Guy’s Portfolio Holder’s Report for July 2011

Written on July 14, 2011 at 12:59 pm

PORTFOLIO HOLDER’S REPORT TO COUNTY COUNCIL

14 JULY 2011

1. A14/A12 Copdock and Dock Spur Roundabout improvements

On the 24 May the Highways Agency’s contractor Volker Fitzpatrick commenced work on proposed modifications to the A14/A12 Copdock Interchange and A14 Dock Spur Roundabout at Felixstowe as part of the Section 278 Agreement associated with the Felixstowe South Reconfiguration development at the Port of Felixstowe.

Both junctions are subject to speed limits and lane restrictions that have resulted in additional queuing, particularly at Copdock Interchange.

While accepting that Copdock Interchange is busy during peak periods and that in any event major works are likely to result in increased congestion, Suffolk County Council has been working closely with the Police and the contractor to ensure that measures are put in place to help reduce the overall impact.

There is an ongoing and significant risk that increased congestion and delays at this interchange will lead to traffic diverting off the trunk road onto local roads and directly affecting local communities.

I have asked Suffolk County Council officers to monitor the situation and to work closely with the Highways Agency, the Police and contractor to minimise the impact during the period of these works.

The local Member has been kept informed.

1. Essex and Suffolk Water works in Lowestoft

Further to my previous report, liaison between Suffolk County Council officers and representatives of Essex and Suffolk Water continues to be excellent and appropriate procedures have been put in place to minimise the potential impact of the works and hence reduce the overall disruption within Lowestoft, taking into account emergencies, other planned works in the area and planned events (e.g. the Lowestoft Seafront Air Festival).

The water company commenced work on replacing the lead connection pipes on the 22 February 2011, and it is expected to take up to 9 months to complete the project. The initial phases were on local residential streets and the water company has worked closely with the residents directly affected.

Suffolk County Council’s main interest is the impact of the works on the travelling public in the context of the Traffic Management Act. In this respect the proposed works are expected to directly affect important local traffic routes within Lowestoft, including Waveney Drive (B1531), London Road South (B1532), Marine Parade (B1532), Kirkley Run and Carlton Road. Essex. With this in mind, Suffolk Water has been asked to let Beach Radio know when works are planned to be carried out on these key routes so appropriate bulletins could be issued to warn drivers that works are being undertaken and that this may result in delays.

The water company has also been advised to keep local councillors and key stakeholders fully informed throughout the period of the works. This includes the bus companies and Lowestoft and Waveney Chamber of Commerce.

Relevant Suffolk County and Waveney District Councillors together with key stakeholders, including local bus operators and the Lowestoft and Waveney Chamber of Commerce have been sent copies of a letter/leaflet prepared by Essex and Suffolk Water.  They have been advised that the Water Company is responsible for this project and should be the first point of contact for all enquiries relating to these works, including further information and advice. The appropriate customer assistance line is 08457 820999.

1. emergency sewer repairs Tom Crisp Way, Lowestoft

Concern has been expressed by Peter Aldous MP and others about the sewer repairs being carried out by Anglian Water in Tom Crisp Way in Lowestoft and in particular the potential impact of these works on the tourist season.

Tom Crisp Way forms part of the A12 and is both an important traffic route and gateway to Lowestoft.

Anglian Water initially undertook this work to deal with an emergency, but unfortunately this has taken much longer than expected due in part to a number of additional problems they have encountered. In reality this has been a challenging situation for the contractor.

Suffolk County Council officers are continuing to work closely with representatives of Anglian Water and their contractors to minimise the impact and disruption to local traffic movements.

The latest advice from Anglian Water at the time of writing this report, indicates that the work will be completed before the end of June. In any event, Anglian Water has been advised that at the latest, they need to be off site by the end of the second week in July, i.e. before the school holiday period begins.

A further concern is the potential conflict with planned work being carried out by Essex and Suffolk Water to replace lead connection pipes in the Kirkley area, particularly when this affects important local traffic routes.

