To receive the above report.

The capital programme detailed projects for the following year. Bids had been submitted and were listed in paragraph 2.3of the report. The capital programme referred to the draft cycling strategy and the implementation of local neighbourhood plans. As long as the bids did not change, items on the list could be swapped or prioritised.

Susy Shearer stated all the projects were worthy of funding and she thanked the officer for all his hard work. Susy added that she wanted to add Parsonage Lane where it joined the A308 to the list of projects as it was in need of resurfacing. It affected cyclists and Hatch Lane was the last link of the Clewer Corridor. The road surface was very poor with breakages at all sides of the cushions and edges of the road surfaces. The Chairman confirmed he would look into it and assess the road surface. Any remedial works would be carried out. The Principal Transport Officer confirmed that the timeframe for the projects to be carried out was 2019 – 2020 in time for Crossrail opening.

Residents requested an update on the adoption of Horseguards Drive consultation. The Chairman responded that residents had contacted him requesting that the cycle lane be moved from outside their homes. However, it had been operating as a part of a cycle route for a number of years. The Council suggested it would formally adopt that section of private road. A consultation would have to take place with all residents and if adopted, the Council would continue to pay for the upkeep. If residents did not want the adoption of the Drive to take place, an alternative route for the cycle lane would need to be found. The Chairman added that proposals and details of the consultation would be circulated to the Cycle Forum.

With regards to cycle parking at schools, the Principal Transport Officer stated that all schools were asked to provided details on their cycle parking. If a school had no parking or, they required more parking for cycles, they were prioritised within the capital programme over those with more than enough parking.

The Chairman confirmed how funding for large ticket items worked. He stated there was a grant funding bidding process; the LEP had funding available to improve links into the Town Centre from Maidenhead Station. Instead of using pedestrian routes, the Council felt it was better to have an alternative in place. That alternative was to provide a bridge from the station, over the Landings to improve links. Oxford Street had used an all movement crossing and all could use that at surface level. A bid had gone into the LEP for funding of either a bridge or, an all movement crossing.

Members of the Forum stated that Council spending on cycling still seemed to be very low with plenty more worthwhile schemes that could do with funding. The Chairman responded that the Cycle Forum had taken the view to increase funding for cycling throughout the Borough. It was a forum that was accountable to the Highways, Transport & Environment Overview & Scrutiny Panel and he would need to take those comments to the Lead Member for Highways requesting more funding to encourage more cycling in the Borough. Susy Shearer said cycling needed more funding and all the improvements needed to be integrated into one large scheme. She added that the Forum had been successful in getting the Advanced Stop Line (ASL) implemented at the top of Hatch Lane but it had faded a lot due to traffic. The Chairman confirmed he would try and get it repainted.

Members of the Forum raised concerns that the Borough did not match the spending of other European countries on cycling. The average in other countries was £10 per head; while the British Government only spent approximately £1 per head. They felt the Borough should be looking to spend £10 per head to get people cycling. There were a number of new houses being built in the Borough in the next five years and the Council could be bolder in their approach with new developments. The Principal Transport Officer confirmed that there was not school or Borough wide survey which collected data on what targets were to get their pupils cycling. He added it used to be collected through school census but that had been dropped so there were no figures. Central government received some small scale sample data on walking and cycling to schools. Just sending out a form to be filled in by a school was not a simple process; schools were not prepared to do it and it was hard work obtaining responses. The Principal Transport Officer added there was no way of counting who used cycle storage across the Borough as it required a large resource that the Borough did not have. There was an annual count to see how many were cycling around the two Town Centres.

The Chairman stated there was a Task & Finish Group being set up to look at the cycling strategy. Therefore, the issue of bike storage and encouraging cycling could be better discussed at those meetings with suggestions being made in the Task & Finish Group; he encouraged Members to get involved and attend the meetings.

v  Action: Update Members on spending on cycling within the Borough with regular updates to show if spending is decreased or increased.