Agenda item - Public Involvement

To consider the following matters raised by members of the public:

(a)           Petitions: To receive any petitions presented by members of the public;

(b)           Written Questions: To receive any questions submitted by the due date of 12 noon on the 14 December 2020;

(c)           Deputations: To receive any deputations submitted by the due date of 12 noon on the 14 December 2020.

(C)      DEPUTATIONS

(1)           Brighton Active Travel

54.1      The Committee considered a deputation requesting improvements to transport infrastructure to promote active travel in the city.

54.2      The Chair provided the following response:

“Thank you for your deputation.  I am pleased to see that you have brought together a group of people with a shared interest in making the city more accessible and attractive to cycle, walk and ‘wheel’ around.

Walking, cycling and wheeling in the city should be the number one travel choice for as many people as possible.  The recent focus on this as part of the Emergency Active Travel Fund measures makes it even more necessary to plan, consult on, and deliver better routes and infrastructure for everybody.  The report on this agenda is the next step towards achieving that, and our Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan will also significantly help with this in terms of longer term planning and investment.

Keeping our streets clear is really important and our licensing rules and Highway Inspectors mean that we are doing everything we can to avoid, minimise or remove pavement obstructions when they occur. 

In particular, pavement parking is a dangerous, selfish and unnecessary behaviour and the council has taken numerous opportunities to raise this matter with the Government.  The reference to the council’s webpage about this on your Twitter is welcomed and will help raise greater awareness the effects that this has on people’s mobility and safety, as well as the damage that it does to our pavements.

I agree that wider and level footways and pavements and lower speed limits are an essential part of enabling more accessible and active travel.   They also provide safe and socially distanced facilities for people.  A significant amount of our budgets are invested in repairing, replacing and improving surfaces – making them safe and attractive for people to use – and our carbon-reducing street lighting programme is also making a difference by making streets brighter and safer to use at night.   

Crossings are also so critical to reducing danger and severance by traffic.  We know how successful the zebra crossings have been at Seven Dials and we should do more of this wherever we can.  Using smart traffic signals is also a more efficient and safe way to manage the movement of people and vehicles on our busy streets.

We do need to able to look at every opportunity for communities to use their streets in a different way.  We already encourage and enable Street Parties and Play Streets, and School Streets, Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and making the city centre more liveable are further ways that we can achieve this.  We also need to create the right local environments, especially in the outer areas of the city, to enable people to choose a safe, sustainable and active form of travel for some of their journeys and reduce the number of local, short distance car trips. 

The delivery of the first two phases of the Valley Gardens have shown what we can achieve in the city centre with for cycling, walking and wheeling.  I look forward to the delivery of Phase 3 and the continuation of those routes down to the seafront. 

There is no doubt that we need to reduce congestion, by freeing up space and enabling those who need to drive, such as Blue Badge holders, to have access to their homes and the services they need.  By providing more and better infrastructure  

The improvements that have been delivered around the city have been achieved by the members of this committee working together to deliver the best outcomes for everyone.  Accessibility, safety and sustainability are my top priorities to ensure that the city’s residents, businesses and visitors can continue to enjoy it for many years to come”. 

54.3      In response to a query from Councillor Wares, the Lead Spokesperson provided details of the Brighton Active Travel member organisations.

54.4      Several members of the committee welcomed the deputation and the comments made on safer communities and pavement parking.

54.5      RESOLVED- That the Committee note the deputation.