Agenda and minutes

There were none at this meeting.

A Member asked that a breakdown of the £5m extra funding (page 3) be detailed in the minutes.  Officers agreed to check if the information had been available at the meeting and include if appropriate.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Prosperous Staffordshire Select Committee held on 19 September 2018 be confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport

The Chairman welcomed Mr Ian Ashbolt, (President of the Staffordshire Parish Council’s Association) Mr Andrew McRea (Chief Executive of the Staffordshire Parish Council’s Association) and Parish Councillors Victor Kelly, Richard Painter, Tony Holmes, and Mike Allen who had all been invited to the Committee to contribute to the Freight Strategy debate.

The Committee considered the updated Staffordshire Freight Strategy which had been refreshed as a result of a scrutiny review which had taken place to look at the impact of heavy goods vehicles on Staffordshire’s roads.    The Strategy considered: both road and rail based freight activity; Local, Regional, National and International Freight Networks; the impact of freight; managing the impact of freight; and the action plan. 

The Strategy had an important part to play in delivering the Councils vision for a connected Staffordshire where everyone has the opportunity to prosper, be healthy and happy.  From a policy context, the strategy fits within the Staffordshire Local Transport Plan (LTP3) and government policy ‘Creating growth, cutting carbon: making sustainable local transport happen’.

Councillor Helen Fisher, Cabinet Member for Highways; Clive Thomson, Commissioner for Connected and Sustainable County; Darryl Eyers, Director for Economy, Infrastructure and Skills; and Nick Dawson,  Connectivity Strategy Manager attended the meeting to present the strategy and answer questions.

The Chief Executive of the Staffordshire Parish Council’s Association explained that the general view of his members was that although the Strategy was welcomed, it did not fit with the National Rail Strategy and also did not address local housing growth throughout the county. Other Parish Councillors present at the meeting felt that the Strategy did not explain how the strategy would improve the current situation; how it would mitigate the issues caused by the M6 or the A5; local roads were not designed for the levels of traffic currently experienced; and there was no mention of the West Midlands transport plan or other neighbouring conurbations.

A Member of the Committee asked if the emergency services had been consulted over the strategy so that their planned emergency routes could be incorporated.   Other neighbouring authorities Freight Strategies such as Shropshire and Cheshire’s also needed to be considered.  There was also little mention of Stoke on Trent in the strategy and yet it has the largest population and direct links to the M6 and A50.

A Committee Member stated that the M6 toll is widely used particularly for coaches and asked how we were planning for this increased activity long term.  The impact of traffic on the A50 when the M6 is closed was discussed.  It was felt that the A50 corridor and its ever-increasing volume of traffic was not mentioned in the document nor was the connection with HS2 developments and the proposed hub.  The HS2 hub may bring in more traffic and increase the demand for development sites. 

The issue of planning consent for industrial/commercial buildings/warehouses  without appropriate consideration of the local road network was sometimes an issue.  Members raised the issue of the relationship with local planning authorities and possible  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

The Select Committee received a copy of their Work Programme for 2018/19.

RESOLVED: That the Work Programme be agreed.