Agenda item

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 including disability groups .

-       Boundary review of Finsbury Park - accessibility and reach and people that are affected feed into the process.

-       With regards to delivering cycle training , it was imperative to prioritise active healthy travel , improving cycle infrastructure is key and looking at how to redesign the service using a co-production model and embed cycle training in the long term, need young people with confidence and skills learning how to ride bike

-       Maintaining ecology and balance protection of biodiversity and ensuring parks were safe for all people at all times was essential. Council investing in a LED system and connection to central system which will enable the Council to dim lights and turn them on and off in required areas.

-       Communicating better that a vision and some inventions meant that there was now an updated map will include information that indicative plans for LTNs.

-       Responding to the query that some works that have fallen in between Highways and Strategic Planning service and that some works may also have benefitted from place making views , these services had worked together on Schools’ Streets and LTN’s and working together closely would continue with the Walking and Cycling Action Plan.

-       Outlined in the plan were cycle routes which would connect borough boundaries to borough boundaries as active travel corridors for commuting. The Plan highlighted that active travel is for all uses, regardless for leisure or work.

-       Accepted that there can be changes and nuances added. However, also a wider document which will be applicable and referenced by key Council services such as Adults and Health.

RESOLVED

1. To note the responses received in response to the consultation on the Draft Walking and Cycling Action Plan (WCAP), the Council’s responses to these set out in Appendix C, and the consequent changes made to the Draft Walking and Cycling Action Plan;

2. To adopt the Walking and Cycling Action Plan as set out at Appendix D;

3. To delegate to the Assistant Director for Planning, Building Standards and Sustainability to make changes to the formatting of the Walking and Cycling Action Plan and the maps within it before publication.

Reasons for decision

The WCAP is needed to deliver the Council’s adopted Transport Strategy and to enable more trips in Haringey to be made by walking and cycling. The WCAP ensures clarity around the Council’s active travel priorities for managing our transport network and to support the delivery of the Borough Plan objectives for growth and regeneration, as well as improving health and environmental quality. The WCAP will also help support the emerging New Local Plan to help shape new developments.

Alternative options considered

The alternative options considered are:

Option 1 – Not to adopt the WCAP. The disadvantages of this are that the Council would not meet its commitment in the Haringey Transport Strategy to produce a WCAP, it would not have a specific adopted guidance plan to enable increased walking and cycling in the borough, and there would not be an agreed strategic approach to walking and cycling which sets priorities, supports coordinated decision making and will help the Council target resources effectively having regard to Transport for London’s (TfL’s) currently very limited funds as a consequence of Covid-19.

Option 2 - To adopt the WCAP without any changes to the Draft WCAP following public consultation. This option would be contrary to the requirement for the Council to take into account all consultation responses received before adopting the WCAP. This would mean not taking account of important feedback from the community and the stakeholders and would not allow changes to be made to the Draft WCAP which would improve the robustness of the Plan as a whole.