Decision - Local Transport Plan

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND

1)           That the Committee recommends Council to approve the draft Local Transport Plan [LTP4], as attached in Appendix 2 in March 2015.

RESOLVED

2)           That the Committee authorises the Executive Director for Environment, Development & Housing to make presentational and other minor changes to the Local Transport Plan and the report before its submission to full Council.

3)           That the Committee approves the 2015/16 Local Transport Plan capital programme budget of £5.450 million for the Capital Renewal (Maintenance) and Integrated Transport work programmes set out in Appendix 3.

4)           That the Committee approves funding for the LTP programme of £4.261 million from the LTP 2015/16 grant allocation as set out Appendix 3, and up to £1.189 million brought forward from the LTP 2016/17 grant allocation specifically to contribute towards the LTP capital renewal/maintenance block allocation to:-

a)        complete the final phase of works on the King’s Road Arches (east of the i360 site); and,

b)        enable the Executive Director of Environment, Development & Housing to work with the Head of Property & Design and Assistant Chief Executive to identify and review the potential opportunities presented by the structural condition of the now vacant, former West Street Shelter Hall and develop designs to rebuild the structure and revise the junction layout, as set out at paragraphs 3.15 to 3.17 of this report.

The Committee is being requested to consider and endorse the current, draft LTP4 document.  As the LTP4 will be a new council strategy document, it is also required to be approved by Full Council.

Local highway authorities have a statutory requirement to have a Local Transport Plan [LTP].  The LTP therefore needs to be consistent with, and will help to deliver, other citywide strategies.  It therefore needs to be up to date and include approaches to delivering transport improvements which will successfully help to address existing and forecast issues in the city.

Since 2011, the country has been experiencing the effects of the worldwide economic recession, although research has shown that the city has demonstrated a good degree of economic resilience.  In that same period, a significant amount of progress has been made in the city to improve travel and transport as a result of securing and investing Transport funding and resources.  New national, regional and local data and evidence have also been published and various strategies, policies, plan and priorities have been reviewed and updated.  In that same period, the council has had to address ongoing reductions in government grants and support, and will have to continue to do so for the next few years.  This requires consideration of the likely implications for budgets that support or deliver transport and travel options for the city, such as supported bus services and management and charging for parking.  

New partnership working across wider areas, such as the establishment of the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership and the Local Transport Body, and the emergence of the Greater Brighton City Region as a result of the successful City Deal application has also changed the way in which transport needs to be considered and can be provided.  More local initiatives, such as Neighbourhood Plans, have also helped identify issues within the city and its communities.  The formal establishment of the South Downs National Park and the newly designated Brighton and Lewes Downs Biosphere will materially influence the way in which the city is used and managed.  It is therefore considered to be an appropriate time to update the LTP. 

The content of the proposed new document, in terms of the overarching strategy and the majority of the measures that are being proposed or will be investigated, will not vary significantly from those included in LTP3.  Therefore, other background studies or analysis underpinning that document still remain valid and have been taken into account in developing the new LTP.