Agenda item

Report of the Director of Transportation and Highways

The Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Transportation and Highways which that indicated that the City Council has developed a new Coventry Transport Strategy which sets out a long-term (15 year) vision for the way that people and goods will travel to, from and around the city in the future. The Strategy, which was appended to the report,  aims to bring about a fundamental change by creating a city where it is easy, convenient and safe to walk, cycle and travel on public transport and where most people do not need to use a car to access the services that they need for day-to-day life.

This change will directly support many of the Council’s wider objectives, as set out in the emerging One Coventry Plan. These include increasing economic prosperity, improving outcomes and tackling inequalities, reducing adverse impacts upon the environment, health and wellbeing and tackling the causes and consequences of climate change.

The Strategy has also been developed alongside the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Local Transport Plan (LTP) for the region, which is expected to be adopted in early 2023. The Coventry Transport Strategy therefore aims to deliver Coventry’s local priorities, while also meeting the ambitions of the wider region, for example in relation to economic growth and tackling climate change.

Cabinet has previously (October 2021) considered this Strategy in draft form (Minute 34/21 refers). Since then, the Council has carried out a public consultation and has engaged further with key stakeholders (including WMCA). The results of the consultation were largely positive, with stakeholders and the majority of residents supporting both the Strategy’s overall vision and most of the individual measures included in it. However, while most of the Strategy is unchanged from the previous draft, some amendments have been made in response to residents and stakeholders feedback. Further details of the responses received were appended to the report.  

The Strategy is supported by an accompanying Implementation Plan, also appended to the report, which provides details of the specific transport improvements that we, and our partners, will deliver to implement the Strategy. The Implementation Plan is focused primarily on the first five years of the Strategy (2022/23 – 2026/27). This is the period covered by the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS), through which £80 million has been allocated to transport schemes in Coventry.

Cabinet previously received a more detailed report on the CRSTS programme in August 2022 (Minute 20/22 refers). The Implementation Plan incorporates these schemes alongside others that are expected to be funded via other sources.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet recommends that Council:-

1.  Approves the Coventry Transport Strategy, as appended to this report, and the adoption of the Strategy as part of the Council’s formal Policy Framework.

2.  Delegates authority to the Director of Transportation and Highways, following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change, and the Cabinet Member for City Services (and in respect of the implementation and scope of individual projects, the relevant Ward Councillors), to take the necessary measures to deliver the Transport Strategy and Implementation Plan, as appended to this report.