Agenda and minutes

Councillor Douglas Nicol had sent his apologies to the Panel, Councillor Nathan Hartley was present as his substitute for the duration of the meeting.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officer before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

Pamela Galloway, Save Our 6-7 Buses campaign team addressed the Panel, a copy of the statement can be found on the Panel’s Minute Book, a summary is set out below.

‘When we registered to speak here today, we were set to campaign until March.  This is because, in June, we were horrified to hear on good authority, and I quote: “that in light of the many difficult financial decisions facing B&NES Council next year, it was going to be very hard for Councillors to justify continuing to subsidise the 6&7 Buses.”  That was followed by months of repeated statements by the Executive Member and other councillors that no commitment could be made until at least February to continue our bus subsidy. One councillor has recently termed our campaign “scare-mongering”.  What would you have done in our position?  We re-launched the campaign to preserve the vital 30 minute frequency to keep our community vibrant and our elderly from becoming isolated.’

‘It is with great relief that we learned at last week’s Budget Fair, that a “myth was being dispelled” and that bus subsidies would not be cut. Although the Save Our 6-7 Buses campaign team, along with hundreds of residents in our area, suspect that the campaign was crucial in ensuring this, we are very grateful to the Cabinet for relegating the threat to a myth. 

Since the Budget Fair we have had further assurances that the subsidy for our bus service is in the Cabinet’s proposed public transport budget but, as other bus services are affected, this is subject to a Consultation with stakeholders. We, and the members of the community, look forward very much to giving our input to this Consultation.

We also had assurances at the Budget Fair and again since that the cabinet’s proposed public transport budget is not under threat from any Central government cuts that might be announced in Dec.

We would like to thank the councillors and officers who have worked so hard to allocate funds within a limited budget. We realise there are a few hurdles yet to be overcome but we will continue to monitor any new developments and remain alert to any potential threats. Let us hope that the campaign will not have to be revived between now & February, or again in a year’s time.’

The Chairman asked if she had seen the latest consultation document.

Pamela Galloway replied that she had and had emailed Cllr Symonds and Andy Strong to ask for it to be placed on the main consultation area of the website.

Amanda Leon, Radstock Action Group addressed the Panel, a copy of the statement can be found on the Panel’s Minute Book, a summary is set out below.

‘The papers for this afternoon’s meeting reflect the difficult situation faced by the council. We appreciate the current financial problems and would like to highlight some of the issues from the point of view of one component town, particularly as we feel that money could be saved  ...  view the full minutes text for item 73.

This item gives the Panel an opportunity to ask questions to the Cabinet Member(s) and for them to update the Panel on any current issues.

The Cabinet Member for Transport, Councillor Roger Symonds addressed the Panel. He informed them that he had met with the Councils of Wiltshire and Somerset alongside the Highways Agency to discuss the A46 and the use of HGV’s. He said that the talks had been quite positive on how to improve some issues in the area.

He stated that through the work of the Bath Transport Package upgrades to bus stops and shelters were in progress and that the extension to the Odd Down Park & Ride would be in place by the opening of the Christmas Market. He added that it was hoped that the extension to the Lansdown Park & Ride would be ready by March 2013.

The Chairman asked if he could estimate when a Transport Strategy for the Council would be ready.

Councillor Roger Symonds replied that any strategy should be linked to the Public Realm & Movement Strategy and felt that one could be in place within six months to a year.

Councillor Geoff Ward commented that a resident within his ward was unaware that her home was on the site of the proposed interchange for the East of Bath Park & Ride.

Councillor Roger Symonds replied that it was his understanding that the home owner had been approached and that he would follow up on the matter.

The Chairman thanked him for his update.

The Council secures the provision of certain local bus services that are not provided by the commercial market. This Report gives the background to the process and advises the Panel of current issues.

The Public Transport Team Leader introduced this item to the Panel. He informed them that a tender process was carried out recently for contracts that expire in March 2013, with a total annual value of roughly £450k. He added that in respect of certain contracts, operators advised the Council that they would operate them on a commercial basis after March 2013, so they were not put out to tender. For the remainder, bids were received from 7 operators and the average number of bids per contract was 2.

Analysis of the tenders and consideration of the value of the contracts that would be run commercially shows that the Council would make a saving of £108k per annum. This is a reflection both of competition in the local bus market and the growth of revenue on Sunday bus services, linked to the higher level of retail activity on that day.

The tender also provides an opportunity to improve Service 12 (Bath Bus Station to Haycombe Cemetery), on which the infrastructure is being upgraded as part of the Bath Transport Package, by restoring a peak hour timetable and converting it to low-floor bus operation.

