Yes lovely thank you I want apologies for absence I’ve got apologies from councelor Matthew Jones and Franchesca O’Brien and also Beth allander who’s a coopted member do we have any other apologies at all no okay thank you for the benefit of those who have joined the meeting online
I’m going to ask those in the glosser room to introduce themselves um one by one so Stuart can we start with you please and work down yes Davis head of hous and transport thank you Mark Wade director of place when councelor Ry Lewis uh Ral Debbie Smith legal advisor good afternoon Samantha W
Democratic Services good afternoon Bridge medar scrutiny our team and I’m Peter black so that’s that’s that’s all the ones in the room and everyone else is online so welcome everybody um item two is disclosures of personal and prejudicial interest does anyone have anything they wish to declare no okay and item three is
Prohibition of whip votes and Declaration of party whips so nothing there either so let’s move on to the minutes of the last meeting and item four to approve as a correct record so I go this is um related to last meeting about tackling poverty and also support
For businesses so I’ll go through the pages one by one for accuracy page P one page two page three page four page five and Page Six can I take it people are happy that those minutes are accurate thank you I okay so public question time we haven’t had any public
Questions yet um just to add for those in terms of introducing people in the room Peter May is here as well so uh we had just had people introduce themselves Peter so welcome okay right so moving on to item item five public question time we haven’t had any questions so I’m
Going to move on to item six which is the question answer with the lead I think Rob is online I think I see Rob online rob you there R Stewart yeah CH I am here I’m having a little bit of connection problems at the moment so um I’m hoping my device will
Sort itself out in a second okay do you want to yeah that’s fine can you hear me okay I can hear you I can’t see you at the moment though that’s the only problem so okay well that you’re the very fortunate position in that case then let’s move can you
Want should like to introduce your report Rob yeah um chair thank you very much for that um obviously the report covers a wide range of areas across the council um specifically it updates on a number of uh key uh areas of development and regeneration in the city center um
And uh progress against our political and corporate commitments made both at the election and since then uh as a an Administration as part of the council so uh chair I wasn’t intending to go through the report in detail I’m sure members have read it but I’m more than
Happy obviously uh to focus on any areas that the uh members would wish and to add some further information to that or um to take questions if that is helpful but uh I I thought probably best as per previous sessions if I give members most
Of the time in terms of uh uh asking questions and uh uh looking at what’s been delivered as part of my report thank you Robert i’ prefer that members they s people are sting assume that we’ve all read the report which is much better in my experience as well so thank
You for that okay should I kick off the questions then um I think a lot of these questions are going to be around the major projects as you can imagine so on copper Bay your report states that all unfinished work is being completed as soon as possible including the stagging
Work on site and the C park on the south side of oym road I think actually the north side of oym road um can you are you able to be more specific about time scales and any issues which have Arisen since um since you last reported to us
On this so uh in terms of the the actions taken since uh we had Buckingham go into Administration as you’ll be aware we’ve um taken steps to appoint Wilmont Dixon as the replacement contractor um we’ve obviously uh given that the uh previous administr sorry previous contractor is an Administration
We’re having to deal um with the receivers uh in terms of making sure that we are able to get permissions to uh progress the outstanding works so a a a survey has been undertaken to establish the final state of the works uh when Buckingham uh ceased working on
The project and to uh therefore for agree a plan to complete the remaining works now my understanding is that is due back with the council in the next week or so and that will allow us then to agree uh a way forward in terms of the remainder of the works uh and the
Aim would be to complete those Works uh before the end of the summer but obviously um that is the ambition uh we don’t yet have the formal proposal from will MOX in terms of what works will need to be done and uh and how long they believe that will take them obviously as
Part of that as well once we have Wilmot Dixon’s uh proposals and remaining plan then it would lead us to to also look at the packages of work that would need to be allocated out then to uh local suppliers trades and others and again that will take a little bit of time to
Get underway uh but those are the activities that will follow once we receive the report back from Wilmont Dixon in the next week or so uh and then obviously vious ly uh we’ll be pushing for completion of those works as quickly as possible but the aim Still Remains to
Try and get those completed by the end of the summer okay so it’s a bit early to tell yes I’m sure Chris Holly’s panel can pick up on some of those issues when when you have that report back um the other thing is course you refer to the
New hotel next to the arena and in fact we had a report this morning at at a panel meeting saying that they from the on the tourism development plan saying they we need at least three more hotels in swans so obviously that would be are you able to give us any more information
About interest in in building that hotel next to the arena yeah well as you know we we ran a um a procurement uh a number of years ago um and that uh turned up a number of potential operators who were interested in running the groups and they are operators who therefore would also
Control brands that people would be familiar with in terms of hotel chains um one of the things that’s changed in the interim has been the onset of the general power of competence that that uh now applies to councils and one of the interesting changes in that is that uh councils are
Now lawfully able to build uh hotels if they wish which we weren’t able to do prior um but that that isn’t something that at this point we’re looking uh to do uh we’re still seeking a occupier um to to come in to uh obviously run the hotel brand and for a development
Partner to build that uh for the for us as part of that we’ve we’ve um undertaken some discussions with uh Welsh government in terms of support uh for the delivery of that hotel and we have secured uh some support from Welsh government uh in order to do that and
That allows us to not just provide a square box on on the seafront because obviously it’s an important part of the coastline we’ve we’ve set a specific standard with the uh the design of the arena and the facade of the Arena so again what we’ll
Be looking for is not only to have a high quality Hotel operator there but also a building of architectural note as part of the delivery so that’s what we got to and I do hope to be able to share more publicly what that will actually mean in the coming weeks that’s great so
There’s no plans at the moment to have a sort of corporate basil faulty type Hotel there on the on the front end absolutely not okay right lynon Jones you’ve got questions on the arena great thanks uh afternoon Rob um you me you you you mentioned two figures
Uh when it comes to ticket sales at the arena um uh 241,000 and 183,000 uh how do these compare with the business plan in the first instance and secondly we’ve held a number of events there which could be classed as almost in-house events for you know like for
The region and so on where ticket sales are free uh what portion of this of those tickets are included in that total I I’ll need to check that in terms of the details so that I don’t give it an accurate answer but certainly I’m aware that the uh Arena itself is ahead
