Agenda item

Report of the Director of Transportation and Highways

To consider the above petitions. The petition requesting the Council stop plans to build the cycleway currently contains 156 e-signatures and is supported by Councillor Williams, a Bablake Ward Councillor, who has been invited to the meeting along with the petition organiser. The petition in support of the cycleway currently contains 398 e-signatures. The petition organiser has been invited to the meeting.

The Cabinet Member for City Services considered a report of the Director of Transportation and Highways in response to petitions received relating to the construction of a cycle tack in the Coundon area of the City.

Coundon Cycleway would be a 2.75km long segregated cycleway connecting the City Centre with Coundon Green. It was part of the Local Air Quality Action Plan (LAQAP) approved by Cabinet on 21st July 2020 (their minute 16/20 referred). The LAQAP was a package of measures that the Government had directed the Council to implement in order to comply with the legal obligation to ensure air quality compliance (specifically nitrogen dioxide levels) in the shortest possible time.

A petition bearing 156 e-signatures had been received, supported by Councillor G Williams, a Bablake Ward Councillor, requesting that the Council stop plans to build Coundon Cycleway without face to face meetings. A counter petition of 398 e-signatures had also been received in support of the cycleway. Councillor Williams and the petition organiser for the petition in support of the cycleway attended the meeting and spoke on behalf of the petitioners. The petition organiser for Stop the Coundon Cycleway was unable to attend the meeting.

The Council held a public consultation between Monday 1st June 2020 and Sunday 5th July 2020 regarding how the cycleway would fit within the street.  Due to Covid-19 restrictions, which remain ongoing, the consultation was entirely online, via phone and through leaflet drops, as no face to face sessions could be held.

The level of engagement was significant with around 2500 participants visiting the webpages. There was also an on-line public event held via Microsoft Teams.

As a result of the consultation, many amendments have been incorporated into the scheme design.

The scheme is being fully funded from the Air Quality Implementation Fund capital grant, worth £24.5 million, which was received in March 2020.

Councillor Williams, the Councillor Sponsor for the petition requesting that the Council stop the Coundon Cycleway, attended the meeting and spoke on behalf of the petitioners. He confirmed that the petitioners were not against cycling and were very much in support of promoting cycling in the City which they acknowledged was an alternative form of transportation that promoted health and wellbeing and supported improved air quality as an alternative to motor driven vehicles. Councillor Williams referred to a small number of residents in the Westhhill Road part of the Coundon Cycleway that would be directly affected by the proposals. He was concerned that they would be required to pave their front garden to be able to park thus losing their garden amenity. The situation was exacerbated by the location of mature trees on the pavement fronting the properties. He requested that further discussion take place with the affected residents to establish possible solutions for them, whilst not preventing the progress of the Cycleway proposals.

Mr Ian Court, petition organiser for the petition to support the Coundon Cycleway, attended the meeting and spoke on behalf of the petitioners. As a keen cyclist, he provided the Cabinet Member with a comparative of the Coundon Cycleway proposals, which he described as ‘as good as any he had experienced’, to many cycle routes he had experienced around the world. He fully supported the proposals as a safe route for cyclists and its benefits to the future of the City. Mr Court was an advocate of cycling as a means of health and wellbeing and for the improvements it made to the environment as an alternative form of travel and expressed his support for further cycle route installations in the City.

Having considered the report, the comments made by Officers, and the representations from Councillor Williams and the Petition Organiser, the Cabinet Member agreed that the Coundon Cycleway was an important part of the Local Air Quality Action Plan to ensure improved air quality in the Coundon area and to meet Governance requirements for air quality compliance. She noted the amendments incorporated into the scheme, following the public consultation and agreed to the scheme and the construction of the cycle track.

The Cabinet Member further requested that discussion continued with the directly affected residents of Westhill Road and that a meeting be arranged with the residents to which the Cabinet Member, Deputy Cabinet Member, Councillor Williams and officers would be invited, to discuss any potential options to alleviate their concerns.

RESOLVED the Cabinet Member for City Services:

1)   Notes the first petitioners concerns and the second petitioners support.

2)  Notes the high quantity and value of feedback received during the public consultation period and the amendments to the scheme that have been made as a result.

3)  Subject to recommendations 1) and 2) above, approves the scheme and the construction of the cycletrack.

4)  Notes the advertising of Traffic Regulation Orders to enhance the safety of users of the highway and particularly the cycletrack.

5)  Agrees that a meeting be arranged for the Cabinet Member, Deputy Cabinet Member, Councillor Williams and officers to meet with the directly affected residents of Westhill Road, to discuss any potential options to alleviate their concerns.