Agenda and draft minutes

To note the following changes to the membership:

Councillor Ferguson has replaced Councillor Flux.

9 members (4:3:1 Ind Gp, 1 LD)

Quorum – 3

Chair: R. Dodd

Vice Chair: Vacant

To note the following changes to the membership:

Councillor Ferguson had replaced Councillor Flux as a member of the Committee.

Apologies for absence were received from R Murfin and P Jones and Councillors Scott and Taylor.

Minutes of the meeting of the Petitions Committee, held on 26 January 2023, as circulated, to be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Minute No 7.1

Petition Against On-Going Planning Issues of Pedestrian Safety and Access to Local Services at Arcot Manor/The Fairways, Cramlington

Clarification was sought regarding reference to Cramlington Town Council in the third bullet point on page three of the minutes.  This referred to the flashing speed signs installed by the Town Council which were supposed to be relocated every 3 or 6 months.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Petitions Committee held on Wednesday, 26 January 2023, as circulated, be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

To acknowledge the petition received regarding proposals to reduce days at Prudhoe Household Waste Recycling Centre and to agree the Council’s response.

The Petitions Committee acknowledged receipt of a petition received regarding proposals to reduce days at Prudhoe Household Waste Recycling Centre and to agree the Council’s response.  (A copy of the papers were enclosed with the signed minutes).

Paddy O’Kelly, the lead petitioner, addressed the Committee and made the following comments:

·        He had been recently elected to Prudhoe Town Council as the Councillor for West Wylam where the Recycling Centre was situated.

·        When a similar decision had been made to reduce opening hours at other sites in 2016, there had been extensive consultation with local community groups and parish councils.  He queried why there had been no such consultation this time with Prudhoe groups.

·        Many residents had complained to him about the proposed closure when he had been campaigning.  A petition had been a legitimate way for people to express their opposition.  It had received over 1100 signatures.

·        The Northeast has the second highest incidence of fly-tipping in England – 26.5 incidents per 1,000 people in 2021/22 (gov.uk).  Whilst people shouldn’t fly tip, they should be given less reasons to fly tip, not more.  In 2020, Councillor Sanderson had been quoted as saying “almost all the waste fly tipped in our county could legitimately be taken to one of our 12 Household Waste Recovery Centres and disposed of free of charge.”  The proposed closure made that less likely when more should be done.

·        The County Council had claimed that partial closures of other sites in 2016 had not increased fly tipping.  However, there had been 2,000 fly tips in 2015/16 with 5,000 fly tips by 2019/20.

·        The proposed closure could potentially lead to a reduction in recycling when we needed to recycle more, not less.  The county has a poor record of recycling, ranking one of the worst in England according to a survey in 2020.

·        Figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs showed that recycling in Northumberland had fallen from 36% to 32% between 2019/20 to 2021/22.  Comments suggested that this may partially be due to the disruption of services during the pandemic.  The latter validated their point that the disruption of services led to falls in recycling.

·        Lower traffic was cited between Tuesday to Thursday.  Whilst Tuesday and Wednesday were quieter days, the difference was marginal and Thursday was busier than average.  40% of traffic to the centre currently occurred between Tuesday and Thursday.

·        If the closure went ahead, there would inevitably be 40% more traffic on weekends, more disturbance and pollution for residents from queueing traffic, particularly on Broomhouse Road.

·        A sign about the closure indicated the next nearest facilities were in Hexham, a 26 mile return journey, or Blyth (44 miles) or Ashington (52 miles).  Reference was made to the Council’s climate pledge “The council is committed to tackling climate change.  Transport is the single biggest contributor of carbon emissions in Northumberland.  We need to change the way we travel by taking shorter journeys.”  Proposing unnecessary trips was irresponsible and sending the wrong message  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12a

To update the committee on developments since the original petition was discussed at the 26 January 2022 meeting.?

The Petitions Committee received an update on developments since the original petition was discussed at the meeting on 26 January 2022.  (A copy of the report is enclosed with the signed minutes).

Andrew Clayton, the lead petitioner explained that the petition concerned the safety of the Military Road, B6318 and the impact on residents who lived alongside it.  He thanked the Petitions Committee for the feedback and commented that the report provided a thorough summary of the safety concerns and highlighting priorities.  However, it did not take into account the human aspect of living next to the road.  Of the four actions identified at the previous meeting, he commented on the following:

a)      Further speed surveys be undertaken at the locations highlighted to identify traffic speeds.  Results were awaited for Harlow Hill.

b)      Consideration also be given to strengthening existing advisory signage for HGVs to try to further encourage use of the A68 / A69 for through HGV traffic.  Further dialogue be held with main haulage users in the area to encourage use of the A68 / A69 route.  He queried whether there had been any dialogue with operators as the same level of HGVs were using the road.