Of its business plan that we have seen uh certainly more VIs visitors than were expected at this point in the maturity of the operation um in terms of uh events I don’t believe that they are in-house events there are certainly events like for instance the for for the
Region event which are run um by an independent organization but we do uh from time to time sponsor events or partner with organizations uh for certain events like the green uh energy conference but they’re not Council run events so they wouldn’t uh be uh what you would consider in-house events in
That respect it’s not a council uh event um so I can certainly get that breakdown from the uh team at atg in terms of the numbers and how that differentiates uh between uh I guess conferences and Commercial shows and others but um obviously there will also be in that um
The the the rental of the arena for things like graduation ceremonies um but I take you back to uh the initial concept for the arena the reason that we went for an arena of this size and scale and configuration uh and uh a venue that
Can be split into a a number of um different uh configurations was to allow that multifunctional functional uh capability and to be able to host different types of events so that it can host dinners it can host concerts it can host gaming uh um sessions it can host uh other events
Including things like graduations because we wanted to make sure that the arena was a venue that was used for many days out of the year not just uh for instance like a bigger venue such as the Millennium Stadium which is perhaps pays host to to Events maybe 10 or 12 times a
Year um we wanted one that uh contributed to the economy you know 200 plus times a year so that that’s that’s the reason for that but certainly uh we’ll get the committee the breakdown on the numbers that you you’re seeking great thanks very much you know it is
Important I agree that uh you know obviously people who go to the arena they’re spending money in sponsy and it does improve the footfall and I think that is that is vitally important for the economy okay thanks thank you um Right Moving On obviously a lot of work going
On in City Center at the moment and I just want to rais an issue which has been raised with me by a number of constituents cuz as you know um all the parking spaces behind Marks and Spencers have basically been taken up by the developers and now all the parking
Spaces on Park Streets have been taken by the developers and that means we’ve lost I haven’t actually counted must be between 20 or 30 disabled parking spaces in the city centers I’m just wondering are there any plans to try and replace those maybe in pel street or maybe in
The dein’s car park to um a lot of people have been contacting me saying that they can’t now um Park in the city center with using their blue badges yes absolutely I mean look one of the the challenges of a a regeneration program of the scale of swansey is that
You’re going to have disruption at certain times but I know Council Stevens is on the call and I know him he uh some of his highways officers and Council Hopkins have uh made a number of visits uh to the city center prior to Christmas where they’ve been mapping out
Opportunities uh where people can where we can relocate some of that um displaced disabled parking so uh I’m aware that the pel street car park is is to be remarked as as disabled parking some additional spaces in Park Street will be uh remarked for disabled parking and we’re also uh currently looking at
What we can do at the rear of the quadrant near the old deams entrance between the deam store and um and the multi story car park where MO motability is is based to see if there’s any opportunity to reconfigure some spaces there the net uh effect of that should
Be to largely mitigate any uh impacts of the current uh disabled spaces that have been taken out due to the um uh creation of the new Hub in the BHS store which obviously we’re leading on and the Redevelopment of the Burton Burton and H Samuel block which um CES are leading on
In terms of the Regeneration of those builds buildings to bring in new tenants and to create extra living accommodation in the city center but um we’re doing what we can to mitigate any loss of disabled parking spaces at this time I don’t know whether Council Stevens wants
To add anything to what I’ve said but but certainly I know he’s been very active in terms of trying to find Solutions uh to the situation that we uh we are experiencing at the moment Andrew do you want you have half your highways team here as well by the
Way yeah yeah no thank you rob hit the nail on the head there um uh um uh we we have been looking at um pel Street um as well as not all the the parking spaces have been taken by the contractors behind M&S in fact there
Should be um five spaces I believe still there with three being 1 hour um weight in and um some click and collect as well so um it’s it’s very much something that I’m working with counil Hopkins uh and the teams on and and we should have Way
Forward pretty soon now do we have a time scale at all anybody um we’ve got we got a further meeting in the diary actually tomorrow um and then there’ll be a time scale in to implement the traffic orders and that I look at your offices then as well no
Okay see see see if we can get that sorted though because I think that’s quite important um the other thing I was just looking through your report the other day and I noticed that you referred to the um the Hast of developments um thing picked in yards
Just as passing are we still going to call it Picton yard I thought we decided not to uh use that um anything more with Thomas pikon uh well you you may be aware that um constitutional working group have recently uh considered a new naming policy which will make its way to
Council for adoption in due course and subject to that policy being uh adopted then we will have a uh a formal mechanism for naming and renaming areas of the city I think it’s been clear that um there have been uh suggestions that the Picton uh brand is is one that
Perhaps we would want to reconsider and I’m sure Council will have the opportunity to do that in due course um but certainly with the with the significant Redevelopment of not just the the arcades but the yard that’s uh connects the um 7172 Kingsway development with the heser development
There are opportunities for us to bring in some new names and to to re and some of the areas of Swansea as we’ve done in Copper Bay uh with not just the copper Bay development but obviously the proposal to name the uh new Coastal Park the Mary dwin Park so there there are
Opportunities to recognize uh people who’ve made a real contribution specifically to Swansea uh in the naming policy that’s due to come forward okay thanks well just can have a break from me I’m going to call Mike White in talk about major projects now mikee yes thank you chair thank you um
What I’d like to ask um seeing that um some of the major projects are now come to completion are you able to rise committee if any new projects are being put forward for Soni uh in 202 2024 and onwards okay thank thank you councelor
White I mean um I think key first of all is for us to make sure that we complete on the current LA projects but certainly I think 2024 is going to be uh another year where we see um things that were previously uh you know diagrams and and
Impressions and artists uh ideas uh coming to fruition in the city so we’ll see the opening of 7172 the Kingsway in the next couple of months uh hotly followed by the opening of the new Palace Theater with all of the um uh new office space and community space that
Will create and we’ll see around 600 people potentially taking up uh the space in the 71 on 72 Kingsway and 300 odd people taking up space in the new Palace Theater development uh 900 people working in the city center will obviously be beneficial in terms of our
