Agenda and minutes

Venue: Conference Room, Argyle Road, Sevenoaks. View directions

Items
No. Item

20.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 48 KB

Minutes of the meeting held on 12 September 2012.

Minutes:

Resolved: That the Minutes of the meeting of the Sevenoaks Joint Transportation Board held on 12 September 2012 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

21.

Declarations of interest

Minutes:

No new declarations were made.

22.

Matters Arising/Update (Including Actions from Previous Meetings)

Minutes:

The District Manager (Sevenoaks) KCC advised that in light of the current report on the potential pedestrian crossing at Pembroke Road/High Street/Suffolk Way and to give time to monitor the works at Sevenoaks Rail Station, a report on Sites 2 and 4 would come to a future meeting.

 

Resolved: That the deferral of the  report and actions from the previous meeting be noted.

 

23.

Childsbridge Lane TN15 Speed and Road Layout pdf icon PDF 15 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Sarah Lowsley, author of the report,  addressed the Board on behalf of residents of Seal and Kemsing and the road safety campaign.  The bridge was of particular concern for pedestrian safety, a number of people had been injured there.  There was not enough room for two passing vehicles and pedestrians to cross, especially as vehicles failed to slow down.  Many more children were now attending Seal Primary School from Kemsing and parents were choosing to drive the short distance due to safety fears.  Kemsing Parish Council had circulated their concerns to members of the Board prior to the meeting.  Ms Lowsley pointed out that the request was for a priority traffic scheme, not a one way scheme. 

 

Parish Councillor Mrs Wedderburn addressed the Board on behalf of Kemsing Parish Council, and noted the request for priority traffic measures rather than a one way system.  The Parish Council did not support a proposal for a 40 mph speed limit on the whole stretch of Childsbridge Lane between Kemsing and Seal.  They also supported the proposal for the possibility to install a speed camera and recommended the erection of a separate footbridge parallel with Childsbridge Lane in the interest of providing a safe footway for pedestrians to cross the railway bridge. 

 

The Local County Councillor confirmed that the bridge was not designed for large vehicles and pedestrians, and the problem had been exacerbated by the new development meaning that more school children were travelling from Kemsing to Seal.  He had been asked to use his Member Highway Fund and was happy to contribute to the funding of a scheme but would not be able to cover all the costs. Further costed investigations of the options would be required which he was unable to fund from his grant.

 

A local District Councillor requested that Officers look at it as a shared user space and not just in traffic management terms, for the safety of all users.

 

            Resolved:  That an interim report be presented at the next meeting.

 

Ms Lowsley presented a petition to the Chairman.  It was noted that there had been two online petitions: one for the road safety proposals; and the other one was to retain the current speed, there had been only one signatory to this second petition who had rung in and stated that they had signed the wrong one by mistake.

 

Action 1:  The Chairman to ensure that the petition is brought to the relevant KCC Cabinet Member’s attention.  The Traffic Engineer to ensure the Board sees the petition and number of signatures.

 

24.

Badgers Mount Residents Association - Road Safety Appeal & Petition pdf icon PDF 24 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Traffic Engineer KCC presented the report which advised Members of the receipt of a road safety appeal and petition from the Badgers Mount Residents Association requesting a reduction in the current speed  limit for the A224 through Badgers Mount from 60mph to 40 mph together with additional safety measures on both A224 and Old London Road.

 

The Traffic Engineer advised that the results of the automated traffic surveys had come in that afternoon but had yet to be looked at.

 

Resolved:  That

 

a)        the receipt of the appeal document and petition be noted; and

 

b)        a report be presented at a future meeting, containing recommendations for actions subject to the necessary funding being available.

 

 

25.

Bat and Ball Junction

TO FOLLOW

Minutes:

Mr. Morrison representing Sevenoaks Cycle Forum addressed the Board and asked that Options 1 -6 be rejected on the grounds that were cosmetic and provided no clear benefits for cyclists, motorists or pedestrians. If implemented, it would waste a large sum of Section 106 money which would be much better spent on implementing Route 6 of the District Cycle Strategy, a safe cycling route between Sevenoaks and Otford.  He advised that the District was the only one in Kent where the Cycling Strategy had not been implemented, and reported that cycling accidents were up by 88% in the District which was the largest increase in Kent.

The Strategic Transport and Development Planner for Sevenoaks (KCC) presented the report which recommended that only Options 1 – 6 detailed in the report be implemented.  In respect of CCTV camera and UTC MOVA installation, all the required equipment was in stock and the work was programmed to be completed before Christmas.

