Agenda Template

Maidstone Joint Transportation Board MEETING

 

Date:       Wednesday 17 January 2018

Time:      5.00 pm

Venue:    Town Hall, High Street, Maidstone
          

Membership:

 

Councillors Bird, Brown, D Burton (Chairman), Carter, Chittenden, Clark, Cooke, Cooper, Cuming, Daley, Garten, Hastie, Hotson, Prendergast, T Sams, Springett, Mrs Stockell, Wilby, Willis and Wilson

 

AGENDA

Page No.

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1.        Apologies for Absence

 

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2.        Notification of Substitute Members

 

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3.        Urgent Items

 

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4.        Notification of Visiting Members

 

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5.        Disclosures by Members and Officers

 

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6.        Disclosures of Lobbying

 

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7.        To consider whether any items should be taken in private because of the possible disclosure of exempt information

 

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8.        Minutes of the meeting Held on 18 October 2017

1 - 7

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9.        Presentation of Petitions

 

 

A)   Notice has been given pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 12 of the intention to present a petition in the following terms:

 

We object to the plans to install double yellow lines in Gatland Lane, we want to see single yellow lines operating Monday to Friday 8am to 10am and 2pm to 5pm.  This will enable residents and their visitors to park freely at weekends and out of school drop off times.

 

B)   Notice has been given pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 12 of the intention to present a petition in the following terms:

 

We the residents of Sutton Road have learned to our dismay of the planned works in front of our properties.

 

These planned works will have a dramatic effect on our lives as the road will be that much closer to our homes. This will lead to noise and, more importantly, pollution. Some residents have health problems, i.e. asthma, and this will have a massive impact on their lives. We have a right, before you commence the works, to be consulted on this major concern. What protection are you going to give us from the noise and pollution?

 

C)  Notice has been given pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 12 of the intention to present a petition in the following terms:

 

We do not want the Sutton Rd traffic "improvements" to go ahead, turning four lanes into six lanes. We do not want all the old trees + shrubs removed all the way from Bell Meadow to the cemetery. This will cause more pollution, more noise and de-value our homes and we would still have bottlenecks where the road would have to return to four lanes. Our best protection from the pollution and noise is the trees!

 

D)  Notice has been given pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 12 of the intention to present a petition in the following terms:

 

A274 Sutton Road/Willington Street Improvement Scheme

 

Kent County Council and Maidstone Borough Council are proposing to widen the A274 Sutton Road junction with Willington Street into six lanes, beginning in February 2018 by destroying mature Prunus cherry trees in Bell Meadow and mature trees/hedges along the Sutton Road, which screen properties and soak up emissions from passing traffic. These trees are also one of the few pleasant and welcoming sights to people entering the County Town through this increasingly built-up southern corridor.

 

We the undersigned believe that the current design is far too drastic, and that any minimal gains will not outweigh the destruction. Improvements could be made by using other, cheaper and less disruptive, methods. Compared with a number of other junctions, such as at the Wheatsheaf and the other end of Willington Street, any problems at this junction are relatively trivial and there is only a very limited period where traffic might, occasionally, need to wait for more than one change of traffic lights. Increasing the throughput through this junction, because it appears to be the only one with scope to do anything, can only exacerbate the more serious congestion problems at Morrison’s, the Wheatsheaf and the Ashford Road/Willington Street junction.

 

We therefore call upon Kent Highways to:

 

1.   Ask Mr Wilkin and the other officers involved to read in full the Forestry Commission’s Report “The Case for Trees”, about the importance of trees in an urban environment - https://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/eng-casefortrees.pdf/$file/eng-casefortrees.pdf - before putting any part of this scheme in its present form into action, so that they understand the true value of these trees;

 

2.   Give residents a firm assurance that no trees will be felled before we have had a proper consultation and all other options have been considered and agreed, including –

 

a.    Giving traffic coming from Maidstone and turning left into Willington Street a slightly longer dedicated lane with its own traffic light filter, as originally planned, widening the road up to the hedge - which was planted some years ago for that specific purpose; and

 

b.    Creating a filter lane from Sutton Road into the Wallis Avenue industrial estate so that traffic going southwards doesn’t have to queue behind vehicles waiting for a gap in oncoming traffic in order to turn right into that road;

 

3.   Ensure that adequate measures to eliminate pollution and traffic noise will be put in place;

 

4.   Make publicly available all measurements of current noise and pollution levels, and also the results of the traffic surveys - i.e. traffic flow at all times of the day and night, times, facts, figures, evidence - on which the business case for this scheme is based;

 

5.   Give the residents of Bell Meadow and Sutton Road a proper consultation on these and other measures before January 2018, as we are aware that the trees are due to be destroyed in February 2018; and

 

6.   Include in any public consultation and on both council websites information about how affected residents can apply for compensation, reduction in council tax and other mitigating measures for the loss of value in our homes and quality of life if the proposed scheme still goes ahead and we do lose our trees."

 

 

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10.    Questions and answer session for members of the public

 

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11.    Maidstone Joint Transportation Board Work Programme 2017/18

8

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12.    Reference from Planning Committee - 17/502072 - Land South of Forstal Lane, Coxheath, Kent

9 - 10

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13.    Reference from Council - Bridges Gyratory System

11 - 13

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14.    Petition Report - Platts Heath Safe Transport Scheme

14 - 16

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15.    Petition Report - B2246 Hermitage Lane

17 - 20

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16.    Gatland Lane, Maidstone

21 - 43

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17.    A274 Sutton Road Maidstone

44 - 66

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18.    Maidstone Highway Works Programme

67 - 81

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Alternative Formats

The reports included in this agenda can be available in alternative formats.  For further information about this service, or to arrange for special facilities to be provided at the meeting, please contact committeeservices@maidstone.gov.uk or 01622 602272. To find out more about the work of the Board, please visit www.maidstone.gov.uk

 

 

 

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Public Speaking

In order to book a slot to speak at this meeting of the Maidstone Joint Transportation Board, please contact 01622 602272 or committeeservices@maidstone.gov.uk by 5 p.m. one clear working day before the meeting. If asking a question, you will need to provide the full text in writing. If making a statement, you will need to tell us which agenda item you wish to speak on. Please note that slots will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

 

 

 

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