Agenda item

Subject to the required notice being given, Members of the Council can ask questions of the Chairman of the Council, the Leader of the Council, Portfolio Holders or Chairmen of Committees or Sub-Committees.

 

The time allocated for receiving and disposing of questions shall be a maximum of 45 minutes. Any question not disposed of at the end of this time shall be the subject of a written response, copied to all Members unless withdrawn by the questioner.

 

Four questions have been received, on notice, from Members.

Subject to the required notice being given, Members of the Council could ask questions of the Chairman of the Council, the Leader of the Council, Portfolio Holders or Chairmen of Committees or Sub-Committees.

 

Four questions had been submitted as set out below:

 

Question One

 

From Councillor Everett to Councillor McWilliams, Portfolio Holder for Health and Education:

           

“Is the Portfolio Holder aware that in the past month two ambulance technicians one located at Harwich one located in Weeley have died whilst in service. A local ambulance technician - associate practitioner Ian Carter is currently gauging support for a 999 memorial garden for Essex to remember all police fire and ambulance personnel that die in service. Currently Essex does not have such a memorial garden for 999 personnel although other counties do.

 

Does the Portfolio Holder think that this Council could support such a scheme”?

 

Councillor McWilliams replied as follows:

 

“Thank you Chairman and I would like to thank Councillor Everett for his question. I confirm that I am aware of these tragic deaths and I can see no reason why the Council would not want to support such a memorial garden. As Councillor Everett will know we do already have memorial gardens along the seafront in Clacton. One for Servicemen which has effectively been doubled in size in recent years to include smaller Service based memorials, what we call the ‘Sunken Rose Garden’. There is slightly further along near the Hospital another garden with a memorial to PC Dibell who was shot and killed a few years ago. So the answer is Yes.”

 

Question Two

 

From Councillor Fowler to Councillor Stock OBE, Leader of the Council:

 

“The Leader of the Council will be aware of the dreadful state of the road surface of the A120 between Harwich and Horsley Cross and the lobbying carried out by Harwich Town Council to end the delays in its resurfacing.

 

Will he please agree to write to Highways England on behalf of Tendring District Council in order to place TDC’s voice alongside that of Harwich Town Council in seeking immediate action?”

 

Councillor Stock replied as follows:

 

“Chairman I would like to thank Councillor Fowler for her question.

 

The situation has changed a great deal since her question was received by the Council, of which I received notification on 14^th March.

 

I wrote immediately to the minister of state for Highways and copied the letter to our member of Parliament, Bernard Jenkin.

 

Bernard’s reply is dated the very next day and he pledged to support me and to push the matter in Westminster.

 

On Friday, Bernard had a briefing on the condition of the road from Highways England.  He met on the A120 with the Highways Agency Regional Director - Eastern Region, Martin Fellows.  They drove the road together and discussed exactly what is happening to this stretch of road, particularly to the Wix by-pass section.

This issue has been raising concerns from many quarters, including Harwich Town Council, for too long.  Mr Fellows was also due to meet representatives of Harwich Town Council and I am grateful to them for also taking an interest in this issue.

Bernard further wrote to me on this issue just yesterday and phoned me to discuss the issue as he had just left a meeting at 4.30pm yesterday with the Roads Minister, Jesse Norman MP, and the CEO of Highways England, Jim O’Sullivan.  They have confirmed the following -

 

There was always going to be a programme of repair of potholes and cracks as the Winter season ends, but they are now planning an £800k, two-year programme of repairs, in order to sustain the safe operation of the road.  Their aim was to start this very week, and after the Easter weekend, with three crews and a significant number of shifts, which I hope road users will have seen working already.  This will involve ‘cold fill’ of potholes, which addresses the safety risk of potholes and ‘spalling’ (which is the breaking away of small sections), and patching of sections up to 5m in length, with new top dressing.  However, this will not address the underlying deterioration of this section of the A120, which has been occurring over a long period of time.  

 

They also confirmed that Highways England are contemplating a much more comprehensive programme of works, as a priority.  This road is some 50 years old, and some stretches were apparently built to long-term test different construction materials and techniques.  Much of this section of the A120 is laid on concrete slabs, which are simply reaching the end of their life.  The substructure is failing.  Some of them have moved, the joints between the slabs are more and more evident, particularly down the middle of the carriageway, and some gullies are collapsing.  This work is regarded as imperative and will need to be addressed in the next forward programme as part of RIS2 (Road Investment Strategy 2) which means the work will be done in the period 2020-25.

