Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Game.

To receive any declarations of interest.  Members are advised to consider the advice contained within the Declaration of Interest advice attached to this Agenda.  If a Member declares an interest, they should complete the Declaration of Interest Form.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the Minutes of the Joint Transportation Board meeting held on 22.3.2022, copy attached.

Members expressed their disappointment at the absence of KCC officers at the Board meeting. They further made the following comments on the same issue:

·  Members said that officers should be in attendance at all JTB meetings to provide support to member deliberations;

• Officers could provide responses to technical queries relating to their reports;
• Some members of the committee felt that there was no point in continuing with the meeting in the absence of officers;
• Members noted that whilst they had attended the meeting, none of the relevant officers of either council authority were there or online;
• Members understood that officers were not at fault for the non-attendance as this was a senior management decision;
• JTB meetings are meetings held in public so that officer response to Members’ questions can be widely shared.

The Chair summed up discussion on this matter by saying that all of the above comments should be forwarded to KCC Councillor David Brazier, the Cabinet Member responsible for Highways.

Councillor Shonk said that as there were no officers in attendance he would leave the meeting.

At 19:06hrs Councillor Shonk left the meeting.

Thereafter the Board considered the minutes of the previous meeting

Councillor Fellows proposed, Councillor Scobie seconded and Members agreed that the minutes be approved as a correct record of the meeting held on 22 March 2022.

The Panel Chair invited Members to discuss the report and they made the following comments:

• One Member said that they supported the proposals in the report and that although Northdown Road had been subject to various alterations, there had been a number of incidents;
• Other Members said that measures were needed that would calm down traffic and the solution was to have a speed limit of 20 miles per hour. That measure would slow down traffic and stop any injuries and fatalities related to traffic incidents;
• They said that a 20 miles per hour speed limit proposal should be passed on to the officers and be added to the recommendations;
• Businesses in the area had also written a letter in support of the 20 miles per hour speed limit for that road;
• The Chair said that they were happy to write a letter to the cabinet member for highways forwarding the Board comments suggesting that 20 miles per hour speed limit for Northdown Road be considered.

Councillor Binks proposed, Councillor M. Saunders seconded and the Board agreed that the Chair writes a letter to the KCC Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport forwarding the Board comments suggesting that 20 miles per hour speed limit for Northdown Road be considered.

Thereafter members of the committee noted the report.

The Board considered the report and made the following comments:

• The main dual carriageway, St Nicholas to Birchington has got a cycle path running alongside it and it is an old design;
• Cyclists cannot use it comfortably due to lack of adequate maintenance. The cycle path has not been maintained for a while;
• Cyclist paths need to be maintained to a high standard;
• The A28 road has no crossing facility for pedestrians who may want to move from one side of the road to the other. This needs looking at;
• One member said that there was a need to look at safety measures as there was no zebra crossing for people coming from the Margate train station who may want to cross the road to get to the main sands.

Members noted the report.

Councillor Fellows proposed, Councillor Crow-Brown seconded and the Board recommended that the restrictions be installed as advertised.

The Board considered the report and made the following comments:

• One Member said that there was a consultation planned that would cover Salmestone area to install 20 miles per hour speed limits for all roads;
• Another Member said that since the consultation has not yet happened it was better for the Board to go along with the proposed 30 miles per hour speed restriction as proposed in the report;
• Given the narrow width of the road, painting a white line in the middle of the road should be considered for Nash Road, to assist drivers to stay in their lane;
• The road had become narrower due to the increase in undergrowth on each side and this should be addressed;
• The worst section of that road was where it led to the new road;
• There was no real enforcement of lorries using that stretch of the road;
• It is assumed that the developer for the new homes there is paying for any road works;
• The section of the road where there is a kerb should be altered because the road narrows as it approaches the kerb and drivers approach it at high speed. There is risk of a fatality.

Councillor Crow-Brown proposed, Councillor Scobie seconded and Members recommended the following for consideration by KCC Highways:

1. Address the undergrowth on each side of the Nash Road;
2. Mark a white line in the middle of the road to assist drivers to stay in their respective lanes;
3. Consider other traffic calming measures for Nash Road to encourage drivers to reduce to the new speed limit.

Councillor Crow-Brown proposed, Councillor Scobie seconded and Members recommended that the reduced speed limit be installed as advertised.

Members noted the update report.

The Chair introduced the report and said that she had requested that the rules on road closures should be made clear. Stagecoach had complained that they were not informed by third parties if works had been completed early and road closure could be lifted.

When invited by the Panel Chair to debate the report, Members made the following comments:

• Dropped kerbs in Westgate are not fit for purpose as they inhibit mobility scooters, walkers and young families with pushchairs to be able to cross the road safely and easily. These kerbs need to be improved;
• “Dog bones” should be put in place to prevent vehicles parking across this pedestrian access;
• Some of the existing infrastructure should be improved;
• KCC councillors should be notified about such issues as improving dropped kerbs so they can bring this issue forward for consideration at KCC;
• There doesn’t seem to be a policy on pothole repairs;
• Pothole repairs appear to be done by private contractors and when you report a nearby pothole that needs attention whilst they are working in the vicinity they  respond that since that pothole was not on the repairs list, they would not be able to repair it. This was not considered good use of money;
• The KCC Highways budget was much reduced from previous years;
• There should be a log kept by Highways of potholes in the district’s road network;
• Members requested that information on the remit of the Joint Transportation Board be circulated to all Board Members after the meeting;
• Members further requested that the pre-meetings that used to be held before each JTB meeting should be brought back and scheduled for future meetings.

Members agreed that the Chair writes to KCC to express the Board’s concerns regarding the non attendance of KCC officers at JTB meetings.

The Board further noted the report.