On 25 January 2023, the Report on the Portswood Corridor Phase 1 Consultation was published ahead of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee Meeting. This meeting is to be open to the public – details above. HRA will be represented at the meeting.
There is a link to the Scrutiny Meeting ‘pack’ including the Minutes for the last meeting and the Agenda. The Agenda Reports Pack, where you will find the Consultation Report, is the third item on the list.
Members of the public can give notice to the support officer beforehand of any questions they wish to ask of the cabinet member or officers. Those not able to attend can view the proceedings online, though not take part, by going to the OSMC page of the Southampton City Council website, by using the link below. The link has a direct link to the live streaming of the meeting and papers. This item is the first item on the Agenda. The meeting is streamed via MS Teams.
Agenda for Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee on Thursday, 2nd February, 2023, 5.30 pm | Southampton City Council
For any further information about the meeting, please contact Ed Grimshaw, Democratic Support Officer: ed.grimshaw@southampton.gov.uk. Tel: 023 8083 2390
Please note these extracts from the Report:
That the Committee note the next steps including the gathering of additional data sets and further information before commencing the next phase of consultation for the project.
The first phase of public consultation showed that additional data sets and information is required that will be used to inform the second phase of consultation and what additional information will be shared. Once this second phase of consultation is concluded, a decision can then be made on the project.
It is important to note that concerns were raised by residents about the questions asked, the format in which they were presented and the character limit on the comments box. For Phase 2 of the consultation, a review will be conducted by Council officers on these areas of concern and the consideration of an independent review be conducted prior to launching the next phase of consultation.
The first phase of the consultation has shown that the community requires additional information to make an informed choice about the project. This additional information will be supplied as part of the next phase of consultation and consist of:
- Additional traffic count data obtained. This would require new automatic traffic count data / camera data to be carried out in a traffic neutral month (March to November)
- A period of monitoring of three months on journey time and traffic flows on A335 TLW to assess the recent improvements made on this part of the corridor
- An independent Economic Impact Assessment to be carried out in conjunction with local retailers on what the impacts would be of the proposed scheme (to be carried out February / March / April)
- Revised traffic assessment to quantify the impacts on local roads more accurately (after new traffic count data is obtained)
- Council officer discussions with the Police will introduce additional CCTV in the area to address the existing antisocial behaviour issues
- An emergency incident plan for A335 TLW to assess the impact of instances such as localised flooding or a crash that restricts access along the corridor.
The Southampton Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) study will look at future innovation and measures along the corridor. This will include recommendations for the future transport network in the Portswood Broadway area, and this study will need to conclude before final design decisions are made. The study will conclude in Spring 2023.
After this additional data is collected, it is proposed to undertake a further consultation on the scheme with the new information in Summer 2023 (A Phase 2 consultation). This will include an improved consultation questionnaire following the feedback received from the phase 1 consultation.
Until the Phase 2 consultation can be carried out in Summer 2023, no decision will be made with regards to the implementation of the scheme.
