Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

To answer any public questions. A period of 30 minutes will be allowed for members of the public to ask questions submitted under notice. The Council welcomes questions from members of the public about the work of this Committee.

Subject to meeting certain timescales, questions can relate to general issues concerned with the work of the Committee or an item which is on the Agenda for this meeting.  For full details of the procedure for submitting questions please contact the Democratic Services Section on the numbers given below or go to www.wokingham.gov.uk/publicquestions

There were no public questions.

To answer any Member questions.

There were no Member questions.

To scrutinise the draft Local Transport Plan 4, prior to its submission to the Executive in November 2023.

The Committee considered a report, set out at Agenda pages 5 to 622, which provided details of the draft Local Transport Plan 4 (LTP4).

Paul Fishwick (Executive Member for Active Travel, Highways and Transport) attended the meeting to present the report, supported by Matt Gould (Lead Specialist, Highways and Transport) and Rob Curtis (Transport Planning Team Manager).

The report stated that LTP4 was a statutory plan, required by the Transport Act 2000. LTP4 would be an important part of the authority's goal of making Wokingham Borough a net-zero carbon producer. LTP4 would support local priorities, including a prosperous economy, improving the quality of life for residents, reducing the environmental impact of transport, and the first stages in the transition to Net Zero for the Transport sector.

The draft LTP4 included a summary of background evidence and the outcomes of a public engagement exercise carried out in the spring of 2023. This included a survey seeking residents’ views on transport in the Borough, how they travelled and their concerns about transport facilities. The most commonly raised concerns from residents were:

·           the safety of children walking and cycling to school;

·           maintenance of roads and footpaths in the Borough;

·           a lack of travel options;

·           current infrastructure was not cycle-friendly.

The report stated that the draft LTP4 set out a number of objectives under three main themes:

·           Reduce environmental impacts – supporting the transition of the transport sector to carbon neutrality, including promotion of low emission vehicles.

·           Grow the economy – working in partnership to protect and enhance strategic rail and road connectivity, service quality and facilities.

·           Create healthy and safe places – reducing negative impacts associated with road transport including noise, emissions and injuries from accidents.

LTP4 also brought together a number of complementary transport strategies including the Bus Service Improvements Plan (BSIP) and the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP). It also aligned with the emerging documents such as the Local Plan Update and Council Plan and national and regional strategies. LTP4 included an Action Plan which set out the key interventions to be delivered during the plan period.

The Committee was asked to consider the draft LTP4 and make comments and recommendations to the Executive as appropriate. The draft LTP4 would be submitted to the Executive at its meeting on 30 November 2023. Following agreement by the Executive, the draft LTP4 would then be published for public consultation with the aim of seeking final approval by Council in the summer of 2024.

In the ensuing discussion, Members raised the following points, comments and questions.

Page 17 – “Earley, Woodley and Shinfield which includes the most urban areas of these towns where travel is largely directed towards Reading”. This statement was not consistent with Page 27: “Areas in and around Woodley, Earley and Shinfield abut the Reading conurbation. Travel to Reading accounts for nearly a third of trips from these areas”. It was confirmed that these statements would be checked for consistency.

Active travel to schools was limited by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.