He reported that there were now 20 dwellings within Harlow Hill and in compliance with Department of Transport Circular 01-2013, he believed the speed limit should be reduced from 40mph to 30mph.  This would resolve the confusing signage on the Eastbound entrance to Harlow Hill with a 30mph curve sign and 40mph speed limit.

As there hadn’t been any drop in traffic, he queried whether the planning permission for West Barrasford Quarry and Swinburn Quarry could be looked at.  He referred to Policy TRA2 which suggested that adverse impacts on communities and the environment, including noise and air quality, be minimised.  He also supported a suggestion within the report for a legal agreement with hauliers to use another route or use of the planning system.

Neil Snowdon, Principal Programme Officer (Highways Improvement) confirmed that speed survey data had been completed for Harlow Hill in November 2022 and agreed to send this to the lead petitioner.  He provided a brief summary:

·        The average speed recorded for eastbound traffic was 35.7 mph.  The 85th percentile was 40.5 mph.

·        The average speed recorded for westbound traffic was 33.8 mph.  The 85th percentile was 38.9 mph.

·        Based on the above data, vehicles were observing the 40mph speed limit with no criteria for enforcement action.

·        Councillor Veronica Jones had agreed to fund a vehicle activated sign (VAS), but the process to obtain scheduled monument consent was lengthy.  These signs also collected data which would enable the speeds of vehicles the road to be monitored.

·        He had been unable to access a sound clip that had been emailed and requested that it be resent to enable him to forward it to Environmental Health for investigation.

·        Signage would be reviewed when that section of the B6318 was considered.

·        The issue raised regarding West Barrasford Quarry and Swinburn Quarry  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12b

To receive a verbal update from a Senior Planning Officer on the above petition which was considered at meetings of the Petitions Committee on 27 October 2022 and 26 January 2023.

The Petitions Committee received an update on the petition received from residents of Arcot Manor/The Fairways in respect of on-going planning issues.  (A copy of the presentation is enclosed with the signed minutes).

Elizabeth Sinnamon, Development Services Manager shared PowerPoint slides to demonstrate the masterplan for the southwest sector site in Cramlington under planning application reference 15/00901/OUTES which was granted outline consent for approximately 1,600 units in 2015.  Various reserved matters applications had been received in the intervening period.

The lead petitioner resided in phase 1 of the development.  It was situated on the far left and had consent for 476 units with approximately 324 units built to date.  Building had also commenced in another area by Barratt Homes and Keepmoat Homes.  The Masterplan required that on occupation of the 800th dwelling, there would be a link road from the bottom of the Arcot Manor site east through the Barratt Homes site into Cramlington town centre.

Currently residents of Arcot Manor were in a landlocked site.  The footways would be delivered in time in accordance with the planning consent.  Unfortunately, the trigger for delivering the access road and pedestrian footway was some distance away with between 300-400 houses being occupied at present.

Exploratory works had commenced to bring forward a footpath on land owned by the Council.  However, this path required careful planning to ensure that land identified for other uses would be developable in the future.

Photographs had been taken of the aforementioned land on recent site visits to demonstrate the site topography which were mid construction, very uneven and awaited installation of flood attenuation features.  The land was holding water with a bund of earth on part of the site.  For the path to provide a meaningful link, significant engineering operations would be required to construct a footpath and may also require planning consent.  At the appropriate stage, consultations would be held with residents on the type of temporary footpath proposed.

From a planning perspective, the development was being built in accordance with the planning consent with the footways to be delivered at some point in the future.  Officers were working to scope out a broader short-term plan with colleagues in Property, Local Services and Highways to assess whether there were viable options to bring a suitable footpath in the short term to enable the residents of Arcot Manor to travel east into Cramlington.  They were also liaising with the developers, Persimmon and Barratt Homes who were in the process of building on the site.

The following comments were made by members:

·        Discussions were taking place regarding the proposed football pitches and whether the funds could be used to improve current pitches elsewhere in the town.

·        Residents had suggested a temporary footpath to the rear of Azure Garden Centre to link to the Beacon Hill local shop.  Whilst a planning application had been received in respect of that site, only a small strip of land would be required.  The area was grassed and in better condition than the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13a

The date of the next meeting is due to be agreed at the Annual Meeting of the County Council on 17 May 2023 and is likely to take place in July 2023.  Details will be circulated when the date has been confirmed.

The date of the next meeting would be confirmed at the Annual Meeting of Council on 17 May 2023.