Agenda item

To consider the following questions which may have been received from Elected Members and which are asked pursuant to Standing Order No. 11:-

 

1)    Councillor P Wright

 

A recent Freedom of Information request revealed that in the 4 months ended November 2023 there were 1,781 incidents of fly tipping across the Borough. Can the Cabinet member please tell me what the annual cost is for dealing with this scourge on our town?

 

2)    Councillor Christmas

 

There have been a series of accidents at the junction of Keresforth Road and Stainborough Road. This is the same location where a lady was knocked down suffering life changing injuries. Will the cabinet member be willing to explore all available options to stop cars parking on the blind bend, which is causing motorists to use the opposite side of the road to navigate the bend, leading them into oncoming traffic?

 

3)    Councillor Denton

 

The ‘South Yorkshire Bus Promise’ sets out what bus users in Barnsley should expect of the public bus service and what actions should be taken if standards are not met. It was developed by the SYMCA Enhanced Partnership Forum and was approved by the Enhanced Partnership Board in May 2023 with an agreement to publish on the ‘Travel South Yorkshire’ Website within 6 weeks. This still has not happened. Is the Cabinet Member familiar with this document and supportive of its content?

 

4)    Councillor C Wray

 

Could the cabinet member please update on progress regarding the Park & Ride Scheme for Barnsley Hospital following the promise in summer 2022 for a feasibility study to be carried out?

 

5)    Councillor Christmas

 

The new footbridge over the railway line between Penny Pie Park and Pogmoor Rec has been installed with lighting. However, the paths through Pogmoor Rec and Penny Pie Park have no lighting whatsoever. Residents continue to complain that the area feels unsafe to walk through after dark, particularly the elderly and women, meaning some residents choose to walk the long way around to get from Pogmoor Rd to Broadway. Can the cabinet member confirm if the council has any plans to install and improve lighting in Penny Pie Park and Pogmoor Rec to ensure it meets its commitment to make the parks accessible for all?

 

6)    Councillor Christmas

 

Does the cabinet member feel it is acceptable that run off water from the council owned green space on Saville Road, Gilroyd, continues to flood a resident’s garden, rendering the back garden and back door inaccessible, while also causing significant damp and mould within the property?

The Chief Executive reported that she had received a number of questions from Elected Members in accordance with Standing Order No. 11.

 

1)    Councillor P Wright

 

A recent Freedom of Information request revealed that in the 4 months ended November 2023 there were 1,781 incidents of fly tipping across the Borough. Can the Cabinet member please tell me what the annual cost is for dealing with this scourge on our town?

 

Councillor Higginbottom, Cabinet Spokesperson for Environment and Highways responded by saying that the annual cost for disposal of fly-tipping for 2022/23 was £264,453.23 and for the period mentioned, this cost was £121,261.69.  He added that costs included labour, machinery, materials, and disposal costs relating to incidents.

 

In addition to the direct costs, the council had invested resources in the enforcement team and communications team to pursue the people who chose to break the law.

 

Councillor Higginbottom said that he was sure that Councillor P Wright shared his absolute abhorrence of those who continued to blight our borough and that he would continue to support every effort to bring those responsible to justice.

 

Councillor P Wright noted that the Kingstone Ward had the highest number of incidents of fly-tipping according to a recent freedom of information request, and by way of supplementary question he asked how the Council was going to target the worst affected areas to hopefully reduce or put an end to this unsightly and often unsanitary practice.

 

Councillor Higginbottom responded by stating that there were a number of avenues the Council was taking to tackle this, firstly using enforcement; 42 Fixed Penalty Notices had been issued and the Council had seized and crushed vehicles responsible for large scale fly-tipping and offenders had been taken to court for prosecution.

