Agenda item

To consider the Member Motion as submitted by Councillor Barker regarding Heavy Good Vehicles and Satellite Navigation.

Councillor Barker presented her motion regarding Heavy Good Vehicles (HGVs) and satellite navigation. She said the Government needed to do something in order to prevent HGVs being stuck on byroads and under bridges in rural areas, causing great disruption.

Councillor Gooding seconded the motion.

Councillor Hargreaves had provided notice of an amendment and said the motion could be improved by requiring all HGVs to use specialist satnavs by law. He proposed an amendment as follows:

To remove the following wording:

“This Council therefore instructs the Chief Executive to write to the Government and

call on them to work with Satellite Navigation companies and others providing road

information to remove By Ways, By Roads and other similar roads from their

systems.”

And replace with:

“This Council therefore requests the Chief Executive to write to the Government

in support of the Local Government Association call to take urgent action to

require all HGV drivers by law to use specialist satnav devices rather than

currently only advising that they do. These are widely available devices which

include bridge heights, narrow roads, and roads unsuitable for trucks, so that

vehicles are only guided along suitable roads.”

Councillor Alex Reeve seconded the amendment.

Councillor Asker spoke in support of the amendment. She said driver error was also a factor in HGVs getting stuck and it was a wider issue than just satellite navigation.

Councillor Pavitt spoke in support of the amendment and said byways should not be removed from all satnavs, as they were used by cyclists, and it would be better to move towards bespoke satnavs for HGVs to resolve the issue.

Councillor Neil Reeve said he supported the sentiment behind Councillor Barker’s motion and something needed to be done.

The Chair looked to take the amendment to the vote.

Councillor Barker raised a point of clarification; she said Councillor Gooding wished to speak on the amendment and should be able to do so.

The Chief Executive said Councillor Gooding could speak on the substantive motion following a vote on the amendment.  

The Chair took the amendment to a vote.

The amendment was carried.

Councillor Gooding said he no longer had anything to say since the amendment had been carried. He asked for the Constitution to be looked at.

The Chair took the substantive motion to a vote. It was carried unanimously.

            RESOLVED:

This Council believes that HGVs using standard car Sat Navs collide with local infrastructure, such as railway bridges, or become stuck on narrow roads, causing major disruption and is costly to local communities. They often take significant amounts of time and resources to free, causing major congestion across the Essex road network generating more emissions and disrupting local rail services.

This Council therefore requests the Chief Executive to write to the Government in support of the Local Government Association call to take urgent action to require all HGV drivers by law to use specialist satnav devices rather than currently only advising that they do. These are widely available devices which include bridge heights, narrow roads, and roads unsuitable for trucks, so that vehicles are only guided along suitable roads.