/ Stow-on-the-Wold Town Council
Stow Youth Centre, Fosseway, Stow-on-the-Wold,
Gloucestershire GL54 1DW
Caroline Doran - Town Clerk

t. 01451 832 585

MinutesTraffic & Parking Committee Meeting

held on Thursday 17th March 2015 at 7.15pm

Present

Cllr. Simon Clarke Cllr. Mike Curtis
Cllr. Ben Eddolls
Cllr. Sue Green
Cllr Mike Moseley
Cllr. Alun White / (SC)
(MC)
(BE)
(SG) Chair
(MM)
(AW) / Kit Ayers
Chris Turner
1 x Public
Cllr. Nigel Moor
Cllr Alison Coggins / (CA)
(CT)
Glos CC
Moreton in Marsh Town Council

Apologies

Received and accepted from Jack Baggott

Chair

Sue Green was voted to take the chair. Proposed AW, Seconded MC All in favour

Announcements from the Chair- none

Public Participation– no comments

Minutes of Last Meeting

The minutes of the Traffic and Parking Committee Meeting held on 15 January 2015 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.
Proposed – AW, Seconded – SC, All present at last meeting agreed

Matters Arising

a)Check that GCC have cleared the gullies
b)Stow Hill resurfacing will probably take place during June or July
c)White lines at the Unicorn junction need repainting. Contact Bob Skillern / Clerk
Clerk

15.01 Transport Review

A summary of the main areas of concern regarding the A429 was presented by KA.
  • Why was the A429 split into a north and a south sections when traffic travels along the length of the road.
  • There was a lack of consideration of Stow as a traffic pinch point – figures provided.
  • Proposals posed a threat to the tourist industry
  • The procedures GCC use for making decisions are not transparent, and decisions are not shared with parish councils
Reference to ‘Active Travel’ i.e. bicycles needs to be location specific. Cycling around Stow is difficult and unsafe.
NM to provide a document produced by the Conservation Board re. promoting tourism and the Cotswold Brand. NM commented that the Arup report which informed the emerging local plan had almost nothing proposed for Stow.
It was generally acknowledged that there was a need for more traffic capacity around and through the town. Also a need for ‘load shedding’, at present advisory routes route traffic through Stow.
GCC are responsible for identifying problems and implementing solutions. / NM

The sequential notes and a covering letter KA had prepared will be amended include greater reference to the damage to the tourist/Cotswold brand caused by traffic congestion.

One page summary will also be added.

Letter to be circulated to all in the county council, Dept of Transport, Cllr. Vernon Smith and

Cllr.Will Windsor-Clive at GCC.

Proposed SG, seconded AW all in favour

The revised Traffic document will be presented to GCC cabinet in June. NM recommended
that Stow and the other local councils should attend. / STC

15.02 Square Improvements

Neighbourhood Planquestionnaires identified that a significant number people wanted greater priority for pedestrians.
Speed is not a problem during the day. However a 20m/h speed zone throughout the square and its approaches was thought to be a good idea.
It was suggested that Digbeth Streetcould be paved, like Church Street, to make it look like a pedestrian zone.
Clerk to formally ask Bob Skillern to comment on the feasibility and the costs of the proposals put forward by STC.
Public consultation will take place to consider what has been proposed so far.
The member of the public at the meeting commented that the square worked fine and that making changes was a waste of time and money.
Clerk to find document recording pedestrian movement around the square.
Clerk to ask Bob Skillern to mark out parallel parking bays along the pavements. / Clerk
Clerk
Clerk

15.03Parking Review

NM to convey the message back to Jim Daniels that STC are not happy with the proposals for parking charges and permits suggested by GCC. Oxfordshire villages do not charge for parking Stow would be at a disadvantage. Stow should be compared to Burford not Cheltenham.
A greater turnover of cars would be achieved if the existing 2 hour limit was enforced.
A letter to GCC is to be drafted stating STC objections, to be presented to council
NM confirmed that money raised from parking charges was ring fenced for parking improvement schemes.
Under the Localism Act STC could take control of the Maugersbury carpark from CDC.
The carpark generates approx. £14k per year.
NM to ask Highways to make comments on planning applications in support of adequate provision of parking. / NM
Clerk
NM

15.04 Tesco parking / recycling

Clerk to ask Jack Baggott for details of S106 regarding provision of public parking spaces.
CDC – Scott Williams to be contacted about the possibility of additional bins in the Maugersbury, asked what could be done about residents not using the kerbside recycling and being more relaxed about accepting vans at tips.
Member of the public stated that residents prefer the Tesco location. Also that the small bins take more space and prevent access to the large paper bins.
Tescos have said they willincreased the number of collections and have invited STC to a meeting to discuss the problem with the head office manager and contractors, 2pm 25th March / Clerk
Clerk

15.05 Bus Survey

GCC have sent out a bus survey.
NM informed that GCC have statistics on numbers using the busses.
Councillors had little knowledge of the bus services. It was agreed to ask the library to
display/collect answers to the questionnaire. / Clerk

AOB

Stow Festival: The Square will be closed to traffic on 4th July.

Gloucestershire Manual of Streets. GCC need comments by next week. KA to try to respond and circulate members.

Date of next meeting: Tuesday 28th April 2015 at 7.00pm in Stow Youth Centre.

Signed ……………………………………….

Date ………………………………

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