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.

The Chief Executive informed the Committee that questions had been received. In the interests of time the Deputy Monitoring Officer summarised each question but assured the committee that the full versions of the questions and answers would be recorded in the minutes and the questioners would receive the full responses in writing.

The Head of Legal and Governance read out questions which had been received from Mr Chris Boyes, a member of the public, and the Head of Legal and Governance provided responses at the meeting which would be provided in writing to the member of the public and captured below.

Question 1 – “With regard Agenda Item 6 in relation to The Music Service and The Claremont Centre and in particular paragraphs 2.7 and 3.3 of the report, please could the appropriate Executive Member give an indication of actual timescale in this instance associated with each of the terminologies short, medium and long term.”

The Executive Member for Economy and Regeneration responded “We would only invest in the building if Trafford Music Service remained in situ for a period of 5 years. This is the short medium term horizon. We would then look at a long term solution beyond this which would be subject to a business case of funding.”

Question 2 – “With reference to page 24 of the agenda pack and the first bullet point 4.5 “Please could you advise the date, time, invitees and attendance of the Ward Member briefing.”

The Executive Member for Economy and Regeneration responded “On 16 September 2022 we held a Ward Member briefing in person at Trafford Town Hall, 20 April 2023 we held an online session with Ward Members and 12 September 2023 an on line Briefing.”

Question 3 – “With reference to page 94 of the agenda pack the first paragraph makes reference to a thriving urban centre, please could an explanation be given as to what can be described as an urban centre of a village”.

The Executive member for Economy and Regeneration responded “A design centre within an urban area providing a range of commercial and community uses to meet local residents day to day needs.”

Question 4 – “With reference to key stakeholders engagements “Please could you give specific details of the consultation with The Friends of Moor Nook Park”.

The Executive Member for Economy and Regeneration responded “Please could you give specific details of the invitation to the public consultation event issue to key stakeholders including The Friends of Moor Park both at the time of the original process and again in January 2023.”

Question 5 – With reference to page 134 of the agenda pack, with regard to the following points –

(i)             On street parking located to accommodate bi-directional cycle lane. Better signage of village car parks to encourage use.

(ii)            On street parking throughout the village to remain at the same level, with more parking in the ‘heart’ of the village for businesses.

“Please could a clear explanation be given as to why these two statements are not contradictory”

The Executive Member for Economy and Regeneration responded “The intention is to ensure that the overarching parking level is not reduced within the centre as a whole. What is shown on the Strategy is one way by which this could be achieved whilst providing for the new layout but as is set out in the plan itself a detailed design process is required to understand junction capacity and design parking implications and wider road safety matters.”

Question 6 – relates to page 138 of the agenda pack “with refence to the noted circle of potential junction congestion adjacent to the JW Church building, has consideration been given to this being in the form of a roundabout and if so why not ?

The executive Member for Economy and Regeneration responded “Full consideration will be given to all options when drawing up the detailed design strategy for the redesign of the gyratory if that was deemed practical, deliverable and funding was available. If a roundabout was considered to be a suitable solution for this part of the highways network taking into account safety and wider design matters this could be included as part of the final design option.”

Question 7 – “Please could there be a comment as to whether consideration has been given to the installation of a light controlled pedestrian crossing at the junction of Northenden Road/ Hampson Street, far better to control the flow of traffic than at present with a simple zebra crossing.”

The Executive Member for Economy and Regeneration responded “Full consideration will be given to all options when drawing up the detailed design strategy.”

Question 8 – “Given that Trafford Council and Amey did not consult the Council’s records of the original implementation of the gyratory system and the reasons for it, please could the Executive Member confirm whether or not they, Nexus, have now done so in relation to the preparation of the latest iteration of the plan.”

The Executive Member for Economy and Regeneration responded “See my previous answers given regarding the wider issue on the gyratory, Nexus has built on the work already undertaken by Trafford Council and Amey in respect of the redesign of the gyratory with Sale Moor and understanding of the reasoning behind its original implementation and how it functions today as all being part of the process in developing the strategy.”

Question 9 – “Please could you advise whether Nexus have eventually carried out a Traffic Survey to determine the number of users of the Vehicular journeys through the various routes to, from and most particularly through Sale Moor and assuming that they have please could the results be published.

The Executive Member responded “Traffic surveys were not undertaken since any traffic and pedestrian surveys would be undertaken as part of any detailed design works if elements of the plan were delivered subject to securing external funding.

Question 10 – referring to page 135 of the agenda pack “With reference to the Plan, and the enhanced crossing on Marsland Road close to its junction with Conway Road, from the Traffic Survey, what are the anticipated combined numbers of vehicles, eastbound and westbound that will pass through this crossing at the busiest times of the day, school run / rush hours etc. If no Traffic Survey has yet been completed what are the estimated numbers ?

The Executive Member for Economy and Regeneration responded “Any traffic and pedestrian surveys would be undertaken as part of further stages on being able to deliver elements of the plan which would be subject to securing external funding i.e. as part of the detailed design stages.”