1. ARCHAEOLOGY SERVICE

I am pleased to report that the Archaeological Service has been successful in a bid, with other interested partners, to the Interreg IVA/2 Seas European Fund for a World War 2 project.

The general objective of the project is to create a lasting memory of the heritage of the Second World War by maintaining, preserving and/or reusing the heritage which remains for education and tourism.

Specific aims of the project are to:

• Research, restore and make accessible both tangible and intangible WW2 heritage in each of the partner countries;
• Develop strong tourism products to encourage international tourism and boost local economies.

This will involve:

• oral history-building on the Suffolk Record Office’s work;
• managing and making accessible monuments of the period;
• interpretation (we plan 10 panels for Suffolk), exhibitions, audio guides and materials for schools;
• tourist trails and marketing;
• website, leaflets, seminars, explorer information via mobile phones, GIS applications.

Our project partners are Zeeland (lead); West Flanders; Municipitalities of Middelburg and Vlissingen; Zeews Maritime Museum; Syndicat Mixte de la Cote d’Opale; Ville de Leffrinkoucke; UEA, and Essex County Council.

The project will run from July 2011 to 2014 with the opening Conference at UCS on the Waterfront in Ipswich.

The budget for Suffolk is £182,000 over the three years with us finding a 50% contribution. However, as officer time counts as a cost and contribution, it should be cost neutral to Suffolk County Council and Suffolk will benefit from the educational and tourist investment and the management of some of its WW2 monuments

1. rights of way

I am pleased to report the Ipswich Docks Working Group, comprising Suffolk County Council and Ipswich Borough Council officers, County Councillors, and chaired by Councillor Carol Debman, held its first meeting on 12 April. The main outcomes were:

• To look in more detail at the current access arrangements and existing traffic management schemes in operation around the waterfront;
• To advise local stakeholders of the ongoing work of the Group;
• To consider what action to take on the current obstructions affecting the newly recorded Rights of Way and any unlawful use of, and parking by, public motor vehicles on parts of Restricted Byway 36;
• To reposition the current hoarding at the Regatta Quay development (Albion Wharf) in order to reduce the current user conflict caused by the restricted width at this location;
• To reposition the above hoarding in time for the Skyride; Never Ending Mural project and Ipswich Maritime Festival events.

The Group’s next meeting is scheduled for 13 June.

I was very pleased to attend the Hoxne Walk on Wednesday, 25 May and help launch ‘Treasured Suffolk’, a joint project between Suffolk County Council Rights of Way and Archaeology.

The Hoxne Walk was one of 31 walks in this year’s South and Heart of Suffolk Walking Festival. The festival is organised by Suffolk County Council’s Countryside Access Development team and Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils’ Tourism Officers. The festival, now in its fourth year, promotes access to the countryside, encouraging healthy activity, raising awareness of rural areas and stimulating the rural economy.

The Hoxne Walk attracted over 40 people, including people holidaying in Suffolk, some of whom had come specifically for the event.

The Treasured Suffolk project will produce 6 walking leaflets based on archaeological finds in Suffolk. These will be produced over the course of this year and promoted through the Discover Suffolk website, Suffolk County Council’s strategic website promoting countryside access and activities

1. PASSENGER TRANSPORT

As outlined in my last report, there were considerable changes to the sponsored bus network and we continue to deal with issues as they arise in an attempt to meet the needs of residents. Some solutions were relatively easy to put in place; others may take some time to resolve.

Demand Responsive Transport (DRT), has played a large part in ensuring continued access to services and the recent rebranding of two services as Suffolk Links Brett and Suffolk Links Pathfinder, together with the forthcoming launch of a new DRT service in the Hoxne area, underpins our commitment to providing transport that is suitable to and that meets the needs of residents.