Economy uh hot in the heels of that will be the completion of the private scheme uh to redevelop the Albert Hall and and again I visited that just before Christmas is making good progress and again we expect that to complete and open in the middle of the year uh
There’s been a mention already from the chair around hter development which is the the first biophilic building in Wales and we’ll see the creation of um a new development which is now already towering over the the Swansea Skyline but bringing um you know a really new
Way of uh living uh at working but also some traditional retail uh into that space where which was occupied by the old Woolworth store the old poundland store depending on on on your era for Swansea we we’ve started as you’ll be aware the investigation Works around uh creating the New Castle Square Gardens
And we’re committed to Bringing uh a new design to that space that will see um uh the the sort of uh delivery that the visuals have that we’ve released publicly uh sort of identify bringing in some new units there some play fountains more Greenery uh as well as more
Participatory space so again a real statement of intent in terms of wanting to create um lovely green public areas within the city center um around uh Castle Square Gardens you’ll know that we’re already active on the uh British hom stores uh redo where the new uh public sector Hub sorry the public local
Public services Hub the library and new state-ofthe-art archives will go and we expect that to open uh if not the end of this year the the beginning of next year um then we’ve mentioned that there are some uh private schemes that are underway at the moment so so the the
Burton block CES have acquired that building and we’ll be uh renovating it uh and refurbishing it and making space for new retail as well as new office and living accommodation um they’re already uh actively um regenerating the old mam Mia’s building opposite the Cross Keys uh which again they’ll complete this
Year and that will bring a new again a new uh visual um Improvement as well as new office space um to princess way and there they have recently AC um acquired the McDonald’s building uh opposite on on the border of Castle square and again Keen to to take the opportunity while
We’re redoing Castle Square to um again uh bring new apartments and new uh space uh to the McDonald’s uh building uh to the upper floors and to expand that building so again some some some schemes that are live or or shortly to be live in addition to that we’ve been very
Clear the second phase of copper Bay uh will begin uh and plans will come forward this year and that will see uh the potential new home of uh the council as well as buildings to accommodate uh not just uh Welsh government but UK government departments as well as our
University partners and uh private sector organizations there’s a potential for up to six new large new uh blocks of the scale of uh uh Central Square in in Cardiff outside the uh the Bus and Rail station in Cardiff it’s it’s that sort of scale of development we’re talking
About uh as part of the second phase of copper Bay one of the first moves will be uh the council moving out of the Civic Center into that space uh and again uh visuals on this will be available uh shortly uh so that we can show people what the proposals are for
That space uh that will allow us to open up the Civic Center site for redevelopment as we planned um Urban Splash our development Partners I met with them this morning I know the chief executive met with them this afternoon to to receive an update again they they will be bringing forward the proposals
Uh for those areas which could include um the potential home of the new uh contemporary National Gallery for Wales we are in the final five of the short list for for that with Welsh government and that would be a multi-million pound investment um were we to secure the national
Contemporary Gallery um we’ve talked already and we’ve been very clear Our intention is to bring uh an aquarium to that site as well and uh again uh discussions between ourselves uh the potential operator and urban Splash are well Advanced on that and again we’ll be able to provide some some detail on that
In due course outside of that Urban Splash are also taking forward the St Thomas station site uh which will be primarily a a house Housing Development adding uh quality housing uh to the river to uh Corridor uh and that will uh obviously uh come forward as a scheme in
2024 and then of course already uh I won’t say too much about it because I know it’s a live planning application we we will get the determination of the skyline application by our planning committee in due course and uh should approval be given and obviously Skyland would be looking to move forward with
That scheme at PACE uh subject to all of their necessary approvals so um you know those are the things that uh are already live but the ones that are coming next um which will which people in Swansea will see uh us take forward and again I’ve been very
Clear uh you know I think we’ve been very successful with the first phase of the Regeneration of Swansea and some major interventions there we’re now seeing significant interest from uh private sector and others coming in to help with that development so that the coun doesn’t have to do all the heavy
Lifting it’s great to see Welsh government and UK government continuing to look at Swansea as a base for their operations as well as as others and of course outside of all of that we’ve also made a commitment to bring uh new tenants into the de old debam store um
And our agents are actively in discussions with potential tenants at present and again I hope to be able to announce uh our new tenants uh within the next few months so uh again we progressing on all fronts is that enough for you Mike yes thank you yes it’s very very encouraging
For swans very very encouraging I would not I know Bob you made a comparison with Cardiff um development we have a bus station and they don’t I think that’s worth pointing out at this stage yeah we have lots of things chair that they don’t include in fantastic Bay
Yeah proper Bay exactly yeah yeah um one thing you didn’t mention was the blue Eden project of course um and I do have a question about the the projected tidle Lagoon which I think is still being referred to it did occur to me there’s a lot of new developments being made in
Terms of um generating electricity using waves and and and particularly development of underwater turbines I’m just wondering whether by the time we come to do this tidle Lagoon where we actually would need to have a southern massive structure in the bay where there going to be Alternatives and where
That’s going to be loat as well yeah I think look it’s it’s we’ve got to get away from the the old thinking of this being a lagoon project because it’s yeah no longer just a lagoon project it’s an integrated energy project and uh in terms of the the
Elements of that uh you know it’s it’s now where whereas 100% of the revenues coming from the original Lagoon proposals came from the turbines and that was one of the challenges with it it it took a lot of time to pay that money back in terms of the investment um
The new proposal includes the generation of uh green hydrogen it includes the establishment of Mega data centers it includes the establishment of additional housing it includes uh the original turbines but also the potential for other energy generating opportunities around them within the bowl um so in
Terms of the revenues um only a small percentage a much much smaller percentage less than a quarter come from the turbines the revenues come from the other elements of the scheme that integrated energy project uh but you know progress has been uh pretty good in
Terms of the all of the vast uh work that is required by DST and their Partners it’s a privately funded uh project this time requiring no public sector investment at all um it obviously requires consenting from the various governments and it will require uh consent from uh swans and patala
Councils in due course I know that uh DST has been in negoti ations with Associated British ports about acquisition of certain elements of the land as well as in discussions with network Rail and I know um our chief executive has uh been heavily involved in in assisting with discussions with
