Agenda item

The Committee considered the report of the Cabinet Member for Transport and District Regeneration outlining draft proposals for Portswood that form part of the Eastleigh to Southampton Corridor.  The wider proposals aim to better connect Fair Oak and Bishopstoke to Eastleigh, and onwards from Eastleigh to Southampton Airport and Southampton City Centre by bus and bike.

Councillor Keogh (Cabinet Member for Transport and District Regeneration), Wade Holmes (SCC Service Manager for Integrated Transport), James Hammond (SCC Project Manager), Karen Edwards, Crispin Jameson, John Nightingale, James Jameson, Susan Lewis, Dr Peter Thomas, Lyn Brayshaw, Nathan Acheson, Shelagh Primrose, Stephen Saxby, Rebecca Kinge, Gulzar Shariz and Vinny Kumar were present, and with the consent of the Chair, addressed the meeting.

RESOLVED that the Committee recommended that:

1.  That the Cabinet Member and officers commit to ensuring that the next iteration of the Portswood Corridor consultation survey is worded in such a way that it is neutral and does not appear to favour the proposed schemes.

2.  That further traffic counts are undertaken along the Portswood Corridor to monitor changes to travel habits and to improve understanding of the journeys that are being undertaken and traffic trends.

3.  That modelling for individual roads is undertaken to help develop understanding of the additional traffic that could be diverted to neighbouring residential streets as a result of the introduction of the proposed schemes.

4.  That, reflecting concerns about the potential impact the closure of Thomas Lewis Way could have on the area if the proposed scheme is introduced, an emergency mitigation plan is developed that identifies the potential impact and models alternative routes to be followed to reduce the predicted impact.

5.  That bus journey time and trend data for Portswood is provided to the Committee and is available for the second phase of public consultation.

6.  That, for the second phase of public consultation, improvements are made to the clarity of the information about the proposed schemes to raise awareness of the actual proposals.

7.  That the second phase of public consultation includes a wider geographical area reflecting the potential impact of the proposals.

8.  That instead of procuring an independent assessment on the impact of the proposals on the prosperity of Portswood District Centre, traders are contacted individually, or through a Portswood Traders Association, and are asked about their views on the proposals.

9.  That, if the Cabinet Member agrees to the independent assessment on the impact of the proposals on the prosperity of Portswood District Centre, the Cabinet Member and officers commit to separately engaging directly with Portswood traders about the proposals.

10.That the Cabinet Member and officers demonstrate how the proposals will impact on the city’s net zero ambitions.

11.That the Cabinet Member recognises the strength of feeling and opposition to the proposed closure of Portswood Broadway to through traffic and goes back to the drawing board and scraps plans to close the road to through traffic and instead comes back with alternative proposals for Portswood Broadway that will make the district centre greener and more attractive.