Agenda item

(1)       Local community events were an important part of Kent’s culture and often took place on the Highway. The events needed to be managed safely with minimal traffic disruption, whilst still enabling the event to take place wherever possible. Kent Police had recently withdrawn their support to control traffic at most events which had caused additional burdens and costs for event organisers.  The report discussed the impact of the Police’s policy change and set out policy options for KCC involvement in future events.

(2)    The Traffic Management Act 2004 placed a statutory Network management Duty on traffic authorities such as KCC to secure the expeditious movement of traffic, which included the need to ensure that actions of others, e.g. event organisers, did not cause unnecessary disruption to the travelling public.  There were between 700 to 900 events held on Kent’s road network each year and most required some form of temporary traffic control to enable them to take place. Many events required roads to be closed and closing a public road without a lawful closure order was illegal.

(3)    There were two sets of legislation that could be used to authorise road closures for events: The Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (RTRA 1984) and the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 (TPCA 1847).    The use of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to close each road was restricted to once per year unless special consent was obtained from the Secretary of State. All recent requests for Secretary of State consent had been granted.

(4)    Prior to 2012 traffic control during road closures at most events was carried out by a Kent Police presence. District Councils were able to request a Police presence when a road was closed using the TPCA 1847. Kent Police had now, inline with a national Police directive, withdrawn presence at most events (excluding Remembrance Day, veterans’ day events or military funerals).

(5)    The report referred to the rules on placing temporary signs on the highway which were set out in the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002; current procedures for applications to hold events on the highway which were processed by the Roadworks Team within Highways & Transportation; and current costs to event organisers, including advertising costs, administration costs and supply of signs.

(6)    Options for future County-wide policy were -

Option 1

            KCC maintained current situation where we acted in an advisory role for the event organiser, only advising on suitability of measures to minimise traffic impact and reduce safety risk. This did not provide the event organisers any funding support but publishing the policy would manage expectations and help avoid KCC being criticised for the impact of the Police’s change in policy.

Option 2

            As option 1 but KCC to contribute towards a signing equipment stock for District Councils to manage and distribute as required for events in their areas. This assumed that in accordance with localism principles District Councils would be best placed to promote and manage local events to support the diversity and the culture of their areas. A one-off grant to every District Council to acquire signs and cones would equate to a total estimated cost of £10,000 to be found from existing budgets. However, this would require District Councils to sign up to the proposal following development and consultation with them.

Option 3

            KCC fully supported all non profit making (charitable) events with assistance on design of traffic management plans and provision of necessary signage across the county. This would require additional funding and resource from KCC - e.g. sign costs, storage, maintenance/replacement, staff resource (estimated 2 FTEs) and transport. A full assessment would be required to determine the amount of signs required to enable this to be carried out countywide. However, the total estimated annual cost to KCC was likely to be in excess of £100,000, a considerable new budget pressure which would inevitably mean a reduction in service levels elsewhere.

(7 )      RESOLVED that:-

(a)       a formal request to Kent Police to review their change in policy and continue to provide traffic control support for events be supported;

(b)                policy option 1 above be recommended to the Cabinet Member; and

(c)        the report and draft minute be circulated to the next round of JTBs for information.

(Following on from item B2 (Managing Events on the Highway), it was agreed that a formal request be submitted to Kent Police to review their change in policy and continue to provide traffic control support for events. Please see the relevant correspondence attached to these minutes)