Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Deputy Brian Harris and the Reverend Dr Martin Dudley.

 There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 13 July 2015.

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the meeting held on 13 July 2015 be approved.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment which set out the planned public consultation exercise for a revised and expanded Fleet Street Area Enhancement Strategy.

The Sub Committee discussed the importance of redressing the balance in favour of pedestrians, modelled on the recent enhancements to Cheapside.

Members acknowledged that the area offered inefficient pedestrian, cycling and bus infrastructure to meet the needs of the City of London and were informed that Officers were working with organisations including Transport for London (TfL) to identify improvements in these areas.

RESOLVED – That,

    a)        an additional resource of £56,350 be approved to carry out the consultation and finalise the strategy document, to be funded from the Section 106 agreement connected to 30 Old Bailey / 60 Ludgate Hill;

    b)        approval be given for the public consultation on the Fleet Street Area Enhancement Strategy to take place in winter 2015; and

    c)        authority be delegated to the Director of the Built Environment to finalise the details of the relevant consultation materials in liaison with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Streets and Walkways Sub-Committee.

The Sub Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment regarding the Section 278 Highway Changes at the Bloomberg Development.

Members discussed matters relating the road safety and the significant cluster of accidents involving vulnerable road users along Cannon Street.  Members noted that the proposal at Cannon Street intended to introduce improvements similar to that delivered at Cheapside to address the road safety issue and enhance the street environment concurrently. 

The Sub Committee congratulated Officers on an excellent report.

RESOLVED – That

a)     the proposed highway changes shown in Appendices 2a and 2b to be progressed to detail design;

b)    an increase in budget of £452,000 to complete detail design as shown in Appendix 5 including a risk allowance to manage the impact of utilities on the project programme be approved;

c)    authority be delegated for any adjustments between elements of the £452,000 required budget to the Director of the Built Environment in conjunction with the Chamberlain’s Head of Finance provided the total approved budget of £452,000 is not exceeded;

d)    the next Gateway be dependent on funding sources sought  and / or secured as follows:

-       If “Parking Reserve Fund” and / or “CIL – Neighbourhood / Unallocated” funding is sought, then the project will progress to Gateway 4a as approval from the Corporate Priorities Board and the Resource Allocation Sub Committee would be required;

-       If “CIL - Department of Built Environment” and / or “voluntary contribution from developer” funding is secured then the project can progress to Gateway 4b as approval of the Court of Common Council is required for projects over £5 million in value. 

e)    implementation of elements of the proposal currently awaiting funding - being (a) the southern side of Cannon Street, and (b) Bucklersbury and the northern end of Walbrook

The Sub Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment regarding the street lighting replacement project.

RESOLVED – That the reallocation of the project’s remaining funds to cover staff costs in order to reach Gateway 3/4 be approved. 

The Sub Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment which consolidates the outcome reports for eight environmental enhancement projects that had been completed in the past 18 months.

RESOLVED – That the recommendations contained in the individual reports be approved.

Report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor.

The Sub Committee received a report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor regarding the Thames Tideway Tunnel development at Blackfriars foreshore.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

Parking restrictions on Cloth Fair – Members were informed that guidance regarding this would be distributed in due course.

There were no items of urgent business.

MOTION – That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act as follows:-

RESOLVED: That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Director of the Built Environment regarding Skateboarding at St Paul’s Churchyard.

Report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor.

The Sub Committee received a report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor regarding the land disposal at Victoria Embankment/Blackfriars Bridge foreshore.

There were no questions.

There were no items of urgent business.