Agenda item

Brief presentations from Chairs of the Roads & Transport and Environment & Conservation working groups.

The Chair of the Roads & Transport working group provided some feedback on work and progress of the group, including:

·       The Terms of Reference for the group had been agreed.

·       Focussing on matters important to parishes such as rural transport, drainage, speeding etc.

·       Agreed to initially meet monthly with some interim meetings if needed. They had met a couple of times, but unfortunately, the last meeting on 28 February had been poorly attended.

·       Regarding gullies, hedges and road maintenance – there had been some discussions about if any possibility to offset some costs.

·       Speeding in rural areas – some discussion about SIDs and looking at the costs and possible ways to share some of the costs.

·       Also been discussions about a possible cycle path route from Ilminster to Taunton, and also how to try and reduce HGVs using country routes as cut throughs.

·       More people are needed to be involved with the working group as there are only three people at the moment. Any one welcome to attend the working group meetings.

During discussion several comments and sharing of experiences about SIDs were raised, including costs, effectiveness and knowledge regarding possible sources of funding. Other points raised included:

·       were any further details available of what the Highways Steward scheme will cover and if there was any appetite with local parishes.

·       There is much bureaucracy regarding pot hole repairs e.g criteria for repairs to be dealt with urgently, and how to report the pot holes etc, and then the inspection process etc.

·       A number of highway issues were often difficult or slow to get resolved.

Someone suggested an alternative quick and easy way to log some highway defects was to use www.fixmystreet.com – using this website also enabled anyone else viewing the site to see if something had already been reported and when.

Tim Cook responded to some of the comments raised, including:

·       Some more information was available regarding the Highway Steward scheme, Some parishes felt the scheme was expensive on an individual parish basis. The scheme was something that could be discussed in more detail at a working group with an officer from Highways present to explain the options etc. If necessary a steward working group could be set up.

·       The urgent / non-urgent response regarding highway defects had been discussed, and an action had been noted to see if parishes could be involved or have a role regarding the initial inspection process.

·       Local highway issues that are difficult or slow to resolve could be directed to the working group for discussion.

The Chair noted that several points made during discussion were things to be raised with the Roads & Transport working group. He advised that when the LCN link worker was in place within the LCN team, a key role for them would be the sharing and co-ordinating of information among members of the LCN, including feedback from the working groups.

The Chair of the Environment and Conservation working group then provided some feedback on work and progress of the group, including:

·       Terms of Reference had been agreed.

·       A Nature Recovery Plan had been discussed – would like to focus on local nature recovery and involve local farmers, landowners and FWAG to help make areas nature friendly. There had also been mention about responsibilities for water run off from fields onto roads, and noting this was not usually Highways responsibility but was the landowners.

·       The topic of wood burners and the effects of smoke had been raised, and also touched on topic of water quality however the LCN does not have the information or evidence base about quality of rivers and what runs into them.

·       Litter, fly tipping and dog fouling issues had also been raised.

·       Need to communicate the work of the group and involve other contacts.

During discussion it was suggested that the group liaise with the Blackdown Hills National Landscape (formerly known as the AONB) as they do a lot of work in the topic areas discussed by the working group. A question was also asked Biodiversity Net Gain and if it was known when information on the call for sites would be coming forward. It was also asked if there was any official update regarding the dualling of the A358.

Kate Hellard, Tim Cook and Sarah Wakefield responded to some points raised in discussion including:

·       Currently recruiting to the LCN link officer roles and confirmation it would be their role to help with communication and share information between the working groups, parishes and the LCN. The team and capacity was slowing coming together.

·       The LCN team held mailing lists and so were able to support the working groups.

·       There are other organisations and individuals who can help in the working groups.

·       For information regarding the Biodiversity Net Gain call for sites, Cllr Dixie Darch (Lead Member for Climate Change and Environment) was suggested as a point of contact.

·       Somerset Council are writing a new strategy for biodiversity, and this could be something to be discussed further by the Environment Working Group.

·       Not aware of an official update on the A358.

The Chair asked everyone to feedback to their parishes or towns the work and discussions of the LCN and to say that more people are needed on the working groups, and to please support. Ideally 6 people are needed for each working group. One of the working group Chairs suggested alternating between day and evening meetings for the working groups to try and encourage more participation.

The Chair then provided an update on a recent meeting of all the LCN Chairs, where they had spent a day discussing what was and wasn’t being done, and what could be improved etc. A number of changes are being proposed about how the LCNs will operate. They had heard about what each LCN is doing and their working groups. He acknowledged communication was a weak link and the LCN link workers would be key to helping with that. He noted Policy Officers needed to be involved more with the LCNs.

Kate Hellard provided a brief summary of what some of the other LCN meetings were doing. She noted it was hoped some new data sets would be available to the LCNs in time for the AGM meetings. She clarified that some suggestions had been put forward for tweaks to the Terms of Reference for the LCNs.