Agenda item

Councillor Joel Hirst, Cabinet Member for Sustainable Transport Strategy introduced the report and presentation.

Councillor Wait explained that Panel comments would be fed into the consultation process and the item will come back to a future meeting. Councillor Walker stated that she was happy with this approach following her request to defer the item.

Panel members made the following points and asked the following questions:

Councillor Heijltjes stated that the 15 levers could be more ‘SMART’ and that they are vague. She asked what would be measured in order that we know how we are doing and would KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) be developed. The Cabinet Member explained that Appendix C sets out the levers and key measures of success. The officer stated that this point would be noted as feedback.

Councillor Leach stated that the current Local Plan mentions ‘essential traffic only’ in the city centre and the Movement Strategy mentions ‘reducing traffic’ – are we rolling back. The Cabinet Member stated that we are not rolling back and that it was a complex thing to achieve including getting clear through routes and getting freight vehicles out of the city centre.

Councillor Box referred to transport with regard to rural areas and Bath. She suggested the Mi-Permit could do a discount for certain postcodes in the region. A lot of residents complain about the cost of parking. The Cabinet Member stated that this is an interesting idea and explained that one lever is Parking Strategy – we need to create the right incentives and disincentives regarding parking. Councillor Heijltjes stated that the lever on Park and Ride addresses this issue.

Councillor Heijltjes stated that the interactive map has some layers missing (for example roads to Claverton Down). The Cabinet Member asked that areas where more detail is needed be flagged up.

Councillor Walker asked if coaches could drop people off at Park and Ride sites. She also referred to cycling in Amsterdam where there are too many bikes which needs to be managed. The Cabinet Member stated that the Coach Strategy is one of the levers. He stated that the active travel network needs the  right infrastructure place so that there is the right amount of separation.

Councillor Leach asked about the process of categorising streets based on the role we want them to play in the vision. He asked how the existing data helps this. The Cabinet Member stated that both the data and the future vision were looked at and there is an element of additional work on the what the map could look like.

Councillor Beaumont asked about improvement works on the cycle path between Bristol and Bath. The Cabinet Member noted the valid point and explained that this is included in current consultation under the Cabinet Member for Sustainable Transport Delivery.

Councillor Heijltjes stated that School Streets is missing from the strategy, lever 15 only mentions school travel plans which is too weak. The Cabinet Member stated that he would look again at lever 15.

Councillor Leach asked about city centre parking. He asked if meters would be taken away so that there is only residents parking. The Cabinet Member stated that he did not have the answer just yet – the Parking Strategy will consider this, it is a balance as business access is needed. We will come back to a future meeting with more detail on the Parking Strategy.

Councillor Walker stated that we should not stop our residents seeing and visiting the city centre. The Cabinet Member shared that ambition.

Councillor Malloy asked if large commercial delivery lorries could decamp outside of the city centre and move into smaller vehicles. The Cabinet Member stated that there is a suggestion regarding a University site. He stated that there are some good examples in Bristol and it is a key piece of work.

Councillor Leach asked why the Movement Strategy would not change any classification of main roads. The officer explained that the A36 and A46 are national highways, the Movement Strategy only looks at roads that BANES owns. The Cabinet Member asked Councillor Leach to send in any specific suggestions.

The Chair thanked the Cabinet Member and officers.