This Strategy has been developed based on two rounds of consultation, both conducted in parallel with consultation on the review of our Local Plan – the spatial plan for the borough. The first was an ‘open sheet’ consultation where we asked how people felt about key transport issues, such as motor traffic levels and the quality of public transport. We asked for feedback on our proposal for a Healthy Route Network to improve conditions for walking and cycling in the borough. Taking into account the responses we received, we then prepared our Draft Transport Strategy and in the second round of consultation we asked for views on this. We received many responses to these consultations, both from individuals and from groups and organisations. A full consultation report is available on the council’s website, with a brief summary provided here below.
To summarise the feedback you gave us:
- Four out of five people agreed with the principle that we should encourage people to walk, cycle and use public transport rather than travel by car
- Improvements to infrastructure including better or more pavements, cycle routes and parking, electric vehicle charging points and bus lanes, were supported to encourage walking, cycling and public transport and in turn reduce car use
- There is a strong feeling about needing to protect local streets from ‘rat running’ traffic
- People felt that public transport is not always reliable or efficient, is often overcrowded and parts of the borough are not adequately served
- People felt that a priority should be to enforce existing rules to reduce road danger, for example in relation to speeding and running red lights
- There is a support for parking controls to manage the demand for parking and for alternative uses of the kerbside, such as cycle parking, to be considered
- Most people felt that new development should be car free except for disabled parking
- There is a high level of interest in developing better routes and links for walking and cycling in the borough.
- At least 70% of respondents either agreed, or strongly agreed with the four Guiding Principles included in our Draft Transport Strategy.
- A number respondents asked for more detail to be provided on how we will implement the objectives of the Strategy. The Transport Strategy Implementation Plan (TSIP) has been developed in response to this feedback.
You can view the Health Routes Consultation responses as an interactive map here