting for this item of business to agree the need for urgency such that call-in arrangements will not apply. The reason for urgency is that there is an urgent need for a formal decision on the Experimental Traffic Regulation Order before it expires on 8th September 2021, so that the legal requirements and any required signage changes can be in place, based on the decision made, by this date. Additional costs will be incurred if it is not completed and interim measures are required.

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of Transportation and Highways concerning one objection that had been received to an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order advertised on 27^th February 2020. The order became operational on 9^th March 2020 and allowed private hire vehicles to travel through the bus gate at the Whittle Arch. A location plan and a copy of the objection were set out at appendices to the report. The objector had been invited to attend the meeting but was unavailable. He submitted additional comments in response to the report for the Cabinet Member’s consideration and these were reported at the meeting.

Councillor M Ali, Deputy Chair of Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee and the nominee of the Chair, Councillor N Akhtar, attended the meeting for this item and agreed the need for urgency such that call-in arrangements would not apply. The reason for urgency was that there was an urgent need for a formal decision on the Experimental Traffic Regulation Order before it expired on 8th September 2021, so that the legal requirements and any required signage changes could be in place, based on the decision made, by this date. Additional costs would be incurred if it was not completed and interim measures were required.

The report indicated that in 2002, as part of the Phoenix Initiative Regeneration Project, the junction of Trinity Street and Fairfax Street was closed off to all traffic and pedestrianised. Following the closure, bus usage of the Pool Meadow Bus Station was significantly reduced making the bus station facility unsustainable in the long-term. To address these concerns, in 2005, the City Council ‘opened up’ the Trinity Street/Fairfax Street junction (Whittle Arch) to buses and cycles to enable improved bus access to the bus station. A Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) was subsequently introduced to prohibit left and right turning movements except for buses and cycles onto this section of Millennium Place, thus creating a bus only link between Trinity Street and Fairfax Street.

Following the introduction of the TRO, representations were received on behalf of the taxi and private hire trades within the City requesting that taxis and private hire vehicles also be allowed to use the link road. After careful consideration, in 2006 the City Council amended the TRO to include access by taxis and private hire vehicles between the hours of 10.30 pm and 5.00 am. The police were responsible for the enforcement of the restrictions at Whittle Arch. However, due to limited Police resources, enforcement of the restrictions was not effective. To address this issue the City Council commenced works to enable the introduction of civil enforcement; in June 2011 Civil Enforcement commenced. On 25^th November 2011 changes were made to the operation of the Whittle Arch bus gate, this was an extension of the times taxis and private hire vehicles could travel through the bus gate.  The time period being extended to 6.00pm to 8.00am for these vehicle types.

In 2018, further changes were made. The bus gate  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

Report of the Director of Transportation and Highways

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of Transportation and Highways that provided a summary of the recent petitions received that were being responded to by way of determination letter. Details of the individual petitions were set out in an appendix attached to the report and included details of the actions being taken in response to the petitions. 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’ request. When it had been decided to respond to the petition without formal consideration at a Cabinet Member meeting, both the relevant Councillor sponsoring the petition (if any) and/or the petition organiser/spokesperson could still request that their petition be the subject of a Cabinet Member report.

Members 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.

Any other items of public business which the Cabinet Member decides to take as matters of urgency because of the special circumstances involved

There were no other items of public business.