Agenda and minutes

Resolved:- That the minutes of the previous meeting of the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Regeneration and Development, held on 11th December, 2013, be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chairman.

Consideration was given to the minutes of a meeting of the Transport Liaison Group held on 4th December, 2013.

Resolved:-  That the contents of the minutes be noted.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Strategic Director for Economic and Development Services concerning the budget monitoring of the Environment and Development Services Directorate Revenue Accounts for the period to 30^th November, 2013, including the forecast out-turn of overspending of £500,000 to the end of the 2013/14 financial year. The submitted report included information on the variances reported by each Division of Service. Specific reference was made to the Winter Maintenance budget, the Council’s land and property bank and the funding for ICT.

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

(2) That the latest financialprojection against budget for the 2013/14 financial year, for theEnvironment and Development Services Directorate, based on actual income and expenditure to 30th November, 2013, be noted.

(3) That the report be referred to the Self Regulation Select Commission for information.

Further to Minute No. 120 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Town Centres, Economic Growth and Prosperity, held on 23rd April, 2012, consideration was given to a report, presented by the Building Control Manager, which set out proposed changes to the standard fees and charges for the submission of Building Control applications. The report also referred to a proposed new fee for undertaking demolition works, where notice is required in accordance with Sections 80 and 81 of the Building Act 1985.

Members noted that the proposal is to increase the fees by a nominal £25 per application, which aims to reflect the increase in work-load which the additions and changes to the Building Regulations have produced over the past four years. Details of the current and proposed fees were included in the report, for comparative purposes.

In respect of the proposed new fee for undertaking demolition works, it was noted that previously this work has been undertaken with no charge.  A fee of £125 is proposed, which reflects the cost of work undertaken by building control to process and administer Demolition Notices.

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

(2)  That the revised fees and charges for Building Control services, as set out in the report now submitted, be approved and implemented on 1^st May, 2014.

(3) That the introduction of the new fee of £125.00 for undertaking demolition works, as now reported, be approved and implemented on 1^st May, 2014.

Further to Minute No. G1 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Town Centres, Economic Growth and Prosperity held on 28^th May, 2012, consideration was given to a report presented by the Transportation and Traffic Manager concerning the results of consultation on Phase One of a proposed scheme to create a cross town cycle route from Westgate to Clifton Park via High Street in Rotherham town centre.

In summary, the proposed scheme involves:-

: changing the operation of the existing traffic signals at the Westgate/Corporation Street junction to allow cyclists to travel into High Street;

: the installation of pedestrian signals for the crossings at the bottom of Ship Hill and on the High Street entry to the junction;

: permitting un-segregated cycling on the trafficked section of High Street, outside of the Imperial Buildings;

: permitting two-way cycling on the one-way section of High Street within the town centre vehicle restricted area;

: installing a flat-top road hump at the junction of Moorgate Street and High Street, adding an additional traffic calming feature to the town centre 20mph zone;

: environmental improvements to High Street to upgrade the existing mis-matched and aging paving to provide a high quality streetscape;

: the installation of new, brighter street lighting in the High Street/Moorgate Street area;

: a review and rationalisation of existing street furniture to de-clutter the High Street/Moorgate Street area;

: indicating a route to guide cyclists to a newly-created advanced stop line at the Wellgate/College Road/Doncaster Gate junction to allow them to enter this junction safely and continue their journey onwards along Doncaster Gate.

Members asked for information about the monitoring and counting of the number of cyclists around the Rotherham town centre.

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

(2) That the outcome of the consultation process, as now reported, be noted.

(3) That, subject to consent being granted by the Cabinet to the proposal to permit cycling within the Rotherham town centre vehicle restricted area (Minute No. 164 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 15^th January, 2014, refers), the cross-town cycle route from Westgate to Wellgate, Rotherham, as now reported, be implemented during the current financial year.

(4) That, further to resolution (3) above, the implementation of the cross-town cycle route be monitored and a progress report submitted to a meeting of the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Regeneration and Development within three months of implementation.

Further to Minute No. G1 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Town Centres, Economic Growth and Prosperity held on 28^th May, 2012, consideration was given to a report presented by the Transportation and Traffic Manager concerning the outcome of the consultation into a proposal to extend the existing shared use footways on Bawtry Road (between the Worrygoose and Rotherway roundabouts) towards Canklow and seeking approval for the scheme to be implemented. The proposals would provide an off-road and quiet road cycle route all the way from the Whiston/Worrygoose area to the Rotherham town centre.

