Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The minutes were confirmed as a correct record.

Lancashire County Council is seeking your views on its proposed Parish based public transport scheme, whereby the authority will support your local community with the provision of a minibus type vehicle in order for you to provide your own local bus services for your community.

We understand that public transport is a complex matter, therefore, Lancashire County Council has developed guidance that can be used by Parishes, or other community groups, to help you develop your own public transport scheme.

County Councillor John Fillis (Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport) will attend the meeting. 

The Chair introduced County Councillor John Fillis (Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport) to the meeting.

County Councillor Fillis gave a presentation of the current position of Lancashire County Council in regards to their subsidised bus routes.

It was noted that the only statutory duties that the County Council had deliver in regards to bus services was the administration of the NOW card and bus timetables.  As a subsidised bus service was not a statutory obligation it was expected that the subsidies would be withdrawn to reduce the deficit in the County Council’s budget.  Funding for those services supplied to the most vulnerable such as door to door services would not be effected.

In order to maintain a viable bus service in rural areas it was proposed that parish/town councils and community groups work together to operate their own bus service.  To support this initiative the County Council had set aside £2 million in revenue to help with operation costs and £1 million in capital to buy vehicles suitable for passenger numbers.  Any parish/town council interested in operating their own bus service were welcome to have a meeting with County Council representatives to discuss their proposed scheme.  The risk for each scheme would be calculated, and those schemes that were more likely to succeed would be given the funding.

Following concern raised at the meeting, County Councillor Fillis confirmed that none of the bus operators had given notice to the Traffic Commissioner that they were withdrawing from the NOW card scheme.  

The Chair thanked County Councillor Fillis for his attendance.

To provide an update on the delivery of the current Superfast Broadband Rollout and provide details on the next stage of the rollout starting in 2016.

Sean McGrath, Lancashire County Council, Mark Chamberlain/Tony Morgan, BT, will attend the meeting.

The Chair introduced Sean McGrath (Lancashire County Council), and Tony Morgan and Mark Chamberlain (BT) who gave a presentation on the current position of Superfast Broadband Roll out in Lancashire and information on the next stage.

Notable points included –

·         97% of Lancashire homes and businesses planned to have access to broadband speeds above 24mbps by March 2016, and 99% by March 2018,

·         454 SMEs received business support related to the exploitation of Superfast Broadband access,

·         854 structures out of 934 were now built and providing service,

·         Use of different technologies based upon vfm issues (Fibre to the Cabinet / Fibre to the Premises),

·         As of November 2015

-          15,808 premises had access to the Fibre broadband Network,

-          2,188 premises could achieve speeds up to 23.9mbps (possibly die to distance from cabinet), with 13,620 premise in excess of 24mbps,

-          86.15% of Chorley could access Superfast speeds (the contract was for 85% Lancashire wide),

·         Three more structures to be delivered by March 2016 which would take coverage in Intervention Area up to 16,678.

Customers might be unaware that they had access to Superfast Broadband, and that they should check to see if fibre broadband was available for their address and contact their broadband provider.  It was noted not all broadband providers supplied Superfast Broadband, and that there were some benefits to using a comparison website such as Uswitch to see what offers were available.  

The Chair thanked Sean McGrath, Tony Morgan and Mark Chamberlain for their attendance.

Gary Hall, Chief Executive of Chorley Council, will attend to present this item.  The budget consultation papers will be available via this link: https://democracy.chorley.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=115&MId=4379&Ver=4

Gary Hall, Chief Executive, advised that the consultation on the proposed budget for 2016/17 would commence following approval of the proposals by Executive Cabinet on 21 January 2016.

Councillor Alistair Bradley advised that the proposals that had been put forward had not been discussed in detail as yet.  However, the Executive Cabinet would be asked to agree the content of the report in order to start the budget consultation processes, of which included -

·         Council Tax to be frozen in 2016/17

·         The proposed New Investment for 2016/17

·         The Balanced budget position for 2016/17

·         The forecasted budget position for 2018/19

The update was noted.

Recent press reports have suggested that Chorley Council would consider taking over libraries within Chorley Borough if LCC withdraw funding for library services (which looks likely).  Could someone from Chorley Council present the latest thinking about this and what implications it may have on our local libraries.

The response to this will be covered in the budget consultation item.    

Councillor Alistair Bradley, Executive Leader of the Council, advised that in response to Lancashire County Council proposing hard hitting budget cuts across its services, Chorley Council had been considering which services it could deliver with its partners to minimise the impact of the cuts.

Although the importance of the library service was not in doubt, it was important to consider how the service could be sustainably delivered in the future.  This could include

·         increased use of the mobile library

·         using premises other than library buildings

·         use of volunteers to operate libraries

Parish and Town Councils were invited to put forward their suggestions after the meeting.

The update was noted.

Jamie Carson, Director of Public Protection, Streetscene and Community will give a verbal update. 

Jamie Caron, Director of Public Protection, Streetscene and Community advised that the Council and its partners were continuing with the clean-up operation which was a result of flooding over the Christmas and New Year period.