Various parties and helping to to move things along so um I think we’re getting very close to the point where a number of those transactions will complete and that the the basis for commencing works on the Lagoon uh will begin um the phasing of the project which DST have
Outlined see the onland elements being created first which includes um creation of floating solar within the docks uh being used then as an energy source for the Mega data centers and potentially for hydrogen generation as well as um creation of a district heating Network and again we were successful in a bid uh
For that heating network uh Rec recently with a contribution from UK government so a number of the the elements that are required in order to proceed with successful delivery of a major project like this are starting to fall into place uh and again uh I think we’re going to see some exciting announcements
During 2024 in terms of progress on this scheme okay I’m just Keen that we’re using the latest Technologies and if possible to avoid putting structures in the bay that aren’t necessary if you can do it another way that’s just the point I’m making maybe that can be taken on
Board when you have discussions any of the members got questions for Rob at all so everyone’s very quiet no oh Peter May C the Peter M H on Peter I thank thank you very much um check a couple of points good afternoon Rob hope you’re keeping well and a Happy New Year
To you um at a previous Council I I I did ask you about a um a Target on numeric called Target for EV charging points and you you did say you get back to me it’s coming up as as green on the policy commitments report uh so the F
First question really is have you actually come up with a a numerical Target of of what you want to increase the EV charging points to please yeah uh thank you councelor may and happy New Year to you too um I I know that that question was asked at
Last Council and I I have seen a draft of the answer which contains the metrics uh in it uh which will be coming back to you shortly and obviously circulated to all members I don’t have that before me today but but certainly the question that you previously asked does have an
Answer and we’ll be with you shortly thank you very much um SE second question I have is on the exciting BHS uh development um relating to the the provision of the the archive service will the building uh be the the same size will it be a a as far as the
Archive provision goes will it be uh uh big enough for the archive um service to operate yes my understanding it will because the one of one of the the risks to the location of the current archives is the you know that once in a 100 Year potential of some over topping on the
Bay and the and the basement of the Civic becoming flooded so that’s one of the the drivers for moving to a a new location um the the work that’s been done by our officers the archive service Welsh government and others uh has been to ensure that not only can the archive
Move to a new location uh based within the uh the upper floors of the British home the old British home stores building but it will be a state-of-the-art facility capable of protecting the archive um from fire and other environmental uh potential risks and impacts uh and will allow a more
Central location of course for people to access that archive uh longer term uh subject to further Welsh government funding and other support then we could also see other archives being uh potentially uh accommodated within uh the building or in a in a space nearby uh and again we’d be Keen to explore
Opportunities to create an even larger archive in Swansea uh and to be host to that with obviously with the relevant support being made available by the by the funding bodies or or organizations okay thank you for that that’s very reassuring uh the final question um you’ve guessed it the
Topic’s going to be about drains um um I actually commend the the introduction of the new the the new software because certainly when I’ve been out with a crew on my on my Saturdays it’s a far more efficient way of actually um uh mapping and sort of um
Uh saying When a drain has been serviced and how full it was so you can actually set up roots for the for the future on that um we have got up to to four drainage Crews I believe are they are they fully staffed and recruited uh Council Stevens may know
More detail than I on the exact current position but uh certainly from a finance perspective uh we made uh uh money available for us to enable us to increase the amount of resources in those teams uh obviously there will always be a churn of uh people who join
Or leave the organization or move to different roles so I I couldn’t say uh from the information I have that every position is currently filled um but certainly the funding is there to fill every position and to make sure that the work is undertaken my understanding as
Well is that as you’ve said it’s it’s led to a vast Improvement in terms of the uh service and the capacity to be able to not only deal with uh block drains more quickly but also to do those regular uh maintenance activities on a more regular basis um and it is
Something both myself and Council Stevens have discussed in terms of how we can continue to support that and make sure that um the drainage teams and the teams that work to keep uh our communities free from flooding uh have the resources they need to to do as as
Good a job as they possibly can okay I have to say as a member of the archives committee that the committee are encourag that we’re getting we’re getting there where we want to be on the archives so it does look like we might be able to do that
Successfully and uh I think the the archist is also encouraged I got the impression at the last meeting as well so hopefully we’ll be able to get that that that move completed successfully okay anybody else got any questions at all oh sorry Andrew you want to come in
On the drains do you yeah I was just going to come in on on what the leader said yes my understand is they they are they are fully staffed and um you know and as as as councelor uh May is is as well aware they doing some some
Excellent work right right across the city so yeah I just want to come in on that please sure okay thanks for that Andrew okay I’ve got one more question if nobody else has got anything um I was looking at the um audit Wales um report on the progress the council is making
Around this transformation program and one of the things it says in there is that um The Challenge and scrutiny has largely been focused on process and not on outcomes and impact I’m just wondering um H how you addressing that particular issue in terms of making sure that from now on in terms of
Transformation program we be looking at outcomes and impact as well as the process in trans of transformation yeah thank you chair I think look it was um I would read that as a point in time and I I would note that the um the the the question didn’t
Pick up the fact and I’m sure it’s it’s not deliberate that the the overall feedback was largely positive and that they they did reference that the council had a clear transformation Vision um and that the new transformation strategy agreed uh in November of 22 um was uh
Very clear so um I think with this um what we are now looking to do is to make sure that the the program that we have does deliver the transformation program itself cabinet have looked at we have agreed the priorities for that transformation program the the structure
Of course needed to be set up and to make sure that we had um a structure delivery a monitoring um and a management methodology that we were confident in and I think NES Young and the team have done an excellent job in in making sure that that is
Available and in place uh and again uh in terms of the um recommendations and the comments from audit Wales uh which have already been embedded into our our uh program and our methodology for delivery um the Strategic transformation board um and cabinet and CMT um have
