Agenda item

1.

Question from Hannah Wright to the Cabinet Member Clean and Green Environment, Councillor Chris Coleman

Many people encountered technical difficulties responding to the consultation into waste collection and facilities in Cheltenham, which was run over the Christmas period. Has any consideration been taken into extending the consultation or adapting the questionnaire to minimise glitches in light of this?

Response from Cabinet Member

Approximately 4,294 consultation responses were received, mainly on-line, but with some paper surveys returned, which is more than the previous consultation for the launch of the new recycling service, conducted in 2016 over a longer time period.  The good response suggests that the timing did not impact adversely on the number of responses received.

This initial consultation will be followed by a further consultation later in the year over a longer time period with the aim of capturing views from as many residents as possible.  In addition, we will be arranging focus groups to help shape both future consultation and service delivery.

Regarding the technical difficulties some members of the public experienced (24 residents contacted the council about this) when completing the survey, the website team have investigated and concluded that this was in part due to user error. There was one question on the form (the first question of Part 3) where users were asked to rank items in order of importance from 1 to 4. To do this, users needed to tick one box per row and only one box per column. If a user assigns more than one item, for example two “1 – most important”, the survey shows an error with explanatory text (please see screenshot below).

If the question isn’t completed as per the instructions, the error will remain meaning a user would not be able to submit the form.

The problem may be due, to some extent, to the fact that when viewed on a smart phone, all four columns may not be immediately visible. Users may need to scroll across to view the fourth column. This could also occur with the second question in Part 1.

This issue could be mitigated by adding help text to relevant questions, instructing users to scroll across if they can’t see all X number of columns. And/or we could use a statement telling users to view the survey in landscape on mobile devices.  Alternatively, we could look to avoid this type of question in this format in future.

2.

Question from James Clayton to the Cabinet Member Development and Safety, Councillor Andrew McKinlay

I understand that one of the core principles of the Cheltenham Transport Plan was to put people before traffic; however the closure of the key route appears to be causing more congestion, pollution and making Cheltenham a less appealing place to visit. Will the council listen to the strength of feeling and volume of feedback from residents and bring about an end to the trial at the earliest opportunity.

Response from Cabinet Member

It is not yet known if levels of pollution in the Borough have exceeded the national nitrogen-dioxide pollutant annual mean in 2018, but results will be available within the next couple of months.

In addition, the Council has commissioned a ‘Detailed Assessment of Air Quality’ which will help inform the assessment of outcomes relating to the Cheltenham Transport Plan, although it will not be possible to ascertain the specific contribution that the Boots’ Corner restriction has, or has not had, on local air quality.

3.

Questionfrom Helen Little to the Cabinet Member Development and Safety, Councillor Andrew McKinlay

I note that one of the key objectives for the Boots Corner closure trial is that of ‘modal shift’ to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Can anyone explain to me how diverting vehicles around the closed road, which increases the distance travelled, time for journey and results in more traffic jams achieves this goal? Specifically, I am very worried about the new inner ring road which has developed from Bayshill around St James’s Street and the now very hazardous and polluted double roundabout junction at Clarence Street – Knapp Road – Ambrose Street adjacent to St Gregory’s church and school as cars try to access the St George’s Street – Swindon Road T-junction heading North.

Response from Cabinet Member

We have been implementing an additional air quality monitoring point near St Gregory’s Church, in response to perceptions about increased pollution in this area. However, this location is not currently giving any indication that statutory limits would be breached. Results are available each month on our website at: https://www.cheltenham.gov.uk/downloads/download/1645/air_quality_briefing_notes

In a supplementary question Dr Little asked how stationary or slow moving traffic created less pollution in narrow streets.

In response Councillor McKinlay explained that the more confined the area the more pollution would be created. He referred to St James Square which was more open and pollutants were able to escape quickly. Monitoring had been undertaken on Ambrose Street and St James Square over the last 3 months and data for this was available on the council’s website. With regard to St George’s Street/Swindon Road there had not been adequate baseline monitoring to date as this had been highlighted as an area of concern only recently. The Cabinet Member explained that there appeared to be some confusion with regard to breaching DEFRA guidelines. The car based pollutant nitrogen dioxide limit was 40 ?g/m3 as an annual mean and 200 ?g/m3 not to be exceeded more than 18 times a year. The additional air quality monitoring near St Gregory’s Church had not yet gathered 12 months of data. The increase in traffic was assessed to be 20-30% but was not regarded by GCC as a significant issue and to date there were no signs of issues of air pollution along that route.