Agenda item

The action sheet from the last meeting was noted and members made the following additional comments:

·  It was clarified that the issue at Manchester Road was in Haslingden and not Rawtenstall as stated on the action sheet. It was updated that the new posts had been in place approximately 5 weeks with new 'no waiting' signs

·  Regarding the block paving on Deardengate it was noted that this issue has not been completed. Members wanted to know how long the 'temporary' repairs will be in place for

·  Parking attendants – not attending Haslingden at all. It was agreed that further investigation should be carried out to address the situation

·  De-cluttering of redundant signage –

o  it was acknowledged that it is the responsibility of the building contractors to remove them. Highways team are writing to them to ask them to remove the signs

o  outside the mobile phone shop in Rossendale – same sign on both sides of the road, one needs to be removed

o  Government guidance states that councils have policies in place to address the de-cluttering of signs. Potential H&S aspect. Forum members to be provided with a copy of the current policy. It was felt that particularly in rural areas redundant signage can have an adverse effect on tourism.

·  Setts on Bank Street (near Ormerod St) – repairs not yet done and it was felt it was quite dangerous as many of the setts are sunken. It was stated that possibly the adjacent culvert is the reason why many of the setts have sunk and the problem may be more structural. An update is required

·  Parking enforcement – members expressed concerns regarding parking outside schools, in particular in Waterfoot. The reasons behind this issue were discussed in detail by the forum and a number of potential solutions were suggested. One such suggestion was the use of 'boards' placed on the yellow lines by the school and it was felt that this proactive initiative could be replicated at other schools. CC Oakes agreed to take this action forward. A question was asked as to whether schools could stagger their 'end of day' times so they didn't all finish at the same time. It was acknowledged that the timings of the school day is not the responsibility of the local authority and suggested that they should contact the school governing body

·  Newhall Hey roundabout – concerns regarding the design of the roundabout and whether any further remodelling will be carried out. CC Cheetham explained the issue is being looked at as part of a wider traffic and highways review. It was hoped that it would be part of the Rawtenstall town centre work (Pennine Reach). It was agreed that people need to be made aware of what the Pennine Reach programme of work actually includes and CC Cheetham offered to follow this up and make the information available

·  Following a number of other localised parking and traffic issues the Chair expressed concerns that the Forum would easily get chocked with numerous highways issues. She suggested that in the first instance all concerns should be forwarded to Highways and only then if a satisfactory outcome is not achieved should the Forum become involved. She also expressed the view that the reduction in resources at the county council will begin to impact at a local level which would increase the need to involve the community to seek their views and ideas.

Following the discussion the outstanding actions were:

  i.  Update on block paving on Deardengate

  ii.  Lack of presence of parking attendants in Haslingden

  iii.  Update on the setts on Bank Street

  iv.  Copy of the policy relating to the de-cluttering of redundant signage to be made available

  v.  CC Oakes to facilitate information sharing on solutions to tackle parking outside schools

  vi.  CC Cheetham to ensure that the details of the Pennine Reach programme are publically available