Agenda item

5:30 – 5:55pm

The Assistant Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing and the Waste and Street Cleaning Manager submitted a report on the Maintenance of Footpaths and Pavements. The Chair also provided a verbal statement that fed back on issues that faced the County Council that were discussed during a training session at Derbyshire County Council.

The Chair noted that the main problem that faced the public when reporting a footpath or pavement was identifying which authority to report it to. The Derbyshire County Council (DCC) website contains a Mapping Portal which designates between Local Authority and privately owned highways however it does not show which Local Authority is responsible. In addition, the DCC website has the facility to report faults with pavements and rights of way which also allows the reporter to specify the fault for example, damage to kerb or subsidence.

The report from the Waste and Street Cleaning Manager detailed the different responsibilities of the Local Authorities. Chesterfield Borough Council (CBC) would only be responsible for paths on public land that had not been adopted by DCC, for example footpaths within parks, therefore should only be contacted about concerns with those paths. However CBC undertakes the cleaning of most of the adopted paths on an agency basis for DCC. Footpaths within the borough are maintained depending on the frequency of footfall and additional clearance visits could be requested by a member of the public or by local councillors.

Members commented that due to the different parties involved in footpath and pavement maintenance, it could be a lengthy process to solve an issue. The Chair advised that, in order to tackle problems with footpaths and pavements efficiently, they needed to be reported as soon as possible to allow the Local Authority responsible to contact any landowners or domestic properties that might be involved. Members also asked if there was a list of footpath numbers available in order to accurately report which footpath had the problem. The Chair responded that the information was on the DCC website.

The report noted that, following a review of the Street Care service, savings totalling £100K had been achieved. Since the review there had been no rise in the level of complaints or other indications of dis-satisfaction. Following on from the success of the review, the report advised that there would be no capacity at the current time to make further efficiency savings without affecting the standards of service delivery.

The Chair asked the Committee if a Scrutiny Review was needed to continue monitoring the maintenance of footpaths and pavements. The Committee agreed that no review was needed as the current reporting system and maintenance worked well and there was a need for residents to be pro-active and report issues directly through the available systems. The only matter that needed further clarification was the process and impact of Councillor reporting; for example to which Council should Councillors report, and what was the impact on ‘hot spot’ identification when a councillor reports once on behalf of a number of residents.

The Chair thanked the Assistant Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing and the Waste and Street Cleaning Manager for presenting the report.

RESOLVED –

1)   That the report be noted.

2)   That there is no need for a Scrutiny Project Group to be set up to further review the maintenance of pavements and footpaths and that it be noted that residents need to report directly through the available systems.

3)   That outstanding queries around Councillor reporting be raised.