The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Chair expressed his thanks to Malcom Allen, from Heapey Parish Council, for his contribution to the Group over the years. 

Decision -That the minutes of the last meeting held on 21 March 2018 be confirmed as a correct record.

County Councillor Berry highlighted that PACT meetings are no longer taking place.  Councillor Kim Snape advised that there is a new Community Beat Manager for Adlington and a meeting is needed. These issues will be queried with the Police. 

CC Iddon will attend to answer any queries on highways and transport issues.

The Chair welcomed County Councillor Keith Iddon (Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport) to the meeting.

CC Iddon thanked the Group for the invitation to attend the meeting and noted that everyone has an interest in the road network.  LCC maintain a network which covers 7 kilometres and has a value of around £10 million.  This includes roads, footpaths, gulleys, street lighting, signs, bridges and sections of the M65 and M61.  The transport element includes buses, community transport and bus stations.  CC Iddon delivers the best service possible to the residents of Lancashire. 

Councillor Bell queried the use of new vehicles to repair pot holes.  LCC rent eight vehicles, but these can only work when the conditions allow and were not able to operate in February or March this year due to the weather.  The repair is guaranteed for two years.  Ideally each repair would be a resurface, but these repairs do extend the life of the asset. 

Councillor Whittaker queried what action has been undertaken to gain additional funding from the Government.  An additional £four million had been received in the last few months specifically for roads and transport. 

Councillor Whittaker highlighted the issues which residents have encountered with the Ironman UK event; the number of laps in the race meant that some roads were closed from 6am until 4pm and carers were unable to reach patients and people couldn’t get to work. 

Councillor Kim Snape advised that she had been in touch with Ironman UK to express her concerns, but she had not received a response.  Councillor Graham Ashworth noted that Babylon Lane is closed for 11 hours during the event and suggested that the road remain open, but one way, to enable access.  Councillor Marel Urry advised that an ambulance had to be called three times and two cyclists were knocked off. 

The race this year had already been authorised when CC Iddon took office, but he shared the concerns raised and advised that he has written to Ironman UK to express these.  CC Iddon gave his assurance that this length of closure will not happen again and requested details of the complaints to enable him to follow them up. 

Update since the meeting: CC Keith Iddon has advised that Lancashire will not be hosting the Ironman UK event next year. 

Councillor Bromilow noted the poor state of a number of roads in Clayton.  LCC have a Traffic Asset Management Plan (TAMP) and the roads are resurfaced in line with it.  The Department of Transport assess LCC against the robustness of the TAMP.  If the road is a damaged because of a new estate the developer should contribute to its resurfacing. 

Councillor Steve Perry noted that the A675 starting at the Hoghton Arms has now reopened and requested that the road closed signs be removed. This is particularly important as Bury Lane, Withnell, is due to be resurfaced. 

Councillor Chris Lennox highlighted the dangers of parents parking on Hallgate, Astley Village and requested double  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.18

·                Pavement car parking. Pavements in many places are inaccessible for a lot of residents because motorists are not leaving enough room for wheelchairs, pushchairs etc.

·                a lack of "dropped kerbs" in appropriate locations making access for anyone with mobility issues even more difficult

·                overhanging vegetation causing pedestrians to need to move out into busy roads

These problems have been reported by residents in various locations around Adlington.

Councillor June Molyneaux explained that there were problems with residents parking inconsiderately.  Councillor Keith Iddon advised that there is a team of 20 officers, and officers using motorbikes enforcing these problems across Lancashire.  The Police will only intervene if there is an obstruction to another vehicle. 

Councillor Alison Evans suggested the use of white lines as a solution and there is the potential for this to be trialled.  Other issues were noted in Adlington, including pedestrian crossings and the reduction in bus services.  Councillor Ian Horsfield highlighted issues in Anderton with people parking on pavements and verges.  The proposed crossing on Bolton Road, at the junction with Rothwell Road was discussed. 

Councillor Steve Holgate queried the current position with the Speed Indicator Devices; there had been an issue with the software.  Councillor Marel Urry requested an update on Dial-a-ride.  Councillor Keith Iddon explained that the budgets have to reduce for this service and a consultation has been undertaken.  The different options are now being considered.  Councillor Iddon requested the details of these by email following the meeting. 

Councillor John Bamber highlighted issues with a diversionary route for the Pear Tree Lane road closure which includes a single track road.  Councillor Iddon thanked Councillor Bamber for highlighting the issue and undertook to investigate. 

Members discussed the combination of enforcing on street and off street parking.  

The issue of illegal parking in the light of the lack of monitoring and enforcement available, in particular out of hours and weekends.

This issue was discussed as part of the update from County Councillor Keith Iddon. 

Infestations have been seen on the outskirts of the parish and the Council wonders whether a combined effort to deal with this could be looked at as there may well be other areas in the borough suffering from this.

County Councillor Keith Iddon advised that LCC are responsible for weeds on the highways.  Chorley Council also undertake weed killing, including Japanese Knotwood. 

Operatives have to be fully protected when spraying as the weed killer is toxic and care must be taken to ensure that the weed killer does not enter the water course.  The plant can also be injected.

Councillor Alistair Bradley encouraged members to report weeds and advised that a report is due to be presented to Executive Cabinet at Chorley on this issue in the next few months. 

Councillor Peter Fennemore presented a report which can be found here: https://democracy.chorley.gov.uk/documents/b22831/Tabled%20items%2018th-Jul-2018%2018.30%20Chorley%20Liaison.pdf?T=9

During the last few meetings several queries have been raised in relation to broadband speeds, particularly in rural areas. 

Sean McGrath or Gemma Johnson, from the Superfast Lancashire team will attend. 

Sean McGrath, External Funding and Investment, Lancashire County Council, presented an update on the delivery of Superfast Broadband throughout Lancashire. 

96 - 97% of Chorley can access Superfast Broadband following Phase One and the Superfast Extension Programme (SEP).  LCC are in the process of submitting a bid to the Government to add another 700 properties.  Other properties will benefit from Gainshare Advance, which is revenue LCC is entitled to from BT under the contract in relation to connections above 20%. 

The tabled report, accessible here, sets out the numbers of properties by Ward eligible for inclusion in delivery if the Rural Broadband bid is successful and any remaining properties.  These may be able to access Superfast Broadband via the Better Broadband subsidy or the Gigabyte Voucher Scheme for businesses. 

Members noted that there are issues in areas of Buckshaw Village.  Sean requested details of any specific queries by email.  An update can be found here: https://democracy.chorley.gov.uk/documents/b22831/Tabled%20items%2018th-Jul-2018%2018.30%20Chorley%20Liaison.pdf?T=9

The Chair thanked Sean McGrath for his attendance. 

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.

Councillor Steve Holgate suggested that members of the meeting may wish to write to United Utilities, as private citizens, requesting that they refuse to give Cuadrilla water for their fracking operations. 

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

The deadlines for requesting items for future meetings were noted. 

It was requested that the Police be requested to attend a future meeting and for a future item on the development of the Central Lancashire Local Plan.