Agenda and minutes

The Chair, Cllr Kevin Guy, welcomed everyone watching and participating at the virtual Cabinet meeting and made the following statement:

“Due to the ongoing Covid situation and a desire to retain a level of social distancing at Council meetings at this time, we are holding this ‘informal’ virtual Cabinet meeting to enable Cabinet, Councillors and members of the public to take part.  This virtual meeting will be conducted in the normal manner but, as any decisions made will not be legally enforceable, they will be formally made at the physically reduced, quorate decision-making meeting tomorrow on 27 January 2022.  We will review this approach for any future Cabinet meetings, in line with government and health guidance at that time.”

He confirmed that members of the public and Councillors would be able to ask questions and make statements on any issue relevant to the Council and/or the Bath and North East Somerset area at the next meeting on 10 February.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Tom Davies.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

There was no urgent business.

Councillors and members of the public may register their intention to make a statement if they notify the subject matter of their statement before the deadline.  Statements are limited to 3 minutes each.  The speaker may then be asked by Cabinet members to answer factual questions arising out of their statement.

The following people made statements at the meeting regarding the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement:

David Redgewell (South West Transport Board and Rail Future Severnside) (a copy is attached to the minutes as Appendix 1 and is available on the Council’s website).

Cllr Vic Pritchard

Cllr Paul May (a copy is attached to the minutes as Appendix 2 and is available on the Council’s website).

Cllr Joanna Wright (a copy is attached to the minutes as Appendix 3 and is available on the Council’s website).

Bath and North East Somerset Council is asked to consider the final West of England Combined Authority (WECA) Strategic Outline Case to the Department of Transport (DfT) on the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement.

The Cabinet is asked to approve the elements of the West of England City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement that relate to activity in Bath and North East Somerset for inclusion in the submission to the Department of Transport.

The Cabinet considered a report by the Director of Sustainable Communities regarding Bath and North East Somerset Council’s approval to the final West of England Combined Authority (WECA) Strategic Outline Case to the Department for Transport on the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement.

Cllr Sarah Warren introduced the item and made the following statement:

“I am very pleased to be presenting this paper on the City Region Sustainable Transport settlement, that we hope will be approved by WECA, the West of England Combined Authority, on Friday, and that will begin to rectify many decades of underinvestment in this region’s sustainable transport infrastructure as compared to other City Regions.

WECA has been awarded a historic settlement of £540m over 5 years, more per capita than other city regions, to progress an ambitious capital programme that will support a significant reduction in carbon emissions from transport, in line with the region’s climate emergency declarations. The final allocation to schemes in the Bath and North East Somerset area is proposed to be £129 m over the 5 years, which is matched by a £17m local contribution.

The bid’s key focus is on safe, segregated infrastructure for active travel (by which I mean cycling and walking), and continuous, segregated, priority lanes for buses, will reduce journey times and increase the attractiveness of alternatives over the car. They will also support our public health objectives, by increasing physical activity and bringing down air pollution, and they will reduce the congestion, which blights our region and is forecast to increase without action of this sort, costing a huge and increasing amount in time and money.

The scheme will connect households with employment and education and deliver high quality inter-connected alternatives to the car. In Bath & North East Somerset, our approach will revolve around the creation of multi-modal transport interchanges and segregated, fast bus routes along the trunk corridors, served by safe walking and cycling routes in to interchanges from more rural communities. Where distances are too long for walking or cycling, such as in the Chew Valley, this plan provides for sustainable modes and we will look to try out more innovative schemes using the rural fund.

The important elements of the scheme for Bath & North East Somerset include:

·  Improvements to the A4 corridor – as we discussed at last month’s cabinet meeting and incorporating a new sustainable transport hub at Hicks Gate (to replace Brislington Park & Ride).

·  Improvements to Bath bus station

·  Improvements to sustainable transport infrastructure along and to the A37 and A367 corridors, connecting the Somer Valley to Bristol and Bath.

·  Improvements to cycling and walking infrastructure, and provision of secure, dry cycle parking, in and around Bath, Midsomer Norton and Keynsham.

·  Additional funding to extend our liveable neighbourhoods programme, which aims to create residential areas that are healthier and nicer to spend time in on foot - beyond the 15 projects currently timetabled.

·  A common West of England branding to bus services and real time travel information

·  Simpler and integrated bus ticketing,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 128.