Agenda item

Councillor Judy Roberts had given written notice of the following question to Councillor Yvonne Constance:

‘Can we be assured by the Cabinet Member for Environment that the review of the cycle and walking standards referred to in the Oxford Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan will incorporate the relevant National standards and that these standards will be adhered to in the designs that are produced to implement the forthcoming Oxford, Bicester and Didcot LCWIPs?’

Councillor Constance replied:

‘The review of the Oxfordshire cycle and walking standards will take into account all relevant national guidance, including current guidance and forthcoming updated national cycling guidance. It is intended that the updated Oxfordshire guidance will be more succinct and more focused on designs that are typically a cause of contention, such as priority for cycle track crossings of side roads, including the inclusion of schematic design plans. The intention is that the design standards will thereby be more easily accessible and more helpful to all groups, such as planners, developers and engineers, involved in cycle and walking scheme design. In this way, it is intended a greater adherence to design standards will be achieved in scheme designs and implementation. Outline schemes within the Oxford LCWIP and future designs in the draft Bicester and Didcot LCWIPs will all follow Oxfordshire Cycling and Walking Design Standards and other best practice cycling and walking design guidance.’

Supplementary Question: ‘Is there enough flexibility in the detailed planning of the HIF bid infrastructure project to fully integrate with the recommendations of the Didcot LCWIP and what level of modal shift from car to walking, cycling and public transport does the OCC modelling predict?

Councillor Constance responded:

‘The public consultation for the HIF bid is currently on the Council website and that will be taken into consideration. The ambition is a 50% increase in cycling and walking which is challenging but should be possible if the funding is received.’

Councillor Susanna Pressel had given written notice of the following question to Councillor Yvonne Constance:

‘I’d like to congratulate everyone concerned in commissioning and writing the report on the Oxford Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP). Please pass on my congratulations and thanks.

It’s one of the best reports I have ever read. It could revolutionise the health of our residents -- by encouraging active travel - and reduce considerably the pollution and congestion that we all hate so much.

It provides the government with a persuasive case for investing heavily in walking and cycling in our county. I was delighted to see that we have already had positive feedback from the DfT, which also recognises how these proposals fit in with some of the other excellent and bold work that has been taking place. I was particularly glad to see that they support 20 mph limits and I hope we will get far more of these?

I’d like to ask Cabinet firstly when we hope to hear about government investment in some of the schemes proposed, secondly when and how we plan to develop the elements that the report identifies in paragraphs 16 and 17 and thirdly when this work can be extended to Bicester and Didcot?’

Councillor Constance replied:

‘We welcome the support for the Oxford LCWIP project and recognition (including by the Department for Transport) of the quality of the work produced. In terms of hearing about Government investment to support the LCWIP programme, other than the headline announcements for overall investment levels across this area and public transport, we have had nothing specific, so await further details. The important thing is that we have planned projects which are developed and supported, which helps maximise our chances of success through any funding process.

Some of the work identified in paragraphs 16 and 17 is already underway – reviewing design guidance for instance – and the review and update of policies in Active & Healthy travel will be one of the main areas of focus for the Council’s new Local Transport & Connectivity Plan. The initial public engagement on this Plan, now open, includes a series of Topic Papers on Active Travel and related projects. We are also looking at opportunities to integrate the LCWIP with projects (including CPZs, Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and the public transport network) as these will help increase levels of cycling and walking – building more and better cycle and pedestrian facilities on their own won’t be enough, as the report identifies. 

The recent Council budget decision to allocate additional funding to this area to support a dedicated Active Travel Hub lead role will directly support all of this work, and allow us to be more pro-active in working with partners to take forward other projects, including the proposed ‘Greenways’ network, Active Travel projects in other locations, developing a programme of more comprehensive and meaningful survey data (so we can better monitor progress against outcomes) and updated guidance and training/development programmes.

Elsewhere, work on the Bicester LCWIP is fairly advanced, and is expected to be substantially complete by May with proposals ready for consideration and approval over the summer. The Didcot LCWIP is less well developed but is expected to be completed by the autumn.’

Councillor Paul Buckley had given written notice of the following question to Councillor Mark Gray:

‘The recent decisions by Cabinet on bids to the Youth Opportunity Fund were excellent news to those organisations that were successful. Unfortunately, because the need far exceeds the funds made available, there were another 71 organisations who devoted a huge amount of time and effort in making bids that were unsuccessful. Will Cllr Gray please arrange for these to be provided with feedback on their bids, to help them learn from the experience?’

Councillor Gray replied:

‘Unfortunately we did not have the capacity as a cross-party Evaluation Panel to prepare individual feedback on 71 bids.  We greatly appreciate the significant work that these organisations did to apply for this fund, and while it was fantastic to have such a high number of responses to the call for bids, it does mean that a large number of organisations have had to be disappointed on this occasion.  We wrote to each organisation and expressed our gratitude for their bids and for the work that they do for Oxfordshire’s youth.’