Agenda and minutes

To receive and record apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Francis and Councillor Guest.

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Operations and Place Shaping Board held on 16 December 2019, 17 December 2019 and 28 January 2020.

The minutes of the previous meetings of the Operations and Place Shaping Board held on the 16 December 2019, 17 December 2019 and 28 January 2020 were agreed and signed as a correct record.

There were no matters arising.

To receive and record any declarations of Interests from members present in respect of any of the various matters on the agenda for this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest relating to items on the agenda.

To consider the call in of the decision made by the Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Lead for Planning, Regeneration and Communities relating to the Hayling Island Transport Assessment Addendum.

Additional Information:

Report

Appendix 1

Appendix B

Appendix C1

Appendix C2

Appendix 2

Appendix 3

The Chairman invited Councillor Keast to sit as a guest of the Board. His knowledge and experience of planning matters could help inform the Board and encourage discussion. She explained to Members that whilst he could speak and inform the debate he could not vote.

Following an outline of the process for the call-in meeting, and the possible outcomes, the Board received deputations from Mr Dave Parham and Professor Nick Hounsell. Mr Parham objected to the Hayling Island Transport Assessment Addendum on the grounds that:

a)    Hayling Island was a unique and vulnerable island and therefore should be treated as such;

b)    there was no way to determine the flow capacity of the single access road and therefore the resultant impact on the island of allowing more traffic to run through it;

c)    the proposed mitigation did not satisfy the requirements of the flood risk strategy and therefore did not allow for sustainable infrastructure.

Professor Nick Hounsell objected to the Hayling Island Transport Assessment Addendum on the grounds that:

i)             there were no alternative routes to and from the mainland on the island besides the single access bridge;

ii)            whilst the government guidelines for the traffic simulation model were for it to fall on the average normal term time day, Hayling Island’s situation was unique in that the Summer and weekend traffic was more significant to record;

iii)           a range of scenarios should be forecasted in order to get the most accurate data result, such as the effects of windfall, summer traffic and the best and worst outcomes measured up in order to justify the decision either way.

The Chairman invited Councillors Satchwell, Robinson, Scott and Thomas to present their reasons for the call in and the alternative action requested.

Councillors Satchwell and Thomas set out their reasons for the call-in. The main points raised in the call-in were:

·         the capacity of the single access road on and off Hayling Island was unknown and therefore the full impact of mitigation could not be known;

·         lack of clarity as to where funding for the mitigation packages would be found and how it would be achieved in time for implementation of each stage;

·         the yet to be determined viability of the Hayling Billy Line whilst being included as an area for potential mitigation could lend to further issues;

·         the data used for the mitigation packages coming from the 2011 Census which is close to becoming out-dated;

·         the microsimulation model did not include data from the Summer months at peak times when anecdotally traffic was at its worst, or projected data considering windfall developments;

·         areas concerned with flood management were included in the mitigation package when in reality they were areas at risk;

·         the decision had not yet been through a Scrutiny process beyond its formulation.

They requested that the Board refer the decision back to Cabinet.

In response to a question by the Board concerning their preferred amendments to the addendum, Councillor Satchwell explained that they had a belief in community involvement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54.

The meeting reconvened at 20:00

The Chairman opened the item by explaining the background behind the petition.

The Board discussed the nature of the petition, highlighting that it was not a conventional petition for the Council to accept as it had been submitted electronically and had not been supplied with a full list of signatories and their addresses for the Board to examine. It was noted however that the issue had garnered significant public interest therefore the Board unanimously agreed to accept the petition.

The Chairman invited Mr Mark Coates to speak with the Board and make representations on behalf of the Lead Petitioner.

Mr Coates gave a representation as Petitioner Representative. They felt the car parking charges were an additional tax on local people as it was primarily Borough residents who used these car parks in the Winter months. He felt there was a lack of infrastructure at the seafront car parks which was not representative of the cost of using the car parks. Local businesses had been negatively impacted by the increased cost of using the car parks and trade was significantly lowered. Many of the car parks suffered from issues with erosion and being consistently weather-beaten given their location, which was not reflective of the cost visitors had to pay. He also explained that not everyone on Hayling Island was mobile enough to get to the sea by other means, and that the council’s desire to maximise income was deterring visitors away from the beaches and from the borough altogether.

The Cabinet Lead for Neighbourhoods, Safety and Enforcement gave a response to the petition. She explained that the comments surrounding visitors not wanting to come back to the area due to the cost of the car parks was not backed up by the figures they held and that parking charges were implemented throughout the borough. She encouraged residents to visit the Eastern Solent Coastal Partnership webpages which contained information about the work taking place on Hayling Island and surrounding areas. The nature of the car parks meant the council did not have the luxury of laying down tarmac as an easy response to the infrastructure issues some held, but the Cabinet Lead wanted the Board to know the council was doing the best it could to respond to the issues.

In response to questions by the Board and Petitioner Representative, the Parking Team Leader explained that some of the car parks on Hayling Island cost more to maintain than others due to the dynamic surface they had. Natural England determined what materials could be used to repair the car parks as they are located on a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The West Beach Car Park, Central Car Park and Royal Car Park were SSSI car parks and therefore required more maintenance.

In response to a question by the Board about parking for disabled residents and tourists, the Traffic and Parking Manager explained that with a registered Blue Badge in their vehicle an individual could park  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

This item has been deferred for consideration in the new municipal year.