Agenda item

Report of the Director of City Services and Commercial

To consider the above petition bearing 102 signatures. The petition is being sponsored by Councillor E Ruane, a Henley Ward Councillor, who has been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item, along with the Petition Organiser.

The Cabinet Member for City Services considered a report of the Director of City Services and Commercial that responded to a Petition received that related to traffic on Hall Lane, Coventry. Appendices to the report provided the Petition Wording, and a Location Plan.

The petition, that contained 102 signatures, had been sponsored by Councillor E Ruane, a Henley Ward Councillor, and referred to non-emergency vehicles and pedestrian use of an access from the cul-de-sac section of Hall Lane onto the University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) site. The Petition Sponsor advised that he wanted the issue to be considered at a Cabinet Member for City Services meeting.

To understand the scale, extent and impact of the use of the access on residents of Hall Lane and neighbouring roads, drone surveys had been undertaken to assess the location and monitor the behaviours of vehicles and pedestrians during peak periods. The surveys confirmed that Hall Lane was a popular pedestrian access point with many arriving/departing Hall Lane by car to be dropped off or picked up. The surveys had also identified a small but consistent number of passenger cars using the emergency vehicle access as an alternative to the main site access on Clifford Bridge Road. 

To address the concerns raised within the Petition several options had been reviewed and considered. These had been balanced against the scale of operations and importance of the hospital site to the city and the services it provided. 

Measures including engaging with UHCW to discourage continued use of the emergency vehicle access by staff and visitors to the hospital, installing a yellow box marking to aid operation of the Hinckley Road/Hall Lane junction and revised signage and lining at the Hinckley Road/Ansty Road/Clifford Bridge Road gyratory to aid the operation of the surrounding road network, were all proposed to assist and address the matters raised within the Petition.

The cost to introduce the changes would be funded from the 2024/25 Traffic Management allocation of the capital funded Local Network Improvement Plan.

Councillor E Ruane and the Petition Organiser spoke in support of the petition, highlighting their concerns, including the following:

·  Residents had experienced difficulties in establishing engagement with UHCW about the issues relating to the non-emergency vehicles use of the access from the cul-de-sac section of Hall Lane

·  The signage for the intended use of the access by emergency vehicles only, was ignored

·  UHCW staff used the access to get onto site more quickly than using the main access with other users

·  UHCW would be aware of the staff using the access through their CCTV and/or staff ID passes

·  There was a lack of enforcement action relating to the access usage

·  The access was in daily use – approx. 100 vehicles per day, including blue light vehicles

·  A request for a copy of the UHCW Green Travel Plan, had not been actioned

·  Need to see a copy of the traffic data collected from drone footage and site visits by Traffic Management Officers, and information relating to enforcement action at the site

·  Need and a single point of contact at UHCW for Ward Councillors and better engagement between the two

·  Vehicles parking in Hall Lane, which was within a residents parking permit area, did so for longer than for drop off or pick up.

·  Hall Lane was often used as a smoking area by UHCW staff

·  Welcome the introduction of a yellow box marking on Hinckley Road at its junction with Woodway Lane/Hall Lane and the proposed changes to lane markings and signage on Hinckley Road/Ansty Road at its junction with Clifford Bridge Road

·  The gate for access that provided a pedestrian connection to the footpaths and cycleways within the UHCW site, was permanently kept open

·  Dialogue with UHCW to encourage improved compliance with the emergency vehicle access, whilst welcomed, wasn’t enough to resolve the issues

·  A deterrent was needed to change the use of the access

·  Enforcement action taken against the breach of planning requirements for the access usage was the way forward

The Council’s Head of Network Management responded to the Petition Sponsor and Petition Organiser, advising that:

·  The Local Authority highways officers were in regularly dialogue with UHCW through monthly meetings

·  Hall Lane was a popular pedestrian access point with many arriving/departing Hall Lane by car to be dropped off or picked up

·  There were a number of passenger cars using the emergency vehicle access as an alternative to the main site access on Clifford Bridge Road which was not the intended use of the access

·  Details of a single point of contact at UHCW for Ward Councillors would be arranged

·  Actions taken needed to be balanced against the scale of operations and importance to the city of the hospital site and the services it provided

·  A collaborative One Coventry approach was required

·  There were no enforcement powers available from a highway authority perspective, this was a planning enforcement issue

·  The situation would benefit from dialogue between the Council and UHCW to encourage improved compliance with the emergency vehicle access and also improved communication between UHCW and its staff

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member for City Services agrees to defer the matter to enable further consideration by the appropriate Cabinet Member(s) with officers from Planning and a representative from University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire.