Meeting Agenda:
Planning and Transport
| Meeting Date: | Monday 4 Apr 2022 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 19:30 |
| Councillors | Jon Aldridge Vice-Chairman, Angela Baker, Sarah Compton, Michael Gemmell Smith, Vic Jennings, Alan Layland Chairman, Nick Lloyd, Margot McArthur, Stuart McGregor, Angela Read, Stephen Sumner, Bob Todd. |
| Committee: | Planning and Transport |
| Venue: | Rickards Hall. 72a High Street Edenbridge, TN8 5AR Kent |
| Notes: | |
| Summary: |
Agenda
Minutes
Members of the District Council wish to state that although they will be considering planning applications at this meeting they would be reconsidering them at the district level, taking into account all relevant evidence and representations there.
Members of the District Council wish to state that although they will be considering planning applications at this meeting they would be reconsidering them at the district level, taking into account all relevant evidence and representations there.
Members of the public, and members with prejudicial interests on items on the Agenda, may make representations, answer, ask questions and give evidence at this meeting in respect of items on the Agenda. (This is the only opportunity for members of the public to make a contribution during the meeting.)
Both public and members are limited to three minutes per person to speak and the total time designated for public questions shall not exceed fifteen minutes unless directed by the Chairman of the meeting.
| 21/03474/FUL |
| 22/00672/HOUSE |
| 22/00760/HOUSE |
Creation of a zip wire.
| 22/00396/FUL |
Status: Refused
| 22/00081/HOUSE |
Status: Granted
| 22/00147/HOUSE |
Status: Granted
| 21/03235/FUL |
Status: Refused
| 22/00089/FUL |
The survey will remain open until 5pm on Monday 18 April 2022.
| Sevenoaks Social Housing Survey |
To note - a letter of objection has been sent by the Council.
Consultation Closes 20 April 2022.
| KCC Bus Funding Reduction |
The Community Warden made contact with the Environmental Health, and the retail units at the new retail area on Main Road. There was a positive response and procedures have been put in place by the retail units to help manage the issues.
A resident has written to highlight ongoing issues with Haxted Road and HGV vehicles saying:
- this road has become a rat run for heavy goods vehicles that generally appear to be going to the Edenbridge industrial estate;
- extremely large aggregate lorries and cement mixer vehicles;
- breaking down sides of the road creating hazardous driving in a car with these enormous vehicles taking up more than their quota of the road. Tandridge/Surrey Councils are not addressing these issues on its boundary
- Haxted Water Mill near the junction of Dwelly Lane is particularly narrow and the z bends towards Lingfield are a challenge.
The request is for improved signage to be erected to prevent/deter these vehicles coming from both the Waitrose turning down the Lingfield Road and also on the Lingfield Common Road/Haxted Road.
The Highways Improvement Plan has already identified Lingfield Road (3rd on the HIP). To review the speed limit on the section of Lingfield Road from Skeynes Road as it leaves Edenbridge. The derestricted (60 mph) limit is sandwiched between 30 mph at the Edenbridge end of Lingfield Road, and 40 mph at the Haxted end/Surrey border. Intervention:
- To reduce the speed
- Improved signage
- Review HGV restrictions
Do Members have any further comments for the HIP or other recommendation?
Resident letter has been circulated to members, raising concerns of damage top verges from large vehicles carrying out building works in the area. This letter was forwarded to SDC Planning.
To note: CIL funding has been awarded for the Main Road, Marlpit Hill 40 mph buffer zone and Ken t Highways are about to start the first step to take the proposal to public consultation.
Following the CIL Board support to award funding towards this highways safety improvement scheme, Kent Highways has confirmed the first step would to take the proposal out to public consultation. There would be an initial charge of £2,500 for this which includes site notices and an advert in addition to the full legal process associated with making a change in the highway orders. There may be an additional charge of £570 payable should the proposal receive 5 or more objections. This would be to cover the cost of producing a report to go to the Joint Transportation Board (JTB), who would then debate the proposal and make a recommendation on how to proceed.
In terms of timescales, it is likely to be at between 9-12 months from the start of the consultation to installation on site, this will be dependent on how many objections the proposals receive, and how promptly payment is made. No works will be undertaken by KCC until payment for the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) has been received. If the TRO is progressed, there may be requirement for additional signage and/or road markings and there will be additional costs for those parts. Kent Highways advise that a signed only speed limit would cost in the region of £5,000 however it can be more if additional charges are met. More accurate idea of costs will be known once the scheme has progressed to the detailed design stage.
The Town Clerk has confirmed to proceed, and awaiting an invoice for the first £2,500 to be sent to begin the Traffic Regulation Order process.
The Speed Indicator Device (SID) has been displayed at Mill Hill in November, December, and February. Cllrs Nick Lloyd and Jon Aldridge have viewed the data. It is important to note that this is not an official Highways data and is only indicative. Highways only considers its own data. Nevertheless, the SID does provide a useful tool to ascertain a view as to if there are issues or if perception. A summary of the data shows:
- Traffic volumes are just over 5,000 vehicles per weekday into town and a similar number going out of town with weekends quieter.
- Although there are morning and evening rush-hours the day in between is not that much quieter suggesting a lot of commercial traffic going through Edenbridge.
- Vehicles are faster going out of town (closing to the hospital entrance) than incoming.
- 32% of traffic going out and 24% of traffic coming into town is travelling at over 30mph. Traffic is quicker at the weekends (41% of outgoing traffic travelling at over 30mph).
- 85th Percentile speeds are 33.4mph outgoing and 32.8mph incoming. Highways would not consider this acceptable for a 30mph stretch of road but would act if this was over 35mph.
- Typically over 80 drivers a day were travelling at over 40mph, with the highest speed in both directions recorded at 65mph.
NB: Taken from the KCC website: The 85th percentile speed is defined as, “the speed at or below which 85 percent of all vehicles are observed to travel under free-flowing conditions past a monitored point.” Another way to consider this is the speed at which only 15% of traffic violate on average. If 85% of motorists are driving within the Police Approved speed limit tolerance, then speed reduction tools are unlikely to alleviate speed concerns to a perceptible degree. If 85% or more of motorists are exceeding the Police Approved speed limit tolerance and there is tangible evidence to support this, then it is reasonable that the carriageway in question may require investigation. It is also worth noting that whilst this is generally the case, there are of course other factors that could inhibit interventions, such as geometry of the carriageway, foliage, property boundaries, etc.
The SID is currently in Swan Lane.
25 March to 8 April 2022 Dangerous Pothole.
It means the number of flights the airport can handle each day has almost doubled, from 300 to 570.
Highways Report – Members to discuss whether this needs to continue to be an Agenda item.