Agenda and minutes

Edmund Hopkins

Ken Weise

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 15 January 2020

With the ammendmnet of thanks going to James rather than John in item 114 the minutes were confirmed as a correct record.

Discusion on matters affected including an update on social media and messages distibutions

The Chair invited group members to raise any updates that have come about as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Chair informed the group that with the increased public interest in active travel as an alternative to public transport ther had been a number of good oppertunities to promote the work of the group with local media outlets including a BBC Radio Nottingham interview. There has also been the opportunity to promote the leisure walks to the public with their increased desire for getting more exercise in the local area

Keith Morgan, Principal Transport Planner gave a verbal report on the bid submitted and granted from the Emergency Active Travel fund. The following points were highlighted during discussion:

(a)  With increased public focus being on both walking and cycling as a result of reduced public transport and lockdown a bid was submitted and funding of £570,000 was received in funding with a tight 8 week delivery programme;

(b)  Lots of work has taken place on provision in the south of the city and there is now a shift in focus to the north and east of the city, including the Wells Road, Carlton Road and Porchester Road corridors which are more problematic given restricted space available. There will also be an increased focus on the in City Centre and maintain cycle routes through the City despite some major road works taking place;

(c)  Canning Circus and Trent Bridge are also being assessed for additional works in consultation with the County Council, and cycling infrastructure and signage for temporary measures will be improved;

(d)  There will also work to ensure that pavement space is used to create areas for shopping queues as well as walking and maintenance of social distancing whilst complying with government guidance on remaining COVID safe. A particular focus will be on the Hyson Green shopping area;

(e)  A consultation on the city centre 20mph limit to be expanded to radial routes is being considered as is a package of work to encourage safe and socially distanced walking to school;

(f)  Consideration will be given to schemes that maximise accessibly of open spaces, Victoria Embankment is an important space and ther is consideration being given to closing half of the road to allow more space for promotional events etc;

(g)  Work with various group will take place, such as Ridewise and Bikeworks to refurbish bikes and distribute them to key workers. A consultation map allowing the public to comment and make suggestions has been developed with Common Place to allow interaction with the public;

(h)  Additional parking for cycles will be considered at park and ride sites. The wracks will be temporary initially and will be moved around to establish where they are most used and then permanent parking will be put in place;

(i)  To monitor travel there is a camera system, that counts people, no footage is filmed and all information other than numbers is deleted. This system will be expanded and will be used to best assess impact of the works and schemes put in place;

Keith Morgan, Principal Transport Planner gave an update on the Transforming Cities work to the Forum. The original bid was submitted jointly with Derby City shortly before lockdown came into force. The joint funding awarded totals £161m and conditions on the award means that monies must be spent by March 2023.  The following points were highlighted during discussion:

(a)  There is a major focus on walking, cycling and public transport. Work for the Emergency active transport programme will help to model for, and shape the work for the Transforming Cities fund. There is cross over from the Emergency Active Travel Fund to the Transforming Cities funding;

(b)  One of the main work programmes will be focusing on the foot bridge across the Trent. There will also be works around the Hucknall Road corridor, the Arboretum and the Beeston to Derby route with good quality cycle connections and public transport connections through to East Midlands Airport and large employment hubs. Full details of proposals can be found here: https://www.transportnottingham.com/policies/transforming-cities/

Keith Morgan, Principle Transport Planner gave a brief update on the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan, although he highlighted that this would be coming to a future meeting for more thorough discussion. The following points were made:

(a)  Work with D2N2 partners will take place around cycling and walking infrastructure. A programme of schemes is being developed for continued funding on top of the transforming cities funding. This programme has been developed follow studies and the use of modelling software. The 15 year programme aims to ensure that all major routes are addressed ensuing a good quality cycle network;

(b)  The programme document has been consulted on and will soon be available on the web, its is still being worked on and will be available as soon as possible.

(c)  Further discussion will need to take place at a future meeting of the Local Access Forum.

Members of the forum offered congratulations to the officers for the successful bids and the well thought out plans for Nottingham active travel infrastructure plans and programmes going forward.

Following questions and discussion on items b – whatever the following additional information was highlighted:

(a)  Cycle routes across the city centre are in need of attention. There have been some major changes to routes recently and in particular the south/north route through the city needs to be addressed. Programmes encouraging not very experiences cyclists to cycle more should also be a focus of works;

(b)  There are a number of schemes looking at road layout within the city centre and how this can be improved for cyclists, including pedestrianised zones, better cycle routes and how traffic moves around the city;

(c)  Leisure cycling routes along the River Leen and up the length of the corridor to Bulwell, and Hucknall road corridor is also being assessed for improvements. The disused railway corridor is not likely to be made into a full cycle route, however there is scope for some upgrade roads. The Big Track scheme provides a circular route, which is harder to provide in the north of the city, radial roads are an issue and can interrupt routes which can discourage families and leisure cyclists;

(d)  Additional and improved signage for walkers including distance and times to reach destination can be considered within the funding. the 20mph zone on radial routes without specific cycle provision will be a focus to consider to help to improve safety and encourage more cycling;

(e)  The walk-through through the Broadmarsh has been closed. For the planned work INTU applied for a temporary traffic regulation order to prohibit pedestrian use for safety reasons during works. This expired on 6 July so the route should now be open. There is now a question of safety. Before it can be opened we need to ensure that it is safe. Opening this route safely is a priority. The signage around the walk-through needs to be updated to ensure that pedestrians are aware that they are not currently able to use the walkthrough. John Lee will take this point away.

