Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Rooms 2 & 3, Trafford Town Hall, Talbot Road, Stretford M32 0TH

Contact: Alexander Murray, Governance Officer 

Items
No. Item

26.

MINUTES

To receive and, if so determined, to agree as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2022.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Committee Members raised issue with the late submission of reports and minutes and asked that this be addressed.

 

Councillor Axford noted that the Climate Change action plan had not been circulated to the Committee. The Governance Officer confirmed that he would chase the action after the meeting.

 

Councillor Winstanley asked whether the email regarding the Disability Access Task and Finish Group had been sent on behalf of the Committee. The Governance Officer responded that it had not and that it would be sent after the meeting.

 

RESOLVED:

1)    That Committee Members comments regarding the late submission of reports be noted and addressed.

2)    That the minutes of the meeting held 9 November 2023 be agreed as an accurate record.

27.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members to give notice of any interest and the nature of that interest relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the adopted Code of Conduct.

Minutes:

No declarations were made.

28.

QUESTIONS FORM THE PUBLIC

A maximum of 15 minutes will be allocated to public questions submitted in writing to Democratic Services (democratic.services@trafford.gov.uk) by 4 p.m. on the working day prior to the meeting. Questions must be relevant to items appearing on the agenda and will be submitted in the order in which they were received.

Minutes:

Mr Stuart Donnelly attended the meeting and asked the following questions he had submitted in writing to the Committee relating to the work of the Events at Old Trafford Task and Finish Group.

 

“Following complaints from local residents regarding how Trafford Council and Greater Manchester Police deal with match days in the Stretford area, on 7th of December 2021, the Gorse Hill branch of Stretford and Urmston Conservative Association launched a campaign to collect resident’s views on what they are experiencing. The information would then be presented to the relevant authorities with a call to action. Seven days later, on 14th of December 2021, Trafford Council announced that it would start to take action against Anti-Social Behaviour associated with match days.

 

With an Events at Old Trafford Task and Finish Group having been established, can the Chair of the review please tell me where local residents can find minutes of what is being discussed on their behalf at review meetings, especially as the Terms of Reference state that “Meetings are conducted in a fair and transparent business-like fashion”?

 

Secondly, having originally raised the issue on resident’s behalf, Gorse Hill Conservatives are requesting to be a stakeholder in the review. Can the Chair tell me if he is agreeable to that request?”

 

The Chair responded that the task and finish group had been set up as a cross party group with members from all political parties being able to take part. The Chair informed Mr Donnelly that the minutes of individual meetings were not publicly available, but the outcomes of those meetings would be submitted to the Committee in a public report. With regards to the request to be involved in the work of the task and finish group the Chair stated that Mr Donnelly and Gorse Hill Conservatives would be able to have input within the review along with the other residents and stakeholders. The Chair then asked Mr Donnelly if he had any additional questions.

 

Mr Donnelly asked whether the minutes form the meeting during the previous week could be shared. The Governance Officer informed Mr Donnelly that no meeting of the task and finish group had been held during the previous week. The meeting Mr Donnelly referred to was one arranged by Manchester United with ward Councillors and he would need to contact Manchester United for minutes of the meeting.

 

RESOLVED: That the questions from Mr Donnelly and the response provided be noted.

 

29.

BUDGET SCRUTINY REPORT

To consider and agree a report of the Chair of the Committee.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Leader gave a brief update to the Committee of what had transpired since the budget scrutiny sessions which included an announcement of an increase in funding of 9.3%. The Committee were informed that the 100% business rates retention would continue and the budget gap had been reduced to just over £4M.  The Leader welcomed the Budget Scrutiny report and Scrutiny Members’ involvement in the budget process.

 

Following the introduction Councillor Whetton asked whether the F20 group had had any impact so far. The Director of Finance and Systems responded that there had not been any direct impacts yet, but they were drafting a response to the draft settlement which would be finalised in February.

 

Councillor Butt asked whether the wording of recommendation 8 in the report could also reference the potential increase in crime in the areas when the lights were dimmed. The Chair supported the views of the Councillor Butt. The Director of Highways, Transport & Environment stated that an equality impact assessment had been conducted and the dimming was not to be done in any areas where a potential risk had been identified. The Executive Member for Environmental Services added that most of the saving was linked to the time that the old streetlights needed to be turned on to warm up, which the new LED lights did not need.

 

Councillor Whetton noted that the word “if” needed to be added to recommendation 3. The Committee approved the report for submission to the Executive following amendments to recommendations 3 and 8.

 

RESOLVED:

1)    That the Leaders update be noted.

2)    That recommendations 3 and 8 be amended in accordance with the suggestions by Councillor Whetton and Councillor Butt.

3)    That the amended report be approved and submitted to the Executive.

30.

HIGHWAYS INFRASTRUCTURE ASSET MANAGEMENT PLAN (HIAMP)

To consider a report from the Executive Member for Climate Change and Transport Strategy.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Highways, Transport, and Environment gave his apologies to the Committee for the late submission of the report and explained that it was due to disruption caused by the holiday period, the complex nature of the subject, and the constant changes in the asset. The Director of Highways, Transport, and Environment gave a brief introduction to the item in which he stated that the road network was the Council’s largest asset in terms of both value and scale. 

