Executive Member for the Environment
Executive Member up to May 2010 - Councillor Richard Cowell
Mr David Pollard, who lives in Manchester, asked the following Question:
Last Wednesday morning around 03:30, I was driving to North Manchester General Hospital and, on more than one occasion, I found myself sat at a set of traffic lights which were on red, and there was no other road traffic. This got me thinking that would it not be an idea to turn traffic lights off between certain times, ie, during the early hours of the morning.
Councillor Richard Cowell, Executive Member for Environment, replied:
It is not uncommon for criticisms to be made of Highway Authorities that the operation of traffic signals during periods of low demand, for example overnight, causes what few vehicles are using the network to stop unnecessarily. The issue of turning off traffic lights is currently being considered by the Department for Transport and they are currently undertaking a study to investigate the operation of traffic signals during low demand periods. Officers from Greater Manchester Urban Traffic Control have provided their views to the study team.
Part-time signals are permitted, but generally only at roundabouts or similar geometric layouts where reverting to priority control does not compromise the safety of the junction. The key issue is the safety of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users, in that traffic signal control can provide pedestrian priority over vehicles for a period of time. During the quieter periods the main safety concern is which vehicle would have priority when the lights are turned off. On the rare occasion traffic lights fail, motorists approach the junction with caution and respect the presence of other vehicles. During the early hours when motorists become used to lights being turned off, we would be concerned that motorists approached the junction without the same caution and respect. This could increase road traffic incidents and most importantly the severity of any incidents.
9th April 2010
M Nawaz, who lives and works in Manchester, asked the following Question:
I would like to ask WHY are you irresponsibly wasting tax payers money on court cases, meetings and consultations, regarding the issue " Tax plate" as you are well aware you lost the case at court regards free plate and your neighbouring council, council of Salford have took a sensible approach by freeing all plate to hackney carriages. Please can you give good reason to why this is? and to date how much has been spend on resolving this issue? Also can you explain why there are 600-700 private hire cars working in Manchester city centre when there is not a single parking space for THEM!
Councillor Richard Cowell, Executive Member for Environment, replied:
Thank you for your Question in relation to hackney carriage and private hire licensing
In respect of the City Council's allocation policy for hackney carriage licences, I can confirm that the City Council has not instigated any court cases. The City Council was subject to challenge in an employment tribunal regarding its previous policy of allocating hackney carriage proprietors licences via a waiting list (in particular the criteria that were used to determine a persons position on the waiting list). As a result of the findings of the tribunal, together with other issues identified by the Council, a decision was made to review the way in which licences are allocated.
In undertaking a review of the Policy, the Council has had regard to the Governments Code of Practice on Consultation, which provides advice and guidance on how and when consultation should be carried out and recommendations as to who should be consulted. In relation to the hackney carriage policy it is recognised that within the trade there may be conflicting views largely dependent upon whether an individual is a driver/proprietor or both, and therefore whatever decision is made regarding a new policy it is unlikely to please all. It is important that the City Council arrives at its decision after fully considering all the issues, including the legal implications of any new policy and the results of the consultation process. As you will be aware from the recent events in Salford any new proposed policy can be subject to legal challenge.
In relation to the costs spent on resolving this issue, the costs of the consultation exercise was outlined in a report to the Licensing and Appeals Committee, on 29 June 2009 and was estimated at £21,500. In addition all costs incurred in relation to the provision of a hackney carriage and private hire licensing service have to be covered by income received.
In relation to your comments regarding private hire vehicles I can confirm that the legislative requirements in relation to licensing of private hire vehicles prevents Local Authorities from imposing a limit on the number of private hire vehicles that are licensed. Manchester City Council cannot, therefore, restrict the number of private hire vehicles licensed.
26th March 2010
Mr M Sheeraz, who lives and works in Manchester, asked the following Question:
Some months ago a hackney carriage driver took Manchester City Council to the employment court on its allocation policy via a mark list where an applicant was issued a plate (licence) according to the length of badge time of service, and the employment tribunal (court) gave a decision against that policy and found that policy discriminatory and driver was granted a plate (licence). My question is, if that policy was discriminatory, was it discriminatory to every driver on the list or every driver in the hackney trade, or against one driver only, and can the public or any hackney driver get a copy of the employment tribunal ruling?
Councillor Richard Cowell, Executive Member for Environment, replied:
Thank you for your further question regarding Manchester City Councils allocation Policy in relation to hackney carriage proprietors licences.
In relation to the employment tribunal decision I can confirm that the decision of the tribunal was that the Policy adopted by the City Council in October 2005 was discriminatory. Following the tribunal decision, the Council announced that it would be suspending any further allocations of hackney carriage proprietors' licences pending a review of the policy.
The finding of the tribunal was that having uncapped years of service as the primary criteria for determining a persons position on a waiting list could be discriminatory towards certain individuals who may, due to their personal circumstances, find it more difficult to accrue uninterrupted years of service within the hackney carriage. The Council does not have detailed information regarding the personal circumstances of all persons included on the previous waiting list and therefore cannot make any comment in relation to the possible extent or limitation of any discrimination.
In relation to the tribunal judgement, I can confirm that this is a public document, and I would advise you to contact the Employment Tribunal Service regarding how you may obtain a copy of the document.