The detailed design of this scheme and the proposed layout were shown on the submitted drawing number 129/17/TT208. In summary, the scheme involves:-

- converting two lengths of existing footway into shared use footways with widening to 3 metres where this is practical; this design would allow cyclists to ride legally in both directions on the footway;

- creating a new length of shared use footway in the verge on the service road which runs parallel to Bawtry Road at Canklow Meadows;

- allowing contra-flow cycling on part of the one-way service road; this design would allow cyclists to cycle legally the wrong way down this lightly trafficked one way street; there would be short lengths of on-carriageway cycle lane at the start and at the end of the contraflow section and signs would be erected to inform drivers that there is on-carriageway contraflow cycling;

- installing four round-top road humps on the service road to reduce traffic speeds to around 20 mph; such a design could discourage traffic from diverting onto the service road when traffic is queuing on West Bawtry Road and would also reduce the speed of these vehicles.

The report referred to the objections to this scheme, which had been received by the Council during the consultation process.

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

(2) That the objections to the proposed scheme, as now reported, be not acceded to at this time.

(3) That the scheme to extend the existing shared use footways on Bawtry Road (between the Worrygoose and Rotherway roundabouts) towards Canklow, as now reported, be implemented during the 2013/2014 financial year.

Further to Minute No. G30 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Regeneration and Development held on 29^th July, 2013, consideration was given to a report presented by the Transportation and Traffic Manager outlining the progress with the detailed scheme assessment and traffic modelling regarding the successful funding bid to improve the A630 Pool Green Roundabout (Centenary Way, Rotherham) utilising the Department for Transport Pinch Point Fund.  The report sought approval for implementation of the preferred scheme, subject to the agreement of the Department for Transport and the securing of the required Traffic Regulation Orders, and the extension of the commission to WSP UK to undertake detailed design, monitoring and evaluation of the scheme.

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

(2) That the proposals, as now reported, to improve the Pool Green Roundabout (junction of the A630 Centenary Way, Main Street and Masbrough Street, Rotherham) to a signalised junction in accordance with the principles of WSP UK drawing number SK-005 REV E, be approved subject to agreement from the Department for Transport and the scheme be implemented subject to the satisfactory completion of the statutory processes.

(3) That the Traffic Regulation Orders required to implement the scheme be secured, to include appropriate consultation in accordance with the statutory process and any objections received shall be reported to a future meeting of the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Regeneration and Development.

(4) That the commission to WSP UK be extended to include detailed design processes and the monitoring and evaluation for the scheme as required by the Department for Transport.

Further to Minute No. G106 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Regeneration and Development held on 19th March, 2012, consideration was given to a report presented by the Transportation and Traffic Manager a proposal to replace the existing traffic signal installation on the B6053 Chesterfield Road, Swallownest (at its junction with Park Hill and with Rotherham Road) with a mini-roundabout and zebra crossings.

The report stated that the original design would not meet the necessary inter-visibility criteria. Therefore, an alternative junction layout is proposed which replaces the end-of-life traffic signal installation with a mini-roundabout and two zebra crossings on the eastern and western arms of the junction. This design was shown on the submitted drawing number 126/17/TT259.

In order to inform drivers of the changing road environment, it was also proposed to reduce the speed limit on the B6053 Chesterfield Road from 40 mph to 30 mph, between the mini-roundabout and the existing pedestrian refuge. This proposal would create a gateway feature at the position of the refuge on the southern approach to the mini-roundabout. Members asked that measurement be taken of the speed of vehicles travelling along Chesterfield Road.

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

(2) That, subject to completion of the statutory and public consultations, the existing traffic signal installation on the B6053 Chesterfield Road, Swallownest (at its junction with Park Hill and with Rotherham Road) be removed and replaced with a mini-roundabout and zebra crossings as described in the submitted report and shown on drawing number 126/17/TT259.

(3) That the speed limit on the north part of the B6053 Chesterfield Road, Swallownest, as shown on drawing No 126/17/TT259 submitted, be reduced from 40mph to 30mph.

Resolved:- That one Elected Member be authorised to attend the above meeting of APSE member authorities.