Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 3 - Council House. View directions

Contact: Michelle Salmon, Governance Services,  Email:  michelle.salmon@coventry.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

23.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests.

24.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 409 KB

(a)  To agree the Minutes of the meeting held on 8th December 2021

 

(b)  Matters arising

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 8th December 2021 were agreed and signed as a true record. There were no matters arising.

25.

Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan pdf icon PDF 129 KB

Briefing Note of the Director of Transportation and Highways

Minutes:

The Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) received a briefing note and presentation of the Director of Transportation and Highways that gave an update on the Local Cycling and Walking infrastructure Plan, a Plan that provided a strategic approach to identifying cycling and walking improvements as part of a long-term approach to developing local cycling and walking networks over a 10-year period as part of the Government’s strategy to increase trips on foot or by cycle. The Cabinet Member for City Services, the Deputy Cabinet Member for Public Health and Sport and the City Council’s two representatives on the West Midlands Combined Authority Transport Delivery Committee, attended the meeting for this item of business. The West Midlands Walking and Cycling Commissioner also attend the meeting for this matter.

 

The key outputs of the Plan were:

  a network plan for walking and cycling which identified preferred routes and core zones for further development

  a prioritised programme of infrastructure improvements for future investment in the short, medium and long term

  a report which set out the underlying analysis carried out and provided a narrative which supported the identified improvements and network

  to ensure that consideration was given to cycling and walking within both local planning and transport policies and strategies

  made the case for future funding for walking and cycling infrastructure

 

The Plan offered opportunities for walking and cycling to benefit people who lived, worked, studied or visited the city and the Coundon Cycleway, which improved connections to primary and secondary schools and shops along the corridor and was connecting onwards to the city centre, where new cycle parking had been provided, including at both the railway and bus stations, was an example of this opportunity. Access to bikes for visitors and residents had been improved by the West Midlands Cycle Hire scheme, which covered the city centre and both university campuses. Opportunities for walking had also been improved through campus improvements and as part of the city centre public realm, including a new pedestrian wayfinding system. 

 

The Department for Transport supported the development of Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIP) with funding awarded to the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to prepare a regional Plan prioritising cycle routes for development across the region and further funding for the City Council to develop and implement the Binley Cycleway via the Transforming Cities Fund. Additional funding had been provided from the Local Authority Capability Fund, to develop a more detailed LCWIP for Coventry in 2022 which would be informed by the draft Transport Strategy.

 

Coventry’s draft Transport Strategy included ‘Gear Change: A Bold Vision for Walking and Cycling’, a national strategy focusing on a long-term shift towards active travel. Gear Change included a commitment to ensure that by 2030, 50 per cent of all journeys in towns and cities would be made by walking and cycling. The Strategy noted that although Coventry was a relatively compact city, the number of people walking  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

26.

Regional Active Travel Update from TFWM pdf icon PDF 139 KB

Briefing Note from Transport for West Midlands

Minutes:

The Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) received a briefing note and presentation from Transport West Midlands that gave an update on regional progress towards increasing active travel. The Cabinet Member for City Services, the Deputy Cabinet Member for Public Health and Sport and the City Council’s two representatives on the West Midlands Combined Authority Transport Delivery Committee, attended the meeting for this item of business. The West Midlands Walking and Cycling Commissioner also attend the meeting for this matter.

 

The Starley Network was the vision for cycling across the West Midlands, which included both the existing network and the planned future network, which was identified in the West Midlands Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) as well as the LCWIP of the Local Authorities who had published them (Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull). The aim was that other local authorities would follow suit through the development work of the Local Authority Capability Fund to build on the local connector LCWIP routes. The West Midlands LCWIP was updated in June 2021, moving from phased delivery to delivery specified within 1, 4 and 10 years, as required by Department for Transport (DfT). The longer routes were still expected to be delivered in phases, and these had been split up over years where appropriate.

 

The Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, had appointed Adam Tranter as the region’s first Cycling and Walking Commissioner; one of his key objectives was to accelerate the delivery of the Starley Network and improve the quality of infrastructure across the region.

 

The Active Travel Fund and the Transforming Cities Fund investment had allowed accelerated delivery of LCWIP schemes, including the Binley Road route in Coventry. The Full Business Case for Binley Road was endorsed by WMCA Board in September 2021. There was an ask for this scheme in the region’s application for Active Travel Fund Capital 2021-22, for which a decision was currently awaited. Coventry’s plans for the Binley cycleway would be the benchmark of the quality aimed for across the West Midlands.

