Questions from the Public for Written Response:
1) The Albemarle Cycle Scheme has been controversial. Some residents received notification from the Council, how many letters were sent out and on what roads, and was Harris Primary Beckenham Green consulted/advised?
Ahead of the implementation of the new temporary cycle route in Albemarle Road, Bromley distributed approximately 1300 letters to properties on the following roads –
– Albemarle Road
– Westgate Road
– Downs Bridge Road
– Hazlehurst
– Meadway
– The Mead
Some residents of Bromley Road also received letters where the implementation of the cycle lane resulted in parking being removed from outside of their properties. Harris Beckenham Green Primary School was inadvertently not consulted ahead of the changes being implemented.
2) Dr Bike is a fantastic scheme to ensure that residents can keep their bicycles in good condition and encourage cycling. I notice that the council has regular Dr Bike sessions in Norman Park which is great, however given the size of the Borough and the difficulty of travelling with
a bike that needs servicing it is not always possible to get to Norman Park (e.g. I myself live in the Cray Valley and so an event in, say, St Mary Cray Recreation Ground or similar would be better for me and other local residents). Therefore, could the Portfolio Holder make a commitment to hold Dr Bike sessions in other locations in the Borough?
In order to run a Dr Bike session the Road Safety team require a great deal of equipment, which is currently stored at Norman Park, hence the sessions being delivered from there. The team plan to investigate the possibility of rotating the location of Dr Bike sessions in the future. However, this would require the purchase of additional, lightweight equipment and transport for it. This is not something we are likely to consider doing until the Corona Virus pandemic is behind us but is certainly a possibility for the future.
3) Open Spaces Strategy 2021 – 2031, Page 36, “Communicating the Strategy” – “The Council values its communities, partners, residents and stakeholders and will engage them in reviewing this strategy and consult them on open space management plans and major developments within local open spaces.” As of 30th December, Bromley issued one website press release on the public consultation 12 November, one tweet 13 November, apparently no mention on its Facebook page in last two months, nor in the Winter 2020 “Environment Matters” newsletter. Does the Portfolio Holder consider this consultation has been adequately advertised to residents who are not members of Friends’ Groups/Forums?
News about the consultation was also distributed in the Council’s email newsletter, (‘Update’), prior to Christmas and this method has proved a highly effective way of sharing important information with residents. You can visit www.bromley.gov.uk/Update to subscribe. On 6th January in a similar approach to other consultations, the Council also tweeted a reminder that consultation was closing and therefore more has been done than suggested to get the message to residents who are not members of Friends of Parks groups. We have a very good response to consultation (over 850 responses) but it was always recognised that many more responses would be received from Friends of Parks members and the representative groups and this is not a bad thing. As well as examining all the comments received, we are looking to work with Friends of Parks groups to help recruit more members and spread the positive message about our parks to all residents, which are well used, especially now, and valued by all.
4) Would the Portfolio Holder provide details of and the number of reports by ward of?
(a) overflowing litter bins;
(b) overflowing recycling bins and dumped rubbish at recycling sites; and
(c) fly tipping received by the Council via FixMyStreet and others between Wednesday 23 December 2020 and Wednesday 6 January 2021?
A. 80 reports of litter bins overflowing.
B. We do not record this specific data. However, we can confirm that there were 9 occurrences of overflowing recycling bins/banks.
C. 192 reports of dumped rubbish
5) Would the Portfolio Holder confirm (a) how many households received his Update newsletter issued 23 December; (b) why the newsletter contents were not posted on the Council’s website and social media; and (c) if he would consult residents on how the Council may improve the effectiveness of it’s communications? Ref. LBB ‘Update’ Christmas 2020 Newsletter
https://bromley-gov.uk/3YM6-186VR-
97E7BC324372A4EF2VJFXJ4DD7FC33F890DA42/cr.aspx
Just over 70,000 households received the Update newsletter. It is the intention that the newsletter is published on the website and this is something we are looking at, but most of the messages are already on the website in one form or other with topics covered in my introduction and mostly also covered in ‘Environment Matters’ which had been distributed door to door in November. Whilst consultation about improving the effectiveness of communications is not within the Environment Portfolio, as a guiding principle, the Council does receive feedback about its communications and is always happy to consider feedback from residents, which is welcome.
6) TfL released the London Digital Speed Map, showing LBB are trailing behind on implementation of 20mph roads. What is LBBs plan to meet government guidelines of implementing 20mph limits on LBB roads, which is proven to reduce collisions, fatalities and improve air quality?
With regard to 20mph speed limits and zones, the Council does not believe that a blanket approach is the most effective means of improving road safety. Too often such schemes do nothing to change the characteristics of the street and lead to only quite insignificant reductions in speed and the cost of a Borough-wide approach would also mean that resources would be diverted from schemes that tackle actual hot spots and priority areas that require more significant engineering measures. There is also a concern that a Borough-wide approach could lead to an element of driver fatigue with the result that the key areas for driver attention are no longer prominent.
