DRAFT
Minutes of the Highways and Transport committee meeting held on Monday 15th January 2007
in the Magistrates room, Hungerford.
Present: R. Hudson (Chairman), P. Harries, D. Liddiard, G. Bullock, M. Wilson, R. Desmeules, E.Cardwell
and J. Hutchings (Clerk)
1) Apologies for absence
Apologies were received on behalf of R. Ballard and C. Ticehurst.
2) Declaration of Interests
R. Hudson declared a personal interest in Agenda 15 as he lives at Sanham Green.
3) Minutes of 20th November 2006
07/H001 Proposed: Cllr Liddiard, second: Cllr Wilson. Vote: 4 in favour, 3 abstentions (did not attend last meeting
which was seven weeks ago).
The minutes were signed as a true and accurate record by Cllr Hudson.
4) Christmas Lights
Lights need to be taken out of the two trees in Church Street Car Park that are to be removed during the building of the new Library.
Cllr Desmeules distributed copies of the spreadsheets of the Christmas Lights budget. Thus far £3152.00
has been received in donations.
Cllr Liddiard suggested that a photograph of the lights should be reproduced as a Christmas Card for next
Christmas.
07/H002 Proposed: Cllr Liddiard, second: Cllr Bullock, that the Council buy a live tree to place by the canal once
the footbridge is in place.
5) Parking Study
Not underway at present as WBC has other priorities. No further information available.
6) Coach Parking
Nothing to report.
7) Canal Pedestrian Bridge
WBC prefers an ‘over bridge’ not a swing bridge. WBC will talk to several consultants, probably including
Halcrow.
Cllr Harries stated that WBC had used Jacob Babtie for the feasibility study and that he is concerned that more
money will be used on another feasibility study. He believes that the next stage should be for someone to
review Babtie’s report and produce drawings for consideration.
There was discussion regarding whether more drawings of options should be produced and by whom, with the
majority believing that the design should be by bridge engineers and not architects.
Cllr Hudson believes that WBC is consulting bridge engineers re design and costing, and suggested that he
should carry on asking WBC to progress the project a.s.a.p.
Cllr Bullock requested that the Canal Bridge should be put on the agenda for the next Downlands Area
meeting. RH
8) Vehicle Actuated Sign: Preferred Location.
2010+ prefer the A338 for the siting of VAS.
07/H003 Proposed: Cllr Hudson, second: Cllr Bullock, to suspend standing orders to allow Chris Dod to speak.
Agreed.
Mr Dod explained that WBC had made available to the 2010+ the sum of £5,000 on completion of the
Town Plan. This sum to be used on any project resulting from the plan. 2010+ wish to use it on VAS.
07/H004 Proposed: Cllr Hudson, second: Cllr Bullock, that standing orders be re-instated. Agreed.
Cllr Hudson will talk to WBC to see how the application should be progressed. RH
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9) Street Lights
Clerk to enquire of Alan Braisher WBC when the new light for Bulpit Lane is to be installed. JKH
Cllr Harries will speak to the landlord of the Angel Public House re the car left behind
his premises.
Cllr Wilson has reported to Streetcare that the debris dumped in Prospect Road has still not
been removed.
10) Public Seats
The committee will wait until the Spring to find someone to take over responsibility for seats.
11) Public Conveniences
i) Temporary PC – should be in situ in the Church Street Car Park tomorrow (Tuesday 16th).
There is a problem with bringing the temporary library in, so it is unlikely that it will be
in place before next Monday or Tuesday (22nd/23rd).
From the 15th – 22nd the temporary PC will not be plumbed in, therefore, any hire charges
accrued whilst the PC cannot be used will be billed to WBC.
12) Hungerford in Bloom
07/H005 Proposed: Cllr Liddiard, second: Cllr Harries, that the ‘Door Knocker’ Competition should be held again
this year and also the Gardens Competition, both during HADCAF. Agreed.
07/H006 Proposed: Cllr Liddiard, second: Cllr Hudson, that all details for the above competitions should be decided
by the sub-committee. Agreed.
13) Horn Hill Pond
High winds caused some havoc around the pond area. Cllr Hudson to contact the Polesdon Estate
regarding the refurbishment.
14) Kintbury Health Hydro Redevelopment
Cllr Bullock and Wilson believe that the planning application has been delayed.
There was discussion about the route that the HGV lorries should take. It was generally thought that
Park Street is not an option. Most of the committee thought that the route to Kintbury should be via Sanham
Green, although this presented some problems. Cllr Hudson said that neither Park Street nor Sanham
Green is ideal and that the HGV traffic should go through Kintbury to get to Inglewood.
Cllr Liddiard said that there would be few HGV vehicles as it is a redevelopment and not a new build at
Inglewood.
Cllr Bullock pointed out that there is already a large scale development underway near the Jubilee Hall,
but that a special track has been developed over open fields to take the traffic for this site.
Cllr Bullock will find out the name of the Inglewood Developer and the direction from which the vehicles will come, in time for the next meeting.
15) Tourist Signs
These should be erected on the M4 and the A4. The committee will progress this idea at a later date.
16) Global Warming/Agenda 21
The Mayor announced that the Al Gore film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ will be shown in the Corn Exchange,
Hungerford on Thursday 15th February 2007 at 7.30pm. No admission charge.
Cllr Hudson is working out the carbon emissions produced by transport and the community. RH
17) Bus Service
The H1 service was terminated at short notice and without consultation with the Council.
Cllr Harries stated that because of the high percentage of car owners many bus routes are not viable
for commercial bus operators.
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18) Risk Assessments
Nothing to update at present.
Meeting closed: 8.50pm
Date of next meeting: 19th February 2007
Signed……………………………………..
Chairman, Highways and Transport
19th February 2007