Issue - meetings

Report of the Director for Housing, Regeneration, and Planning. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport, and the Climate Emergency.

Reports recommends adoption of the Walking and Cycling Action Plan (WACP) following consultation on a draft WCAP from 8 November 2021 to 10 January 2022.

The Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and the Climate Emergency and Deputy Leader of the Council commended the Transport and Highways teams for bringing together their expertise and joint ambition to respond to a vision for active travel in the borough. The attached report documented the responses to a consultation on the Draft Haringey Walking and Cycling Action Plan (WCAP/Plan) (8 November 2021 – 10 January 2022) and the Council’s response to these, and recommended Cabinet adopted the WCAP as amended in response to the consultation responses.

The Cabinet Member referred to the Draft Haringey Walking and Cycling Action Plan (WCAP/Plan) as being an appendix to the Haringey’s Transport Strategy (2018) which sets the transport objectives for the borough over the next 10 years and outlines clear priorities to reduce the reliance on the private car, increase walking and cycling and enhance the public transport network.

It was noted that at the heart of this strategy, there was the need to tackle air quality, improve quality of life and wellbeing and working towards a carbon zero borough. Enabling more trips to be made by walking and cycling in Haringey remained the overarching objective of the Strategy.

The Cabinet Member highlighted the changes made to the Draft Haringey Walking and Cycling Action Plan as a result of the consultation response, links to other strategy in health and adult’s services and connections between local destinations .

In response to questions from Cllr Bevan , Cllr Chandwani, Brabazon, Cllr Davies, das Neves, and Cllr Cawley- Harrison, the following was noted.

-       The latest TFL funding settlement of three years meant that they were funding active travel with LIP funding back to recent historic levels.

-        Cycle hangers were a core part to the solution for active travel and the Council had allocated £200k of Council money, annually and for three years for cycle storage. This would still allow TFL funding to be added to this allocation for bike hangers.

-       The Plan was neutral on funding sources and could allow a range of funding sources to be applied for.

-       Noted that having a strategy and action plan to refer to in funding bids supported access to the wider grants and funding bids .

-       There was £475k investment in parks, over two years and green spaces. This included lighting improvements, updating lighting columns, changing to LED lighting and adding lights to central system so that when lights were faulty the Council could detect and can locate the lighting column quickly to respond to safety concerns. This related to wider parks action plan and further reflected that the plan had been compiled in the context of other schemes and strategies which included safety of women and girl sand having safer routes to walk.

-       The plan addressed accessibility and accommodating families access green spaces.

-       Imperative Haringey was the most accessible borough in London and need do pioneering work on this. Addressing this through transport planning in highways and setting up stakeholder groups  ...  view the full minutes text for item 761