Decision:
RESOLVED:
That the Transportation Strategy be adopted.
REASON FOR DECISION:
To address current transport issues, support the delivery of the Local Plan and to assist in making funding bids and negotiating with partners for further investment in our transport infrastructure.
Minutes:
Paul Mason had registered to speak on behalf of Tunbridge Wells Bicycle Users’ Group and the campaign group Twenty’s Plenty.
Mr Mason stated that he supported the transport and cycling plans proposed, and thanked Hilary Smith, Economic Development Manager, and Bartholomew Wren, Economic Development Officer, for the work completed. Mr Mason noted that in the space taken by a single car there could be seven bicycles and, as such, bicycles were the ‘silver bullet’ for ending congestion in Tunbridge Wells. The strategy highlighted that 70 per cent of journeys made in the Borough and country were under five miles; these tended to be local journeys across or into town. Hills were not too much of a problem in the area as the main arterial roads into Tunbridge Wells, including the Pembury, Langton and St John’s roads, were all relatively flat. A journey from Pembury in the west to Rusthall in the east was possible without any significant hills. Mr Mason commented that a third of journeys in Tunbridge Wells in the 1950s had been made by bike and that geography had not changed since then, so it was a matter of changing attitudes and infrastructure. Mr Mason acknowledged that it would take time to establish safe and segregated cycle paths, and so while that was being developed, he recommended that the speed limit be reduced to 20 miles per hour (mph) where appropriate to help protect cycle users when sharing the road with vehicles. In the time it takes a vehicle travelling at 20mph to stop, a vehicle travelling at 30mph would still be doing 22mph. If the strategy was approved today and implemented it would ensure that Tunbridge Wells was leading the way in transport infrastructure.
Councillor David Scott had registered to speak.
Councillor Scott discussed some proposed amendments to the strategy which were intended to capture the sentiment that was stated at the Planning and Transportation Cabinet Advisory Board and the Joint Transportation Board. The proposals emphasised how choice was important for all road users. Bold and new solutions should therefore be brought forward, but that the Cycling Strategy and Twenty’s Plenty campaign were part of this. Councillor Scott confirmed a report would be presented later in the year regarding these issues. Councillor Scott then explained that safety had to be the main priority in the report. The example was given that the construction industry had been accepted as an inherently dangerous industry to work in but that industry leaders had chosen to make safety the number one priority. Within thirty years the industry was now considered to be relatively safe. The same could be achieved in transport. Councillor Scott felt that safety should be the overall priority and that it should be reflected in the strategy document.
Hilary Smith, Economic Development Manager, introduced the report which included the following comments:
· The strategy was a joint document between Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and Kent County Council, the highway authority, and formed part of the evidence base to support the Local Plan and Site Allocations Document.
· The Draft Strategy was consulted on in 2013, and further technical work and feedback had since been undertaken and incorporated into the report.
· In addition to the strategy work, the two councils had commissioned design work to identify options for improvements along the A26 and A264 Pembury Road, to address current congestion and to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists as well.
· The Implementation Plan at the back of the strategy was a live document that would be reviewed and updated regularly. The strategy as a whole would put the Council in a strong position when working with partners to bring forward projects in the Implementation Plan.
· The strategy was discussed at the Planning and Transportation Cabinet Advisory Board on 13 July 2015 and the Joint Transportation Board on 20 July 2015 and minor amendments had been made following these meetings.
· Progress would be reported back to the Joint Transportation Board regularly and to other committees as requested.
In response to Councillor Scott’s points, Mrs Smith drew the Cabinet’s attention to paragraph 6.3, which stated that proposals for innovative transport methods would be kept under review as potential schemes for the future. Mrs Smith also agreed with Councillor Scott about safety, and clarified that the objectives in the document, which included safety, were not in a priority order, so did carry equal weight. Reference was made to the road safety elements in the strategy, which could be seen in paragraphs 4.35 to 4.45 of the report, and it had been proposed that a report on implementing 20 mph restrictions be taken to the next Joint Transportation Board meeting. Mrs Smith confirmed that available base-line statistics would be reviewed which included traffic flow and crash data.
Councillor McDermott noted that the Transport Strategy would be an evolving document which would allow the Council to move forward with further work and commended the recommendations to the Cabinet.
The Chairman, Councillor Jukes, invited further comments and questions. There being none, Members were asked whether the recommendation was agreed.
RESOLVED – That the Transport Strategy be adopted.
REASON FOR DECISION:
To address current transport issues, support the delivery of the Local Plan and to assist in making funding bids and negotiating with partners for further investment in our transport infrastructure.
Supporting documents: