Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed Mrs. Paul Copnell to her first meeting of the Improving Places Select Commission. Mrs. Copnell had replaced Mr. D. Corkell as a co-opted member, representing RotherFed.

There were no declarations of interest made at this meeting.

There were no questions from members of the public or the press.

None were received.

Resolved:- (1) That the minutes of the previous meeting of the Improving Places Select Commission, held on 27th March, 2013, be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chairman, with the inclusion of Councillor Johnston in the list of persons attending that meeting.

(2) That a report be submitted to a future meeting of the Improving Places Select Commission explaining the use of the ‘proceeds of crime’ funding.

Further to Minute No. 15 of the meeting of the Improving Places Select Commission held on 25th July, 2012, consideration was given to a report presented by the Director of Streetpride describing the effectiveness of the new method of highway maintenance and repairing of potholes and defects using the ‘Multihog’ milling machine.

The report outlined the main benefits of undertaking highway repairs with the ‘Multihog’:-

: health and safety improvements for employees;

: financial savings, because the cost of repairs is reduced;

: the unnecessary removal of highway surfacing, around the repair area, is prevented;

: the ‘Multihog’ is small enough to be transported quickly and easily between locations and is capable of repairing defects in areas inaccessible to larger machinery;

: as well as highway repairs, the machine is used for Winter maintenance and salt spreading.

The report also described the revised arrangements for safety defect repairs to highways.

Members asked various questions on the following issues:-

: the pilot scheme began in November 2012, although trials of the machine have been hampered by the relatively prolonged period of snowfall; the recent years of bad weather has caused deterioration of highway surfaces;

: the trial is continuing and comparative information is still being collected about highway repairs before and after use of the ‘Multihog’;

: it was agreed that Members should be afforded the opportunity to observe the ‘Multihog’ in operation in their own Wards; Members requested details of the projected use of the machine around the Borough area; and Members were requested to inform Streetpride if they wished to observe the ‘Multihog’ machine in use;

: the machine specialises in repairing small patches of highway surface, but is not suitable for larger, more substantial areas;

: emphasis was placed on the need for highway surface repairs to be completed quickly, for reasons of safety;

: the various methods of highway surface inspection and repair and their budget implications were explained; Members noted that the existing highway repair budget was limited;

: Members requested information about the cost of ‘repeat’ repairs, ie: instances where an initial repair to a highway surface is unsuccessful and has to be repaired again;

: it was acknowledged that it is sometimes a fairly difficult task to ascertain which roads require priority repairs; this process is responsive to reports received from the general public and from Councillors;

: it was explained that the surface dressing method (ie: the use of tar and stone chippings) was an unsuitable method of highway repair in residential areas, in part because of the problem caused by loose chippings.

: it was also noted that the ‘Multihog’ machine has proved to be very useful for snow clearing in areas where access is restricted.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That a report on the progress of the use of the ‘Multihog’ milling machine  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Director of Streetpride concerning the current arrangements for managing and responding to the Off-Road Motor Vehicle nuisance.

The Select Commission’s consideration of this issue included the following salient issues:-

: budget limitations for this area of work; the funding available for ‘target-hardening’ and installation of barriers restricting vehicular access to specific areas of land, ie: preventative measures so that the nuisance does not occur; Members referred to the importance of ensuring the most effective use of the available funding;

: South Yorkshire Police has responsibility for responding to this nuisance, including the direction of specific resources to ‘hotspot’ areas of concern, as well as the powers to seize motor vehicles and apprehend culprits;

: Members referred to those locations in their electoral Wards which continued to suffer from the off-road motor vehicle nuisance;

: the nuisance occurs on the public highway, as well as ‘off-road’ locations;

: an explanation was provided of Streetpride’s response to complaints received by the Council relating to off-road motor vehicle nuisance; it was noted that there was regular contact with the Safer Neighbourhood Teams; Members emphasised the usefulness of there being a single point of contact for this type of complaint and also to ensure they would receive feedback about the progress of response to the complaints; officers explained that the single point of contact was the Leisure and Community Services (LCS) administration team and that the LCS Area Manager would be the officer lead;

: the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner had included the response to the off-road motor vehicle nuisance as a priority within the 2013/14 policing plan and would make funding available for measures to tackle this nuisance.

Resolved:- That the report be received and its contents noted.