Portsmouth City Borough Council Cabinet Member for Transport Meeting

There were no apologies.

There were no declarations of interest.

Kevin Mckee presented the report, the purpose of which was to consider the public response to the proposed parking restrictions in a number of locations in Portsmouth.

There were no questions or comments from members.

Decision

The Cabinet Member for Transport

1.    Agreed that the propose loading restrictions in Cosham Park would not be implemented;

2.    Agreed that the proposed E-scooter parking in Frensham Road would be implemented;

3.    Agreed that the proposed E-scooter parking in New Road would be implemented;

4.    Noted that the remainder of TRO 24/2022 was brought into operation under TRO 24a/2022 on 4 September 2023, due to no objection being received to those proposals with the following exceptions:

a)    The proposal for double yellow lines on Fawcett Road were withdrawn

b)   the proposed E-scooter parking on Francis Avenue and Baffins Road were withdrawn in light of comments made.

c)    The proposal for an electric charging bay on Harley Road was withdrawn due to objections.

d)   The proposal to remove the parking bay in Cranbourne Road to allow room for a drop kerb was modified to reduce the bay in size and the objection was withdrawn.

5.    Noted that any proposals approved following this report would be brought into operation under TRO 24b/2022.

Hayley Chivers presented the report, the purpose of which was to seek approval to commence public consultation on the draft Portsmouth Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (EVI) Strategy.

Members' Questions

In response to Members' questions, officers clarified:

·         The draft questions will ask residents and businesses if they agree with the policy and if they have any comments on it.  There will be more detail in the consultation material.

·         Local businesses can be targeted to see if they would be willing to provide Electric Vehicle charging points on their properties which would be open for public sharing.

·         The consultation was due to start on Monday 18 September and run for 6 weeks with a report coming back in December.

Decision

The Cabinet Member for Transport approved the content of the draft Portsmouth Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy, detailed in Appendix A, for public consultation.

Kirsty Routledge presented the report, the purpose of which was to seek approval to commence consultation on the draft Portsmouth Parking Strategy objectives and polices with stakeholders and the wider public.

Members' questions

In response to members' questions, officers clarified that:

·         The Consultation was due to start on Monday 18 September.

·         Close working with the market research team had confirmed running the EV strategy consultation alongside the Parking Strategy consultation would be the best way to achieve the best results. 

·         There will be joint consultation events, to talk about both at the same time and to signpost one to the other, as they are intrinsically linked.

·         Responses regarding Electric Vehicle parking spaces in the parking strategy will be fed through to the Parking strategy and vice versa.

·         Public city centre car parks will be reviewed in relation to which are in the best positions and to consider if there is scope for redevelopment of any of them.  Transport will be working closely with planning who are developing a parking SPD.

Members' comments

Members considered it sensible to do the consultation, but noted it was not a way of trying to remove parking in residential areas, rather to enhance it.

Members noted the Parking Strategy should include other forms of transport such as bicycles and motorcycles.

Decision

The Cabinet Member for Transport approved the content of the draft Portsmouth Parking Strategy objectives and policies for public and stakeholder consultation.

Hayley Chivers presented the report, which was for information only. The purpose of the report was to provide an update on the operation of the rental e-scooter trail that is currently scheduled to run until 31 May 2024.

Members' questions

In response to members' questions, officers clarified:

·         The current trial is due to run until May 2024 with the view that the Government are reviewing the legislation for all E-scooters.  The service will continue dialogue with them and update once more is known on the future plans for these types of vehicles.

·         The GPS geofencing works with an accuracy but if a pedestrian path is adjacent to a road this won't be blocked.

·         Reporting of incidents can be done on Voi's website by the public.  It can also be done by phone or email.  This can be done by noting the registration plate but also based on the time and location of the incident. 

·         In terms of who is reporting statistics, this can't be backdated by VOI going forward it can be monitored and reported on.

·         The base detail on the statistics can be provided to members.

Members' comments

Members highlighted the issues around private E-scooters and the lack of police action on their illegal and unsafe use on public highways and in pedestrian areas.

The Cabinet member noted the report.

James Silvester, presented the report the purpose of which was to seek ratification of Solent Transport Business Plan for 2023 - 2024 which was approved at Solent Transport Joint Committee on 6 March 2023.

Decision

The Cabinet Member for Transport ratified the Solent Transport Business Plan for 2023 - 2024.