Agenda and draft minutes

Councillor Thornton-Nicol welcomed everyone to the meeting and advised that the public business in this meeting was being livestreamed for public view and also recorded.  By participating in the meeting, attendees have given consent for this.  The recording would be available through the link to the event livestream on the Council website for public viewing for 180 days afterwards.  The recording would then be automatically deleted after this time.  Everyone was reminded that the Council did not allow any other recording of the meeting than this one.

1.1       Petitions Procedure

            Copies of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee Petitions procedure had been circulated.  The Chair outlined the procedure to be followed at the meeting and the conclusions which the Committee could reach.  The Chair explained that two similar petitions had been received relating to the current traffic management system in operation in Jedburgh, so they would be heard together.  The Chair welcomed Mr Graham Hayward and Ms Lindsay Wilson from Jedburgh Community Council, and Mr David Greer to the meeting.  There was a round of introductions.

1.2       Temporary Traffic Flow, Jedburgh

            Copies of a petition entitled “Temporary Traffic Flow, Jedburgh” from Mr John Taylor, on behalf of Jedburgh Community Council, had been circulated.  In the statement within the petition, it was explained that due to the dismantle and re-build of the “Corner buildings” on Market Place, a footpath had been closed causing risk to pedestrians on Market Place, Canongate, Abbey Place, lower Castlegate and the top end of the High Street.  The Community Council had recommended changes to the flow of traffic in the centre of Jedburgh to alleviate some of the risk at Market Place, which would include the re-opening of two-way traffic in Exchange Street and the lower part of the High Street, but suggestions had been turned down by SBC Roads Department.  It was the view of the Community Council that there was less overall risk to the community by the suggestions put forward than the arrangements that had been put in place by SBC. 

1.3       The Chair invited Mr Graham Hayward, on behalf of Mr John Taylor (Chair of Jedburgh CC), to present the petition.  Mr Hayward firstly passed on Mr Taylor’s apologies to the meeting as he had a prior engagement and advised that he was assuming that all members of the Committee would have visited the site.  Mr Hayward explained that the Community Council worked for the benefit of the town and its people and in November 2021 had asked Council officers to consult with the Community Council on the Corner Building works.  In early February 2022 the pedestrian walkway under the scaffolding around the building had closed with no prior consultation with the Community Council.  The Community Council had then received a number of reports of near misses and Mr Henderson, SBC Road User Engineer, had attended a meeting with the Community Council where it had been agreed at that time on the signage to be erected which included a warning about pedestrians being in the roadway.  After receiving further complaints of near misses, the Community Council had written to Ms Gilhooly, SBC Network Team Leader, asking that Exchange Street be re-opened to two-way traffic to reduce the risk.  The Community Council had also spoken to the local Co-op manager about the possibility of using the Co-op car park as a turning head to ease traffic and had asked the Council for a draft plan of this for further discussion.  A further meeting had taken place with Mr Henderson and Mr  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.

(a)       Consider Minute of the Meeting held on 14 March 2022 for approval and signature by the Chairman.  (Copy attached.)

(b)       Consider Scrutiny Business Action Tracker.  (Copy attached.)

2.1       The Minute of the meeting held on 14 March 2022 had been circulated. 

            DECISION

            AGREED to approve the Minute for signature by the Chair.

2.2       Copies of the Scrutiny Business Action Tracker had been circulated.  The Clerk to the Council advised that she would work with the relevant Directors to bring to the Audit & Scrutiny Committee after the summer recess a timeline for the outstanding actions. 

            DECISION

            NOTED.