Already looked at this and now have all 12 programs are now mapped out uh with all of the outcomes uh and relevant officers and cabinet members identified so we have everything we think we need now to make sure that we manage that program effectively and we see those service improvements and service
Transformations um um completed successfully with the relevant outcomes um delivered for Council that’s great thanks Rob you are right of course the report is fairly positive I just wanted to pick up that particular point in terms of thing so is if there’s no more questions I give you
One last chance to ask questions okay and thank you very much Rob for for your contribution it’s been very helpful um we no doubt we we’ll write a letter to you outlining some of the main points which we picked up in Du course so thank
You very much like that item is is great okay so we’re going to move on to next item now which is a followup on the scrutiny working group on road safety uh we’ve got Council Andrew Stevens with us um also got Mark Wade director of place Stuart Davis head of Highways and
Transportation Matthew Boer um group leader highways and transportation Alan Ferris the road safety manager we’ve got the a cast of thousands so uh thank you for that so um Andrew do you want to do quick rep um introduction on this at all uh yes please if if you don’t mind
Ch um so I’m happy to bring the update report on road safety to the scrutiny committee um I’m sure everyone’s read the report in depth but it highlights a number of key areas in terms of uh Road Safety from the Welsh government uh 20 M hour um legislation change the
Implementation and impacts of that um the road safety Grant um as well as our collaborative approach with our schools and the part partnership working uh we doing with go safe as well as of a number of other infrastructure improvements such as pedestrian countdown indicators uh um I won’t go I
Won’t go too much in depth into the report but I’ll happily hand over to Alan to take members through through it um but I just wanted to put on record my thanks chair um for to Allan for pulling to pulling together the report and our entire traffic and road safety teams the
Outstanding work they’ve done over this last year um in what’s been an extremely busy busy year given the national level legislation changes and pressures placed upon them J so okay thanks Alan we have read the report so you don’t need to read it out to us just any put you want
To raise at all be helpful thank you chair um I I think the report um kind of covers broadly the issues that were of concern to members um the one thing I would emphasized from the report is that um the council have been very successful um in reducing the level and intensity
Of collisions throughout the county um and this is highlighted in a reduction of 59% in KSI since 2010 and 80% in slight injuries in the same time period um it’s it’s made it more challenging for us as a team to ident identify problem areas um but it’s a challenge that we’re up
To I’m happy to accept any questions that the members have and chair has on the report thank you that’s very those are very impressive figures actually so very well right so it’s not all me uh councelor Chris harder you’ve got a question on school crossing patrols yeah
Can I thank uh the um department for their reply uh on what was particularly um busy working group and that is the fact that uh Road city is is one of those things that applies to everybody in every part of the city um one of the things that many people were concerned
About was school crossing patrols and you know at the end of the day the the lack of them and what that effect will actually be on the fact that the pcsos and are actually being cut back as well and what effect that would have on them
Going into schools to help out with curb craft Etc so basically on school patrol on school crossing patrols we know excuse me that there is a effectively uh an unlikelihood that there we will have any increase in them uh so I was wondering what what the uh officers View
And and the cabinet members we are on how we going to get or how we going to make sure that the reduction and we can carry on the reduction in any and also stop any issues with safety around schools Alan do you want to answer this or um the the council remain committed
To the provision of school crossing Patrol sites um and all sites that qualify um we continue to um keep school cross patrols on those and we advertise any sites that become vacant um we are aware that it’s challenging in some areas in particular to recruit school crossing patrols um but we Endeavor to
Do so uh working with the schools and um and keeping the adverse open for them so how many vacancies do we currently have Alan um I don’t have that figure off the top of my head I I think there’s um about 15 vacancies at present but I
Would need to confirm that and can do so and um following the meeting yeah if you could and then if you could then obviously the same thing is how many sites we have um you know because you know as as members I think we should advertise that to encourage people to
Come forward and volunteer to actually man these Crossings any help we can get in Recruiting School crossing patrols be most welcome yeah if you could also say Alan any school crossing Patrol which have been discontinued as well that’ be quite helpful um we don’t have any sites which we have
Discontinued um okay so I don’t think my neighbor’s been replaced on that Lang Relic Road pardon I don’t think my neighbor’s been replaced on Bren H’s School sorry I’m I’m not saying that we’ve been able to recruit Replacements but we it’s it’s a recruitment issue recruitment issue rather than a removal
Okay so there’s nothing been discontinued it’s just recruitment issue no yeah okay Stuart sorry yeah the only areas where they’ve been sort discontinued is is in discussion members where they’ve been uh swapped for formalized crossing points but that’s in agreement with uh the ward members so so just in in case just to
Clarify on that one but uh there’s no sort of active thing to we’re not removing Crossing patrols but as Alan said it’s particularly challenging to try and recruit into the positions so the um hence there are a number that there’s a ongoing advert really for a number of the areas but it’s very
Difficult to recruit thank you I’m not surprised there are days I don’t want to go out in this awful weather as well so I’m not at all surprised you’re struggling but let’s hope we can we can get that recruitment sorted out okay um on um I’m just talking about um safety
As school um I noted the letter response last year that you said an arrangement with a major local employer Who provided financial support for um banners outside schools on road safety had expired and the road safety team had welcom the opportunity to introduce these measures and continue to seek partnership through
The commercial team to support this activity I’m just wondering do we make any progress in that over the last 12 months at all I’m I’m afraid not um it’s the pressures on the team have been such that that’s not been a primary focus um in the last 12
Months so so and you assum you don’t anticipate that pressure easing up at all and uh not till the end of March okay right um okay my next question is is about curb craft and road safety education programs um have there been any developments in the curb craft
Program for example developing a module on encouraging walking to school in general active travel the kcraft program is a national program we don’t set modules they’re set by Welsh government and we are required to deliver those modules um it is an area of concern does need updated um it
It has been raised with Welsh government um but we’re in their hands to change the modules that we have to present okay Mike Mike wife you got on this as well yes thank you Alan on the same point as well regarding um in report on paragraph 2.81
Stats the current program is aimed at to provide road safety training to, 1500 us two children that’s around 60% of the total number of children in the county can you indicate how many primary schools participate in curb craft and would be involved um year on year the number
