Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Council Offices, Cecil Street, Margate, Kent. View directions

Contact: Charles Hungwe 

Link: This meeting will be live-streamed

Media

Items
No. Item

10.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologises were received from the following Members:

 

Councillor H. Scobie;

Councillor Nixey;

Councillor Davis;

Councillor Wright;

Councillor Crow-Brown.

11.

Declarations of Interest pdf icon PDF 87 KB

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.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

12.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 79 KB

To approve the Minutes of the Joint Transportation Board meeting held on 12 September 2024, copy attached.

Minutes:

Councillor Binks proposed, Councillor Garner seconded and Councillors agreed that the minutes be approved as a correct record of the meeting held on 12 September 2024.

13.

Petition received by KCC on the continued use of Glyphosate for Highway Weed control in Thanet

Minutes:

This item will be considered by KCC, in due course and will be considered under KCC’s normal petitions procedure rules.

 

The report was noted.

14.

Highway Works Programme pdf icon PDF 228 KB

Minutes:

The Chair invited members to comment on the highway works programme and members made the following comments:

 

·  With regards to Appendix B: Drainage Dane Court Road in Broadstairs report comments that further design work was currently being undertaken by engineers;

·  There remains a problem with flooding during heavy rainfall;

·  Members suggested that an update on the design work be brought to the next Committee meeting;

·  Members raised concern regarding road works planned for Queens Road, Broadstairs in the middle of summer 2025;

·  Road works planned around the same time in St. Peter’s were also cause for concern. Members asked if it was possible to avoid works on main roads during the summer season.

 

Cllr Shonk joined the meeting at 19:06hrs

 

·  A member noted the email from James Wraight regarding the North Thanet Link Road and the archaeological trenching planned to take place early 2025;

·  These archaeological works should not be interpreted as a sign that work on the proposed link was commencing. An archaeological search is an essential requirement.

·  The email was also sent to Birchington Parish Council as it was relevant to current development work going on and the information could be passed to their residents;

·  A Member asked if the cost of this work was being funded by a Section 106 Agreement. Funding for the link road remained a concern.

 

Members noted the report.

15.

Parking and Waiting Review - Thanet Various pdf icon PDF 121 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Penny Button, Head of Neighbourhoods introduced the report and made the following comments:

 

·  The Council had already issued consultations for all three proposals to avoid delay until potentially late 2025;

·  Corner protection with double yellow lines on the Alpha Road / Ingle Close junction were meant to improve the sight lines;

·  There would be two disabled parking bays. One across the frontage of 29 Richmond Avenue in Margate and one at the frontage of 6 Herbert Road in Ramsgate.

 

Members asked questions and made comments as follows:

 

·  What would happen once the consultation has closed? What was the next stage going to be?

·  The Ingle Close proposal was long overdue. Exiting the side-roads off Alpha Road was difficult.

 

Penny Button responded to Member comments and questions as follows:

 

·  They would review responses from the public consultation and whether there was any need to bring back a report to the Joint Transportation Board. If a report were brought back to the Board, it would be in March 2025. Otherwise, these proposals would be put forward to KCC;

·  This report was for recommendation and subject to the views of the Joint Transportation Board. The proposals shown in Annex 1 would be forwarded to Cabinet for approval. Proposals which required statutory consultation were advertised.

 

Members noted the report.

16.

Parking Strategy Update

Minutes:

Penny Button introduced the report and made the following comments:

 

·  The process to develop a new Parking Strategy for the district was nearly at the end of its journey. However, the Council is at the beginning of the journey to implement it;

·  Two consultations were conducted over the year, one at the beginning of the year whilst the second one took place at the end of July and went through August into September, over eight weeks in total;

·  The Council had received nearly 5,000 responses. This was a pleasing response rate. The responses were generally positive and supportive of the proposals;

·  Thanet District Parking Strategy would ensure that there was high quality and appropriately located parking that supported economic development and regeneration. The strategy would prioritise an active and sustainable transport system. It would also provide a positive parking experience for residents, businesses and visitors;

·  The proposed strategy had eight objectives which would feed into 52 actions. Of the 52 actions, 30 were for off-street and 22 for on-street parking. These actions were broken down into quick wins, short-term, medium and long-term actions;

·  The strategy was for a 20 year period as some aspects of the strategy were going to take a long time to put in place. The quick wins were things that would be achieved in the first 12 months. The short term would cover a period of one to two years, medium term was for three to four years and long term was five years and above. The strategy would be subject to regular reviews;

 

·  The initial implementation plan would focus on quick wins such as getting approval for using parking revenue to support the strategy through the process of getting cabinet agreement;

·  Other actions being considered for the first 12 months are signage strategy, including both static and variable message signage, a review of car park names, spatial zoning of the car parks and possibly a payment option study;

·  There was a need for a feasibility study to deliver more coach parking bays and where they could be located. Currently there are not enough;

·  The Council is considering the development of an electric vehicle strategy, a car club feasibility study and also a bike hanger policy by redeveloping their web pages which was something that the team was keen on doing;

·  Review the residents' parking scheme, building a consistent approach and policy across the district, so that everybody knows how to apply for one, what it would look like and how residence permit schemes work.

·  86% of the respondents were in support of both the vision and the strategy. Response came from across the whole district. There was some division to individual questions. 35% of the respondents were unsure or opposed to improved technology. The most divisive question focused on the creation of a flexible tariff structure with 38% of the respondents supporting and 45% opposing.

 

Members asked questions and made comments as follows:

 

·  Some of the observations from the consultation were that there was room  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

17.

Broadstairs Town Council Traffic Event pdf icon PDF 78 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Joanne Bright introduced the report and made the following comments:

 

·  A lot of work went into organising and managing this traffic event;

·  This was a good example of Councils working together at different tiers and working with external agencies;

·  This was a positive experience and parish councils would be encouraged to host a similar event;

·  Issues like inconsiderate parking at schools drop off points were raised;

·  It felt like residents were listened to by KCC officers.

 

Members discussed the report and made the following points:

 

·  This was a good example of collaboration between agencies and councils. The event saw District, Town and County Councillors were working with KCC officers;

·  The next steps identified areas to focus on. It was about coming up with comms with schools and residents;

·  Feedback would be provided to those residents who attended the event;

·  A good model had been developed regarding collaborative working across different local council tiers;

·  The police were very supportive. It was important that such events be regularly held;

·  It was concerning that some teachers were not wearing reflective safety jackets;

·  There were some courses that KCC ran on road safety. These should be spread to schools as well;

·  KCC had an officer who provided road safety training at schools;

·  Similar traffic events should be recommended to other parishes.

 

The Chair congratulated those who had organised the event.

 

Members noted the report.

18.

Member Suggestions pdf icon PDF 80 KB

Minutes:

The Chair invited Members to discuss any suggestions for items they wished to be considered by the Board:

 

·  Bollards on the Westwood Cross to Cliffsend road were dirty and not reflective anymore;

·  Street furniture had to be clean and maintained in good working order, particularly if it was meant to be reflective furniture;

·  Was cleaning of street furniture a TDC or KCC function?

·  Who was responsible for street signs along the London Road in Ramsgate?

·  Cleaning graffiti on road signs should also be considered by the Board;

·  Would it be possible for pregnant women to get badges that they can use for loading or unloading from vehicles?

·  Why did it take long to get a blue badge?

·  KCC advised that it should take about four months to get a blue badge. However the four months count starts when they have processed the application.

 

The Chair thanked members for their contribution to this discussion.