To receive the above report.

The Panel agreed to discuss the Public Bike Share Scheme and the Cycling Action Plan together as one item.

The Principal Transport Officer stated the Bike Share Scheme allowed members f the public to hire bikes for short term or longer journeys similar to the Santander Bike Scheme in London. The Principal Transport Officer had looked at various schemes and invited providers to give a presentation. He had reviewed guidance from Bike Plus and looked at other schemes across the UK.

The Principal Transport Officer suggested the Borough defer the scheme until cycle routes had been improved and he requested further work to see how cross-boundary trips could be done and integrated with local Borough schemes. If a scheme was introduced, it would need to be designed with sensitivity due to the historic, security and space limit issues.

With regards to the Cycling Action Plan, the Principal Transport Officer stated a draft of the plan had been presented to Panel in 2017 but, it needed work. A Task and Finish Group was set up and that looked at the plan in great detail, changes were made and now there was a final document with its track changes showing the changes made due to the consultation and Task and Finish Group process, shown as the appendix to the report.

The changes included an updated evidence base, a reference to the Borough Local Plan, the Bike Share Scheme, the Close Pass Initiative and highlighted all recommendations from the all-party Parliamentary Cycling Group to increase spend to £10 per head. The Plan contained proposals for new routes and high priority schemes. The Task and Finish Group were hoping to get funding of £5m for the initiatives. The Cycle Forum was keen to have the plan adopted and the Principal Transport Officer commended the Task and Finish Group on their vigour when producing the Plan.

The Chairman expressed his sincerest thanks to the Task and Finish Group for all their hard work, particularly attending meetings earlier in the year due to the terrible weather. He added when he looked at the document, the Panel agreed to set up a Task and Finish Group and the vision and aim of the Group was to establish a cycling culture. It was to make cycling be seen as a safe, attractive and normal way of transport. Cycling should be an integral activity when designing new builds. The Chairman thanked Councillor Derek Wilson for Chairing the Task and Finish Group.

Councillor D Wilson thanked the Cycle Forum and officers for their dedication and hard work in bringing the Cycling Action plan together and working hard on the amendments. He sated he would like the Panel to endorse the contents and push it to Cabinet to be officially adopted. He added that the Plan was just one aspect if the Borough wanted to encourage people to cycle. All departments within the Council needed to look at the Cycling Action Plan and use it to help when making plans or implementing schemes.

Councillor D Wilson said of the Bike Share Scheme, the Cycle Forum had looked at suppliers of both dockless and docked bike systems and there was the possibility of getting sponsorship for the scheme. However, before a Bike Share Scheme could be implemented, the Council needed to look at the missing links such as going north to south in Maidenhead as the routes could be quite hazardous.

Susy Shearer thanked the Borough for the opportunity to take part in the Task and Finish Group. As a member of the Task and Finish Group, she could say that everyone that contributed had intimate knowledge of the areas they commented on. She added there really needed to be investment to encourage cycling and to make it a safer activity. Councillor Bicknell stated one issue was the cyclists that race. They used the road and refused to use any other routes or paths. It was important to make it clear that there were cycle routes and cycle paths that needed to be used. Councillor Bicknell’s son used shared pathways and sometimes used the pavements as it was safer but, some cyclists refused to use cycle paths. The Principal Transport Officer responded if people were confident cyclists, they could use the roads if they wanted to. If the Council provided good facilities, people would want to use them so it was about standards of provision.

Councillor E Wilson stated the policy of maintaining bike racks in academy schools was not addressed as some academy schools might not want to maintain them. He would like to have seen something in the Plan about that as residents might ask why the Council was spending money in academy schools installing the bike racks without ensuring they were maintained. Councillor Sharpe said the Council should support cycling but it should be looking at how to join communities together by cycling and join routes away from roads such as using fields and keeping cyclists away from roads to make use of other routes. He added there needed to be a better join between Ascot and Windsor as there was no off road facility through Windsor Great Park. Councillor Hunt stated the Panel were looking to try and get people to cycle for work and leisure but they were two different activities. A list of routes included the A4 but, very few people would use that as it was so dangerous. The list needed to be looked at again. Susy Shearer thanked Members for their comments and stated a great deal of time had been spent trying to locate as many different off road routes as possible. Where possible, the Council should try and improve road conditions to improve the road for all users. The Principal Transport Officer stated he was happy to look at bike racks along Dedworth Road. He said the Ascot to Windsor route was a real challenge. Cyclists could use the paths in Crown Estate land after dark now which was an improvement on the situation.

Councillor Da Costa stated he liked the idea of the docked Public Bike Share Scheme and that there was a high level of interest in the scheme. He requested a similar Task and Finish Group for the Bike Share Scheme when the idea was ready to move forward with. Councillor Quick said she agreed with everyone regarding the huge amount of work that had gone into the Cycling Action Plan. She stated it needed a joined up approach. Local schools were running bike-ability schemes and she wanted to encourage children and schools to increase cycling. Councillor Quick suggested helping children stay safe on their bikes by providing equipment such as lights and hi-vis clothing and ensuring bikes were in good, safe working order. Tony Carr, Traffic and Road Safety Manager responded he could look into running a road safety campaign and that it was a legal requirement to ensure bikes were safe. He added advertising could be used to make cycling safer. The Principal Transport Officer stated he did some work with schools to get schools to adopt hi-vis backpacks as part of their school uniforms. The Council also offered bike-ability courses at levers one to three in schools.

Councillor E Wilson stated the Principal Transport Officer might want to talk to Children’s Services regarding reviewing bike shelters when schools were expanding. Academies could be one area where bike shelters could be included. The Principal Transport Officer stated he had covered all schools in the Borough including academies to explain the Borough did not maintain the bike shelters.

1         DETAILS OF RECOMMENDATION(S)

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Highways, Transport and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Panelnoted the report.