‘Over many years, residents and Members have made submissions to Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) asking for road crossings, traffic calming and other requests related to Highways and pedestrian safety in their area.
And for many years there has been a distinct lack of transparency in dealing with requests from residents and Members. Requests have been described as ‘in the pool’. This has become a synonym for ‘sunk without a trace’.
The petitioning process is particularly problematic as once a formal response from WBC has been received by the petitioner, there is no obligation on WBC to provide any future update.
Council calls on the Executive Member for Highways to usher in a new era of transparency and cause to be published on the WBC website a Schedule which allows residents and Members to see at a glance the status of road crossings, traffic calming and other resident and Member requests related to dangers on WBC highways.
The Schedule should rank and grade requests and schemes by their stage in the assessment and delivery process in such a way as to give residents and members and understanding of the likelihood and timing of a request progressing, an outline of future milestone and any constraints.
The Schedule should include requests made by petitions in the last four years.
Where any request had been rejected, the request and reason for rejection should also be shown on the Schedule.
The Schedule should not rely on administrative versions of the ‘pool’, such as deferral to the finalising of the Local Cycling and Infrastructure Plan or Local Transport Plan, as a way of delaying an assessment as resident and Member requests deserve to be considered on their own merits.
The Schedule would be updated at least twice a year and the first version would be published by 1st October 2023.’
Statement from the Chief Finance Officer
The Chief Finance Officer comments are purely an assessment of the Financial Implications associated with the Motion as written and are not an opinion on the policy direction or intention contained within them.
There is no direct financial implication associated with this Motion as it is assumed that the schedule can be produced and maintained within existing resources.
Minutes:
Council considered the following Motion, proposed by Councillor Andy Croy and seconded Councillor Paul Fishwick.
“Over many years, residents and Members have made submissions to Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) asking for road crossings, traffic calming, and other requests related to Highways and pedestrian safety in their area.
And for many years there has been a distinct lack of transparency in dealing with requests from residents and Members. Requests have been described as ‘in the pool’. This has become a synonym for ‘sunk without a trace’.
The petitioning process is particularly problematic as once a formal response from WBC has been received by the petitioner, there is no obligation on WBC to provide any future update.
Council calls on the Executive Member for Highways to usher in a new era of transparency and cause to be published on the WBC website a Schedule which allows residents and Members to see at a glance the status of road crossings, traffic calming and other resident and Member requests related to dangers on WBC highways.
The Schedule should rank and grade requests and schemes by their stage in the assessment and delivery process in such a way as to give residents and members and understanding of the likelihood and timing of a request progressing, an outline of future milestone and any constraints.
The Schedule should include requests made by petitions in the last four years. Where any request had been rejected, the request and reason for rejection should also be shown on the Schedule.
The Schedule should not rely on administrative versions of the ‘pool’, such as deferral to the finalising of the Local Cycling and Infrastructure Plan or Local Transport Plan, as a way of delaying an assessment as resident and Member requests deserve to be considered on their own merits.
The Schedule would be updated at least twice a year and the first version would be published by 1st October 2023.”
Upon being out to the vote, the Mayor announced that the Motion had been approved.
RESOLVED That:
Over many years, residents and Members have made submissions to Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) asking for road crossings, traffic calming, and other requests related to Highways and pedestrian safety in their area.
And for many years there has been a distinct lack of transparency in dealing with requests from residents and Members. Requests have been described as ‘in the pool’. This has become a synonym for ‘sunk without a trace’.
The petitioning process is particularly problematic as once a formal response from WBC has been received by the petitioner, there is no obligation on WBC to provide any future update.
Council calls on the Executive Member for Highways to usher in a new era of transparency and cause to be published on the WBC website a Schedule which allows residents and Members to see at a glance the status of road crossings, traffic calming and other resident and Member requests related to dangers on WBC highways.
The Schedule should rank and grade requests and schemes by their stage in the assessment and delivery process in such a way as to give residents and members and understanding of the likelihood and timing of a request progressing, an outline of future milestone and any constraints.
The Schedule should include requests made by petitions in the last four years. Where any request had been rejected, the request and reason for rejection should also be shown on the Schedule.
The Schedule should not rely on administrative versions of the ‘pool’, such as deferral to the finalising of the Local Cycling and Infrastructure Plan or Local Transport Plan, as a way of delaying an assessment as resident and Member requests deserve to be considered on their own merits.
The Schedule would be updated at least twice a year and the first version would be published by 1st October 2023.