Agenda and minutes

To receive and consider apologies for absence.

Apologies for their absence were received from Cllrs King and Fenton and the Town Clerk.

The Committee adjourned for Mrs Diana Power to address the Committee on issues she had encountered in Welch Way cul de sac, after which the Committee reconvened.

·         Letter from North Leigh Resident Concerning Welch Way

This item was moved up the agenda with the express permission of the Chair so that the public present could listen to the discussion.

RECOMMENDED:

1.            that the Committee asks WODC to increase enforcement of the double yellow lines outside the shops that include Costs, Greggs, The Works etc;

2.            that Highways should undertake a site visit, preferably with Maria Wheatly from WODC and that her help would be appreciated with identifying land ownership in the area;

3.            that the Chair would speak to the CCG and the medical practice about the issue raised by the member of the public.

a)        To adopt and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2019

b)      Matters arising from the minutes.

The Committee received and considered the minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2019.

Matters Arising

The Chair referred to minute 721 b) and asked if there was an update on the speedbumps at The Leys.  Cllr Ashbourne replied that it was going to the Town Council’s Stronger Communities Committee.  The Chair then recalled that there was in fact a site meeting on 22^nd January.

RESOLVED:

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2019 were agreed as a correct record and

signed by the Chair with the following amendments:

That Trevor Bayliss and Andrew Lyons be added to the list of attendees

Minute 726, sentence 2: “by bringing in emission free buses” is deleted and replaced by “and the fleet had gone from Euro 5 to Euro 6”.

To review the current action plan

The Committee received and considered the action plan from the last meeting and revised this where required.  This is attached to the minutes.

To review the Committee Constitution and Terms of Reference – and consider a request from the Volunteer Link-Up to be represented.

The Committee reviewed the Constitution, Terms of Reference and frequency of meetings.

It was agreed to add Volunteer Link Up as an organisation which could send a representative.  Cllr Ashbourne explained that she in fact filled that role as she was the Town Council’s elected representative for Volunteer Link up.  It was agreed to stay with 4 meetings per year, plus task and finish groups – these would not have officers’ involvement. 

RESOLVED:

1.            that the Committee continues to have 4 meetings per year with additional “Task and Finish” groups to tackle specific issues – these would not require officer attendance;

2.            that Volunteer Link Up be given a place on the Committee, with Cllr Ashbourne currently acting as their representative;

3.            that the Committee constitution and terms of reference be approved.

To receive and consider a consultation from Oxfordshire County Council

The Committee discussed this proposal and John Croxton explained that from his viewpoint, this may not be appropriate depending on the road’s speed profile.  The road should be designed to the speed that was desirable rather than just enforcing a speed limit on what might be a fast stretch of road.  Whilst members were in favour of lowering speed limits, this did give some cause for further discussion.

RESOLVED:         that the following comment be sent as a response to the consultation: -

Whilst the Witney Traffic Advisory Committee is supportive of reducing speeds overall, it is not confident that the proposed layout on the A415 supports the proposed reduction to 30mph.  The Committee would be interested to have further discussions with the developers of the Eastnor House site and Oxfordshire County Council Highways.

This is a standing item on the agenda to discuss how the Committee might support the Town Council, which has declared a Climate Emergency.

There had been no feedback from the Town Council’s Climate and Biodiversity Sub Committee but Cllr Aitman, who was a member agreed to raise the offer of assistance from the Witney Traffic Advisory Group at the next meeting. 

The Chair proposed that a Task and Finish Group could look at a car free play street to feed into the Climate Emergency.

RESOLVED:          that the Climate & Biodiversity Sub Committee be encourage to feed any relevant issues through to the Traffic Advisory Committee and that a Task and Finish Group be convened to identify places in Witney to close streets for a Street Play Day.  The Chair, and Cllrs Coles and Gwatkin would liaise with Thames Valley Police on this matter.

To receive and consider a verbal update from the Chair.

The Chair explained that there was currently remedial work happening on Corn Street

RESOLVED:          that the update be noted.

To receive and consider a verbal report from the Chair – and any representations from residents.

Mike Wasley confirmed that funding had been found, and another traffic survey was needed to check on the mean speed for a zebra crossing which was 34mph.

RESOLVED:          that the update be noted.

To receive and consider correspondence from OCC’s Localities  Committee

The Committee received and considered the most recent  minutes of the County Council’s Localities Committee.

RESOLVED:          that the update be noted.

To receive and consider the report of the Principal Officer – Traffic Schemes  Area Operations (North) – to follow

The Committee received and considered the report of the Principle Officer (Traffic Schemes Area Operations (North)), providing updates on the Highways works.

RESOLVED:          that the report be noted.

1.            Newland Bus Stop

Officers from the Town Council raised a complaint by a resident who had contacted the Town Council about difficulties using the Newland Bus Stop with a wheelchair due to there not being a bus stop to pull into.  If there was a bus stop the kerb was also too low to be DDA compliant.  Mike Wasley had seen e-mails about this but it was a complex issue to solve.  If funding became available something might be able to be done.

2.            Community Speedwatch

The Chair had spoken to Inspector Hookham about this and a group of people was needed to do it, ideally overseen by the Town Council.  The cost would be £2, 000 - £8, 000.  She advised that it may need to wait until the new financial year for her to be able to access funding.

Another member asked if they could start signing people up, and the Chair replied that she could not see why not.  She would continue to liaise with Inspector Hookham.  Cllr Coles and Gwatkin volunteered to be on the Task and Finish group for this.

3.            Accident Data

Cllr Coles asked if it would be possible to have the accident data for the town.  Mike Wasley said that Anthony Kirkwood would be the person to contact at the County Council.  Kevin Hickman commented that all the crash data was available at Crash Map on line, although it was about a year behind.  It was the same data.

4.            Task and Finish Group

The Chair proposed that another subject for the Task and Finish Group could be cycle networks.

To consider future items for consideration – per minute 727 – 24 September 2019.

The Chair commented that this had been covered by other items in the meeting.

The next meeting is scheduled to be held on 17 March 2020.

To agree dates of future meetings, suggested as:             

·        2 June 2020,

·        22 September 2020,

·        12 January 2021

The date of the next meeting was 17 March 2020.