26th March 2010
I would like to ask why my local social club is being closed down for a supermarket store called Aldi to be built in its place. I see, and so do a lot of the people that go in the social club, that there will be an increase in anti social behaviour when this store opens and a lot of the social community will be lost. Many of the local shops will lose trade and close due to Aldi being built. I would like to know the legal requirements for the Aldi store to be built on a trading business in the local area. As far as I am aware there is an Aldi already in Didsbury which is exactly 1.93 miles from my local club.
Councillor Richard Cowell, Executive Member for Environment, replied:
St Crispins social club is owned by the Church of England. Due to spiralling costs and falling attendances the church has decided to close both the current church building and the social club, which is entirely a decision for the Anglican Diocese and local Parish Council to take. The regeneration plans for Fallowfield Triangle, outlined in the Central Manchester Strategic Regeneration Framework, are based on nearly 20 years of requests by local residents to bring the Platt Lane shops back up to their former standard. We know from experience that simply undertaking environmental improvements and facelifts to existing shops will not improve retail sustainability and that an anchor tenant and adequate car-parking will bring shoppers back to an area.
Aldi's intent to move to Fallowfield Triangle as the anchor tenant will help revitalise the local shops and will bring greater variation, along with competitive pricing to the local food offer. We know from experience that stores like Aldi will on the whole boost business, as they bring more people to the area without aggressively putting existing shopkeepers out of business. Aldi also propose to develop a community car park for use by people shopping at the Triangle, thus alleviating the current parking congestion and encouraging more passing people to stop and shop. The proposed new housing development will help to create a high quality mixed use scheme at the Triangle.
Regeneration is about creating sustainable communities. We know that local people have been asking for better quality shops, better parking facilities and more choice of homes for some time. We are also keen that community facilities remain. Already St Crispin's Church and Rectory, the Library and Platt Lane Methodist Church all offer community space and St Kentigens has a licensed bar and function room.
We have been working with local residents and traders as the plans for Fallowfield Triangle have been emerging. A community consultation on the plans for the Triangle took place last Autumn. The majority of people who provided feedback were very positive about the proposals for Fallowfield Triangle.
10 March 2010
Danny Owen, who lives and works in Manchester, asked:
What time can you play music till before it's breaking any laws or breaking any rules. I find I cannot play music in the day.
Councillor Richard Cowell, Executive Member for Environment, replied:
Thank you for your question.
If we receive a noise nuisance complaint, we have to be sure that the noise constitutes a statutory nuisance before taking any action. This means that we have to show that the noise is prejudicial to health and / or is causing an unreasonable disturbance to a complainant's lifestyle / enjoyment of their property. A Statutory Noise Nuisance can be more than the fact that noise is audible. For a noise to be a Statutory Noise Nuisance it must be a significant or unreasonable emission of noise that materially interferes with the use and enjoyment of a complainant's home.
Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, several factors can determine whether noise is a Statutory Noise Nuisance:
- The time of day the noise occurs
- How loud the noise is
- How long the noise lasts
- The character of the noise; i.e. bass beat or high pitched
- How often the noise occurs
- Your location (location of complainant)
There are no set times or levels which determine whether noise is causing a Statutory Nuisance. We use professional judgement to decide whether the noise in question is causing an unreasonable disturbance.
Statutory Nuisance is generally considered to be incidents which are ongoing, unabated and of such regular frequency and duration that a detrimental effect is perceived on the enjoyment of a person's property.
2nd March 2010
Charles Ashbury, who lives in Manchester, asked:
Are there any plans to introduce a 'blanket' 20mph speed limit on residential roads throughout the City, similar to what Portsmouth have done, and other areas (like Oxford and Norwich) are about to do?
Councillor Richard Cowell, Executive Member for Environment, replied:
Thank you for your question.
We appreciate the aims of the scheme in Portsmouth and will monitor its success with interest. We are concerned, however, that there are enforcement issues with this type of scheme and that they do not provide the most efficient use of the Council's resources.
At the present time we take the view that the limited monies that we have are better directed to known collision hot spots and areas where vulnerable road users are at risk, such as around schools, and introducing measures at these specific locations. For example, by March 2011 we hope to have 20mph schemes in place around all suitable schools in Manchester .
Our approach has been very successful and the numbers of casualties on Manchester 's roads had fallen from 3,701 in 1999 to 2428 in 2008. Similarly the number of people killed and seriously injured has fallen during this time from 294 to 190. The number of child casualties has fallen even more dramatically from 535 in 1999 to 257 in 2008.
We are also mindful of the other benefits of such schemes in reducing the nuisance caused by speeding vehicles in residential areas, and similarly have taken a more targeted approach. We are therefore increasing resources available for schemes which reduce the intrusion of traffic into neighbourhoods.
20th January 2010
James Stuart, who lives in Manchester, asked:
Contents of Executive Member for the Environment
- Executive Member in 2012 - Councillor Nigel Murphy
- Executive Member in 2011 - Councillor Nigel Murphy
- Executive Member From May 2010 - Councillor Nigel Murphy
- Executive Member up to May 2010 - Councillor Richard Cowell (this page)
- Executive Member in 2009 - Councillor Richard Cowell
- Executive Member in 2008 - Councillor Richard Cowell
- Executive Member from July in 2007 - Councillor Neil Swannick
- Executive Member in 2007 - Councillor Neil Swannick
- Executive Member in 2006 - Councillor Neil Swannick