  
This project will cost many £10s of millions, if not more than that.  However, it is an opportunity to develop a proper A120 development strategy, which is integrated with the plans for economic development along the A120 corridor.  This will involve a full traffic study, to establish future traffic growth, and to ensure the new road is of sufficient capacity.  If we want to consider an entirely different line of route, or dualling in the longer term, now is the time to develop these proposals.  It will also need to address whether plans for the Bathside Bay container terminal is likely to proceed or not, and what contribution that might lead to, if any.

 

In conclusion Chairman, work is underway to address the concerns raised by Councillor Fowler. I am grateful to her for her question; it was a positive and constructive question addressing an issue that was affecting not just ordinary road-users but also the long-term economic prosperity of the whole area.”

 

Councillor Fowler then responded to Councillor Stock’s reply with a supplementary question:

 

“Thank you Councillor Stock for your reply. I am aware that the work on that road has been long overdue and I think most people who travel along that road are aware of that and even just recently when I wasn’t able to drive and I was a passenger in a car I had no idea just how bad some of those potholes are. In fact they are not potholes they are more like craters. A pothole is a hole. These are not holes. Of course, part of the road is also sinking now and that road doesn’t just need repairing it needs the whole thing completely redoing as it is at least 50 years old.

 

So I would ask if you would support the call for extra funding from the Government for Highways England to completely rebuild the road not just for everyday users for people who travel back and forth to Harwich but also for visitors who come to the area many of whom come from outside the UK? What must they think when they go around the Horsley Cross roundabout and onto the stretch down to the Ramsey roundabout which has recently been described by a paramedic as a ‘farm track’. Thank you.”

 

Councillor Stock responded to Councillor Fowler’s supplementary question as follows:

 

“I think Councillor Fowler is being rude about farm tracks! I’ve been down farm tracks that are in better condition than the A120 which is an appalling state of affairs. Yes is the key answer to the fundamental question that she put there. I absolutely support more Government funding and investment and it was in the body of the text of my answer that that should be happening. The A120, let us be very clear, all the way from Hare Green to Harwich is not fit for purpose. It needs to be dualled all the way for Harwich to be put back on the map and for Harwich to effectively be pulled closer to London and the economic heart of the country. Harwich was once a great and successful port and it is now struggling a bit. It still does very well I think but it could do an awful lot better but that road lets it down massively and it is simply not acceptable.

 

I absolutely support the new road. I don’t support anything that slows the traffic down going to and from Harwich. I don’t support the new roundabout being built at Hare Green for that very reason that it slows down all the traffic by a few minutes and there are better ways of solving the safety issues there. So yes it is important that everyone comes together on this. I think that it was a very good question that you put Councillor Fowler and as soon as it came to me I thought yes! I have had so many complaints and I am sick of seeing Councillor Henderson’s face in the local papers complaining about it though he has every right to do so and I don’t mean that disrespectfully. Quite the opposite in fact. I am sick of hearing about how bad the A120 is and how it needs to be done.

 

Hopefully short-term improvements are being carried out with long-term improvements in the pipeline. Unfortunately highways improvements in this country seem to take far, far too long. It seems to be a generation before anything gets done. The A120 from Braintree to the A12 is supposed to be in the pipeline to be done but will we, everyone in this Chamber tonight, still be driving when that road is done. To give you an example of how long it takes, the A120 from Stansted to Braintree was upgraded about ten years ago but I was at school in Great Dunmow when that was announced as a project and I remember looking at the paper and looking at the map and trying to work out what route my school bus was going to take.Well sadly I was in my forties when that road actually got opened! That’s how long these things take in this country and it’s really not acceptable. We need to get the bulldozers out and a new road in as soon rather than later and I fully support it.”

 

Question Three

 

From Councillor I J Henderson to Councillor Stock OBE, Leader of the Council:

 

“Will the Leader of the Council consider commissioning an impact study into the possible effect Brexit may have on the residents and businesses living and trading within the District of Tendring?”

 

Councillor Stock replied as follows:

 

“The Brexit referendum result was clear and decisive and puts the question of this country’s membership of the EU beyond question. No election in this country has ever seen so many people vote the same way.

 

We are leaving.

 

As Leader of this Council let me say that I am extremely positive and optimistic for our post-brexit future and I think it is very important that everybody, whether or not they wanted us to be leaving, accepts that it is happening and tries to make it a success.

 

There will undoubtedly be a range of issues arising from Brexit which will impact on both Tendring as a District, neighbouring authorities and the operations of the Council.

 

The precise details and terms of our exit are still being negotiated and discussed and on what terms and even precisely when we leave are not known at this time.

