Agenda item - 2017/18 Local Transport Plan Capital Programme

Report of the Executive Director, Economy, Environment & Culture

That the Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee:

1)            Recommends to request that Policy,  Resources & Growth Committee agrees the 2017/18 Local Transport Plan capital programme budget allocation of £6.635 million to projects and programmes, as set out in Appendix 2 of this report; and

2)            Notes the indicative allocation of future LTP budgets to projects and programmes for 2018/18 and 2019/20 of at least £5.169 million in each year to fund the Local Transport Plan 4-year Delivery Plan, as set out in paragraph 7.1 of this report.

77.1      The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director, Economy that requested the Committee to recommend to Policy & Resources Committee the 2017/18 Local Transport Plan (LTP) capital programme budget allocation of £6.635 million to projects and programmes and to note the indicative allocation of future LTP budgets to projects and programmes for 2018/19 and 2019/20 of £5.169 million per year to fund the LTP 4-year Delivery Plan.

77.2      Councillor Theobald welcomed the substantial increase in funding provided by central government. Councillor Theobald noted that Manchester had begun to remove 20mph limits on some streets and asked if officers had any comment to make on that.

77.3      The Assistant Director- City Transport stated that he was unsure of the reasons why Manchester had made their decision. Monitoring undertaken in Brighton & Hove had demonstrated a reduction in speed and accidents in roads where 20mph limits had been introduced.

77.4      Councillor Miller noted that central government had made an announcement of £690 million to be invested in transport schemes in the Budget and asked if officers intended to bid for any of that funding. Councillor Miller noted that £80,000 had been identified for investment in the 20mph scheme and asked whether that investment should be moved elsewhere as he did not believe the introduction of 20mph limits had been successful.

77.5      The Head of Transport Policy & Strategy stated that £220 million of the £690 million investment by central government had already been allocated to specific schemes. Further announcements would be made in due course on a portion of the remaining funding and it was his understanding that local authorities would have to bid to win this funding. In relation to the £80,000 allocated for 20mph speed limits, the Head of Transport Policy & Strategy explained that this would be used for certain locations where compliance was not what it should be and further measures were required to reduce speeds.

77.6      Councillor Wares noted that a specific funding of £135,000 had been provided for the repair of potholes and asked if that could be separated out in the budget lines to provide committee oversight of where that was being spent. In addition, Councillor Wares noted that £250,000 had been identified for drainage improvements and enquired whether this would be targeted in the 10 ‘hot-spot’ flood risk areas, such as Patcham. Furthermore, Councillor Wares asked whether the £200,000 for pedestrian crossings would be spent on the existing pedestrian crossing priority list or a new one would be generated.

77.7      The Assistant Director- City Transport stated that a condition of the £135,000 Pothole Action Fund was for the council to report on the council website on where this had been spent. The intention of the funding was to deliver pro-active structural improvements to stop potholes from forming rather than remedial repairs. The Head of Transport Policy & Strategy stated that the £250,000 identified for drainage improvements would all be invested in existing problems in highway drainage and gulley’s and some of those may well be in proximity to some of the hot spots identified in terms of flood risk but no finalised programme had yet been devised. Pedestrian crossing data would be compiled in April or May and when that information was received, a programme would be created for which to allocate the £200,000. That programme could be circulated to the committee members when complete.

77.8      Councillor Janio noted that allocations for National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF) appeared in the report to be directed towards West Street/Shelter Hall. Councillor Janio enquired as to whether this would be an indefinite allocation or whether a priority would follow this and what that would be. Councillor Janio noted that £160,000 was allocated toward Valley Gardens and asked whether this related to the beginning of construction work.

77.9      The Head of Transport Policy & Strategy stated that there would be consideration of other areas for the NPIF once works at West Street/Shelter Hall had been completed subject to the level of funding. He added that work on site would begin for the Valley Gardens project before the end of March 2018.

77.10   Councillor Greenbaum noted her disappointment in the lack of reference to air quality improvement measures and there were many more things that could be done by the council in terms of the scale of the problems faced in Brighton & Hove.

77.11   The Chair stated that across the entire LTP programme, the need to improve air quality was addressed and asked officers if there were any specific funding announcements made by central government.

77.12   The Head of Transport Policy & Strategy clarified that there were many areas of investment across the LTP programme that sought to improve air quality and included the Safer Routes to School programme and School Travel Plan measures that were focussed on sustainable measures of transport, the Intelligent Transport Systems investment and the electrical charging point investment.

77.13   Councillor Deane noted that the committee had received a deputation earlier in the meeting cataloguing the many transport issues in Surrey Street but the area and any measures to address the problem was not mentioned in the report.

77.14   The Head of Transport Policy & Strategy noted that £15,000 was allocated in the report for final amendments to the Brighton Station Gateway scheme and that could contribute to improvements on Surrey Street as required and subject to any progress made in discussions with GTR.

77.15   Councillor Theobald enquired as to the budget allocated for pedestrian crossing improvements in comparison to the previous financial year, any allocation for yellow lines outside of controlled parking zones.

77.16   The Head of Transport Policy & Strategy stated that the budget allocated this year of £115,000 for pedestrian crossing was the same as in the previous financial year and any investment would be relative to the nature of the improvements that were required. The Parking Infrastructure Manager clarified that yellow lines could be introduced for schemes related to the LTP and outside of controlled parking zones as well as maintenance of existing yellow lines.

77.17   Councillor Wares enquired as to how the committee could be assured that the varying allocations were an accurate reflection of the investment required.

77.18   The Head of Transport Policy & Strategy stated that page 76 of the report noted that there were caveats to the allocations made that could reflect a change in circumstances or revisions required. Furthermore, the programme of spend was monitored on a monthly basis by officers.

77.19   RESOLVED-

That the Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee:

1)            Recommends to request that Policy,  Resources & Growth Committee agrees the 2017/18 Local Transport Plan capital programme budget allocation of £6.635 million to projects and programmes, as set out in Appendix 2 of this report; and

2)            Notes the indicative allocation of future LTP budgets to projects and programmes for 2018/18 and 2019/20 of at least £5.169 million in each year to fund the Local Transport Plan 4-year Delivery Plan, as set out in paragraph 7.1 of this report.