Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Mike Stannard.

·         Councillor Mimi Harker declared an interest as she represents Missenden and Prestwood, an area which is particularly impacted by HS2 construction.

·         Councillor Frank Mahon declared an interest due to his business having been impacted by HS2.

·         In connection with Agenda item 6, Councillor Mimi Harker declared an interest as Vice-Chairman of the Missendens Community Board and Councillor Ashley Waite declared an interest as the Chairman of the Haddenham and Waddesdon Community Board.

The minutes of the meeting held on 5th October 2022 to be confirmed as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 5^th October 2022 were agreed as a correct record.

Public questions is an opportunity for people who live, work or study in Buckinghamshire to put a question to a Select Committee.

The Committee will hear from members of the public who have submitted questions in advance relating to items on the agenda. The Cabinet Member, relevant key partners and responsible officers will be invited to respond.

Further information on how to register can be found here: https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/your-council/get-involved-with-council-decisions/select-committees/

Question from Mike Chapman

Can we please have reassurance that East West Rail Company and the East West Rail Alliance have taken note of the many issues which have occurred during the current construction phase so that lessons can be learned and put in practice for any future, similar developments?

Some of the poor planning, working practices and ways of dealing with communities that have been employed since 2020 have seriously impacted on the village of Newton Longville.  The issues which residents have been forced to endure have included:

1. Failure to provide adequate advance notice of work which was to have significant impact on our community such as road closures, making it difficult for residents and organisations to plan ahead. This has been a particular problem since late 2021 when there was a noticeable change in the way information was communicated by the East West Rail Alliance.

2. Road closures which appear to have been longer than necessary with residents well aware that there have been periods when there has been no work underway.  

3. Signage for diversions when we have had road closures which has unnecessarily brought traffic through the village instead of routing it around.

4. Too many occasions when issues that have been raised by the parish council and/or residents when the response has been that everything is working correctly when it clearly wasn’t. With perseverance EWRA finally accept that something needs to be fixed.  Examples include incorrectly operating traffic lights and positioning of Traffic Management signage/bollards (we have had a very recent example involving noncompliance with the permitted route system where it took multiple exchanges over almost a month for EWRA to acknowledge that they were wrong - “We apologise for the tele handler driving through the village. The team operating this incorrectly assumed that as a specific HGV license is not required for the vehicle, it did not constitute a HGV vehicle” - Community Liaison email 22/12/2022 - It is worth noting that there was in fact more than one reported incident!)

5. Commitments made for community projects which we were told would not be fulfilled because (in their words) they have ‘overpromised and are under delivering’.  An example of this was the Curly Tails pig sanctuary, education and wellbeing centre where initially only half of the work agreed back in 2021 was going to be completed.  The revised offer was eventually improved after a number of exchanges but it needs to be noted that what has been delivered is less than what was initially offered.

Response from East West Rail

Mark Cuzner apologised for the disruption the project caused to the community. He noted that the team were consistently looking to improve performance as the project progressed. Workshops to discuss lessons learnt and take this knowledge forward were part of the Network Rail processes.

He further advised that traffic should not be diverted through Newton Longville. All members of the supply chain had been briefed about this verbally and through workshops.  Warnings  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Committee will hear from representatives from HS2 and East West Rail regarding their engagement with communities who are impacted by the construction of these two major infrastructure projects. Members will also be informed of opportunities which are available through associated community investment funding.

