Agenda item - West of England Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan

West of England Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan

Meeting of Joint meeting - West of England Combined Authority Committee and West of England Joint Committee, Friday, 19th June, 2020 10.30 am (Item 19.)

- Report for consideration by the Combined Authority Committee and the Joint Committee.

Decision:

The West of England Joint Committee RESOLVED:

1. To agree the West of England Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan for adoption as the first step to develop a more detailed local cycling and walking strategy.

2. To note the summary of feedback from public consultation.

3. To note linkages with, and impacts of, the Covid-19 lockdown on cycling and walking strategy and delivery.

4. To delegate the agreement of any subsequent minor changes to the adopted Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan to the WECA Director of Infrastructure.

5. To agree the delegation of decisions on the final content of route plans for the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan document to the WECA Director of Infrastructure in consultation with the relevant Directors of the West of England Councils.

The West of England Combined Authority Committee RESOLVED:

- To note the report.

Minutes:

The Joint Committee and the Combined Authority Committee considered a report setting out the West of England Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan for adoption (agenda item 19).

The Chair highlighted the following aspects of the report and commented as follows:

· The Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan was a sub-regional plan which identified priority walking and cycling routes for investment and proposed improvements to walking and cycling infrastructure along these routes. It had been created following a specific, defined methodology set by the Department for Transport. The Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan was a technical document and was not a walking and cycling strategy in itself and was not intended to constitute the totality of the region’s approach to cycling and walking. It was important to be aware of this context and also to bear in mind the decision taken earlier at this meeting, through the Investment Fund report, to create a £10m capital funding pot for cycling and walking infrastructure.

· In terms of the consultation that had taken place on the plan, the report highlighted good levels of support for a number of the key principles, such as promoting and supporting cycling and walking within the region, support for the reallocation of road space in favour of cycling and walking, and an aspiration to see more investment in cycling and walking across the region.

· All the schemes and improvements detailed in the route plans would be subject to further design and technical work, consultation and funding approvals, and would be designed in line with the Department for Transport’s current and future design guidance. An updated version of the latest Plan had been circulated and published. In response to points raised in the public forum, he emphasised that the very clear expectation was that as individual schemes were brought forward, it was essential that full and transparent local consultation took place in each case with local residents and councillors.

Cllr Romero moved the following amendment:

‘At the end of recommendation 1, add the wording:

"as the first step to develop a more detailed local cycling and walking strategy."

The full wording of the revised recommendation 1 to therefore read as:

“The Joint Committee is asked:

1. To agree the West of England Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan for adoption as the first step to develop a more detailed local cycling and walking strategy.” ’

It was noted that all members were supportive of the amendment.

The Chair accordingly moved that the recommendations as set out in the published report be approved, subject to the above amendment. This was seconded by Cllr Dudd.

Cllr Romero then thanked members for supporting the amendment and commented as follows:

· She would not be giving this report an unqualified endorsement. There were a number of omissions such as no references about rural cycling, although she understood that some types of scheme were excluded from the criteria set by the Department for Transport (DfT).

· Bearing in mind the limitations of this Plan as a technical document, Bath & North East Somerset would support the work that had been undertaken to formulate the Local Cycling & Walking Infrastructure Plan, which would help to prioritise work and target the ask for investment from DfT to support the proposals. Her understanding was that the DfT regarded this current draft as a strong Plan which should help the region secure more funding and achieve the outcome all wanted of encouraging more cycling and walking, including in Bath & North East Somerset.

· The analysis had helped the understanding of the demand for cycling and walking and the ability for certain communities to adjust their travel habits to travel more sustainably in the future.

· The Local Cycling & Walking Infrastructure Plan by its nature should be a live document and the delegation to directors to review and make changes to the plans would ensure that the early concepts for route designs could be tailored to fit the needs of local areas and the local communities that the routes serve.

· She also recognised that the Local Cycling & Walking Infrastructure Plan guidance from the government was very specific and required looking at population density, propensity to cycle and other criteria, which meant that some schemes were unfortunately not included in this document. However, she also welcomed the fact that the Plan did not represent the entirety of the region’s ambitions for cycling and walking. It was important (whilst pushing for DfT funding) to support proposals within the Plan, but also to make sure that the region continued to use other sources of funding to support these wider aspirations that were important to communities.

· She therefore welcomed the additional Investment Fund investment in cycling and walking measures and was pleased that a range of schemes would be assessed for priority against this funding, not just those schemes that appeared in the Local Cycling & Walking Infrastructure Plan. She hoped the investment was not limited to the £10 million allocated.

Cllr Dudd welcomed the report’s proposals, pointing out also that they had helped to inform Bristol’s Covid-19 response.

Cllr Savage welcomed the proposals as forming one part of the region’s approach to developing improved cycling and walking infrastructure. He echoed the Chair’s comments about ensuring that full and active local consultation took place with local residents and councillors as the detail of individual schemes were brought forward.

Whilst generally welcoming the report, Cllr Davies referred to the public statements received from Cllrs Gollop and Massey and stressed the need to ensure full quality assurance around report detail.

Professor West welcomed the report, drawing attention to the importance of pursuing all available funding opportunities from government to support the development of cycling and walking infrastructure.

The Chair then moved to the voting on the recommendations as amended. Voting took place as per constitutional requirements.