Agenda item

An update to be provided by Andrew Turner / Kevin Bridgwater.

To include an update on the LCN Pilot Highways Subgroup Update.

Due to the various emergencies that had occurred around the county on the Somerset Levels and Cleeve Hill, both Andrew Turner and Kevin Bridgwater had tendered their apologies for the evening’s meeting.

Winter Maintenance Programme

A meeting had been held with the SCC Highways Team to check on the frequency of gritting on green routes. This has been bottomed out and it was agreed that if the temperature was going to be consistently below freezing for more than 24hours then the green routes needed to be done. (Previous thinking was 72hours or longer). It was agreed that connecting communities should be a priority.

Highway Wardens – Emergency Salting Telephone number

Can an emergency telephone number please be supplied to the Highways Wardens. This was previously available on the website but has since been removed.

Salt bins/bags

Parishes that had placed their salt orders were now having these filled. If there were problems with the locations of the grit bags (dropped in the wrong place!) can this please be reported to the Highway office as a matter of urgency at https://services.somerset.gov.uk/contact-somerset-highways.

14 Grit bins are awaiting delivery as a result of the devolved funding requests. Bins are 220L capacity and fastened via a hasp and staple. (6 black bins as requested have been allocated to Withypool and Hawkridge, whilst the remainder will be yellow).  They needed to be sited 450mm from the edge of the road and SCC highways will need to approve the location of any new bins. The bulk delivery will be made to the Milestone depot in Minehead, and then the Highway Steward will drop them at a designated rendezvous point. Sam will be contacting those parishes shortly who placed an order to determine the best place to deliver. It will also provide an opportunity for the new Highway Steward to meet the parish highway wardens.

Parishes needed to let SCC know when their salt stocks needed replenishing, so that they can meet the demands of the winter weather.

Blocked drains/gullies

Where water was coming off the highway and there was a threat to life and or property it needed to be reported as a matter of urgency. Less urgent drainage issues should be reported via the defects portal so that the highways maintenance team could respond accordingly.

Kevin Bridgwater had liaised with Roger Foxwell before the meeting, because he was unable to find the report on the long-standing issue of the Shearwells drains. It was clarified that Sam Murrell would have a conversation with Roger on the following day to tackle the issue once and for all.

Post Minute Note:

Using google maps Roger Foxwell clearly identified the stretch of road and 5 drains that were affected. This was transposed into Parish Online, and Sam reported it on the SCC Defects portal with the map attached. The SCC defects number for future reference is 666419. Once the site has been inspected, an assessment can be made on the work required.

Winsford – Halse Lane

It was reported that a utilities trench that had been backfilled and made good incorrectly had now sunk. Winsford PC had reported it via the portal which normally elicited a prompt remedy, but on this occasion SCC had stated it was not their responsibility. Sam agreed to follow up with the streetworks team, who could liaise with the contractor about rectifying the poor workmanship.

Exford Landslip

An up to date report on the current situation had been circulated to the parishes in recent weeks. It was likely that the remedial work to be undertaken would be carried out in the spring (May?) to take advantage of the longer daylight hours. Once the scale of the work was fully costed and the pattern of working was established, Andrew Turner had agreed that a public meeting could be held to apprise everyone of the situation.

Exford Bridge

During the recent rain a tree had washed down-river and was now resting against the central arch. This had been reported to both SCC Bridges (as owner of the bridge) and the Environment Agency who have responsibility for the river. Both organisations stated they would task work teams to attend to the situation, when it was safe to do so. An interesting point to note is that the tree has changed the river flow, and as such the current was removing some of the problematic silt build up in this location.

Withypool Bridge

Tony Howard reported that a tree was now resting against one of the arches at Withypool Bridge. He was requested to report this via the portal to the Bridges and Structures team.

Highway Steward Update

The new Highway Steward, Tim Williams took up his employment at the start of January. His main area of focus for the moment will be picking up the outstanding work from late November and December. He will be using the online job request form so please continue to report your work requests via this method.

Please click here to access the Exmoor LCN – Highway Steward Job Request.

Urgent works such as blocked drains should be reported via the defects portal to ensure a swift response. General repairs such as potholes, road damage and other problems outside of your parish boundary should continue to be reported via the SCC online portal. www.somerset.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/report-a-problem-on-the-road/.

He will be active around the district in his truck which is a Milestone vehicle.

Exmoor Pilot – Satisfaction Survey

Can parishes please complete the Qtr3 Satisfaction survey, so that the team can determine what is working and what needs to be done? This is for the period from October until the end of December. Thank you to those who have already done this.