 

He added that enforcement alone was not the sole answer to the problem, there was a responsibility for education and reminding residents of the options available to legally and conveniently dispose of their waste through Household Waste Recycling Centres, the domestic kerbside collections and the bulky waste service.  He mentioned the Everybody Think publicity campaign with leaflets distributed in the areas known to  be particular ‘hotspots’ including the Kingstone and Central wards. He said that the Council had a responsibility to remind residents about their end user responsibilities when disposing of waste.  He thanked residents for their continued support of the work, including reporting, with work ongoing with Microsoft to make reporting easier, particularly in relation to smart phones.

 

2)    Councillor Christmas

 

There have been a series of accidents at the junction of Keresforth Road and Stainborough Road. This is the same location where a lady was knocked down suffering life changing injuries. Will the cabinet member be willing to explore all available options to stop cars parking on the blind bend, which is causing motorists to use the opposite side of the road to navigate the bend, leading them into oncoming traffic?

 

Councillor Higginbottom, Cabinet Spokesperson for Environment and Highways, responded by saying that his thoughts and the thoughts of the Council were with the resident mentioned.  He added that he was aware of the serious accidents that had occurred at the junction of Keresforth Road and Stainborough Road, and he shared the concerns about the safety of pedestrians and drivers in this area. 

 

He made Members aware that the junction of Keresforth Road and Stainborough Road was within the traffic team's annual work programme, and that they were in the process of investigating the problem and developing an appropriate solution in due course. Traffic engineers had already met with local members on site to discuss the situation and explore possible measures to improve the visibility and reduce the speed of vehicles. 

 

He provided assurances that officers were working hard to deliver a solution that would address the concerns and enhance the safety and accessibility of the junction. He added that officers would keep Councillor Christmas and his ward colleagues updated on the progress of the project and the expected timescales for implementation. 

 

By way of supplementary question Councillor Christmas asked if Councillor Higginbottom could commit to a timeline for identification and implementation of safety measures. 

 

In response Councillor Higginbottom said it was the intention to have a scheme ready at design stage by the end of the financial year. The implementation would depend on the design, and the scale of the challenge, however the Council wished to progress this as quickly as possible.

 

3)    Councillor Denton

 

The ‘South Yorkshire Bus Promise’ sets out what bus users in Barnsley shouldexpect of the public bus service and what actions should be taken if standards are not met. It was developed by the SYMCA Enhanced Partnership Forum and was approved by the Enhanced Partnership Board in May 2023 with an agreement to publish on the ‘Travel South Yorkshire’ Website within 6 weeks. This still has not happened. Is the Cabinet Member familiar with this document and supportive of its content?

 

Councillor Higginbottom, Cabinet Spokesperson for Environment and Highways replied stating that he and the Council were familiar with, and very supportive of, the work that the Mayor of South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard, was doing to improve public transport in the region and applauded his continued efforts to lobby government for the investment the area deserved.

 

Councillor Denton noted that Mayor Coppard had published a press release recently which had referenced the bus promise and thanked Councillor Higginbottom for any influence he may have had in this. By way of supplementary question asked whether influence could be used for the Bus Promise to be published in places where bus users would see it, such as terminals and on buses, so that users were aware of it so that feedback could be given to the Enhanced Partnership.

 

Councillor Higginbottom replied that the publication and dissemination of this was a matter for the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, but that this issue would be picked up with them through the usual channels. He added that the recent ‘Back Our Buses’ campaign of the South Yorkshire Mayor, an important document recently released, which referenced the challenges in South Yorkshire. The report highlighted that for every £10 of central government funding spent in South Yorkshire, £40 per head was spent in the West Midlands, £39 per head was spent in Greater Manchester and £36 was spent in West Yorkshire.  This served to highlight the chronic underfunding of public transport in South Yorkshire. But of note were the positive improvements made through the Enhanced Partnership, which would improve the experience for residents of South Yorkshire,  including limits to the service changes and fair increases to twice and once per annum, taxi fair replacement schemes for service cancellations, and accessibility improvements on the new fleet. Collectively these made a big difference to Members of the public.

 

4)    Councillor C Wray

 

Could the cabinet member please update on progress regarding the Park & Ride Scheme for Barnsley Hospital following the promise in summer 2022 for a feasibility study to be carried out?

