At the Environment Committee on 7^th July 2014, it was agreed that the Leader of the Council, and the Chair and Vice Chair of the Environment Committee meet with the lead Member for Highways and Transportation at Essex County Council to explore partnership working opportunities to improve highway maintenance across the Borough.

The meeting took place on 29^th September 2014 with Cllr Bass, the lead Member for Highways and Transportation at ECC, and provided an opportunity for the Borough Members to open a debate on how communication and on-going maintenance could be improved.  Cllr Bass welcomed the meeting, as there had been a lack of engagement with Brentwood Borough Council in the past over these matters.

It was agreed by all that for a number of years there had been a lack of investment nationally on the highway network, and that there was a need to invest more on local roads throughout the County.

However, through the discussion it became evident that the maintenance of highways should be co-ordinated centrally through ECC as the Highway Authority, but there was an opportunity to debate wider issues at the Local Highways Panel.  It was noted that maintenance could be improved by making more detailed information available regarding the state of the network, which is currently being assessed through survey work.

It was therefore agreed that there would be better communication between the two Authorities, and that when detailed information is available regarding local roads, then Cllr Bass would, in principle, be happy for this to be debated at the Local Highways Panel to ensure local knowledge is used moving forward.

A Motion was MOVED by Cllr Lloyd and SECONDED by Cllr Sapwell to received the recommendations set out in the report.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY to:

2.1         Agree that Members note the outcome of the discussion with Essex County Council, and that when detailed information becomes available relating to local roads, this will be debated at the Local Highways Panel.

2.2      That in Principle, Members agree to the development of area      working with Essex County Council, and other       Districts/Boroughs.