Issue - meetings

Report from the Executive Director of Regeneration and Environment.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet:

1.    Notes the schemes and allocations of funding, as set out in paragraph 2.3, subject to approval of the Council Budget on 4 March 2026.

2.    Approves the schemes and allocations of funding outlined in Section 2 of  ...  view the full agenda text for item 138

Consideration was given to the report which provided details on the Transport Capital Programme for the upcoming 2026-27 financial year, including its funding sources and programme areas, and explained how projects would be managed within them. The 2026-27 financial year was the final year of the current 5 year funding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 138

Report from the Executive Director of Regeneration and Environment.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet:

1.    Notes the schemes and allocations of funding, as set out in paragraph 2.3, subject to approval of the Council Budget on 4 March 2026.

2.    Approves the schemes and allocations of funding outlined in Section 2 of this report, including the reallocation of savings made on capital projects delivered within budget as described in paragraph 1.6.

3.    Delegates authority to the Executive Director of Regeneration and Environment, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy, to determine the schemes to be delivered in 2026-27 through to 2029-30 with the Minor Works allocation, subject to approval of the Council Budget in March 2026.

4.    Delegates authority to the Executive Director of Regeneration and Environment, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy, to determine the schemes to be delivered in 2026-27 with the School Crossing Patrol Improvements allocation referred to in paragraph 2.2.6.

5.    Delegates authority to the Executive Director of Regeneration and Environment, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy, to determine the use of any underspends across the Transport Capital Programme to fund the delivery of other approved transport programmes, or the progression of designs for potential future projects.

At the Chair’s invitation the Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy, Councillor Williams presented the 2026–27 Transport Capital Programme ahead of Cabinet consideration. He introduced Lucy Hudson as the new permanent Head of Transportation Infrastructure and thanked Nat Porter for his interim leadership.

The programme set out planned investment in highways and transport, including maintenance, road safety, active travel, structures work and sustainable transport. Key schemes included ward?level road safety funding, Old Flatts Bridge repairs, the annual maintenance programme, design work for Fleet Bridge and new pedestrian crossings, continued minor works and design work for Treeton Lane crossroads. Funding was also allocated to develop improvements at school crossing patrol sites. Any underspend would support other approved projects or future design work.

The Service Director, Planning, Regeneration and Transport, Simon Moss, noted that Members had already discussed the schemes and allocations referenced in recommendation 1, agreed through the recent Council budget. Simon then outlined the funding position relating to recommendation 2, covering the schemes in section 2 of the report. This represented the final year of a five?year block transport funding programme, comprising £344,000 for local transport and £426,000 for highway structures. The £344,000 allocation, shown in table 1, focused on pedestrian crossings, which remained a key community priority. A further £15,000 was allocated for monitoring and evaluation, £4,000 for school crossing patrol improvements, and the remaining structures funding was set out in section 2.2.

The Vice-Chair, Councillor Bacon raised questions regarding the Treeton Lane crossroads. He noted that, in previous years, he had been advised that making changes at the junction would simply relocate the problem elsewhere and was therefore not considered worthwhile by the service or the Cabinet Member at that time. He asked what had changed since that earlier position.

In response it was explained that congestion?relief schemes were challenging to design because satellite navigation systems could redirect additional traffic through improved junctions, which was likely the basis of the earlier advice given. While this remained a consideration, he noted that other factors, such as traffic movements and junction geometry, would now be examined through the planned study to identify potential improvements at the Treeton Lane crossroads.

The Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy added that the decision to invest in design work for the Treeton Lane crossroads was a positive step. He confirmed that the long?standing concerns about the junction were recognised and that funding had now been allocated to develop and assess preferred improvement options, addressing issues that had been raised over many years.

The Vice-Chair sought clarification on why the departmental view on the Treeton Lane crossroads had changed, noting that previous advice suggested improvements would be ineffective. He asked whether this shift resulted from a political decision or a change in officer assessment and requested further detail on what the £150,000 allocation would deliver.

The Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy responded that the investment reflected recognition of long?standing concerns  ...  view the full minutes text for item 119