Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chair for the municipal year.

Cllr Laura Price was proposed and seconded to contune as Chair.  Members were in favour.

RESOLVED:          that Cllr Laura Price be elected Chair until September 2021.

To receive and consider apologies for absence.

Apologies for their absence were received from County Cllrs Bartington and Constance, District Cllr Toby Morris and John Croxton from Thames Valley Police.

Members of the public are welcome to attend the meeting.  Any member of the public who so wishes may speak, at this point in the meeting, for a maximum of five minutes on any matter relating to an item on the agenda.

There were no members of the public present for this item.

a) To adopt and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 14 January 2020 and the notes of the special meeting held on 5 June 2020.

b) Matters Arising from the Minutes

The Committee received and considered the minutes of the meeting held on 14 January and the notes of the special meeting held on 5 June 2020.

Cllr Enright said that he had sent apologies for the special meeting.

RESOLVED:          that the minutes of the meeting held on 14 January 2020 and the notes of the special meeting held on 5 June 2020 be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair

To receive and consider the 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.

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

This was a standing item for the agenda.  Members discussed Oxfordshire County Council’s bid for the Department for Transport's Active Travel Emergency Fund.  The Council’s bid was more that the amount that could be applied for and until the result was known, there was nothing that could be pushed on with.  This included the East/West cycle link.

A member commented that in terms of the proposed Park and Ride at Eynsham she hoped that buses would be running to Witney as well as to Oxford.  Trevor Bayliss replied that initially it was planned for the S2 to run through the park and ride but the timetable would need to be looked at.

Cllr Fenton reported that he and other councillors were still pushing the District Council on electric vehicle charging points.

Cllr Coles wondered how pollution issues could be added into the committee.  These were not getting better and it was probable that that members needed to “knock heads together” at the District and County Council levels as it was not being addressed.

Members suggested that a letter should be sent to both Council’s asking them to install real time pollution monitoring systems.  The Chair offered to draft this letter and then feed it back via the Town Hall. 

A member queried as to what had happened to the idea of school streets.  The Chair explained that none of the schools had confirmed that they wanted to take part.  There would be work needed if funding was received.

The same member asked about the barriers in the high street and whether they could be replaced with planters.  The Chair replied that it was unclear how long the current restrictions would last.

Trevor Bayliss of Stagecoach raise the issue of the difficulties experienced by bus drivers turning left out of Corn Street.  Ideally, they needed the space to be completely clear rather than having signage there.  The Chair wondered if the signage could be moved to the are after the bus stops.

The Chair pointed out that there were now issues with Church Green due to The Angel’s outside seating with people trying to leave the area on the entry side.

A member said that it was difficult for bus drivers to go down High Street now that disabled parking had been moved to outside the Co-Op.

Members continued to discuss the pros and cons of the Active Travel measures in the High Street.

RECOMENDED: that the Town Clerk writes to Giles Hughes and copies in Frank Wilson advising that the Traffic Advisory Committee was supportive of the measures for pedestrians and cyclists in the High Street, but the Committee would like the District Council to liaise with the County Council Highways on making Church Green safer and enabling buses to make the left turn out of Corn Street onto High Street safely. 

Cllr Price would write to the District and County Councils asking them to install real time pollution monitoring systems.

To receive and consider correspondence from OCC’s Localities Committee.

Members were pleased to see the information exchange between the County Localities Committee and the Traffic Advisory Committee continuing.

RECOMMENDED:             that the update be noted.

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

The Committee received and considered the report of the Principle Officer – Traffic Schemes Area Operations North.  The zebra crossing at Station Lane was going ahead.  Cllr Fenton said that Odele Parsons had said that there would be an underspend and he had asked if this could go towards a crossing on Ducklington Lane.  Mike Wasley said that a lot depended on what the section 106 agreement said.  The Chair asked if Mike Wasley could get some details of a timetable from Odele Parsons. 

Kevin Hickman asked if there was a cycle route to the new Lidl store.

Cllr Aitman left at 3.30pm.

Cllr Enright replied that he thought there was an active travel plan for Lidl and he would forward this to committee members.  Mike Wasley agreed to see what he could find out.

A member asked if there was a date for the completion of Park Road resurfacing.  The Chair replied that there was not but it was on the list for the next financial year.  She had flagged it as high priority.

RECOMMENDED:             that the report be noted.

·         Dangerous Pedestrian Crossing at Deer Park Road

·         Witan Way Crossing

·         McDonalds and Lidl Entrance

The Committee received and considered the items submitted to the Town Clerk.

Dangerous Crossing at Deer Park

Cllr King asked if another set of traffic lights could be afforded.  There were a lot of people crossing the road and he thought the crossing needed moving to the Deer Park side.

Kevin Hickman added that there should have been a crossing that met up with the cycle lane coming out of Deer Park and the bridleway but this was not in the planning conditions.

Members recalled the section 106 agreement taking a long time and it was possible that this could have been included.  Mike Wasley advised that a puffin crossing would cost in the region of £60, 000 - £80, 000. 

Andrew Lyons left the meeting at 3.45pm.

Cllr Fenton said that he would have a look to see if there was any S106 money.

RECOMMENDED:             that the items be noted and:-

1.            that Mike Wasley be asked to ask Odele Parsons at OCC to look into the dangerous crossing at Deer park issue and to see If any funding could be identified and that Kevin Hickman looks into this and writes a report from a layperson’s viewpoint;

Cllr Fenton left the meeting at 3.50pm.

2.            that the Democratic Services Officer goes back to the resident and explains that site visits had been done and signage had been increased – and also to guide the resident towards the East Witney Area Development plan as there may be the possibility of a crossing included in this;

3.            that as Lidl is now leaving the site, the traffic situation should ease as there is a condition on the Lidl Unit meaning that it cannot be used for high traffic retail.

The dates of the next meetings are 12^th January 2021 and 23^rd March 2021.

The Committee noted the dates of the next meetings.