 

Councillor Higginbottom, Cabinet Spokesperson for Environment and Highways responded by saying that the detailed work on the feasibility study was time consuming and involved a lot of data gathering?both with the Council and the hospital. Council officers had project meetings arranged to discuss progress and would provide updates accordingly.

 

He added that he appreciated that it had taken longer than anticipated, but where information had not been available, the consultants had to do the necessary data capture to ensure the data that underpinned study was robust. 

 

As a supplementary question Councillor C Wray asked whether there was an expected timescale for completion of the work, bearing in mind the costs to residents in parking fees, the NHS in missed appointments and lost productivity.

 

Councillor Higginbottom responded by saying progress meetings would be taking place in the next two weeks, and following these updates would be provided accordingly. He appreciated the concerns raised, but added that a park and ride scheme alone would not solve the issues. In the longer term the solution would be reducing demand at the Gawber Road site by moving as many services as possible away from there. Barnsley was trailblazing in its Health on the High Street programme, which will be transformative, as seen with the Community Diagnostics Centre.

 

5)    Councillor Christmas

 

The new footbridge over the railway line between Penny Pie Park and Pogmoor Rec has been installed with lighting. However, the paths through Pogmoor Recand Penny Pie Park have no lighting whatsoever. Residents continue to complain that the area feels unsafe to walk through after dark, particularly the elderly and women, meaning some residents choose to walk the long way around to get fromPogmoor Rd to Broadway. Can the cabinet member confirm if the council has any plans to install and improve lighting in Penny Pie Park and Pogmoor Rec to ensure it meets its commitment to make the parks accessible for all?

 

Councillor Higginbottom, Cabinet Spokesperson for Environment and Highways responded by saying that the delivery of both the Dodworth Road Gyratory, improvements to Penny Pie Park, and the installation of the footbridge that linked to Pogmoor Recreation Ground had been a great success in achieving its overall objectives in addition to improving the quality of the park’s offer. 

 

The delivery of these schemes had been undertaken sympathetically, balancing the potential concerns regarding lighting of the public areas against potential anti-social behaviour concerns and against ecological information gained during the development of the planning application.

 

The Preliminary Ecological Assessment undertaken for the scheme identified that it was likely that there are bats present in the area, and probably using the site to some extent.

 

Therefore, it was recommended that lighting options were carefully considered along the route of the new roundabout, particularly near the railway line, and measures to reduce the impact of artificial lighting and reduce light spill should be considered and adopted as part of the planning process.

 

In addition, it was noted that officers were also mindful of the impact that additional lighting could have on the properties that overlook the recreation ground. Therefore, he confirmed that there were no current proposals to provide any additional lighting at this stage, but that it would be kept under review.

 

Councillor Christmas declined to ask a supplementary question.

 

6)    Councillor Christmas

 

Does the cabinet member feel it is acceptable that run off water from the council owned green space on Saville Road, Gilroyd, continues to flood a resident’s garden, rendering the back garden and back door inaccessible, while also causing significant damp and mould within the property?

 

Councillor Higginbottom, Cabinet Spokesperson for Environment and Highways responded that the ongoing flood resilience of all our communities was a hugely important area of work for the Council, even more so given the most recent October 2023 flood event. Officers from across his portfolio were aware of this situation, and he sympathised entirely with the resident who was affected.

 

This issue had been ongoing for some time and there are a number of challenges in finding the most appropriate solution. Several options were under active consideration but further investigation and consultation with affected residents and stakeholders was required before a solution could be agreed.

 

He provided assurances that that the issue was being taken seriously and that the Council was committed to finding a feasible and sustainable solution as soon as possible.

 

He encouraged Councillor Christmas and his constituents to continue to report any further problems, as this would help to build a robust evidence base for whatever intervention was required.

 

By way of supplementary question Councillor Christmas asked for assurances that, at the very least, communications between the relevant Council officers and resident will improve considerably so that they were aware of what, if any, the Council was willing to take.

Councillor Higginbottom responded by saying that they would.