The impact of rising costs in the transport industry, together with the reduced revenue available to companies, has been demonstrated by the recent collapse of Yellow Star Travel Services; better known to residents of West Suffolk as Burtons of Haverhill. Officers from the department routinely monitor contract delivery and concerns had been raised about the quality of service being delivered. The reputation of the company and possibly Suffolk County Council were potentially being tarnished.  Consequently officers contacted the Traffic Commissioner to express their concerns. These concerns proved to be well founded, when within days, the company called in the administrator and ceased to trade. A buyer was found for the bus business and we successfully ensured that the contracts were transferred to Stephenson’s of Essex, the new owner of the company. This company has been honest and open in saying that it will take some months to replace all the buses and bring the standards up to a level that they set for themselves. We will continue to work with them to ensure that the public are provided with the service that is required. We cannot discount the risk to other operators brought about by the wider economic environment.

1. rail issues

Since my last report, I met with representatives of the 3 short-listed bidders for the Greater Anglia rail franchise.  The representatives were from Go-Ahead, Stagecoach and Abellio (the last is a subsidiary of the Dutch Railways).

The points discussed were:

• New intercity quality trains for the Ipswich to London main line, complete with catering;
• Improvements on East Suffolk line.  Suffolk has made substantial investment in the rail network, including a commitment to £1m towards Beccles loop.  Beccles station and surrounds require bringing up to standard by the time the hourly Ipswich to Lowestoft service starts in December 2012;
• Station Investment Plan and completed works at extended car parks at Melton and Wickham Market stations in partnership with Suffolk Coastal District Council and interchange improvement at Halesworth station also demonstrate the commitment of Suffolk to the local rail network;
• Inadequate staffing of stations.  There is a vacancy at Lowestoft station and the current level of staffing is inadequate for customer needs.  There needs to be more visibility of staff at Ipswich station.
• Hourly service between Ipswich and Peterborough needed;
• Reopening to passenger trains of Leiston branch;
• Community Rail Partnerships;
• Cycle storage at Stations.

Whilst the bidders would have little scope for investment and improvements if they were successful in winning the short 17 month franchise, due to start on 5 February 2012, they were interested in discussing issues for their bids for the 15 year franchise to follow starting in 2013.

We have worked successfully with colleagues at Suffolk Coastal District Council, Network Rail and National Express East Anglia, to create two car parks for rail passengers, one at Campsea Ashe and the other at Melton.

There were ongoing safety issues at Campsea Ashe due to the lack of parking facilities for rail users; many cars were obstructing paths and causing safety issues on the highway.  The land adjacent to the station house is owned by Suffolk County Council and has been unused for several years, by allowing the development of this land into a car park, all issues have been eradicated and the car park is well used.

Melton Station only had 4 parking spaces for rail use, but a large area (formerly the coal yard) which would be a suitable parking area for rail users.  Working in partnership with Suffolk Coastal District Council, Network Rail and National Express East Anglia we have transformed the disused land into a well used car park.

Both of these developments have provided further choice for the community to utilise public transport

I am also pleased to note that the Ipswich Station lifts and new footbridge and have been brought into use.  I pressed hard to raise the priority of Ipswich within the Department for Transport’s ‘Access for All’ Programme and to overcome delays in the design and approvals process for the project.  Unfortunately Suffolk County Council was not represented at the official opening of the new bridge as no invitation to attend the proceedings was sent to us by Network Rail.

1. SUFFOLK LOCAL TRANSPORT PLAN

The Suffolk Local Transport Plan, adopted by County Council on 26 May, identifies the urban areas most likely to be affected by economic growth and where transport funding should be focussed. These places are: Beccles; Brandon; Bungay; Bury St Edmunds; Felixstowe; Haverhill; Ipswich; Lowestoft; Newmarket;  Stowmarket and Sudbury.

The broad approach being taken in the towns is based on three common elements:

• the need to reduce demand for car travel for local journeys to avoid increased congestion;
• improving infrastructure to make it easier for people to travel without the car; and
• better traffic management to get more efficiency from the existing network.

Cabinet has agreed an indicative level of investment for each town and officers have developed outline plans for the long term development of the transport networks to accommodate likely future growth to 2031. We now need to identify the priority schemes in each town for the 4 year funding period 2011 to 2015.

I will be meeting with County Councillors and local groups in all of the key towns to agree schemes that are consistent with the principles outlined above, can noticeably improve the town and that also reflect locally important issues.