Agenda and minutes

Venue: Town Hall, Moorgate Street, ROTHERHAM. S60 2TH

Contact: Debbie Pons, Principal Democratic Services Officer 

Items
No. Item

1.

Minutes of the previous meeting held on 16 March 2016 pdf icon PDF 43 KB

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the minutes of the previous meeting of the Transport Liaison Group, held on 16th March, 2016.

 

Agreed:- That the minutes of the previous meeting be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chairman.

2.

Matters arising from the previous minutes

Minutes:

With reference to Minute No. 19 of the minutes of the meeting of the RMBC Transport Liaison Group held on 16th March, 2016, Councillor Sansome attended the meeting alongside three residents of the ‘Wentworth Parks’ area of Swinton, concerning the petition requesting the provision of a bus service to Piccadilly Road and onto Wentworth Road at Swinton. The petition had been received by the Council at its meeting held on 2nd March, 2016 (Minute No. 143(2) refers) and had been forwarded to the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE).

 

Information received from the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive had stated that, with historically low demand for bus services in the Wentworth Parks estate, no operator was willing to provide a service commercially and the SYPTE was unable to provide financial support at a time when other bus services were being reviewed and savings were having to be made.

 

Residents emphasised the importance of bus services to elderly persons in this area and also questioned the use of the walking distance criteria used by the SYPTE in respect of access to bus services. A comparison was also made to other similar areas of the Rotherham Borough which appeared to benefit from more frequent bus services.

 

Agreed:- That the Cabinet Member for Jobs and the Local Economy arrange a meeting with appropriate representatives of the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive and with the Councillors representing Ward 16 (Swinton) and discuss the issues raised in the petition about the residents’ request for this bus service for the ‘Wentworth Parks’ area.

3.

Updates from the Transport Operators pdf icon PDF 137 KB

 

1)    First Group

 

2)    Stagecoach

 

3)    South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive

 

4)    Rotherham Community Transport

 

5)    Northern Rail

 

6)    Robin Hood Airport - Consultative Committee meeting - minutes of the meeting held on 14 April 2016 (pages 6 to 14)

Minutes:

(1) First Group – no report.

 

(2) Stagecoach – There have been some timetable changes to various services. The Stagecoach company has invested in some new vehicles. The traffic congestion in the Parkgate area of Rotherham continued to be the cause of some service delays.

 

(3) South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) – the following issues were highlighted:-

 

(i) Tram-Train project - Network Rail are conducting a thorough review of the programme and producing a robust, revised timescale. This will be completed and presented to stakeholders in the summer

 

(ii) Concessionary travel changes - the single child concessionary fare in South Yorkshire will increase by 10p from 18 September 2016, from 70p to 80p.  Any changes to the daily and weekly child tickets have not yet been communicated by the bus operators.

 

(iii) Sheffield City Region devolution deal - network reviews in Sheffield and Doncaster are now complete.  Barnsley consultation taking place until 31st July 2016, with network and bus partnership launch in January 2017.  A Rotherham network review by the Rotherham Bus Partnership is proposed for the period 30 January 2017 to 17 March 2017.  Any network changes following consultation and approval will be implemented from September 2017.

 

(iv) Information concerning service changes with effect from 4 September 2016;

 

(4) Rotherham Community Transport – no report.

 

(5) Northern Rail / Arriva Rail – Members noted that the parking issue at the Kiveton Park Station was being kept under review.

 

(6) Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport – Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting of the Robin Hood Airport Consultative Committee, both held on 14th April, 2016. The contents of these minutes were noted. Additionally, Members noted the following information about the Airport:-

 

- 800,000+ new seats announced since January 2014;

- 19 new services from four airlines;

- The fastest growing Airport in UK - 12 months to January 2016, second in the months to March (17% growth);

- More than 40% growth anticipated in the financial year 2016/17 (circa 1.3 million passengers expected;

- Passenger traffic expected to double between 2013/14 and 2016/17;

- a record year for Cargo traffic with more than 4,000 Tonnes in 2015/16.

 

- Flybe launching at the Airport, with 8 Destinations, started on 24 March 2016 : Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Newquay, Jersey, Alicante, Malaga and Faro.

- New for the Winter: Dusseldorf and Chambery

- 42 Departures per week: 500,000 seats annually

- 2 Embraer 195 aircraft (118 seats): 2 x 2 seating configuration

- Improving regional connectivity, delivering jobs: circa 50 direct jobs employed by Flybe and many more created indirectly.

- Introduction of a new “meet and greet” car park area at the end of April 2016 and so far this is proving really successful and the bookings have surpassed the predicted figures.

- Review of the Airport Masterplan and associated documents such as the Airport Surface Access Strategy and these will be released for consultation during the next few months.

4.

Updates from RMBC Transportation Unit

Minutes:

Members welcomed Dr. Adrian Withill (Interim Traffic and Transportation Manager, Environment and Development Services), who provided information about the following issues affecting highways, traffic and transportation in the Rotherham Borough area:-

 

: Transport policy for the North of England and for the Sheffield City Region;

 

: whether the Sheffield City Region Mayor will have executive powers in relation to transport matters (as yet uncertain);

 

: possible route change for the HS2 high-speed railway into Sheffield – an announcement is expected to be made on 7 July 2016;

 

: the intention to utilise various external sources of funding for highways, traffic and transportation projects as they become available (eg: park-and-ride scheme at Catcliffe/Waverley; widening of the Rotherway/Parkway adjacent Junction 33 of the M1 motorway; use of hydrogen-powered vehicles by the Council; investment in bus routes providing access to employment);

 

: structural inspection and assessment of the Rotherham Passenger Transport Interchange and multi-storey car park building and discussion of the projected life-span of the building; it was noted that the car park and Interchange might have to be closed, for safety reasons, depending upon the outcome of this structural assessment;

 

: meetings being held with Network rail about the tram-train system which will link Parkgate and Rotherham with Meadowhall;

 

: railway study in the Rotherham Borough area and the possibility of new stations being constructed (eg: Parkgate); an announcement is expected to be made by the Government Department for Transport in September 2016;

 

: preliminary design of highway and other infrastructure required to serve any new development in the Bassingthorpe area, between Rotherham and Greasbrough;

 

: Government funding being provided for cycling and walking initiatives, also with emphasis upon access to employment;

 

: the continuing problem of traffic congestion along the A633 corridor between Rotherham, Parkgate (including the Retail World shopping centre) and Rawmarsh; the congestion causes many delays to bus services.

 

Agreed:- (1) That the information about highways, traffic and transportation issues, now reported, be noted.

 

(2) That the Transport Liaison Group continue to be informed of the progress of action being taken to try and reduce traffic congestion along the A633 corridor between Rotherham, Parkgate and Rawmarsh.

5.

Date and time of the next meeting

 

  • Wednesday 28th September, 2016 (2.00pm start)
  • Wednesday 23rd November, 2016 (2.00pm start)

Minutes:

Agreed:- (1) That the next meeting of the RMBC Transport Liaison Group be held at the Town Hall, Rotherham on Wednesday, 28th September, 2016, commencing at 2.00 p.m.

 

(2) That the next following meetings of the RMBC Transport Liaison Group take place on Wednesday 23 November 2016 and in March, 2017.