Meeting documents

The Cabinet Member and Officers will provide the Committee with an update on the development of the new Local Transport Plan 4 (LTP4).  This is an opportunity for Members to highlight transport priorities for inclusion in the draft Plan and to discuss how LTP4 will differ from its predecessor Local Transport Plan 3.

Please find below the link to the existing LTP3 for information:

http://www.transportforbucks.net/Strategy/Local-Transport-Plan/LTP3.aspx

An initial public consultation asking for people’s views on 10 different transport related issues was carried out during the Summer and the Committee will receive feedback on the results of this survey.

Contributors

Mr Mark Shaw, Cabinet Member for Transportation

Mr Richard Jeremy, Head of Transport Strategy

Mr Ryan Bunce, Transport Strategy Lead Officer

The Chairman welcomed Mr Mark Shaw, Cabinet Member for Transportation, Mr Richard Jeremy, Head of Transport Strategy and Ms Rebecca Dengler, Transport Strategy Lead Officer to the meeting. The Cabinet Member expressed his support for the proposal and during the presentation the following points were raised:

·         The current plan expires in April 2016;

·         A new LTP would tie in with Strategic Objectives, be succinct, relevant and accessible.

·         An initial snapshot consultation, which in particular was conducted via social media, had been successful, securing 20,000 tweets on the first day with main issues raised involving:

-        maintenance & improvement of existing roads;

-        managing the transport  impacts of new developments and road safety;

-        improving streets in town centres, focusing on pedestrians rather than cars; and

-        improving bus and train services.

·         The following themes would form the basis of LTP4:

-        Connecting Bucks nationally, internationally and with partners;

-        Improving road investment/maintenance;

-        Improving health and safety of our roads and sustainability;

-        Improving access to work, education and social activities to enable communities to grow.

·         Policies would be developed for each form of transport, and also the role of development, technology and ideas on how to improve walking routes would be considered.

·         A separate policy document on Development Management would sit below LTP4 to help developers to identify transport mitigation for potential development sites..

During questions the following points were raised:

·         The expectation is  that LTP4 will last for at least five years, however the Council could extend this if they so wished;

·         Concern was raised that the anticipated HGV strategy outlined in LTP3 had not been developed;

·         The development of town centres and pedestrianisation needed to be considered on an individual basis;

·         A pragmatic approach should be taken to materials used in regenerating towns to ensure a quality environment could be maintained in the long term;

·         LTP4 would include realistic policies which would encourage support from the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP);

·         Area strategies would be developed to sit below LTP4 and consideration would need to be given to the projects taken forward;

·         Alternative funding streams such as Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and Government initiatives around innovative technology should be explored;

·         The highest level of responses from the initial snapshot consultation came from the 35-45 age group, with the under 35s providing the fewest responses.

Mrs Jean Teesdale congratulated the Council’s team for the work undertaken on the Oxford Road (A40) in High Wycombe as part of the High Wycombe Masterplan.

The Cabinet Member informed the Committee that the next steps for LTP4 would be a formal consultation process in December/January – with work being conducted with stakeholders to maximise engagement.

The Chairman advised that the Cabinet Member would be attending this committee at least every 6 months to provide an update. and it was agreed that a small working group of the Committee would be formed to meet with officers in the New Year to provide feedback on the draft LTP4 as part of the formal consultation process.  The Committee Adviser would liaise with officers and members to agree a suitable date.

ACTION: Committee Adviser

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member and the officers for attending the meeting.