1 minutes of the poole harbour bridges operating board held at

MINUTES OF THE POOLE HARBOUR BRIDGES OPERATING BOARD
HELD AT:
BOROUGH OF POOLE OFFICES, SERPENTINE ROAD, POOLE
ON: FRIDAY 20 APRIL 2012 AT 2.00 P.M.
Present:
John Rice (JCR) - Poole Borough Council
Jon Eads (JE) - MDL Cobbs Quay
Lynda Bourne (LB) - Poole Harbour Association
Scott Oliphant (SO) - Dorset Police
In the absence of Brian Murphy (BM), John Rice was elected Chair.
1. APOLOGIES
Brian Murphy (BM) – Chair - Poole Harbour Commissioners.
2. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
2.1 The Minutes of the meeting held on 16 March 2012 were approved as
circulated with proposed alterations .
3. MATTERS ARISING
5.7 Feedback was received from all members and final timetable approved and
put in place for 1 April,.
6.3 Manual in progress of being updated. Ongoing. ACTION JCR
6.4 Letter sent and received – no further action.
7.1 All members confirmed that they had received the Navigational Risk
Assessment.
8.5 Standard wording for operators – still in progress. ACTION JCR
9.2 Carried forward to next meeting.
Confirmed that a member of the bridge operating staff would be invited to future
meetings to aid communication and actions agreed.
ACTION JCR
4. TWIN SAILS – UPDATE REPORT
4.1 Number of minor issues still being resolved in respect of the software and
operation of the bridge. All parties will be on site next Wednesday 25 April
2012 from 2000 hours to run through all stages and systems to identify any
further outstanding issues and actions. Marine traffic will be unaffected and
able to enter/exit as required.
4.2 IALA signals – main units set up on Twin Sails in the same way as Poole
Bridge, the angle of the beam is the issue with marine traffic having difficulty
in seeing them. This is being resolved by contractor in liaison with BoP.
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4.3 Pontoons – occasionally being hooked up at low tide; difficulties in getting
mooring ropes on to vertical bars. BM has confirmed that he has
investigated and will report back at next meeting. ACTION BM
In addition CQBA will be asked to give feedback and make suggestions for
improvements.
ACTION JE
4.4 Discussion took place regarding maintenance programme. JCR confirmed
that no decision has yet been taken as to whether maintenance will be
contracted out or completed in house. A decision will be made at a later
stage.
5. EXTRAORDINARY MEETING – 28 MARCH 2012
5.1 Thanks was given to those that participated in this extended meeting that
was called to discuss the Summer Mon-Fri lifting timetable only. The final
timetable agreed at the meeting was submitted to BoP and was published as
a temporary timetable in place for 2 weeks over the Easter period. This
timetable has now been extended to end of April.
6. PLANNED CLOSURES/TIMETABLES/SEQUENCING
6.1 There are no planned closures.
6.2 Feedback to date was that the red published times on the summer M-F
timetable were acceptable and working well. Discussion took place
regarding the indicative times and it was agreed that further feedback from
users would be beneficial in conjunction with the additional trials being
undertaken on the bridge. To date there has not been sufficient busy days
to judge whether lifts and transiting meet needs.
Options include using red published times only; or locking down indicative
times. JE and LB to gain further feedback from users on timetable to date
and report back at next meeting. JE would design and circulate a standard
feedback form to help reduce the individual comments currently being
received.
All agreed that the needs of businesses operating upstream have to be
taken into consideration as well as the needs of boat users.
ACTION JE AND LB
6.3 Agreed that the existing timetable M-F summer would be extended to end
May. JCR to arrange with BoP.
ACTION JCR
7 BRIDGE OPERATOR TRAINING UPDATE
7.1 On-going training and assessment, more people completing. The aim is to
get a core team of trained people to work across shifts. Some operators
have decided not to work on bridges and remain on other duties at BoP.
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8 COMPLAINTS AND CUSTOMER SERVICE
8.1 Some complaints have been received from road users regarding the
information being shown on VMS displays. This has been recognised by
operators and is linked to some of the software issues – being addressed.
8.2 Location of VMS in Blandford Road and Queen Mary discussed as to
whether this was giving sufficient notice to drivers. Vehicle speeds and lane
swopping debated which BoP are trying to manage without impacting on
service.
8.3 Traffic data will be analysed for both bridges and presented to BOB at a later
meeting.
ACTION JCR
8.4 Complaints and comments received verbally and by email have been shared
with all members. Main issues raised were signals which are being
addressed; short term pontoon awaiting feedback from BM and lifting
sequence to be discussed next meeting subject to action in 6 above. Agreed
that all comments will continue to be circulated and taken into consideration
when making recommendations. All comments and feedback needed for
next meeting on 21 May 2012.
8.5 Bus stop in Blandford Road now moved to layby to avoid holding up traffic
travelling towards Upton.
9. HEALTH AND SAFETY INCLUDING MARINE ACCIDENTS/INCIDENTS
9.1 Issues surrounding the pontoons in the basin already raised and discussed.
9.2 No other issues raised.
10. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
10.1 Visit to control room – members to contact Paul Spencer direct to arrange.
ACTION JE & SO
10.2 Footway on Twin Sails, Hamworthy site is incomplete and will be completed
once development is agreed. BoP do not currently own the land on which
the footway will be constructed.
10.3 No major maintenance is planned for Poole Bridge this year.
10.4 Friday 13 July 2012 – 1546 hrs approx. Olympic torch is due to cross Twin
Sails – there may be a minor adjustment to bridge schedule required; this
will be discussed at a later stage.
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11. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
11.1 Agreed that the next meeting would commence at 10.00 to ensure full
discussion regarding the annual lifting timetables.
21 May 2012 – venue to be agreed.
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