Agenda item

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee received a public lift report of the City Surveyor for the period 22/08/2020 – 17/09/2020.

A Member expressed concern around issues with the new lift at Blackfriars Bridge and questioned who paid for the necessary repairs to this. The City Surveyor reported that Officers were working on the lift and that the City paid for these repairs but that there was a sum set aside from the developer that they were able to draw down on for these. She clarified that these funds were in place for the lifespan of the lift. The City Surveyor went on to report that some of the City’s lifts were experiencing issues associated with lack of use during the current pandemic and, as a result, Officers were now considering if the maintenance regime ought to be amended and increased in frequency to help address this.

Another Member highlighted that the Blackfriar’s Bridge lift and the Millennium Inclinator had both been out of service at the same time and commented that this had a real impact on disabled access down onto the riverside. She questioned whether the City were clearly identifying alternative accessible routes in these circumstances. The City Surveyor reported that such signs were posted whenever lifts were out of service. It was reported that the Inclinator was now back in service but that Officers had to bear in mind that it would be out of service for a period of time whilst it was replaced. This would make the effective functioning of the Blackfriar’s Bridge lift all the more important. The Member came back on this point to question whether the developer would be offering any assistance in terms of costs whilst the Inclinator was out of service ahead of its replacement to ensure that access to the riverside was adequately maintained. The City Surveyor reported that she was in active discussion with the developer on the replacement offering but was unaware that this point had been explicitly covered. She undertook to raise this with them going forward.

The Chief Commoner commented that it was his understanding that the developer would be offering a parallel operation whilst the Inclinator was taken out of service. The City Surveyor undertook to gain absolute clarity on this point in future discussions with the developer.

RESOLVED – That Members note the report.