Resolved:  That all items on the agenda be web-cast.

There were no apologies.

There were no substitute Members.

It was noted that Councillors Chittenden and Mrs Joy were visiting Members who wished to speak on Agenda Item 8, ‘Road Safety Update’.

a)  Disclosures of interest.

b)  Disclosures of lobbying.

c)  Disclosures of whipping.

There were no disclosures.

Resolved:  That all items on the agenda be taken in public as proposed.

Resolved:   That the minutes of the meeting held on 24 November 2009 be agreed as a correct records and duly signed by the Chairman.

Interview with Steve Horton, Road Safety Team Leader, Kent County Council.

The Chairman welcomed Steve Horton, Kent County Council’s Road Safety Team Leader to the meeting and thanked him and his team for their help with the Committee’s report and its road safety event in August 2009.  The Committee received a presentation on road safety in Kent, attached at Appendix A.  This highlighted the causes of crashes, Maidstone’s road casualty profile in 2008 and Kent Highways Services (KHS) work to reduce the number of crashes in Maidstone. 

As part of the presentation Mr Horton advised the Committee of the following:

·  There were around 650 people Killed and Seriously Injured (KSI) as a result of crashes in Kent each year;

·  The KHS road safety team focuses on road user education, training and publicity and used KSI data  to inform its work across the county rather than concentrating on purely fatal crash data as this may have prevented larger issues being identified;

·  Crashes were statistically more likely to happen in Maidstone compared to other Kent districts as it had one of Kent’s highest populations and traffic flows.  It was not known why Canterbury had fewer crashes despite its population count, although road layouts were considered an attributing factor;

·  Heavy Goods Vehicle crashes were less of an issue in the Borough on non motorway and non trunk roads than those involving other users; and

·  Casualty data up to September 2009 indicated an increase in the number of motorcyclist crashes in the 25 plus age group compared to previous years.

In answer to a question Mr Horton explained that severe weather was not the cause of serious crashes as drivers tended to amend their driving style to reflect the weather conditions.  He asserted that where the driving style was amended, the severity of the crash was reduced.  Furthermore, Mr Horton felt that the number of KSIs may have been reduced during the periods of severe weather in December 2009 to January 2010 because the number of people on the roads was less, although data was not yet available.

In response to a question, Mr Horton advised Members that Kent Highways Services (KHS) had thought that there was a connection between the number of road traffic collision casualties in High Street Ward and the night time economy.  Further investigations had revealed that there was not an apparent connection between the night time economy and KSIs beyond the fact that there was increased traffic movement on the road.  The Committee requested to receive a 2 year breakdown of Maidstone’s crash data showing times of day and days of the week to inform its monitoring of Maidstone’s road safety.

A Member highlighted that the Kent Fire and Rescue Services had recently reported a continuation in the high concentration of Road Traffic Collisions in Maidstone and asked how Kent Highways Services (KHS) were working with Kent Fire and Rescue Services to address this.  Mr Horton advised that KHS coordinated its education and campaigns with its partners through the CaRe partnership (Casualty Reduction Partnership).  This prevented conflicting events and enabled  ...  view the full minutes text for item 88.

Interview with:

·  Sheila Davison, Environmental Health Manager; and

·  John Newington, Senior Pollution Officer.

The Chairman welcomed the Assistant Director of Environmental Services, Steve Goulette, the Environmental Health Manager, Sheila Davison and the Senior Pollution Officer, John Newington to the meeting to discuss the draft contaminated land strategy.

Mr Goulette outlined the main changes to the strategy including:

·  Revisions with regard to updated legislation and guidance;

·  Updated information regarding developments in spatial planning and conservation;

·  More details with regard to review and assessment;

·  Amendments to the prioritisation process;

·  Updated stakeholders list;

·  Inclusion of Scrutiny recommendations; and

·  The re-establishment of the working group.

Mrs Davison outlined that following a period of public consultation; a decision would be made by the Cabinet Member for Environment on implementing the draft strategy based on consultation responses.

In response to a question Mr Newington clarified that all suspected incidences of contamination within the Borough reported by the public or identified through environmental searches for public conveyance checks were investigated and dealt with appropriately.  The Council or the Environment Agency may be responsible for the remediation of contaminated public land, as detailed in the draft strategy.

The Committee thanked the witnesses for attending and congratulated them on their hard work in producing the strategy.

The Chairman noted that the Committee had previously resolved to review the contaminated land but that it was awaiting the outcome of the draft strategy.  The Committee agreed that the work undertaken by officers was extensive and agreed that a further review of contaminated land was not required.

Resolved:  That the Committee remove the contaminated land review from its work programme.

The Committee considered its future work programme and noted that it only had 3 meetings left in the municipal year.  Members considered possible items it could review following the removal of the contaminated land review item and agreed to consider an update on ‘Gypsy and Traveller Sites’ at its next meeting.  Members also considered reviewing transition towns, but felt that this would be a major review and agreed to add it as a work programme suggestion for the Committee in 2010/11.

A Councillor suggested a one-off review on junk mail as a number of residents had made complaints regarding the amount of unsolicited mailings and menus they had received.  The Committee considered the possible scope of the review, noting possible outcomes could include:

·  A ‘no junk mail’ sticker scheme endorsed by the Council and supported by local businesses; and or

·  Revisions to the Council’s website to include information about opportunities to reduce unsolicited mails, such as advertising the Mailing Preference Service. 

The Committee felt that it would be useful to interview business representatives, including; Town Centre Management and the Chamber of Commerce.  Members also suggested that it may be useful to interview a representative from the Post Office to discuss unaddressed mailings delivered by Postman.  A number of Members felt that given the economic climate it was not prudent to introduce a costly scheme, however the Committee felt a cost effective scheme could be introduced, such as a tear off sticker below existing recycling stickers distributed by the Council.  The Committee felt there was scope for a one off review and agreed to add it to its work programme.  Members agreed to collate any junk mail they received in the next two months to inform the Committee’s findings.

The Chairman updated the Committee on the progress of the Road Safety recommendations, noting that Cabinet would be formally responding to its recommendations at its meeting on 10 February.  A number of Parish Councils had responded, but Members were asked to also encourage their ward’s Parish Councils to respond.  Members were also advised that Councillor FitzGerald was presenting the road safety report to the Safer Maidstone Partnership on 4 March 2010.  The Committee was disappointed that it had not received a response to its recommendations to Kent County Council and agreed that the Chairman pursue this.

The Committee noted the sections of the Forward Plan of Key Decisions that were relevant to the Committee’s remit and agreed to maintain a watching brief.

Resolved  That:

a)  The topic of Transition Towns be recommended as a topic for review in 2010/11;

b)  A one off review of Junk Mail be undertaken;

c)  Members collate any junk mail they receive in the next two months;

d)  The Chairman pursue a response from Kent County Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Waste regarding its road safety recommendations; and

e)  The Forward Plan be noted.

6.30 pm to 8.30 pm.