Report Following the 20th October Local Transport Strategy Consultative Process by Barry Warrington (CASaV Transport Lead)
On the 20th October I attended a Consultative Meeting in relation to the development of the Local Transport Strategy for North Yorkshire Council. It was attended by 8 local organisations representing Climate Change concerns. Also present was Paul Haslam the lead Councillor for Climate Change and Louise Ann Neale the Assistant Director for the Environment.
The background to this consultative meeting was that in 2022 the Dept. for Transport announced that all local transport authorities have to have in place a Local Transport Plan which sets out a strategic vision and case for investment in transport in their area.
The consultative meeting was convened as part of the approach of consulting with the range of community interests and relevant stakeholders.
To date no official guidance from the Dept. for Transport has been forth coming. Nevertheless the authority has been working on developing the LTP based on the limited advice coming out of government.
Essentially the meeting was not a meeting to discuss ‘deliverables’ in terms of possible actions but rather about the approach.
On the 18th December North Yorkshire Council published an ‘Update on the development of the new ‘Local Transport Plan’. Much of the following narrative is derived from that ‘Updating Report’.
The approach taken has been one of ‘full public engagement using the ‘Let’s talk Transport Branding. This has taken the form of online survey, public events and meetings and stakeholder engagement – hence the October 20th Meeting.
In addition consultants WSP have been commissioned to develop the North Yorkshire (and York) databook and also a two stage Quantifiable Carbon Reduction Plan (QCR).
It would seem that there is a statutory requirement for the plan to be measurable in terms of quantifiable outcomes. In terms of the paper that CASV presented prior to the October meeting the issues was raised in relation to what metric will be used and also in relation to what is to be measured what is the current ‘base level’.
In the 18the Dec Update it states ‘A more detailed report on the Quantifiable Carbon Reduction Plan will be brought to a future meeting in due course’
The 18th Dec Report set out the following key headlines arising from the engagement process:
- There are low level of satisfaction with the current transport system in North Yorkshire
- Availability and reliability of travel, affordability, road safety and impact of transport on climate change are of most concern.
- Measures to encourage more use of public transport and more walking and cycling and traffic and highway infrastructure are seen as being most effective in tackling transport issues.
- There are differences in results for individual Area Constituency Committee areas, and also by a number of different criteria such as age, gender, type of community and whether or not the person responding has a disability.
The 18th Dec. Report also pointed out;
‘There are no climate change implications arising from this report. However the LTP itself will have focus on climate change and the environment including a quantifiable carbon reduction plan and officers from Transport Planning are liaising with relevant colleagues as part of the development of the new plan. A full strategic environmental impact assessment will also be undertaken as part of the new Local Transport Plan.
The 18th Dec Report then went on to provide a summary of all the results arising from the public engagement process.
I felt it worthwhile to include headline results from the stakeholder survey
When asked to rank the three national priorities in relation to the LTP Stakeholder organisations ranked improving transport for the user, as the highest priority 49 responses, followed by reducing carbon 27 responses, and improving the economy 11 responses.
Stakeholders were asked to identify what would be effective in delivering these priorities and the tools that had the greatest support amongst stakeholders were:
- Increased subsidy of bus services (89% strongly support
- Improved management of street works 89%
- Investment in home to school travel 88%
- Improved Highway maintenance 87%
- Improved walking routes 86%
- Improved ticketing 84%
- Improved information products 81%
- More Flexible transport options 80%
- Travel behaviour options advice 78%
- Improved digital connectivity 77%
- Park and Ride 75%
In terms of Climate Change appendix C of the report was ‘Climate Change Impact assessment’ and stated;
The purpose of the assessment is to help us understand the likely impacts of our decisions on the environment of North Yorkshire and on our aspirations to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2030, or as close to that date as possible. The intention is to mitigate negative effects and identify projects which will have positive effects. This document should be completed in consultation with the supporting guidance. The final document will be published as part of the decision making process.
The final section of the report stated; It is anticipated that there will be more engagement and ultimately a public consultation on the draft LTP. Engagement with Stakeholders and key partners will continue as the new plan is developed.
I would suggest that we make sure were are seen as a stakeholder.
Climate Action Stokesley and Villages 