To consider the above report

Gordon Oliver, Principal Transport Officer explained to the Panel the Cycling Strategy was a 10 year plan which had been developed over time with the Cycle Forum. An extensive consultation had taken place which involved the Cycle Forum, the public and the Area Action Plan. The Cycle Forum was keen to have the plan adopted and the Lead Member wanted to set up a Task and Finish Group for the strategy.

The Chairman stated the UK was lagging behind other countries in promoting cycling. Bradley Wiggins winning the Tour de France had put the spotlight on the sport and so the country should be building on from that success. Councillor Dudley referred to paragraph 4.2 of the report stating the Borough had been provisionally awarded funding from the LEP and there was significant work going on in the Borough with a focus on regeneration. The Task and Finish Group should invite a dialogue with Countryside to ensure there was a joined up approach to cycling provision. Councillor Sharma stated that with the Borough Local Plan (BLP) and the Station Opportunity Area, now was the right time to discuss cycling policy. The focus should be on transport, infrastructure and cycling.

Councillor Hunt said she had read the comments in the report and congratulated Gordon Oliver on the work he had carried out. However, she did not feel people would want to travel to work by bike if the roads remained dangerous. Businesses would step in to provide cycling facilities in the work place but, safe routes needed to be found and seriously considered and not be a token effort. Councillor Dudley stated the A4 Cycle Way was not something the borough was progressing but, Bucks were progressing their side of the route; when the Task and Finish group was established, it would need to form a dialogue with other local authorities for a joined up approach.

Councillor Story said there was an Ascot and Sunnings Area Action Plan and a cycle route from Ascot through to Windsor should be included in the Task and Finish Group’s work. Gordon Oliver confirmed there had been extensive work carried out to establish such a route but, there were too many challenges to overcome with landownership issues and lots of ditches. It had got to the stage where it was costing an enormous amount of money with major resistance from third parties. Due to those obstacles, the Crown Estate had agreed to allow cycling through Windsor Great park at night. Councillor Grey suggested leaving the possibility of the Ascot to Windsor route in the strategy as it was a 10 year plan and things changed over time so it may be explored again in the future.

Councillor Sharma said the financial implications were £75k and £30k for 2017 but there was an awful lot more investment going into other areas. Ben Smith, Head of Highways and Transport confirmed there was direct Capital funding and investment from developers and a further bid to the LEP being submitted.

Councillor Da Costa said the plan was at the very early stage of development and when looking at routes there were real challenges. It was a challenge getting cyclists to use shared spaces. He queried whether the Task and Finish Group were to assess issues and consult with groups and cross match those discussions with Regulation 19 of the BLP. Would the Group look at how the Council built in cycle routes to the plan. He wanted the final plan to be brought back to Panel before going to Full Council for the final decision. Councillor Dudley stated the extent of the remit was to have discussions with Countryside regarding the regeneration and the budget from the LEP. Work would be done to achieve further gains to relieve pressure on roads and infrastructure. Andy Jeffs, Executive Director said the Task and Finish Group would draft a plan and use it as a basis to review cycling activity for the next 10 years. It would also be used to speak to groups involved in the regeneration of the Borough.

Councillor Story queries what the Borough was going to do to ensure there was on train capacity for cyclists; there was a point made on page 45 of the report that many adults had not cycled for years; therefore, the Task and Finish Group should look at a Boris Bike style scheme to get adults back into cycling. Councillor Hunt stated the Borough needed to make cyclists feel safe and also needed to take traffic off the roads. A Park ‘n’ Ride scheme with lots of buses would help so cyclists could cycle into town safer. Councillor Dudley confirmed that Councillor Bicknell had long mentioned setting up a Boris Bike type scheme in the Borough and that now was the time to really look into how the borough could implement such a scheme while a lot of regeneration was going on. The Chairman suggested inviting the Chambers of Commerce to get involved to try and find sponsors for the scheme.

Councillor Da Costa queried if the cycling strategy formed a part of any overall transport strategy, Gordon Oliver confirmed the Borough did not have strategies for particular forms of transport but, the Cycling Plan could be incorporated with the transport strategy.

Councillor Sharpe suggested contacting the CCG’s to see if there were any available funding streams for the Cycling Plan. The Chairman agreed it was worth contacting them. Councillor Sharpe also encouraged businesses to pay a nominal amount to those who chose to cycle to work as he had seen this scheme implemented successfully elsewhere to encourage cycling.

The Chairman agreed to open the membership of the Task and Finish Group to members of the public.

The Panel agreed to the Task and Finish Group reporting back in three months to update the Panel on its findings.

v  Action – the Principal Transport Officer to bring the Cycling Plan back to Panel with an update on progress in three months.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Panel endorsed the recommendations to Cabinet and wished to make the following additions to the Cycling Plan:

v  To look into options for a Boris Bike scheme which would be known locally as Bicknell Bikes.

v  To maintain inclusion of a possible cycle through route from Ascot to Windsor.