 

The Principal Engineering Manager went through a condensed version of presentation that had been circulated as part of the agenda pack. The Committee were informed the HIAMP was a Council document that was publicly available. The Principal Engineering Manager explained how the document had evolved over time with the monitoring of carbon emissions being added and the impacts of extreme weather having changed the problems people faced.

 

The presentation included a description of the HIMAP and the work the team did to maintain the road network. The Principal Engineering Manager informed the Committee of the overall deterioration of the road networks in Trafford and how the amount of funding available had reduced. On the positive side the move to LED lighting across the borough represented a large benefit to the Council, especially when the recent price increase in electricity was considered.

 

The Principal Engineering Manager went into detail on how data was gathered and fed into the software the Council used to monitor the condition of the roads, which ensured it was data driven approach based upon accurate live information. The Committee were informed of the different classifications of road and that the funding provided for Trafford’s Highways was linked to the delivery of the asset management plan.

 

The Principal Engineering Manager showed the Committee a slide which explained the life cycle of a road with a need for regular maintenance to ensure the asset maintained its standard. The Director of Highways, Transport, and Environment informed the Committee that the further down the quality of a road sloped into the red zones on the chart the more it cost to bring the road back to a green or yellow standard.

 

The Director of Highways, Transport, and Environment then spoke to the Committee of the continued deterioration of the road network since 2016 and informed Committee Members that the additional funding received in the previous year had reduced the number of red by 1.5% and had also stopped the number of red roads increasing by 5%. The Committee were told about the backlog of work needed across the areas highways and that to deliver a 10% improvement across the highway network would require an investment of £64M over 10 years.

 

The Principal Engineering Manager moved on to talk about the condition of footpaths in the area. The Committee were advised that it would require £1.49M of investment per year to keep the quality of the footpaths at steady state. The Director of Highways, Transport, and Environment added that the Council were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

31.

ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STRATEGY

To consider a report from the Executive Member for Climate Change and Transport Strategy.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive Member for Climate Change and Transport Strategy provided a summary of what was contained in the presentation circulated with the agenda pack. The Executive Member then asked the Committee whether they wanted to go through the full presentation or proceed directly to questions. Committee Members agreed that they had taken on board the information within the presentation and so were happy to move straight to questions.

 

Councillor Carter thanked the officers for the information provided within the presentation and noted that there was going to be a large increase of demand for electric vehicles. Councillor Carter spoke about the people who only had roadside parking at their property and asked what possible options there were for them. The Head of Highways, Transportation, and Greenspaces stated that there were limited options as there were issues around cutting into the pavement due to other cross channels underneath. The Executive Member for Climate Change and Transport Strategy added that people were already running cables from their house to their car and putting something over the top of the cable. The Executive Member expressed that there was a need to change behaviour around charging cars compared to filling them up in petrol stations. The Director of Highways, Transport, and Environment spoke to the Committee of the range of options the Council were looking at to try to find the best solution for residents. Councillor Carter asked for an update to be provided in twelve months’ time to the Committee on what the best solution would be.

 

Councillor Axford asked why people would use the Council supply rather than private and whether each house needed an access point rather than having shared access points for the street. The Director of Highways, Transport, and Environment spoke about how the switch to electric vehicles and charging presented an opportunity for Councils to generate income and if the Council provided charging in the correct way that was accessible for residents they would use it. One aspect of this was ensuring that as many people as possible were able to use the charging solutions the Council put in place. There were various connections available with each car model only able to use one. Transport for Greater Manchester were looking at this and would release guidance on what Councils should do.

 

The Chair recognised the issues faced especially on terrace housing areas where it was difficult for people to charge cars outside of their home. The Chair thought the idea of having shared charging points on a street was an idea worth pursuing, although it also raised issues. The Chair agreed with Councillor Carter’s points about asking officers to continue to review options and reporting back to the Committee in 12 months’ time.

 

Councillor Frass noted that roughly 60 sites had been listed and asked how the sites had been chosen and whether it was done against need or ease of installation. The Councillor also asked whether the lamppost model being used in London could be progressed in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

32.

COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 347 KB

To consider the work programme for the remainder of the municipal year.

Minutes:

Councillor Axford suggested that a task and finish group be formed to look at how to reduce car usage within the borough. The Governance Officer informed the Committee that there was not adequate officer capacity to support an additional task and finish group.  The Committee agreed the that the task and finish group to be formed and would be conducted by Members with Councillor Axford as the Chair of the group. Councillor Coggins expressed her interest in taking part in the group. The Committee agreed that an email be sent to all Councillors to ask if they wish to take part in the Task and Finish group.

 

RESOLVED:

1)    That a task and finish group be formed to look at reducing car usage within Trafford.

2)    That an email be sent to all Councillors asking if they wished to take part in the task and finish group.