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Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Victoria Lower
020 8726 6000 x14773  Email: victoria.lower@croydon.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

31/17

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 93 KB

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 13 June 2017 as an accurate record.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 13 June 2017 were agreed as an accurate record.

32/17

Disclosure of Interests

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that it is a requirement to register disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and gifts and hospitality to the value of which exceeds £50 or multiple gifts and/or instances of hospitality with a cumulative value of £50 or more when received from a single donor within a rolling twelve month period. In addition, Members and co-opted Members are reminded that unless their disclosable pecuniary interest is registered on the register of interests or is the subject of a pending notification to the Monitoring Officer, they are required to disclose those disclosable pecuniary interests at the meeting. This should be done by completing the Disclosure of Interest form and handing it to the Democratic Services representative at the start of the meeting. The Chair will then invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3. Completed disclosure forms will be provided to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion on the Register of Members’ Interests.

Minutes:

There were none.

33/17

Urgent Business (if any)

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

34/17

Fiveways Croydon - A review of the design proposals subject to public consultation pdf icon PDF 12 MB

The report is presented to enable Scrutiny Sub-Committee to review the design of the ‘Fiveways project’ and provide observations / recommendations relating to the scheme.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Deputy Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment gave the apologies for the Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment and attended in his place.

 

The Deputy Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment informed the Committee that he lived near the Fiveways Junction and was acutely aware of the issues suffered; including delays for motorists and the dangerous conditions for cyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists. It was agreed that these issues would worsen over the coming years and that change was necessary, however the Council’s position was that a road widening option was favoured over a fly-over above Duppas Hill Park and maintaining the Waddon Hotel.

 

While improvement works to the area had been consulted on previously in 2015, the previous consultation had not proposed any improvements to the Fiveways junction. It was stated by the Deputy Cabinet Member that the current consultation proposal had taken into account the Council’s view and Transport for London (TfL) was thanked for conducting a thorough consultation process.

 

The Deputy Cabinet Member highlighted to the Committee that the Council’s preferred option of building a new bridge next to the current bridge would minimise disruption, and the proposal to change the junction to four-ways would improve traffic flow and safety. While these were outlined to be improvements it was noted that scope remained for the scheme to be further improved, particular for cyclists.

 

Thomas Holmes of TfL provided the Committee with a presentation which outlined the difficulties of the junction and recognised that the A23 was a strategic route which acted as a bypass to central Croydon. Furthermore, the importance of the link to the surrounding towns of Wallington and Carshalton was recognised.

 

It was stated that TfL noted that Fiveways was a strategic junction in south London, but was a hostile environment in particular for pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, and would only worsen with the anticipated growth that Croydon would experience in the coming years. In addition, TfL recognised that the bridge over the railway line needed to be replaced by 2023 as it was coming to the end of its useful life.

 

The key project objectives were outlined to the Committee as increasing traffic capacity, reducing journey time, upgrading the pedestrian environment, improving cycle routes, and enhancing the ‘place’ function to develop Waddon as a local centre. In line with the draft Mayor’s Transport Strategy there had been a focus on the healthy streets approach, and the proposed scheme had been measured with the healthy streets factors and was considered to meet over half.

 

The Committee were informed that replacing a bridge over a railway line was a difficult procedure so TfL were looking to make the process as simple as possible, and as such they were proposing a new bridge alongside the existing bridge which was anticipated to minimise disruption. However, it was noted that building the new bridge would require the acquisition of two commercial properties.

 

The proposals further sought to realign the road layout which would require the acquisition of a residential  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34/17

35/17

Croydon's Growth Zone's Proposed Five Year Public Realm Programme pdf icon PDF 109 KB

This Scrutiny is focussed on the work of the Growth Zone Sub Group Place, Public Realm, Culture and Meanwhile, particularly informing the development of the Five Year Public Realm Programme.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Growth provided the Committee with an outline of the Growth Zone scheme, noting that Croydon’s plans had been approved by Cabinet and the Government in the summer 2016 which enabled a loan to the council for infrastructure programmes. Key aspect of the Growth Zone project was public realm improvements.

 

The Interim Head of Spatial Planning informed the Committee that public realm had been developed under the Growth Zone to build upon previous projects to take into account the evolving priorities, including wellbeing, culture, and financial benefits. As part of the five year programme there would be a series of Cabinet reports, with the Growth Zone report due to go to Cabinet in December 2017.

 

While it was noted that to deliver such a programme would take time to design, consult upon and implement, it was important that the programme encouraged the activation of culture within the area. To ensure the best programme the Committee were asked to provide their views on the three questions outlined the report.

 

The Committee were informed that evidence showed that the quality of the public realm directly influenced the decisions of investors, and thus had a financial impact on the borough on the business rates achieved. The introduction of three large organisations to the opportunity area was seen in some part due to the improvements to the public realm, especially following the introduction the policy outlining the quality and building materials that should be used by private developers when delivering public realm.

 

The increased focus on delivering healthy streets was noted as an important factor in ensuring the delivery of successful spaces which enabled interesting activities for everyone throughout the day.

 

Lucy Saunders of the Greater London Authority informed the Committee that the healthy streets approach had been developed with the question of how we use public space and how it impact on our health at the core. The indicators included; are people choosing to walk and cycle, are the spaces easy to cross, are they safe, is there shade and stop points, and low pollution levels. It was stated that healthy streets were part of the Mayor’s agenda as it was noted that if the streets improved then health improvements would be witnessed.

 

The Creative Director informed the Committee that public realm had an impact on cultural regeneration, with work beginning to make College Green from being one of the most unsuccessful examples of public realm to one of the most successful spaces.

 

The Committee were informed that it had been found culture could be used to develop other public spaces by animating or activating the space. Culture, it was stated, could change the character of the space and make it feel safer, and thus a more attractive area to be in and walk through.

 

Members were shown examples of Meanwhile projects which showed how interactions with sites could change with the introduction of cultural activities. Students were working with the council to change the way people interacted with Wandle car  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35/17

36/17

Responses from Cabinet pdf icon PDF 86 KB

To note the responses from Cabinet to recommendations made by the Streets, Environment and Homes Scrutiny Sub-Committee.

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee noted the responses from Cabinet following the recommendations made by the Committee at the meeting on 31 January 2017.

 

Members requested that the response to recommendation 21 be referred to the Director of Planning and Strategic Transport and a further response to be requested.

 

The Committee further noted that the response to recommendation 8 did not respond to the concerns regarding the most polluting cars and requested this be referred back to the Cabinet.

 

The Sub-Committee NOTED the responses from Cabinet.

37/17

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 60 KB

To note the work programme for the municipal year 2017/18.

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee received the work programme for 2017/18.

 

The Sub-Committee NOTED the work programme.

 

38/17

Exclusion of the Press and Public

The following motion is to be moved and seconded where it is proposed to exclude the press and public from the remainder of a meeting:

 

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

Minutes:

This was not required.