To receive a verbal update from the Area Managers from Technical Services and Neighbourhood Services in attendance about any key recent, ongoing and/or future planned Local Services work for the attention of members of the Local Area Council, who will also then have the opportunity to raise issues with the Area Managers.
The Area Managers have principal responsibility for highway services and environmental services, such as refuse collection, street cleansing and grounds maintenance, within the geographic boundaries of the Local Area Council.
Minutes:
P Lowes, Neighbourhood Services Area Manager, provided an update as follows:-
Waste Services – residual and recycling were performing well other than strain due a shortage of HGV drivers, but services were continuing to be provided and recruitment for drivers ongoing. There was a high demand for bulky waste removal and there had been an increase of 400 new customers for garden waste removal, taking the total up to 6,800 paying customers this year.
Grass Cutting – seasonal workers had been recruited with cutting commencing at the end of March/beginning of April and it was now the third cut of the season. There had been some delay due to inclement weather and bank holidays but the team had recovered well.
Weed spraying – obstacle spraying had finished and hard surface spraying had commenced. Verge cutting would be commencing shortly with the schedule as previous and assistance by farmers provided. Visibility splays would be monitored and Members should report any issues.
Information in response to questions from Members was noted as follows:-
· Plans had been sent to Councillor Dodd regarding the proposals for the flashing 20mph signs to be provided from West Woodburn and new countdown markers and existing refreshed in Belsay. Mr Snowdown was happy to attend the Parish Council meetings with Councillor Dodd regarding proposals and any additional work which could be undertaken.
· Riverside Close in Ponteland, intend notices were being issued and after three weeks if no objections were received then the orders could be made.
· Legal clarification would be sought on the use of non-Northumberland parking discs in Council owned car parks allowing free parking for a prescribed time.
· There were no weed spraying trials this year and supplies for this year had been purchased at a good price last year. A report was currently being written regarding the trials and would be circulated in due course.
· The Highways Inspector would be asked to visit the vacant Co-operative building in Lynemouth to ascertain responsibility for weed management and a notice would be served to the owners should it be found to be their responsibility.
· It was not possible to provide a timescale regarding the Safer school initiative in Ellington, it was generally approximately three months, however the scheme was with the Design Team who unfortunately were experiencing some illness in the team.
· In respect of the schemes which Councillor Jones highlighted which were not showing up on her Members Schemes, Mr Snowdon advised that the Halton Shields was listed as an LTP Scheme and he would ascertain progress on the others.
· In respect of works with utility companies, the main legislation used in respect of works in the highway was the New Roads and Streetworks Act and specifically within Section 59 of this the Local authority was obligated to coordinate all works within the highway and Section 60 the utilities companies are obligated to work with Local Authorities to minimise disruption in the highway. There was a North East Highways and Utilities Committee (HUC) where all Local Authorities and utility companies came together regularly to discuss all the planned road openings. There was also a local HUC meeting which was where the finer details of the works would be discussed along with any impacts. The works in Morpeth would have gone through this process and would have been planned in detail in advance. The works had already been delayed for some time as it was known how big an impact it would have on the town centre, however it was a matter of health and safety and the Council had to be guided by the Gas Network. It would have been easier for the utility company to have a full closure of the road, however this would not have assisted the operation of the town centre and therefore a one-way system, which had previously been used, was agreed. Once work had commenced the utility company had realised that additional work would be required which they advised necessitated closing the whole road to which the Council had not agreed. The identified options were to close the whole road; pull off site and reschedule the closure for another time; pull off site to come up with a different solution. Through extensive discussions at local HUC meetings a solution was eventually agreed that they would continue with the one-way system for another 2.5 weeks in order to carry out the remaining works.
· The vast majority of scheduled roadworks/road closures should be notified by way of local communications and letter drops to affected residents/properties. All information on proposed roadworks could be found on One Network which could be accessed by all Councillors and identified all roadworks to be undertaken within the County. A filter could be used to identify roadworks in a particular Council Ward and information on how to do this would be circulated to all Members of Council so that they could then cascade information to their residents. More use of social media to publicise works would also help.
M King, Highways Delivery Area Manager, provided an update to Members which included the following information:-
· Restrictions surrounding Covid were starting to ease however some rules were continuing to be followed to protect front line operatives.
· Reactive maintenance - teams were continuing Category 1 works while continuing with the catch up from recent storms. Routine Inspections were ongoing, however there was a slight backlog. Reactive third party requests continued to rise higher than any other area. The backlog of works continued to be reduced and the introduction of a hotbox for the Castle Morpeth area should see a substantial reduction in the back log of approx. 700.
· Gully Maintenance - new vehicles had arrived in April and training was required for operatives before vehicle roll out.
· Drainage Works – a large amount of drainage works had been identified and a program of works issued and were ongoing. Works were still being identified from storm damage with several areas requiring clearing of debris which was a main cause of blockages. Works currently being programmed for post April start date with all works communicated prior to start date.
· Minor Patching Program – a list of completed works was provided and were included on the report which would be circulated to Members after the meeting. Details were also provided on footpath works and the future programme of patching works and the Local Transport Plan.
· Resources – 3 operatives had been appointed at various levels and 4 further posts were to be advertised this month.
In response to questions from Members the following information was noted:-
· The lead in time for the replacement of street furniture was 6 weeks, but works should not be taking months to complete. Highways Inspectors would be requested to be vigilant and report any delays in replacing furniture. Street lighting levels at the chicanes on the C403 would be investigated to see if this was having an impact on the number of accidents at that location, as it had also been suggested that glare from the sun was also causing issues.
· Information would be sought from the Design Team on the current position regarding the chicane Barrett had installed in Pegswood from the approach to Whorrel Bank.
· There was a standard process for filling potholes however unless the holes were cut and had straight edges there was nothing to prevent traffic forcing the repair out. Patching and repairs to strategic routes were prioritised and then rolled down the road hierarchy, with £2.3m identified for repairs on U and C class roads this year.
· Resurfacing and maintenance works were planned around Trittlington First School and the road safety works would be done at the same time.