Agenda item

Report of the Corporate Director of Environment and Resident Experience. To be presented by the Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Environment & Transport

The Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Environment and Transport introduced the report.

It was explained by the Cabinet Member that around 60% of Haringey households did not own a car, rising to 70% in many areas across the east of the borough, and that kerbside space previously allocated to storing cars represented potential for transformation that extended beyond transport.

It was noted that there was a potential for the Council to develop parklets, community gardens, play areas, seating, cycle storage, and green infrastructure. It was additionally noted that the Electric Vehicle Strategy recognised that where people did need cars, those vehicles had to be as clean as possible. The Council had been accelerating the delivery of charging points, ensuring that the transition to electric became accessible regardless of income or housing type.

It was explained that the five kerbside priorities demonstrated how environmental action generated multiple co-benefits: supporting local businesses, enabling active travel, improving bus services, reducing congestion, and building climate resilience. Each represented a step towards neighbourhoods where infrastructure served people, not just vehicles.

It was explained by the Cabinet Member that the Council was building the foundation for communities where getting around became healthier, where local economies thrived, and where public space truly served the public.

In response to comments and questions from Councillors Cawley-Harrison, the following information was shared:

• Officers explained that they would be undertaking a review of the accuracy of maps and street level assessments. It was explained that this would be the first time that the Council would be undertaking such a detailed exercise.
  
  
• It was explained by officers that any demands on the kerbside that would be made by businesses would be balanced appropriately across the whole network.
  
  
• It was explained that there had been a £25 million investment from central government for kerbside electric vehicle charging, which had been welcomed as a support for the development of the pilot for electric vehicle charging.
  
  
• It was explained that the Council was undertaking work on the improvement of kerbside gullies.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet:

1. Noted the feedback received from the initial informal consultation regarding the preparation of the Kerbside Strategy and the Electric Vehicle Strategy.
   
   
2. Approved the draft Kerbside Strategy and Electric Vehicle Strategy for public consultation, subject to no consultation commencing until after the conclusion of the call-in period following this decision.
   
   

That the Leader:

1. Agreed to allocate to the Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Environment and Transport and Cabinet Member for Resident Services and Tackling Inequality the decision to adopt the final Kerbside Strategy and Electric Vehicle Strategy having had due regard to all representations received as part of public consultation.
   
   

Reasons for decision

The Council had committed to developing these new strategies, in alignment with the emerging Safe and Sustainable Transport Strategy, to establish individual, but coordinated, strategic frameworks to:

• Prioritise how kerbside spaces were shaped and used.

• Enable the Council to further develop and enhance its electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

To enable residents and businesses to provide feedback on the proposals, which would help influence the final strategies.

In addition to aligning with the Council’s current and emerging decarbonisation and low-emission policies, the Electric Vehicle Strategy aimed to address the projected increase in demand for electric vehicles, which would arise, in part, from the UK Government’s ban on new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030 and the ban of hybrid vehicles from 2035.

Alternative options considered

Not to produce new strategies

The Council would have had no coherent strategies focused on how kerbside space was used or provision for electric vehicles, which would not have supported or benefited residents, and would have failed to advance the Council and Government’s decarbonisation plans.

Not consult on the draft strategies

A lack of public consultation would have meant local views were neglected and overlooked in the development of these strategies, which would affect all residents and businesses, and this would not have been in accordance with the principle of co-production.