 

At this stage it would be premature to undertake an impact study as the full details of Brexit are not yet known.  I will be asking Officers to start preparing a briefing note on Brexit for Members when we have more detail and the impacts can be properly assessed.”

 

Councillor Henderson then responded to Councillor Stock’s reply with a supplementary question:

 

“In answer to that I would have thought that, like many other local councils, authorities and organisations, we would be doing these impact studies to be able to assist all sorts of business in the Tendring District even if we only survey them and ask them what their concerns are and we can look at those concerns and try and deal with them. As you said the deiision has been made and we can’t ignore it but what we can do is do our best to work with those businesses to make sure the impact is as ‘soft’ as possible on them.  I just wonder if he has had any discussions with Harwich Port, as obviously ports around the country are very concerned about leaving the Customs Union and the effects that will have on goods being held up in ports up and down the country because of being stopped at borders?”

 

Councillor Stock responded to Councillor Henderson’s supplementary question as follows:

 

“I am looking to set up a meeting with the Port of Harwich very soon actually and you are right to raise this as an issue as we don’t know what the impact is going to be. We don’t know how Brexit is going to pan out.  It could be that a bad thing turns out to be a good thing. Foer example, because of the customs restrictions we could end up having a big industry in this District around Harwich of Customs Officers needing to be employed as they check stuff coming into the country and it may be annoying to importers and exporters and it may be expensive for businesses but it could be a little boost.

 

There are also curious positives that people are talking about. For example, if the City of London ends up getting shifted to Paris or Frankfurt or wherever as other European countries try to steal that from us those entrepreneurial types who work in the City of London, most of whom live in Essex because the railway line that runs into the heart of the City of London  and terminates at Liverpool Street Station is, of course, our railway line, those bankers may end up retiring back to their communities and setting up businesses and being creative and innovative and making money within Tendring  or within Essex so it could be a bizarre, perverse twist. Something bad could turn out to be something good.

 

I am completely supportive of what he is saying, We need to keep our eye on what is happening, our finger on the pulse and keep talking to businesses. I am actually getting some positive vibes from businesses within the small manufacturing sector who say that they are experiencing upturns in trade where their customers are looking to shorten the supply line and withdraw from having items manufactured in Europe and getting it made more locally. So there are positives, there are risks and there are challenges. Some businesses will undoubtedly suffer as a result of Brexit but I think an awful lot more will do well. I actually am very positive and optimistic about it. I think that it is going to be great for this country and I look forward to it happening.”

 

Question Four

 

From Councillor J Henderson to Councillor Skeels Snr, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Tourism:

 

“Will the Portfolio Holder for Leisure confirm when the closed off lane at Dovercourt Swimming pool will be reopened for the public to use on a permanent basis?”

 

Councillor Skeels replied as follows:

 

“Thank you Councillor Henderson for your question. Following some recent staff training and wanting to look at ways of following best practice guidelines, leisure staff undertook a visibility zone check utilising the most up-to-date guidelines. Whilst not being a major issue light reflection on the side nearest the windows could, under some circumstances, reduce the lifeguard’s ability to monitor below the waterline as effectively as we would like. And so the decision was taken to remove that lane during the quieter periods to reduce the risk and give the lifeguard a smaller area to scan. During the busy period two lifeguards are on duty and so their scan area can be adjusted so that light refraction does not become an issue. Whilst this is a ‘belt and braces’ approach I hope that you would agree with me that public safety must be upper most in operational management considerations. The very low usage of the pool during the quieter sessions does not justify two lifeguards being on duty. There can on occasions be more lifeguards than users of the pool.

 

As mentioned at a recent Cabinet meeting the closure of one lane during the quieter periods is a temporary approach whilst we are in the process of looking at underwater technology to possibly use a blended lifeguarding approach. A meeting was due to take place a couple of weeks ago to consider the practical, technical and financial implications of installing this underwater technology but due to the adverse weather conditions at the time the meeting had to be cancelled though it is now in the process of being re-arranged. If we are able to use this new technology we will look to open up the pool more fully again during the quitter sessions and have one lifeguard on duty and a monitor showing the whole pool below the surface. Alternatively we may look at restructuring the sessions to ensure that we remain confident that we are meeting all the appropriate guidelines.”

 

Councillor Henderson then responded to Councillor Skeels’ reply with a supplementary question:

 

“Thank you for your answer. Are you able to confirm if Clacton and Walton Swimming Pools have also suffered with the same cuts?”

 

Councillor Skeels responded to Councillor Henderson’s supplementary question as follows:

 

“I am not aware of any cuts. I do not think anything has been cut.”