Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Garelick, Tuckwell and Davies. Councillor Barry Nelson-West substituted for Councillor Garelick and Councillor Philip Corthorne substituted for Councillor Tuckwell.

There were none.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting dated 18 October 2023 be approved as a correct record.

It was confirmed that all items on the agenda were marked as Part 1 and would therefore be considered in public.

The Chairman introduced the item and welcomed a number of witnesses to the meeting with regard to the Committee’s major scrutiny review into road safety initiatives and activities around the Borough’s schools. It was noted that this session would focus on gathering evidence from external stakeholders such as school representatives, travel leads and pupils.

The Chairman welcomed the witnesses to the meeting and thanked them for attending. Witnesses for this session included:

·         Lisa Mayo - Road Safety and School Travel Manager

·         Danielle Stanley-Watts - School Travel and Road Safety (STaRS) Officer

·         Rayna Ramtohul-Butler – Representative from Grange Park Junior School (School Travel Plan Lead)

·         Leo Harrington - Representative from St Helen’s College (School Travel Plan Lead)

·         Sharon Cargill - Representative from St Helen’s College

·         Charlee Green – Junior Travel Ambassador, St Helen’s College

·         Raiden Bhabara – Junior Travel Ambassador, St Helen’s College

The two Junior Travel Ambassadors (JTAs) from St Helen’s College addressed the Committee delivering a presentation and summary of their work on the JTA programme. They noted how proactive the programme was and informed the Committee of a number of different projects and activities the JTAs had engaged in, including:

·         The JTAs submitted a Dragon’s Den style pitch to apply for funding for their projects.

·         They ran a comic strip competition for students of St Helen’s College years 2 – 6 with prizes for the winners and entrants including a road safety box with high visibility clothing and cycle helmets.

·         The St Helens College JTAs had also won an award for ‘top road safety influencers’, the award was presented at an evening event held at the Kennington Oval.

·         They had written to Blue Peter to propose the introduction of a new road safety Blue Peter badge to raise awareness for road safety within the younger community. The JTAs had created some eye-catching designs to go with the letter, unfortunately they were unsuccessful, however in their response, Blue Peter were supportive of the children’s efforts.

·         They noted that the Hillingdon School Travel and Road Safety (STaRS) Team had run sessions with the school promoting road safety and various projects that the pupils could take part in.

·         Other projects run by the JTAs at their school included their weekly meetings, a walk to school loyalty card scheme, Be Bright Be Seen days, having police officers attend the school to teach pupils about speed awareness, Parents Parking Pledges and a JTA suggestion box.

The Committee commended the JTAs and the staff supporting them on the work they were doing for the safety of pupils, staff, parents and residents around their school, Members commented that it was important to have a good level of enthusiasm and engagement at both student and staff levels. It was noted that there were six JTA positions at St Helen’s College, the students were asked to apply for the positions in the style of a job application. It was noted that there were over 20 applications for the JTA positions. It also was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

The Committee discussed the Cabinet Forward Plan. The Democratic Services Officer noted that a call-in request had been initiated by Councillor Money with regard to item 21 from the Thursday 09 November Cabinet meeting - 54 Hallowell Road Northwood: formerly Northwood Young Peoples' Centre. The call-in request was live, and Members had received further information via email, to become a valid call-in request, it would require approval from a majority of Select Committee Members.

The Committee requested sight of the decision made at the 09 November Cabinet meeting regarding the Uxbridge Golf Course and Haste Hill Golf Course. Officers confirmed that the report and minutes for the item would be circulated to Members following the meeting.

RESOLVED: That the Property, Highways and Transport Select Committee noted the Cabinet Forward Plan.

The Committee discussed the work programme noting that the January 2024 meeting would consist of a third witness session for the major review into road safety, as was agreed at the Committee’s previous meeting. The objective of the session would be to gather evidence from residents living in the vicinity of schools in the Borough.

The Chairman highlighted a new item on the Cabinet Forward Plan scheduled for the 21 March 2024 meeting – Housing Forward Investment Programme 2024/25. Members sought to see a draft of this item, officers confirmed that they would liaise with the relevant Cabinet Member and officers to bring this to the Committee at an appropriate juncture.

RESOLVED: That the Property, Highways and Transport Select Committee noted the Committee’s Work Programme and agreed to amend the Work Programme as discussed.