Agenda item - Petitions for Council Debate

Petitions to be debated at Council.  Report of the Monitoring Officer (copy attached):

(a)         Seven Dials Improvement Project.  Lead petitioner Mr. D. Evans.

58.1         The Mayor stated that the council’s petition scheme provided that where a petition secured 1,250 or more signatures it could be debated at a Council meeting.  He had been notified of one such petition which had sufficient signatures to warrant a debate and therefore would call the lead petitioner to present their petition before opening the matter up for debate.

(a) Seven Dials Improvement Scheme

58.2         The Mayor then called on Mr. Evans to present the petition concerning the Seven Dials Improvement Scheme.

58.3         Mr. Evans thanked the Mayor and stated that a total of1,385 people had signed the paper petition which read as follows:

“We the undersigned petition the council to reject the proposals as they stand.  We oppose any scheme at the Dials which may lead to traffic being diverted onto residential streets

We are in favour of changes to our local area which improves the environment for all users.”

58.4         Mr. Evans stated that local residents and traders were in favour of improvements to the Seven Dials area, but were concerned over the consultation process and the impact of parking in surrounding areas should the current proposals be approved at the Transport Committee in January.  He stated that the consultation process needed to be extended and the proposals reviewed in light of the concerns that were being raised and asked that consideration be given to delaying the implementation of the scheme.

58.5         Councillor Davey thanked Mr. Evans for attending the meeting and stated that a lot of work had been undertaken, including traffic modelling and monitoring of surrounding streets and this would be repeated if necessary.  He also noted that there was an amendment from the Labour & Co-operative Group and stated that he was happy to accept it.

58.6         Councillor Robins thanked Councillor Davey for accepting the amendment and formally moved it on behalf of the Labour & Co-operative Group.

58.7         Councillor Mitchell formally seconded the amendment.

58.8         Councillor Cox stated that he had been in discussions with various people and local traders during the last two weeks and all had acknowledged the need to improve the Seven Dials area.  Over the years there had been a number of accidents and concern remained that a cyclist would be killed if the junction was not improved.  He queried whether the meeting that was now scheduled for next Monday would be considered as further consultation, bearing in mind that it was intended to receive a report to the January Committee meeting.

58.9         Councillor G. Theobald welcomed the petition and the amendment and stated that it was the third most dangerous junction in the city and something needed to be done to address this.

58.10    Councillor Buckley stated that she supported the proposals for improvement but felt that further consultation was required and that it needed to include interest groups such as the visually impaired and disability groups, so that their views could be taken into account.

58.11    Councillor Mitchell welcomed Councillor Davey’s comments but expressed concern over the fact that the decision to take the improvement programme forward and undertake a consultation process had not been reported to the Transport Committee in the first instance.  She hoped that the concerns raised by the petition and local residents would be taken into account in the report to the committee in January.

58.12    Councillor Davey noted the comments and stated that everyone agreed there was a need to take action and improve the Seven Dials area.  The difficulty was in finding a solution that could meet the majority of aspirations.  He also acknowledged that briefings should have been offered to councillors in regard to the scheme being taken forward and noted that these had now taken place and that further briefings would be made available on request.  He was also willing to meet with residents and discuss matters so that concerns could be taken into account and hopefully a solution found to improve the vitality of the area.

58.13    The Mayor noted the comments and thanked Mr. Evans for attending the meeting and presenting the petition.  He then put the recommendations to refer the petition to the Transport Committee as amended for consideration to the vote which was carried.

58.14    RESOLVED: That the petition be referred to the Transport Committee for consideration and the committee be requested to ensure that the following measures have taken place:

(i)           That in view of the large amount of concern expressed by residents living in the 7 Dials area as evidenced by this petition, the current proposals for the traffic and highway changes in their current form are reviewed;

(ii)         That adequate traffic modelling is undertaken before any further proposals are brought forward in order to fully understand the potential for any increase in ‘rat-running’ traffic through side roads; and

(iii)       That this work is followed by further public consultation on the detail of the scheme as it is proposed to affect pedestrians and any other changes in the plans to hopefully ensure good traffic flow.