Agenda item

Motion by Arash Fatemian

“This Council welcomes recent funding awards for Active Travel measures, and the hard work undertaken by all to encourage greater levels of cycling and walking across the county, including but not limited to:

 

·                The successes of attracting the Women’s Tour

·                Lasting improvements in cycling infrastructure

·                The award of £2.9m from Tranche 2 of the Emergency Active Travel Fund vs our original allocation of £2.4m

·                The award of £1.4m for cycling provision from OXLEP

 

More needs to be done to improve opportunities for cycling and walking. Oxfordshire is a diverse county with a rich mix of urban, suburban and rural communities. Some communities are better connected for cycling, walking, and other forms of transportation, while others are less so. No single policy will therefore suit all divisions.

 

As with other modes of transport, diversity of approach is needed. What works in cycling and walking for Banbury and its hilly surrounds will not necessarily suit the comparatively flatter and better-established commuter routes between Oxford, Abingdon and the Culham science park. A more consultative approach to policymaking is therefore needed to ensure more collaborative and effective policymaking.

 

Accordingly, this Council calls on the Leader to:

 

(a)           abolish the post of Cycling Champion; and

(b)           establish a cross-party, multi-locality Cabinet Advisory Group (CAG) for cycling and walking to better inform strategic decision-making making on cycling infrastructure;

(c)           ensure that this CAG directly influences the next LTP to ensure that the needs of each locality and its cyclists and pedestrians are better served.”

 

Minutes:

Councillor Fatemian moved and Councillor Reeves seconded the following Motion:

 

“This Council welcomes recent funding awards for Active Travel measures, and the hard work undertaken by all to encourage greater levels of cycling and walking across the county, including but not limited to:

 

·                The successes of attracting the Women’s Tour

·                Lasting improvements in cycling infrastructure

·                The award of £2.9m from Tranche 2 of the Emergency Active Travel Fund vs our original allocation of £2.4m

·                The award of £1.4m for cycling provision from OXLEP

 

More needs to be done to improve opportunities for cycling and walking. Oxfordshire is a diverse county with a rich mix of urban, suburban and rural communities. Some communities are better connected for cycling, walking, and other forms of transportation, while others are less so. No single policy will therefore suit all divisions.

 

As with other modes of transport, diversity of approach is needed. What works in cycling and walking for Banbury and its hilly surrounds will not necessarily suit the comparatively flatter and better-established commuter routes between Oxford, Abingdon and the Culham science park. A more consultative approach to policymaking is therefore needed to ensure more collaborative and effective policymaking.

 

Accordingly, this Council calls on the Leader to:

 

(a)           abolish the post of Cycling Champion; and

(b)           establish a cross-party, multi-locality Cabinet Advisory Group (CAG) for cycling and walking to better inform strategic decision-making making on cycling infrastructure;

(c)           ensure that this CAG directly influences the next LTP to ensure that the needs of each locality and its cyclists and pedestrians are better served.”

 

Councillor Haywood moved and Councillor John Sanders seconded the following amendment as shown in bold italics and strikethrough below:

 

“This Council welcomes recent funding awards for Active Travel measures, and the hard work undertaken by all to encourage greater levels of cycling and walking across the county, including but not limited to:

 

·                The successes of attracting the Women’s Tour

·                Lasting improvements in cycling infrastructure

·                The award of £2.9m from Tranche 2 of the Emergency Active Travel Fund vs our original allocation of £2.4m

·                The award of £1.4m for cycling provision from OXLEP

 

More needs to be done to improve opportunities for cycling and walking. Oxfordshire is a diverse county with a rich mix of urban, suburban and rural communities. Some communities are better connected for cycling, walking, and other forms of transportation, while others are less so. No single policy will therefore suit all divisions.

 

As with other modes of transport, diversity of approach is needed. What works in cycling and walking for Banbury and its hilly surrounds will not necessarily suit the comparatively flatter and better-established commuter routes between Oxford, Abingdon and the Culham science park. A more consultative approach to policymaking is therefore needed to ensure more collaborative and effective policymaking.

 

Accordingly, this Council calls on the Leader to:

 

(a)           abolish the post of Cycling Champion; and implement the motion passed at full council (Nov 2018) fully;

 

(b)           establish a cross-party, multi-locality Cabinet Advisory Group (CAG) for cycling and walking to better inform strategic decision-making making on cycling infrastructure;

(c)           ensure that this CAG directly influences the next LTP to ensure that the needs of each locality and its cyclists and pedestrians are better served;

(d)           develop a role to ensure the outputs of this CAG are implemented.”

 

Following debate, the amendment was put to the vote and was lost by 30 votes to 29.

 

The substantive Motion was then put to the vote and was carried unanimously.

 

RESOLVED: (unanimously)

 

“This Council welcomes recent funding awards for Active Travel measures, and the hard work undertaken by all to encourage greater levels of cycling and walking across the county, including but not limited to:

 

·                The successes of attracting the Women’s Tour

·                Lasting improvements in cycling infrastructure

·                The award of £2.9m from Tranche 2 of the Emergency Active Travel Fund vs our original allocation of £2.4m

·                The award of £1.4m for cycling provision from OXLEP

 

More needs to be done to improve opportunities for cycling and walking. Oxfordshire is a diverse county with a rich mix of urban, suburban and rural communities. Some communities are better connected for cycling, walking, and other forms of transportation, while others are less so. No single policy will therefore suit all divisions.

 

As with other modes of transport, diversity of approach is needed. What works in cycling and walking for Banbury and its hilly surrounds will not necessarily suit the comparatively flatter and better-established commuter routes between Oxford, Abingdon and the Culham science park. A more consultative approach to policymaking is therefore needed to ensure more collaborative and effective policymaking.

 

Accordingly, this Council calls on the Leader to:

 

(d)           abolish the post of Cycling Champion; and

(e)           establish a cross-party, multi-locality Cabinet Advisory Group (CAG) for cycling and walking to better inform strategic decision-making making on cycling infrastructure;

(f)            ensure that this CAG directly influences the next LTP to ensure that the needs of each locality and its cyclists and pedestrians are better served.”