Roads: I finally received a response from the Head of Highways, or rather the Permit Scheme Manager, and our local Highways Manager. The long explanation as to why they close roads for works is mainly around health and safety – there must be a minimum width on the carriageway for passing traffic to protect the workforce. This is fine, but both the Easter Tetbury/Long Newton closure, and the more recent Avening-Nailsworth 8 -week closure could have been opened out of working hours. This would involve the traffic management company (obviously a sub-contractor, usually from the West Midlands) setting up traffic lights each evening and taking them down again in the morning, so the short answer why we suffer long road closures is… MONEY!
I also challenged the necessity of placing ‘road closed’ signs many miles away from the actual works. This is done because any diversions must be on the same class of road. This is fine, but why don’t they have the exact location of the closure to give motorists the option of adjusting their route, or not? I was informed there is no statutory obligation to provide additional information, but they will take this feedback into consideration during the next review and encourage utility and traffic management companies to provide additional information on the signs.
Following several chasers I also received a call from Severn Trent in relation to the ongoing sewage discharges into the stream from the treatment plant at Avening. Work was ongoing last year to install additional holding pools to contain storm water prior to treatment. The system went live in January, and since then there have been zero incidences of sewage leaks, and the really good news is that the reedbed system is so well specified that they are confident there will be no more leaks during the life of the system!
At the June Overview & Scrutiny (O&S) meeting, we reviewed the latest Financial and Performance reports, which were generally satisfactory. The one huge ongoing concern is the under-performance of the Planning Enforcement team, which still has a hardcore backlog of some 700 cases. A triage process now prioritises listed buildings and tree works for new cases, but unfortunately if you are reporting a lower priority planning breach you will be waiting a long time for the case to be actioned. It was interesting that the ‘backlog’ date was fixed in 2024 following an independent review, and I challenged that this date should move with the passage of time. In reality, the true backlog is likely to be much higher than 700 cases.
We should receive a response from the government in mid-July to advise us which option for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) they have decided to apply, so more about that next month. Also due in August is the draft Local Plan. This will be debated at O&S, and an Extraordinary full Council on 12th August. So, an unusually busy summer at CDC!
Councillor Tony Slater
Cotswold District Council, Representing Grumbolds Ash with Avening.
email: Tony.slater@cotswold.gov.uk Tel: 07793669930