Agenda and minutes

www.swansea.gov.uk/disclosuresofinterests

Lyndon Jones declared a personal interest.

No declarations were made.

Questions can be submitted in writing to Scrutiny scrutiny@swansea.gov.uk up until noon on the working day prior to the meeting. Written questions take precedence. Public may attend and ask questions in person if time allows. Questions must relate to items on the open part of the agenda and will be dealt with in a 10 minute period.

No public questions were submitted.

Invited to attend:

Cllr Andrew Stevens – Cabinet Member for Environment and Infrastructure

Stuart Davies – Head of Highways and Transportation

Matthew Bowyer – Group Leader, Highways and Transportation

Alan Ferris – Road Safety Manager

The relevant officers attended to give an overview of their briefing and to answer questions from group members. The following items were discussed:

·       The Welsh Government Road Safety Grant has been held back for the second year in a row due to delays caused by the 20mph roll out. This is the principal fund used to address areas with a pattern of collision in conjunction with the road safety education programme.

·       The safe routes in communities programme aims to encourage people to walk or cycle with a focus around schools.

·       Active travel guidance was issued in 2013 and aims to connect communities. The active travel grant is specifically designed to improve connectivity between communities.

·       Welsh government are looking to lower the default speed limit on street light and roads to 20mph from the existing 30mph which is currently being mapped. Exemptions will be the exception rather than the rule and they will be presented to Cabinet towards the end December before sharing more widely. This is a resource heavy task.

·       Individual ward and local issues are addressed by the community budget allocation.

·       Highways are managed in partnership with the police and Go Safe which means the Council do not always have the power to take action on all received complaints.

Councillors are asked to discuss conclusions arising from this session for inclusion in the Convener’s letter to the Cabinet Member, or if appropriate, a report to Cabinet:

a. What do you want to say about this issue to the Cabinet Member (what are your conclusions arising from this session?)

b. Do you have any recommendations for the Cabinet Member arising from this session?

c. Are there any further issues you wish to highlight to the Scrutiny Programme Committee arising from this session?

Members of the Working Group raised a number of questions that officers responded to. The following main issues were discussed:

·       Countdown crossings are now the standard style of crossing and will be implemented when crossings require refurbishment or as money becomes available.

·       Speed bumps are an effective way of moderating drivers speed. Speed cushions are not designed to slow down the speed of buses and wider wheel based vehicles as they will straddle the cushion. This can be an issue if vehicles park at the side of the road as it forces wider vehicles over the cushion.

·       Speed limits on Gower commons were extensively reviewed in 2018 and in places the speed limit was reduced from the national speed limit to 40mph. There is an awareness of the number of animals being injured and killed by speeding vehicles and the limits in place are for the police and Go Safe to enforce.

·       Speed cameras are highly effective in managing driver behaviour. Go Safe are responsible for the functioning of the cameras and the Council are responsible for the posts and the markings around camera sites. Go Safe are involved in tender processes to ensure that new cameras can slot into their existing systems.

·       Disabled groups are consulted on all traffic regulation orders. Footway obstructions like tables and chairs should be authorised by the Council.

·       Shared use paths are designed in accordance with the active travel guidance and does rely on the consideration of users to avoid collisions. This is an issue the Council are aware of.

·       Community speed watch schemes are run by volunteers, information on these is not gathered centrally therefore their success is difficult to capture and often reliant on the number of volunteers.

·       Traffic around school is a known issue, in Pontarddulais a trial is occurring where a section of a street near to a school is being restricted at school times. This can push vehicles further out and potentially only moves the parking issue elsewhere.

·       4197 parking tickets were issued last year between 2.45pm-3.45pm. The highways team are able to take feedback on areas for targeting at this time.

·       School buses parking for long periods that cause a nuisance for residents can be reported and fed back to the bus companies.

·       There is a balance to manage perceived versus actual risk. All concerns will be investigated.

·       Adding speed calming measures like speed cushions can have an adverse effect on road maintenance. Road repairs are accessed on priority for repair.

·        Continuing to look at safe walking routes to schools is an ongoing programme alongside Kerb craft and cycle training in schools. Active travel routes will also support this. Kerb craft will train around 1200 pupils this year.

·       Highways and planning are working on a street design guide focussing more on place than street and highway development.

Working Group Members then discussed progress and made the following conclusions and recommendations:

1.    Members were not happy that the Welsh Government Road Safety Grants has been held back due to the 20mph speed reduction scheme.

2.    Create program of work on walking encouraging to school, this could be added into current schemes like kerb craft.

3.    More information, signage and guidance needs to be available to avoid poor behaviour on shared paths.

4.     Consider designing a education program like kerb craft that could be uploaded to Hwb for children to look at with parents and guardians at home.

5.    Cycle training is carried out in schools and members would be interested to know how often and in how many schools this takes place.

6.    Ask Head teachers to encourage their own school staff to park not to park on roads near schools.

7.    Improve consultation with ward members on road safety with a particular focus on schools. Ward members are sometimes unaware of consultations taking place. Engage more with Councillors when consultations are happening in their wards so they can help communicate them to their ward members.

8.    Can the Cabinet Member who is a member of the Go Safe Partnership appeal to the partnership to be more proactive in the area of Gower Commons.

9.    Increase the signage and banners outside schools as a deterrent to remind drivers to drive and park safely around schools.

Following on from this meeting:

A letter will be written from the Convener of the Working Group to the Cabinet Member, summarising the discussion and outlining the Working Group’s thoughts and recommendations.