Approximately 400 people had applied for financial assistance through the Council’s Flood Relief Scheme.  Parish and town councils were asked to encourage those household effected by the recent flooding, who had not yet applied to the scheme to get in touch as soon as possible.  There was also help for businesses that had been affected.

It was reported that the Council intended to review its flood plans, after which it was proposed that the plans would be released for consultation.  In addition, the frequency and maintenance schedules of those services, provided by the Council, that could potentially have an impact on flooding, such as cleaning gutters, would also be reviewed.  It was also expected that the Croston Flood Defence Scheme would be completed June/July 2016.

The Council was keen to work with parish and town councils and a drop in event had been arranged on 28 January, between 3pm and 8pm, in The Lancastrian for those people affected by the recent floods, with a number of partners being represented, including the Environment Agency.

Following the event on 28 January, Councillor Alistair Bradley, the Executive Leader of the Council, advised that it was the intention of the Council to write to the government detailing the main issues that arose from the event, and anyone wishing to comment would be welcome to do so.   

In order to allow members of the Liaison and members of the public to raise issues of local concern, a period of 20 minutes has been set aside.

A member of the public may speak for no more than 3 minutes.  Members of the public are not required to give notice of the issue they intend to raise, although it is expected in the case of service issues that the appropriate mechanisms for resolving the issue have been explored. 

Where a question is raised which cannot be answered at the meeting, a record will be kept by officers supporting the meeting and it will be responded to via the appropriate mechanism.

There were no questions.

A schedule setting out deadlines for items to be requested on the agenda for the Chorley Liaison is enclosed. 

The dates of future meetings are:

·         Wednesday, 16 March 2016 at 6.30pm

·         Wednesday, 20 July 2016 at 6.30pm

·         Wednesday, 19 October 2016 at 6.30pm

·         Wednesday, 18 January 2017 at 6.30pm

·         Wednesday, 15 March 2017 at 6.30pm

Future meetings were scheduled for 16 March, 20 July, 19 October, 18 January 2017 and 15 March 2017.  An email would be sent to clerks to request items in advance of the meeting.

The request and response is enclosed.  

The agenda item was withdrawn by Councillor Graham Ashworth, on behalf of Health Charnock Parish Council.

The requests are enclosed.

Adlington Town Council requested four items to be actioned.

In relation to the question about requesting changes to a bus route to provide public transport for the residents of Lower Adlington, it was AGREED that County Councillor Kim Snape would pursue this with officers from the County Council.

It was noted that defibrillators around the borough were mapped, and the information would be provided.

Responses to all four questions would be circulated prior to the next meeting.

Update

1.         The process for requesting changes to bus routes.  The Council has recently suggested that the service to Adlington would be improved if at least one bus per hour on the 125 route diverted along Westhoughton Road to provide public transport for the residents of Lower Adlington, a request which has been rejected by the bus company. 

Response from Lancashire County Council

Service 125 is operated by Stagecoach on a commercial basis and the County Council has no influence over the route or timetable.  As an observation, currently all journeys operate to the same route and a simple regular timed frequency to serve the majority of their customers along the route.  Introducing an hourly diversion to an area they already serve with another service is not deemed commercially sensible on such an important route.

Stagecoach have recently invested in brand new modern buses and the continued success of Service 125 is the regular standardised route and timetable easily understood by its users.

Stagecoach already provide an alternative commercial hourly bus service for Lower Adlington in Service 8.

2.         A solution to the regular problem of flooding on Westhoughton Road.  The Council has been told that improvement to the drainage system is possible but costly, but as this is part of the main A6 route the Council considers the current situation to be dangerous.  In addition the Council considers that more regular sweeping of the gutters would reduce the amount of flooding on the roads in other parts of the village.

Response from Lancashire County Council

I can advise that Westhoughton Road floods about six times a year. The flooding disrupts traffic and pedestrians flow on the east side of the road, the cause of the flooding is almost always leaves and debris blocking the gully tops. 

In respect to the sweeping this is carried out by Chorley Borough Council and they have advised this area is swept by the large sweeper on a three week basis.

Response from Chorley Council

Chorley Council do the street sweeping and Lancashire County Council do gully cleansing.

From CBC website, at https://myaccount.chorley.gov.uk/MyChorley.aspx you can view sweeper routes:

Both authorities can also respond on a reactive basis if there are leaves/detritus – https://myaccount.chorley.gov.uk/Forms/StreetSweeping.aspx

Or if a gully appears blocked (water not draining away) – http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/roads-parking-and-travel/fault-search.aspx  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.66

It was noted that -

·         The Council, along with other Councils in Lancashire, was consulting on a Combined Authority for Lancashire.  Anyone wishing to contribute could do so via the Council’s website.  The deadline for contributions was Friday, 19 February. 

·         The route for Chorley Grand Prix on Saturday 26 March had been announced.

·         Chorley Flower Show, 30-31 July 2016; the Council was currently taking applications for trade stands.  Parish and town councils who had horticultural-based traders in their area were being asked to encourage them to apply. 

Details of all the information above can be found on the Council’s website http://www.chorley.gov.uk.