Report of the Strategic Director, Growth and Development

The report presents a summary of progress on delivery of the aspirations and commitments of the Manchester Active Travel Strategy and Investment Plan.

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director, Growth and Development that provided a summary of progress on delivery of the aspirations and commitments of the Manchester Active Travel Strategy and Investment Plan.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Providing an introduction and background;

·         A summary of progress to date across a range of activities; and

·         Next steps.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

·         Was there any evidence that delivery of School Streets increased the levels of walking to and from school;

·         Should there be an ambition to have more than one school street per ward;

·         Noting that outside London, dedicated national funding for active travel had reduced in 2023 from approximately £308 million over the following two years to approximately £100 million, a reduction of around 67%;

·         Welcoming the update provided in relation to cycle hangars and asking what criteria was used to identify high demand areas;

·         The need to ensure that there was connectivity across local authority borders for active travel schemes;

·         Expressing concern that the temporary scheme on Deansgate was not meeting its ambition to increase walking; and

·         Were there any further low traffic neighbourhood schemes planned, noting that these schemes needed to be communicated and managed appropriately.

The Active Travel Lead, Infrastructure and Environment [MS1] stated that during the academic year 2022/23, seven primary schools had taken part in a pilot scheme to implement a ‘School Street’. He said that monitoring was incorporated as an element of the pilot and that an evaluation exercise would be undertaken, adding that initial feedback obtained had been very positive. With reference to the reduction in dedicated national funding he said that he shared the Committee’s frustration, however there was a pipeline of schemes that had been developed so that when funding opportunities did arise these could be bid for. In regard to cycle hangars he said that details of the locations would be released in early 2024, at around ten locations around the city, focusing on areas where there was known demand, and a large percentage of terraced houses or apartments. He confirmed that this information would be shared with Councillors at the appropriate time.  

The Interim Head of Infrastructure and Environment stated that the roll out of the Bee Network would improve active travel connectivity across local authority boundaries. In regard to the specific question regarding Deansgate he commented that this was a relatively new scheme and would continue to be monitored. The Strategic Director Development stated that the current scheme on Deansgate was a temporary measure and would be subject to change as part of the wider ambitions for Deansgate that were referenced in the table provided at 3.2 of the report.

The Executive Member for Environment and Transport stated that the lessons learned from the School Streets pilot would support the wider roll out of these schemes, noting that this required buy in from the schools and consideration of the surrounding neighbourhood as these could impact on them. She said that it was not the intention to limit School Streets to one per ward. She said that the ambition was to develop a network of support that included schools and local community groups to share learning and good practice and encourage schools to adopt this model. In regard to the comment raised in relation to low traffic neighbourhood schemes she said that consideration needed to be given to the use of appropriate language when articulating these and similar initiatives. She said that the ambition was to create a ‘streets for all’ model, with a distinct neighbourhood focus and that all local Councillors and residents would be consulted with on these plans and proposals as they developed.

The Chair commented on the ACES Europe Capital of Cycling bid adding that if successful this would significantly raise the profile of cycling across Manchester and would be very welcomed.

Decision

To note the report.