Committee details

1.            Title

 

1.1         The Committee shall be known as the “Witney Traffic Advisory Committee”, hereinafter called the “Advisory Committee”.

 

2.            Administration

 

2.2         The administration of the Advisory Committee will normally be undertaken by the Town Clerk of Witney Town Council, or by their representative.

 

3.            Meetings of the Advisory Committee

 

3.1         Meetings of the Advisory Committee will normally be held four times a year, commencing at 2.30pm, on dates set by Witney Town Council in consultation with Oxfordshire County Council.

 

3.2         The venue of meetings shall be at the discretion of the Town Council as administrators in conjunction with the Chair of the Committee. As an Advisory Committee, virtual or hybrid meetings may be held as it falls outside the realms of the Local Government Act 1972.

 

3.3         The quorum of the Committee shall be five members.

 

3.4         No business other than that set out in the agenda published by the Town Clerk may be considered at a meeting of the Advisory Committee unless details have been notified to the Town Clerk prior to the start of the meeting, and the Chair has agreed to such matter being considered on the grounds of urgency.

 

4.            Public Access

 

4.1         Meetings of the Advisory Committee shall be open to the public and press, other than in exceptional circumstances, where the public and press may be excluded by resolution of the Advisory Committee on the grounds of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted.

 

4.2         Members of the public have the right to address the Advisory Committee for not more than five minutes, provided the statement is related to an item on the agenda or is within the jurisdiction of the Committee. It should be made clear to those attending the Committee has no powers to implement actions and may only advise relevant authorities on any issue.

 

4.3         Requests to address a meeting shall be given to the Town Clerk (or Town Council representative) before 12.30p.m. on the last working day preceding the meeting, and any such request shall be passed to the Chair, or to the Chair on the day of the meeting with the Committee’s approval.

 

5             Chair

 

5.1         The Chair shall be elected by the Advisory Committee at its annual meeting in September.

 

5.2         The Chair needs to be an elected member of one of the local authorities represented on the Advisory Committee.

 

5.3         In the event that the Chair is absent from a meeting of the Advisory Committee, a member of the Advisory Committee shall be elected to chair the meeting.

 

6.            Representatives

 

6.1         The Advisory Committee may include representatives from the following who shall be regarded as members of the Advisory Committee: -

 

               Representatives from:

 

               a)            Witney Town Council                                    3 – 4

               b)            West Oxfordshire District Council             1 – 2     

               c)            Oxfordshire County Council                        3 (+ Cabinet Member for Transport)

               d)           Witney Chamber of Commerce                  1

               e)            Thames Valley Police                                    1

 

Other organisations which have been invited to send a representative: -

 

2003      Stagecoach                                                      1

Local Taxis                                                       1

2009      Witney BUG                                                    1             Changed to Windrush Bike Project

2019      Witney Community Transport                    1

                              Volunteer Link Up                                          1             (Removed 21/03/23)

2021      Oxfordshire Association of Blind                1             (Not sending attendance from 2022)

                              Parish Transport Representative                               1             Independent of Town Council

 

6.2         Any other organisation represented on the Advisory Committee may, at the discretion of the Advisory Committee, have more than one representative.

 

7.            Officers

 

7.1         Officers representing (a) Witney Town Council (b) Oxfordshire County Council (c) West Oxfordshire District Council and (d) Thames Valley Police shall have a right to attend meetings of the Advisory Committee and speak in an advisory capacity.

 

8.            Terms of Reference

 

8.1         The Advisory Committee does not have executive powers but may consider any traffic related matter of concern either directly or indirectly to the Parish of Witney and may offer advice on such matters to Oxfordshire County Council, West Oxfordshire District Council, Witney Town Council, or to any other relevant organisation as may be appropriate.

 

8.2         The Advisory Committee has the right to run and administer a Community Speed watch scheme for Witney, assisted by Witney Town Council.

 

8.3         The following list is not exhaustive but is the type of matters which may be discussed by the Advisory Committee: -

 

               a)           Existing or proposed road systems or traffic management schemes

               b)           One-way systems

               c)            Traffic calming

               d)            Waiting restrictions

               e)            Traffic signalling, signing and road markings

               f)            Pedestrian crossings and school crossings

               g)            Footpaths

               h)            Street Lighting

               i)             On-street and off-street car parking

               j)             Road safety engineering

               k)            Transport-related consultations

               k)            Community Speed watch

 

The Committee may, if appropriate, may refer to environmental factors in relation to any of the above, such as Climate and biodiversity matters.

 

9.            Amendments to constitution and Terms of Reference

 

9.1         The Advisory Committee’s constitution and terms of reference may be amended at any time by resolution of the Advisory Committee.