Varies slightly but um roughly speaking it’s 50 schools out of the 74 primary schools that that are in Swansea so that’s 2/3 in effect is it yeah okay is there any drive to perhaps encourage those other other schools parti toit um we work with schools who are
Interested in working with us um but we are also limited by the size of grant that we have available to us from Welsh government for the delivery of the programs I know as well it OB on volunteers with Good Will of you know parents and not taking the training up
But that it’s just the to find assess are at the moment thank you Alan so we are we’re looking to um develop a program so that we can um create links for parents to become more involved with the um help with the children after the ccraft programs
Completed so we’re looking to um use council’s website to create a link for parents to see um what the modules were that were followed and allow them to build on the you know limited time that we have with children um to develop their skills further okay be would then be a possibility
TOS the schools actually ask in you know through through through the schools um website they got we they contact we contact the parents on a daily basis and do this type of scheme for might encourage people to come forward and we we hope to do that with
The literature that we send home with the children um to make that link available to parents so that they can directly access the council’s website okay M okay yeah thank you yeah su su Jones you’re muted at the moment so yeah I couldn’t unmute sorry um I just wanted to comment on
2.3.3 of the report where it says about settle Road and re the removal of um the speed hamps due to resurfacing locally it’s really uh been a very good move to get rid of those speed bumps because we had an excessive amount in the village and in fact we are looking forward to
The re of go with Road and the same thing to be happening there because we had an excessive amount throughout the village and I’m sure that the the speed limits are AER to on Cal Road I see very few going over 20 M hour okay I I’ve got an opposite problem
I’ve got speed cushions have been removed over six months ago that haven’t yet been replaced um is there an issue with with the with supply of these or else I think there’s about seven missing on pentan Road in St John’s Road I’m I’m not aware of an issue with
Supply um I can chase up on that for you counselor and to find out when those will be done thank you very much thank you um anybody else got a question um Andrew sorry Andrew Stevens you want to come in yeah know thank you CH I was just
Going to come in on councilor Jones’s Point um I know you say there’s an excess amount in the area but you you were as local Ward member consulted on on the um on the road safety Grant scheme at at at the time um although they have removed from CES Road you know
Any any removal of speed HS has to come with speed cushion sorry has to come with um clear data in fact that speed is no longer an issue anyway you know ra so we don’t see them return um so I know the road safety team have carried out um
Moning so they’ve done before and after so once you know we’ll have to uh await the results of that data anyway so thank you Andrew I I think consulted is a little bit of a a the wrong word can I say I think I did ask for help at the entrance of gon
Comprehensive school but it did not envisage the amount of speed temps or bumps whatever they called to be installed Okie doie thank you okay okay right thanks um just on your workload um the road safety Grant I mean we basically haven’t had it for two
Years running acoss of the 20 m per hour issue I’m just wondering what’s the impact on the Department’s work of not having access that road safety Grant and uh what projects have we lost as a result of that um what we’ve lost is difficult to quantify
Because we didn’t have it um and the impact of that um you know it when you introduce road safety measures it takes a number of years before you can um evaluate the success of them um because you know statistically you know there’s not accidents every day that um so it it
Would take a number of years before you can look at the merits of it um there will be impacts but undoubtedly that will be clouded by the impact of the change in the default speed limit so um it’s going to be difficult to pick a way through what the um changes
Have caused for Swansea so I turn it on his head if if the road safety Grant comes back next year do you have a number of schemes to bid for it um we have a limited number of schemes which we are looking at at the moment um as I indicated in my
Report we’ve been very successful in reducing the numbers and severities of collisions um that tends to play a significant part in Welsh government’s assessment of any bids that we put forward for road safety funding um they they require is to do a cost benefit analysis um of schemes that we
Develop and that is measured against the reduction in collisions that we can anticipate from um the schemes worked up so the cost of being too successful if we get less money possibly but we obviously the money should be directed at the most effective pro pro pro projects that’s the challenges we face
Yeah okay thanks uh Peter May uh thank you um happy New Year to you Al as well um shared use paths yeah um it sort links into sort of two aspects here one is um is obviously signage which I’ll come on with a second question in a in a minute to you
Um Shar use P some people get them uh some people don’t there are couple of things going on here um if I was um walking down the King’s Way where they have a shared use Ed path um or some some other recent active travel sort of plan
I I noticed that the the the signage of them the little roundles um uh let’s just say it wasn’t laid on the as the best quality so people wouldn’t actually know it’s a shared use path um because the paints come off I mean we’ve got incidents of where pest pedestrians on
The Sinai hen to had have been decapitated or bicycles have got wheels missing um and and so the the actual setting of them isn’t quite right there so I’d like to you know I’d ask you comment on like a a refurbishment program of onroad or on pass signage so
People uh do do know um an idea I picked up when I was walking the temp’s path in the summer was they’ve got various aspects of shared use use path on them and they’ve actually got like a a clear sort of message on the path uh to
Cyclists as it’s a shared use path say be mindful of pedestrians on there because um a couple of people have had near misses so I was wondering whether the authority might consider that um as an option on the on the way forward so two points really um renewal of the The
Faded you know or the the signs have been uh prematurely sort of um decapitated or or Wheels lost and you know the idea of actually putting a little message on the path um you know of um PRI for pedestrians I’ll ask the other other question in in one and that
Is um road safety with I’m all for implementing new schemes and and things like that um I want to know particularly sort of a at Junctions and things like that I see a lot of the of the signage uh sometimes is is either dirty or has
Been rotated uh we’ve got a a particular instance in in in my local on the Glam bridan burn Street where signage is actually is either dirty stop sign is is is dirty so it’s either you can’t see it or somebody has got a perfect view of it from their living room because it’s
Rotated through 90° or it’s obscured by trees so I I think something um there if people aware of Hazards is there some sort of a a program to inspect you know um such um features on the signage we’ve already got such as said obscuring by trees uh incorrect rotation and covered in
Mck I thought p with your activist background you’d be there with a bucket and bucket and SP I thought you had yeah okay Alan um if you could highlight these things to the highways desk um then our teams go out and do um action um improvements
