The Assistant Director of Planning and Growth presented the report which

Councillor G. Rice welcomed the Strategy and questioned how funding was progressing for east-facing slip roads into Lakeside to prevent the local network being clogged with Lakeside Traffic.  The Assistant Director of Planning and Growth advised there was a whole raft of solutions to be developed within the Local Plan which would allow for the Infrastructure Strategy and funding bids.  The slip roads in question would certainly form a part of the process.

The Vice-Chair echoed the need for the slip roads to divert shopping traffic from the local area.  He stressed the need to ensure plans for the additional 30,000 homes required in the borough were done correctly as the congestion problems could be exacerbated otherwise.  He urged Officers to look at congestion planning for the future as part of locating these sites.  The Assistant Director of Planning and Growth outlined that the Infrastructure and delivery plans sought to manage and facilitate growth in an effective way.  Moving forward it was not simply a question of hardware but also technology systems which would allow traffic to be managed and redirected where necessary.

The Chair stressed that transport should also consider pedestrians, cyclists and similar, not merely motorists.  There was a high rate of asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in the borough and warnings should be considered as a way to inform a wider audience regarding air quality issues. She asked whether there was technology available which could monitor areas of high pollution and display warnings.  The Transport Development Manager confirmed that he envisaged connecting the system with air quality monitoring and using it to advise motorists.  There was a five-year plan.  The first phase would look at the road network but the next phase would be for public transport systems and working to divert motorists from highly polluted areas to mitigate the impact on air quality.

The Chair highlighted that the number of cases of early COPD was growing and the situation would only get worse as more vehicles would lead to more pollution which would in turn result in more cases of COPD.  The Strategy should manage traffic and its impact on people’s lives and she would like to see more work around public health, not simply vehicles and congestion.

The Vice-Chair echoed the Chair’s sentiments and stressed that air quality should always be paramount.  He continued to highlight the potential threat posed by the proposed Lower Thames Crossing with an additional 60,000 vehicles passing through the borough and their impact on local air quality.  He felt there could be no higher priority than the health and wellbeing of Thurrock residents.

Councillor G. Rice referred to section 3.1 of the appendix whereby:

During a recent Lower Thames Crossing Q&A session, Ian Wake (Director of Public Health, Thurrock Council) highlighted Thurrock’s death rate for cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease when compared to 15 most similar councils with similar population, Thurrock ended up being ranked the worst.

He stressed that this was a bad start and asked how discussions with Highways England regarding tunnelling near major populations were progressing, to prevent impact upon air quality and noise pollution from the proposed crossing.  He continued that Residents often asked what was being done to safeguard their communities.  The Chair noted that, while the threat of the impact of such a huge change to the borough was always on the minds of both Councillors and residents, the Lower Thames Crossing Task Force would be sure to discuss all of those points.  The Corporate Director of Place assured the Committee that there would be a meeting of the Task Force on Monday discussing both updates to the scheme and the consultation process and the Council’s proposed response to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Scoping Report.  This response would outline areas of concerns and whether they were being adequately addressed as well as clearly outlining the Council’s expectations.  Mitigations as a result of the EIA would lead to solutions.

Councillor Kelly reminded officers of the importance of the slip roads to divert lakeside traffic, and if there were to be a ‘shopping list’ they should be a priority.

RESOLVED:

That the Planning, Transport, Regeneration Overview and Scrutiny Committee considers the Intelligent Transport Systems Strategy and provide comments for the final document for final submission and adoption at January 2018 Cabinet.