Members noted that a letter had been circulated to them prior to the meeting from Sevenoaks Town Council expressing their views.

Members were concerned that the report still did not detail the required information for Members of the Board to be able to make informed decisions regarding the options put before them.  The next report should include:

·         more text / detail to the report

·         further discussions to be held with Sevenoaks Town Council and the Sevenoaks Cycle Forum, and the Forum’s suggestions explored

·         more detail on value for money / cost benefit analyses / traffic flow

·         exploration of suggestion of painting direction arrows on the A25

·         County Councillor Chard and District Councillor Mrs. Davison to be consulted on the draft report before final submission to the agenda

 

 

Resolved:  That a further report be submitted to the next meeting.

 

26.

Pedestrian Crossing at the Pembroke Road/High Street/Suffolk Way Traffic Signal Junction

Minutes:

The Chairman and another County Member had spoken to the KCC Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Waste since the last meeting and it had therefore not been necessary for a letter to be written as agreed at the last meeting.   Members noted that a letter had been circulated to them prior to the meeting from Sevenoaks Town Council expressing their views.

 

Members’ attention was drawn to the detrimental impact on traffic flow and air quality, in what was an air quality designated area.  There had been a robust costing exercise undertaken on the upgrade costs to the signals. 

 

The Head of Environment and Operational Services advised that this area was already an Air Quality Management Area because of levels of Nitrogen Dioxide pollution due to existing traffic congestion and it was the District Council’s duty to implement measures to improve air quality in the area.  It was noted, based on the Kent Highways report, that these measures could significantly increase traffic congestion and therefore be detrimental to the levels of NO2 pollution.

 

Members still felt that the junction did need to be made safer for pedestrians and queried whether this could just be undertaken at certain arms of the junction.  It was explained the a controlled crossing phase would require all traffic movements at the junction to be held on red signals while the pedestrian phase/stage was running. .

 

Resolved:  That the Board recommend the implementation of the pedestrian crossing phase at the Pembroke Road/High Street/Suffolk Way traffic signal junction.

 

 

 

27.

Highway Improvement Scheme Progress Report

Minutes:

The Traffic Manager (KCC) presented the report which described the progress to date and anticipated progress over the next three months of all programmed highway improvements including those schemes that were expected to be included in Kent County Council’s 2012-3 Capital Programme.  Further to this it was reported that estimates had now been received for the improvements to B2173 London Road junction with Birchwood Road, Swanley, with a provisional estimated start date of mid-February to early March 2013.  The local County Member did not feel that recent improvements and developments in this area had been properly taken into account.

 

Resolved:  That authority be delegated to County Councillor Brookbank in consultation with the Chairman of the Board, to liaise with Officers and agree as to whether the junction improvements were still necessary.

 

(Resolution moved up two paragraphs as agreed at meeting on 13 March 2013.)

 

In response to a comment that the lines on the road at Cold Arbor Road had not been done correctly, the District Manager (Sevenoaks) KCC agreed to look into it.  A Member also commented that this was a particularly dark area of road.

 

Action 2: Works At Cold Arbor Road to be investigated.

 

 

 

28.

Highway Works Programme 2012/13 pdf icon PDF 64 KB

Minutes:

The report updated Members on the identified schemes approved for construction in 2012/13.

 

Resolved:  The report was noted.

 

 

29.

Briefing Paper by the Sevenoaks Rail Travellers Association on rail matters including Brighton Mainline 2 pdf icon PDF 513 KB

Minutes:

Dr. Johnson representing the Sevenoaks Rail Travellers Association presented his report to the Board. 

 

The Board agreed they would like to see an update on the London Bridge Rebuilding works and how it would affect local commuters at a future meeting.  Thoughts on east to west Kent connectivity i.e. Ashford to GatwIck, would also be welcome.  Members agreed that it would be timely to get involved whilst the franchises were under review and discussed contacting Network Rail.

 

In relation to BML2, Councillor Robson stated that it was not the creation of a line but the restoration of an existing double track line. 

 

Action 3: That the Chairman bring the issue of BML2 to the attention of the appropriate KCC Officer.

 

Resolved:  That

 

a)        a vote of thanks be recorded for Dr. Johnson helpful, interesting and informative report;

b)        the Chairman on behalf of the Board, in consultation with the Sevenoaks Rails Travellers Association, write with concerns to Network Rail.

 

Action 4:  Network Rail (and other franchises) to be invited to a future meeting of the Board.

 

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