Officers have been asked to consider ways in which revenue support can be provided to maintain the current half-hourly daytime intervals on two core bus corridors:

(i)  Services 6 and 7 (Bath Bus Station to Fairfield Park and Larkhall) – there has been very strong support from the local communities for these services and patronage has grown substantially since half-hourly services were restored in October 2011.  However, the more frequent service is not commercially viable yet.

(ii)  Service 1 (Ensleigh to Combe Down) – patronage has declined as MoD staff have relocated from the sites at Ensleigh and Foxhill. If development of the sites is approved, it is likely that patronage will grow as new dwellings become occupied. A “Section 106” contribution may be sought from any developer to support the bus service at that stage but, in the meantime, a half-hourly interval is not commercially viable.

To fund the measures outlined above it would be necessary to make further savings in the bus revenue support budget, over and above the level indicated. Officers have drawn up a package of options with a total value greater than the savings needed and it will be put out to consultation.

The consultation package will identify those supported services that are not well-used, those that offer poor value for money and those for which there are reasonable alternatives on other bus or train services. Consideration will be given to the opportunities for community transport providers to expand their flexible, demand-responsive services.

It is intended to carry out the consultation between 9 November and 14 December 2012. A summary of the responses will be appended to a Report for decision by the Cabinet in February 2013. A Report will be presented to the Cabinet Member for Transport for a single-member decision in December 2012 to recommend award of many  ...  view the full minutes text for item 76.

The draft Place Directorate Medium Term Service & Resource Plan (MTSRP) is presented for consideration by the Panel:

(1)  To ensure all members of the Panel are aware of the context for Service Action Planning and budget setting.

(2)  To enable comment on the choices inherent in the medium term plan.

(3)  To enable issues to be referred to the relevant Portfolio.

Councillor Eleanor Jackson addressed the Panel, a copy of the statement can be found on the Panel’s Minute Book, a summary is set out below.

‘There are plenty of good reasons for coming along this afternoon and addressing the issues raised by the Medium Term Service Plan and Budget debate. In the plan we have proposals to reduce the amount of money spent on road maintenance, although previous cutbacks mean inferior materials are used now, and potholes are continually re-appearing. Yet thousands of pounds will be needed to top up the HCA grant for an unwanted new road through the centre of Radstock. We have pledges to re-negotiate contracts, though I am fairly sure Malcolm Hanney made these as tight as possible. We also face job losses which inevitably will reduce services to the public, though given the level of interrogation you face when you report a missed collection, I am pretty sure that already they only take action when it is their fault. You sing to Mr Pickles’ tune on weekly collections, when the re-cycling is only necessary once a fortnight according to the Timsbury budget fair meeting.’

‘Speaking on behalf of the Labour Group I want to draw you attention to the potholes in the policy, and name just a few of our objections:

Charging for car parking in B&NES car parks in important rural retail centres and Keynsham, which we know from sound research, will devastate the fragile high street economy.

The Labour Group will oppose all such moves because Cllr Bellotti’s argument that this will get people out of their cars is fallacious given the present state of the bus service. Shoppers will simply go to Frome or Brislington or Cribbs Causeway….

Failing to provide adequate lighting in streets and car parks, so that people dare not go out at night could have a crippling effect on the night time economy.

Cuts in the Planning Department are always a mistake because applications are then not handled within the time limits, cases go to the planning inspectorate for non-determination and we land up with an unsightly, unwanted and uncontrolled development, or even worse, costly judicial reviews.’

‘Trying to find toilets in Bath before 9am and after 6pm is a nightmare. Cutting public conveniences is not only a false economy, it means we are deterring tourists. The ‘grey pound’ is vital to our retail economy but the council is driving it away. The Labour Group is committed to campaigning for more toilets, not less.’

‘Much here is half digested bright ideas – haven’t the Lib Dems heard of elderly people being ripped off by private sector pest control people? - Whereas the B&NES officers who dealt with rats and wasps in Radstock recently won only highest praise. This sort of thing generates far more goodwill towards the Council than glossy publications.  Much is woolly wishful thinking, as on revenue projections. Most is Bath centric and this is unacceptable.’

The Divisional Director for Planning and Transport  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77.

This report presents the latest workplan for the Panel (Appendix 1).

The Chairman introduced this item to the Panel.

Some members expressed their concern over the potential number of items listed for January 2013.

The Chairman said that in conjunction with the Vice-Chair and the lead Director they would attempt to streamline it during their discussions at the Agenda Planning Meeting.