 

Bike Life was the biggest assessment of cycling in cities and urban areas across the UK and Ireland. The 2019 Bike Life Report was published in March 2020 with the next report expected Spring 2022. The 2022 report would expand to include walking and a measure of neighbourhood connections to local services such as education and grocery shops. From the 2019 report, many West Midlands residents supported the delivery of measures that allowed for safer cycling, e.g. 76% think space should be increased for people socialising, cycling and walking on their high street, and 65% supported building more cycle tracks, even if that meant less room for motor traffic.

 

The West Midlands Cycle Hire Scheme had been operational within the West Midlands since March 2021. There were a total of 1,350 pedal and 150 e-bikes in 8 regional locations across the 7 West Midlands Metropolitan Authorities. Scheme sponsorship was currently being sought to support the Scheme financially. Scheme usage within Coventry to-date  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

27.

Active Travel to School pdf icon PDF 1 MB

Briefing Note of the Director of Transportation and Highways

Minutes:

The Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) received a Briefing Note and presentation of the Director of Transportation and Highways that provided an update on support to schools to increase active trave The Cabinet Member for City Services, the Deputy Cabinet Member for Public Health and Sport and the City Council’s two representatives on the West Midlands Combined Authority Transport Delivery Committee, attended the meeting for this item of business. The West Midlands Walking and Cycling Commissioner also attend the meeting for this matter.

Active Travel included walking, cycling and other non-motorised forms of transport and could provide an affordable way for children and adults to build physical activity into their daily routines. This could benefit their own health and wellbeing and also help to improve local air quality for the benefit of the wider community by reducing short car trips. Parking outside schools had traditionally been discouraged through waiting restrictions and enforcement, but new approaches were being explored such as School Streets, where vehicle access was limited during school drop off and pick up times. This was trialled as part of the Air Quality Early Measures project.

The consultation on Coventry’s draft Transport Strategy, approved by the Cabinet in October 2021 (their minute 34/21 referred) and considered at a previous meeting of the Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) (minute 08/21 referred), included reference to active travel and schools as part of the vision of a safe, sustainable, equitable and resilient transport system, which enabled residents, visitors and businesses to thrive.

The draft strategy included four objectives: supporting the city’s economic recovery and enabling long-term growth; delivering a sustainable, low carbon transport system; ensuring equality of opportunity; and maximising health and wellbeing. The Council could deliver some aspects of the Strategy with other being delivered by, or in partnership with, partners in the region.

One of strategy’s themes was encouraging behaviour change including engaging with schools, which would help to meet sustainability and health and wellbeing objectives. Enabling active travel to school could also support economic and equality objectives by reducing travel costs for families and allowing older children to travel independently.

 

The Briefing note set out details of School travel trends, providing statistics on walking, cycling, bus use, car travel, lengths of journeys and ages of pupils undertaking each mode of travel, Local School Travel Data. It provided statistical information on Cycling to secondary school in Coventry providing statistical information; Bikeability Training, Walk to School, Go Ride Schools, and national charity Sustrans Smarter Travel Support.

 

Building on the experience to date, schools were being offered support to promote active travel in connection with the local air quality action plan, which focussed on the Holyhead Road corridor in particular. Support had already been provided to a number of schools in the target area with a particular focus on schools along the Coundon Cycleway. For example, support was already being provided to Coundon Court Secondary School at the western end of the route and St Osburg’s Primary School  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

28.

Work Programme 2021/2022 pdf icon PDF 328 KB

Report of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator

Minutes:

The Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) received a report of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator that detailed issues on the Board’s Work Programme for the final meeting of the Board for 2021/2022 and the suggested items for the Board for 2022/23.

 

The Board were informed that an additional item to those listed on the Programme would be considered at the 9th March 2022 meeting, headed ‘WMCA Local Transport Plan 5 Core Strategy Consultation’.

 

RESOLVED that the Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3):

 

1)  Notes the issues on the Board’s Work Programme for the final meeting of the Board for the Municipal Year 2021/2022, with an update to the Programme to include ‘WMCA Local Transport Plan 5 Core Strategy Consultation’ on the agenda for the 9th March 2022 meeting.

 

2)  Notes the suggested items for meetings of the Board for 2022/2023.

 

29.

Any other items of public business which the Chair decides to take as matters of urgency because of the special circumstances involved

Minutes:

There were no other items of public business.