Overview of proposed programmes and projects.
Minutes:
This was presented by Dominic Millen Interim Head of Strategic Transport Planning Sustainable Regeneration.
The officer advised that in 2019 the council adopted its local implementation plan which set an overarching framework for transport programmes across the council. To support the delivery of the local implementation plan Transport for London used their funding to provide financial assistance to boroughs across London, this was referred to as LIP funding. The LIP funding worked in three-year circles with annual spending submissions from each borough. The next three-year cycle would start in 2025/26 where boroughs will prepare a 3-year LIP plan. However, there was an exception during Covid-19 pandemic where the cycle went down to three months to meet the immediate needs during the pandemic.
It was advised there were currently:
· 18 healthy school streets and 6 healthy neighbourhoods which have been
· Brighton road highway safety
· Over 2,900 children and 900 adults have received cycle training
· 33 new hangars provided for residents
· Reconnected Croydon project
The officer noted that funding for LIP came from the central government’s main capital grant rather than their revenue streams, so the grant amount varied from year to year. The officer highlighted new programmes withing the LIP scheme:
· Borough Safter Streets – Value of the scheme is between 0.5 million to 5 million which manages data on historic collisions and future collisions
· Better Bus partnerships – Three boroughs a year will be allocated up to 10 million to deliver better bus infrastructure
To aid the delivery of these programmes the Council aims to support the Mayor of Croydon’s business plan and the council transformation programme including:
· Further sections of active travel routes
· Tackling road safter priority location – (safter streets scheme)
· Reducing bus journey times
· More funding for Croydon town centre improvement
The officer added that identification of areas for intervention were guided by the local and TFL data which highlighted priority areas. The plan for 2025/26 funding included:
· Reconnected Croydon Programme
· Healthy neighbourhood and schools – Addiscombe East/West healthy neighbourhood
· Active Travel Route extensions – Routes in Croydon that will be brought forward in Croydon
· Cycle and Parking Training – Ongoing training for children and adults
· Bus Priority – Delivery of Addington village interchange improvement
· Safter Streets – New schemes and bringing forward the Portland Road scheme which has been identified as a priority
· Better Bus Partnership – Contiuous work to unlock the 10 million pound funding for improvement of bus infrastructure in Croydon
The total estimated funding needed for these projects and schemes was £4,325.000The officer concluded by speaking about next steps which included:
The EQIA and internal Council sign off would go to Council on 20November 2024 This would then be submitted to TFL for comments January 2025 with the final submission in February 2025. Once approval of funding was received in March 2025 work would commence on the programmes and projects.
After the officer’s presentation the forum was open for questions from the attendees.
Charles King asked about the possibility of a new bus route run through old town. Dominic Millen responded stating that buses cannot serve all service points within the boroughs as opposed to taxis that can convey passenger to their exact destinations. Options of new routes with reason could be explored, dependent on the needs of members of the public.
Rob Varney a representative from Transport for London advised adding further bus routes cost an average of £300,000 year. Added additional routes in a congested area would provide poor bus priority and lengthened route journey times.
Councillor Rowenna Davis asked about an incident near Aerodrome School in Waddon caused by an ongoing traffic issue and whether there would be funding for new healthy school street applications.
Dominic Millen stated that the next round of funding for healthy school streets had been allocated to the progress of ongoing schemes but encouraged the Councillor to submit the application so that the team would be aware of new streets that could be included in the scheme in 2026/27.Isabelle Clement Chief Executive of Wheels for Wellbeing queried the budget for the bicycle hangers and cycle training and whether there would be room in next year’s budget to include the hire of bicycles for disabled children. The Officer agreed to pass this information onto colleagues leading on the scheme, to include it in the next funding bid.
In response to questions about the collection of road safety data, the officer responded that information collected from TFL, London Metropolitan Police, speed cameras, Speedometers and additional funding would help to identify priority areas for traffic and speed control intervention.
The officer agreed with the Chair of the forum that the items discussed would be added to the forward plan before the next meeting and suggested that subgroups were created to focus on specific areas of concern.