(f)  The emergency active transport fund for temporary schemes. Some of the infrastructure will be cones, other will be more long lasting;

(g)  The proposed schemes make pragmatic and practical responses to the issues around becoming more mobile again as lockdown measures are reduced;

(h)  The packages proposed offer imaginative and creative solutions, it is an excellent opportunity to really make a difference to the active transport options;

(i)  Through the Future Mobility Scheme Nottingham city has been selected as an area to look at the introduction of a eScooters through a defined hire scheme;

Liz Cordle gave an update on the work of the Walking Subgroup. Alongside a handful of slides, published with the agenda, she highlighted the following points:

(a)  The Bestwood walk was launched on 18 January 2020. There was good turnout and the weather was perfect. It was exciting to see such good engagement and the event was a success. There was really good support from the Neighbourhood Development Officers and along the walk there were interesting insights into the history of the area;

(b)   Following the success of the BEstwood walk further guided walks were planned, however thes have all been put on hold due to the Covid outbreak. These will be advertised within the Notts Guided Walks leaflet when they can be rearraged safely;

(c)  The team continues to develop self guided walks in Basford, Bulwell and Bulwell Forest, Broxtowe, Mapperley and the Arboretum, St Anne’s and Mapperely and Wollaton and Lenton.

(d)  The Town trail signage has been designed. However due to Covid the design work has had to be put back. The launch of the Town Trail walk has also been put back;

Margaret Knowles gave an update on the Planning Subgroup work. The following points were highlighted:

(a)  Approximately 160 planning application are screened a month. Comments have been submitted on 4, 2 of these, the Eastglade primary school and fields, and rights of way improvements have been suggested. Other comments have included comments on problematic junctions. One objection has been made due to the proposal of development of a sensitive area of open space and provisions for cycling are not maximised;

(b)  There are particular concerns around the integration of pedestrians and cyclists from the Unity Square development into an already busy area. The Portfolio Holder is planning a site visit and will come back the group via the Chair;

(c)  Following approval with conditions there are some larger developments that are being monitored, these include Unity Square and the Island Business Centre. Planners and developers have recognised the issues around access and there will be possibly be amendments;

(d)  Two of the Supplementary planning documents have now been adopted, some of the comments of the subgroup have been taken into account but not all;

(e)  Cycle parking standards in new development needs exploring and is being worked on;

(f)  Training was cancelled due to Covid but this will take place as soon as is safe;

(g)  Consultation on Greater Nottingham strategic Plan is now open. Consultation runs until mid September and the Planning Sub group will pick this up;

(h)  There are opportunities for partnership working with Nottinghamshire County Local access forum around the Gedling Borough Council to set up the river Lean trail. Helen Hemstock will lead following initial contact John Lee;

(i)  Partnership between Nottingham Wildlife Trust and the Local Access Forum has proved positve. Meetings to talk about support etc are due to take place shortly and a full update will come to a future meeting.

Ruth Thurgood provided an update on the work of the Environment Subgroup. She gave a brief background of the of the Environment sub group and how the group could work with existing groups. Work and conversations are being duplicated by other groups, and so Ruth proposed to pause the work of the sub group until there was work that they can contribute.

John Lee suggested that links be made with Council officers who are working on clutter busting as part of the work around Covid and the emergency active fund.

The Forum agreed that this was worth pursing but not necessarily the work for a subgroup. Any clutter can be reported through the online Have Your Say portal.

The Forum concluded that the environmental sub group be paused for the time being.

John Lee gave an update on behalf of members unable to connect to the meeting. he highlighted the following points on their behalf:

(a)  Work has been stopped due to the Covid pandemic. Research facilities are only just opening up again;

(b)  Work will recommence as soon as it is safe to do so;

Hugh McClintock gave an update on the Trent basin footbridge. This follows on from the update given by Keith Morgan earlier in the meeting around the Transforming cities funding bid. The following points were highlighted:

(a)  It is now a City Council project, but the steering group will be happy to work with the Council to make the project a success;

(b)  The project remains an interest to the Environment Agency who are currently in the process of securing funding for the Trent Gateway project. They are keen to see improved access along both banks of the river Trent and this footbridge project will help to deliver that;

(c)  The forum agreed that this was an important piece of infrastructure and should be looked at in the wider context of transport schemes;

Liz Cordle spoke briefly to the Forum about the Parks and Open Spaces Survey. She suggested that the forum may want to contribute, even though the consultation seems to be aimed at individuals rather than as a group.

Helen Hemstock suggested that members look at the consultation and respond from an individual perspective, and that a response be pulled together and submitted on behalf of the group.

A Tree identification scheme was suggested as a possible future project. Ther are tree trails in parks already, awareness of these resources isn’t always as good as it could be.

The link to the Parks and Open Spaces Survey can be found here:

https://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/engage-nottingham-hub/open-consultations/parks-and-open-spaces-survey/

The following subjects were suggested for future discussion:

Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan

Nottingham Green Partnership

Carbon Neutral Plans – Cllr Sally Longford to attend

Living Streets – Katie France

Natural England and more widely, the role of the Local Access Forums nationally.