And and cut back and clean signage um it’s a revenue issue rather than a capital issue as you’ve highlighted um there are teams out there doing that um but there’s a whole County to cover um and we rely very much on reports coming in of where selit signs are selette missing obscured Etc
Um with regards to the shared juice path um I take your note um with regards to paint be missing and if you could give me indication on where those are then we can try and pick up on that and see um how extensive the problem is um and
Perhaps look at the methods which we are using to um fix the paint um with regards the sign itself uh we have got quite large shared use path signs which we try and use to indicate it’s responsibility of all users to use the path safely um just highlighting it
As being a cycling issue I don’t know would be entirely useful we need to make all users aware of their responsibility um not just cyclists sorry if I come back on that yeah obviously i’ I’d be the last one to discriminate against the cyclist um um I
Was I I was scrabbling through my phone to look at the example of the exact wording that Hammer Smith and Fulham used um on it but it it seemed um you know you know not to point the finger at anybody but just as a as a as a gentle
Reminder because after all um The Pedestrian is is is walking at about um 2.8 miles an hour which is my average speed um and the cyclist is doing substantially more so um it’s it’s a mindfulness thing no I I take your point intirely about speed differentials um but it’s
It’s to try and make pans aware that they need to look out for cyclists as much as cyclists need to look out for them but yes I take your point that the speed differential for cyclist is much greater yeah agree I I think there’s various initiative sort of share with C
I think was the the sort of drive on a lot of them because although the we do get the occasion well we do get some sort of representations about kind of cyclist going at inappropriate speed we also have issues of people reporting for example dog walkers and particularly
With extending leads and things where the the dogs are going and you know so there is that sort of just a general awareness it is difficult because I guess the um the people who are are less sort of concerned with uh sharing with care the signs have very little effect
On them but but I agree having having some sort of initiative to help remind that it is a shared use path and uh there needs to be in Awareness is is something of which which is of some use okay I think there’s um couple of
Signs on the Kings Way by the old post office where the paints disappeared on on the sh’s path as well yeah um Andrew did you want to come back in uh yeah no I was I was going to come in and say what what Stuart said actually is the
Share with K we do it know we do it on the prom we do it in a number of other um um active travel routes across the county um so yeah I was just just going to come in on that on that really CH uh we also do um periodically we put out
Comms as well comm’s team in in terms of trying to reinforce that message that is everyone’s responsibility okay there are Parts on the on the mum on the the sea front where it’s very difficult to actually separate out when it gets quite narrow but you know you just have to do your
Best don’t you yeah uh Chris Holly come on Chris thank you very much can I congratulate Alan on his answer to the uh 20 mph uh Road Safety Grant allowance I was a super answer uh and one that um I think the steward should congratulated
On it was uh it was good the um the the simple fact is that we’ve reduced all these accidents without having the reduction to 20 M hour so we have been successful and as you rightly pointed out um the the Welsh government and and the Department of Transport actually
Allocate money where there’s been more accidents so you know we we don’t get as much money because we’ve been successful in the past there is one thing I’d like to point out though is probably the most ridiculous uh Junction that we have created ever and
That is on the bottom end of pentan Road uh where this Junction where it goes into the Swansea uh in West retail Park where Marks and Spencers is we have a shared Park which crosses the junction we have a halt sign um on the before the Shar path
And we have a Hal side H sign the other side of the sh path and I have to say it it it does make you wonder and it does start people concern about the active travel when we see things of this nature generally speaking I think shared
PS are can be okay but if you on the prom and I think steuart’s WR about the dog walkers the extended leads is a problem but generally speaking um you know shared shared pass can be a problem um in some issues is fine in other
Issues it isn’t but I I would say that you know we we have been unsuccessful because we’ve been successful and I don’t think that goes down well with the public because if they see something which is dangerous or they see traffic which is dangerous they want been done
About it but if nothing happens nothing will get done and I think that’s a hard one to sell to the public we going to have a competition for the most ridiculous Junction well yeah why not I I I nominate Joy joining Fabian way from Jersey marine when you going into the fast lane
Okay do you comments on that at all um Alan or anyone so I all I would say is that that we will continue to monitor the junction um and um I as we do um and should we require to make any amendments to it to
Make any tweaks then we will do so um based on the evidence that we gather how you answer yeah answer thank you Alan thank you outstanding answer thank you I’m trying to make sure I can be heard I assume you can hear me um I just wanted to give uh one or two
Uh councelors a little bit of reassurance because we are blessed in pent a with um a very long stretch of separated active travel routes but then of course areas where there are shared use becomes a shared use path and the word of comfort is um none of the active travel route is
Very well used and the cyclists continue to use the road so you know Food For Thought what do you need to do to ensure that uh your active travel route your shared use path is uh not a risk to pedestrians well you know provide the road for the cyclist because quite
Frankly it is something that is very frustrating to Residents in in penare and I’m sure it’s the same in other places where they know that very considerable sums of money have been spent on providing the active travel route the shared use paths and um in pent a it has caused great stress for
Residents and continues to cause great stress and yet they we see the cyclist still on the road holding up the traffic so you know clearly what we have in penare is a deterrent to cyclist it appears so I don’t know if that’s any comfort but
Come and look at what we have and see if you can get the same thank you chair this is a bit of an old chest not I don’t if you want to comment on this we’ll just have a site visit could I could I comment on this one Andrew G visit Andrew oversight
Visit on a bike I often I often uh I’m often uh up and down g Road um to be honest CH and um as as com of V CHS no I’m I’m in the adjoining Ward actually and part part of which this this active travel route is
Within I disagree with it yes there are still cyclists that that use the road um from times but I disagree that it’s not that it’s unused in fact I’ve seen plenty of Runners on there I’ve seen plenty of Walkers I’ve seen mobility scooters I’ve seen families out with two
Children or multiple children out trying to enjoy get out get active um which is a lot of what the active travel is about and not only that does it does it bring a link from the top of pig um down to the Fantastic links uh from um the bot m
G and out to the Del I there with the new route going down the old um Railway track but also if you go the other way which has all been upgraded as well it gives you uh uh almost off-road access all the way out to mumbles to be honest
On a on a bike or or or or walking or what have you um so yes there are cyclists that still um use the road they’re allowed to use the road that’s the legislation but there are also cyclists that use you use the active travel route in particular families
