Agenda item

Report of Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services

The Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report (previously circulated) outlining the current position adopted by the Council in relation to the management of grass verges and to agree a process of reviewing the current arrangements.

The submitted report stated that verge parking was a common issue across the Borough that was increasingly causing problems; and that the Council receives complaints regarding the current approach to grass verge damage.

It was reported that the Council had a duty to ensure the highways were kept in a safe condition; verges form part of the Highway and were subject to legislation and regulation; and the sources of the problem and scenarios where grass verge parking created issues were outlined.

The report outlined previous approaches taken by the Council to alleviate the issues associated with verge parking; there was previously a relatively small budget for verge conversions and other type of physical works however this budget was no longer available. The Council continued to regularly inspect and respond to reports of damage and would only consider physical measures to prevent parking where the parking was causing a serious road safety concern in accordance with the Councils statutory duty.

Details were provided of approaches taken by other local authorities to manager verges; and the solutions that were available to the Council to either deter or prevent parking or options to accommodate parking.

Members questioned whether greater responsibility could be given to residents to manage grass verges; and requested that damage by utility companies and council owned vehicles be considered as part of the review of current arrangements. The Assistant Director Transport and Capital Projects advised that the Task and Finish Group would investigate all possible options to address the management of grass verges and that the scope of the review could be widened based on Members experiences.

RESOLVED – (a) That a Task and Finish Group be arranged to assist development of a new operational policy in relation to the management of grass verges.

(b) That Members agree the format of the review based on the proposed format as outlined in paragraph 73 of the submitted report.

(c) That Members agree the outcomes expected from the review based on the proposal as outlined in paragraph 74 of the submitted report.