Contributors:

Cllr Peter Martin, Deputy Cabinet Member for HS2/EWR

Richard Lumley, Service Director, Strategic Transport and Infrastructure

Dr Laura Leech, Head of Major Projects, Strategic Transport and Infrastructure

Jackie Copcutt, HS2 Team (Engagement)

Susan Browning, EWR Stakeholder & Team Leader

HS2

Maddelyn Sutton, Head of Engagement, HS2

Simon Matthews, Interface & Stakeholder Director, EKFB

Rohan Perin, Project Client Director (EKFB), HS2

David Emms, Project Client Director (Align), HS2

Darielle Proctor, Head of Engagement & Compliance, Align

Joel Sykes, Senior Engagement and Interface Lead, HS2

Patrick Kelly, Buckinghamshire Lead, Align & EKFB

Elena Gonzalez, Social Value and Legacy Manager, EKFB

Michael Eckett, Head of Acquisitions, HS2

Michelle Cook, Senior Stakeholder Manager (Land & Property), HS2

EWR

Mark Cuzner, Director, EWR Alliance 

Jez Baldock, Deputy Director, EWR Alliance

The Chairman welcomed Councillor Peter Martin, Deputy Cabinet Member for HS2/EWR, Dr Laura Leech, Head of Major Projects, Strategic Transport and Infrastructure; Judith Wainwright and Toni Chapman, HS2 Team (Engagement); Susan Browning, EWR Stakeholder & Team Leader and Mark Cuzner, Director, EWR Alliance, & Thaina Sa’id, EWR Community Engagement Officer to the meeting.  The Chairman explained that the purpose of the meeting was to assess the effectiveness of East West Rail and HS2’s community engagement – the impact of the construction on Buckinghamshire’s environment and transport considerations would continue to be monitored by the Council’s Transport, Environment and Climate Change Select Committee.

During the presentation, the following key points were raised:

·   The civil element of the EWR project, which included earthworks, new bridge structures and refurbishments, was substantially complete. 12 footbridges were on the scheme, 10 have been installed, 7 of which had been opened. The opening of the public right of ways had been brought forward earlier into the programme. The focus, therefore, shifted to track work and railway systems, which East West Rail (EWR) had started in 2021.

·   The project had received a number of awards for its environmental and sustainability performance. A target of 10% biodiversity net gain had been set. East West Rail had also achieved a rating of Excellent in the Considerate Contractor's scheme, averaging a score of 47 across their sites

·   EWR recognised the importance of co-ordinating with HS2, with regular meetings being held to progress a number of workstreams. 

·   The first permanent highway repairs had taken place at Queen Catherine Road. Reinstatement of EWR compounds and further Highway repairs would require truck movements, which would continue to impact the community. Road closures and traffic management presented a significant challenge, as did mud and dust impact. However, a number of measures to minimise the nuisance to the community had been implemented. These included using precast construction, acoustic barriers and dampening innovations for track construction, and informing the public about ongoing roadworks.

·   EWR recognised that road closures and repair work had significant impact on communities, leading to complaints and queries via their hotline. Extensive discussions were being held with Council engineers around the next batch of highways repairs, ensuring that lessons learned from earlier works would be taken forward.

·   Two new stations were being constructed at Bletchley and Winslow, with the construction of car parks starting later this year.

·   Social value works had been ongoing since the commencement of construction in April 2019. The return on investment was currently at £2.4 million with over 230 engagements. For example, at Curly Tails Community Farm near Newton Longville almost half a mile of footpaths had been installed to improve access during the winter. There had also been a number of painting projects in local schools and donations to food banks.

The following points were noted during the Committee’s discussion:

·   The Chairman asked a question on behalf of Cllr John Chilver, member for Winslow, about the amount of notice given to local members, who are key stakeholders in the communities  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Select Committee will review the progress of work on implementation of recommendations made in the Community Board review report which was presented to Cabinet on 10th May 2022.

Contributors:

Cllr Steve Bowles, Cabinet Member for Communities

Roger Goodes, Service Director – Policy and Communications

Wendy Morgan-Brown, Head of Community Boards

The Chairman notified attendees that this item would be discussed at the following Select Committee meeting.

The Committee will discuss the work programme and note the items for the next meeting.

Contributors:

All Committee Members

Papers:

Work Programme attached

The Chairman notified attendees that this item would be deferred to the following Select Committee meeting.

The next meeting will take place on 8th February 2023 at 10am.

The date of the next meeting would be Wednesday 8^th February 2023 at 10am.