Young children giving them a safe access off the road of as we know there’s an awful lot of cars coming through penalty G something that that you you you have actually said time and time again counil V Gerald um it gives them a safe access
Down the road um with with uh linking up to the wider Network so I do I do disagree that no one uses it okay we move on uh Victoria Holland M to use my phone that wasn’t great was it technology was failing me there um as somebody who lost my wing mirror last
Week on um C road while visiting my parents I’m slightly bitter about it and of course I’m on the neighboring side on the other side it there is so much traffic on that road and a lot of them are big big lies my mom and dad live
There and it’s just I I do not understand why we’re getting the level of of Big H laes going that way when there are other routes around pentle to C into LLY to the other places they go in you know so it was just more of a
Comment but yes lost my wing mirror was not happy but again it’s still it’s that big L’s going up and down the road just blows my mind okay that’s been noted Peter may you want to come back in um Council of Fitzgerald has actually provoked me into
Action on this one but it is road safety relevant um in the design of these active travel routes I I looked you’ve got um if I to explain the family tree you’ve got um our our good friend Mr Mr Stuart Davis here at the top of this
Family tree and then it then it diverges down to Allen’s team and the regarding road safety and then you’ve got the active travel um design team down the other Branch now um I you know like to I think is that your branch of the tree Matthew so you Dan Allen brush but what
One one thing that has has been noticed in the in the current um Upland scheme is that um we we were given a present a presentation with the original proposals and um a lot of the um things that I previously sort of asked for you know regarding sort of either sort of
Calming measures or or or one way were considered um no NOS by Allen’s Branch um when it came to presenting the design because they would have been uh what Allan would proceive as Road Safety nightmares when I’ve um had conversations with him before so what I want to know is how much communication
Is going on with the um the active travel uh design phase namely Simon Jones is our current officer uh we’ve had people like Robbie Meredith before which is very good on the Broadway scheme um in talking across to the road safety team when putting a design together because clearly some of the you
Know the the the initial designs were um Road Safety no no um but it’s um so do they go up through you Stuart and then back down Allan Branch or is there cross talking on these um do they do do the cousins talk to each other is what I’m
Trying to say yeah I can all together yeah I can certainly give you a reassurance as the head of the family one happy family so I mean obviously we you know there is a challenge when you’re developing the the active travel schemes is a we have to try and balance between number of
Different things from you the from trees to parking to traffic to sort of You Know The Pedestrian demands or cycle demands a whole load of different things but what I can assure is that the teams do work very closely together um we very regular aside from the informal
Discussions which are which are held on pretty much a daily basis I think the confirmation on there but uh um we do have as well regular sort of programming and how are we doing um so I’m just i’ I’ve done my bit on screet me but I’m not
Sure um so um I think yeah there’s a you know we have very regular discussions when we’re developing the schemes um obviously Road Safety is Paramount it’s Paramount for all all users particularly you know the most vulnerable users are at the the top of the tree from from
That perspective because uh um the nature of of the the users themselves um every scheme that’s developed goes through various stages of safety audit as well so that’s that’s undertaken in the initial sort of scoping the design um but yeah yes it is it isn’t something
That’s done in isolation and uh and the the the family don’t fall out they’re uh they may uh they may sort have a number of points to put forward but it is is developed um collectively so I don’t know if um Matt or Alan want to add anything to
That no I would just reiterate um sh’s Point um you we would be involved with the development of the active travel scheme but we have our separate safety team um who would look at the plans once they’re developed at at all stages of the development from the initial um
Sketches that are provided through to the detailed design and through construction process once the scheme’s finished um to ensure that so safety issues are addressed in the design okay that’s very reassuring that you’re a very close functional family I can sleep at night tonight to say I’m really looking forward to um getting
Involved in the Brin Huff active travel route when that comes to be designed now yeah any more questions at all for Andrew or for the officers on this issue no can I thank everyone very much and can I just say by the way I think the
Highway seem be doing a really good job considering the M work pressures which um you’re under and the the um the fact you don’t really have enough staff to do all the work you need to have so thank you for all the work you’re doing and I’m sure I’ll giving you lots of
Problems after this now which you can sort out for me thank you very much thank you everyone for that for that cont for that report okay I’m going to move on to it thanks Andrew yeah I’m move on to item eight now which is the scrutiny performance panel progress
Report um and this is child and family services and councelor Paxton H Williams who’s been very quietly listening to us for the last hour or so Paxton do you want to say any few words to introduce this report sorry chairman I always quiet you know that very well I know
That pxton yeah okay anyway um in terms of this report obviously members will have had quite a comprehensive report already in the agenda pack um and since we last just told us what told you what we’ve been doing since we last reported consequently I don’t really think I need
To add anything to it at this stage however if anybody would like any further information on the update I will be happy to try and answer them has anyone got any points or questions they want to raise on this report no thank you very much then Paxton that’s very very helpful there
And I can go back to being quiet now then can I chairman okay yeah see what the snook is doing in the background there television’s off thanks very much okay item nine is membership of scrutiny panels and working groups there’s no changes being proposed there item 10 is the scrutiny
Work program um you’ll note that um we just the final sessions of the scrutiny training and development program are coming up there’s one tomorrow online and then the final one is on the 23rd of January in the Lord May’s reception room which is going to be in person so
There’s going to be um basically self assessments so um if members are able to attend those that’ be great and then of course on the next meeting in February we’re going to be looking at delivery against the Workforce Development strategy and uh David Hopkins will be
With us for that so unless anyone has any points on the forward work program at all no okay then the scrutiny letters is item 11 for information and item 12 is the date and time of upcoming scrutiny panel working group meetings so can I thank you all for attending it’s been a
Very helpful and constructive meeting get finished in good time so thanks very much and I will see you at the next meeting and I declare the meeting closed thanks so much thank you by bye bye we stop recording now yeah I did see the snooper in the background earlier
Pon I did see the Snoop on in the background earlier yes I realized I’d left it on Peter and I thought I also noed you weren’t watching it so that’s fine that’s okay then