Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Alderman Alison Gowman.

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 14 October 2013.

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the meeting held on 14 October 2013 be approved.

MATTERS ARISING –

Ludgate Hill – Members noted that funding had not yet been secured, however a funding announcement on the Fleet Street / Ludgate Hill corridor was expected in December, therefore an update would be provided once more information had been obtained.  Should the Corporation be successful in obtaining funding, it was anticipated that the St Paul’s crossing trial would take place in 2014/2015.

Aldgate Highway Changes and Public Realm Improvement Project – Members were informed that a further report containing proposals for the payment span for maintenance of the project would be brought to this Sub Committee in the Spring next year.

Following publication of the agenda, please note that this report has been withdrawn.

This report had been withdrawn to allow further analysis of the consultation responses.

A report of the Director of the Built Environment was considered relative to Phase 1 of 72 Fore Street (Moorgate Exchange).

During discussion, reference was made to –

·       Members noted that the kerb lines will remain as existing, however, dropped kerbs would be added at Fore Street/Fore Street Avenue junction to improve accessibility and this would be part of the detailed design stage.  The Assistant Director agreed to update the Phase 1 Works Plan on page 11 of the report to show the dropped kerbs.

·       Further to a question, the Sub Committee was informed that where there was a clear road safety benefit, a granite surface would be usedat the east and west entrances to the site where vehicles cross the footway

RESOLVED – That,

i)                 Phase 1 of the project be approved at a maximum cost of £86,000 as funded by the 72 Fore Street S106 agreement; and

ii)               Authority to start work be granted to deliver Phase 1 of the project.

A report of the Director of the Built Environment was considered relative to 5 Broadgate.

Following a brief discussion the sub-committee requested that consideration be given to seeking a longer period of funding from Section 106/278 arrangement(s), perhaps as long as 20 years, for the maintenance of street scene features.

RESOLVED – That,

i)       the design as detailed in the main body of the report and in Appendix 1be approved;

ii)      the budget and associated tolerances as set out in the main body of the report be approved;

iii)    the commencement of the project in line with the outline programme as detailed in section 15 of this report be approved;

iv)    the Director of the Built Environment be authorised to agree arrangements for the land shown in Appendix 3 to be dedicated and accepted as public highway and to instruct the Comptroller & City Solicitor to complete any necessary deeds; and

v)     The Director of the Built Environment be requested to seek from the developer a longer period of funding from Section 106/278 arrangement(s) for the maintenance of street scene features.

Cycling in the City – Members expressed concern regarding the increasing number of deaths on London’s roads and questioned Officers in respect of the plans to address this serious issue.

Members were informed that the Corporation was taking an active role to improve safety for cyclists.  The Corporation was working with Transport for London, the City of London Police and London Boroughs and a proposal would be coming forward to introduce ‘quiet routes’ for cyclists. 

Alderman Anstee informed the Sub Committee that he had spoken to the Town Clerk to initiate a discussion which all Members would be invited to attend so that views could be shared regarding the safety of cyclists, perhaps in the format of a forum.

The Assistant Director advised that greater responsibility was required to ensure that the penalties for failing to comply with the law were relative.   It was noted that it had been suggested that fixed penalties for cycling infractions should be aligned with other offences such as littering, and that penalty points might be imposed on cyclists’ driving licences.

There were two items of urgent business.

In November 2011, Members approved the Green Corridors projects which was a three year programme of planting up to 50 trees on highways in the City, to be wholly funded by Transport for London (TfL) at an estimated total cost of £415,000 (£65,000 Year 1, £175,000 Year 2 and £175,000 Year 3).  Members also delegated approval to the Director of the Built Environment to agree the location of the trees.

The Year 3 programme was currently underway however, the budget available from the TfL funding allocation was reduced from £175,000 to £100,000 as these funds were allocated to other projects. Therefore, fewer trees than originally anticipated were planned.

An additional £30,000 of the TfL funding has recently become available for the Green Corridors programme in the current financial year which would facilitate an increase in the existing tree planting schedule. These funds were originally intended to be allocated to the Pedestrian Modelling Project but due, due to the length of the tender process they would not be able to be spent by the end of March 2014.  In order to utilise these funds in the current financial year and facilitate the Open Spaces annual planting season between December 2013-March 2014, the current budget would need to be increased to £130,000 (£100K + £30K) to ensure the timely procurement of tree specimens/tree grilles and associated resources by 31^st November 2013.

This item was therefore to seek approval for the current TfL award of £100,000 (Year 3 – Green Corridors programme) to be increased to £130,000 to ensure the funds were expended efficiently by 31^st March 2014.  A breakdown of costs associated with TfL funded Green Corridors Year 3 project are in the Table below:

The Sub Committee were informed that BT Openreach were unable to deliver the works in New Bridge Street which were due to start last Monday as they had failed to suspend the bus stop.  When they did start on Tuesday, they disrupted traffic leaving Tudor St and then their plant failed, causing them to abandon the work.  The Sub Committee expressed concern regarding this delay and requested that a letter be written to the Chief Executive of BT Openreach.