To set out the progress to date on the development of the new Local Transport Plan (LTP) and seek comments from scrutiny.

The committee considered a report on the Local Transport Plan. The Chairperson introduced the officers to present the council’s report.

The principal points of the discussion are summarised below:

1. The Head of Transport and Access Services referenced the report as published in the papers and noted what the LTP development process is and the aim to have a draft LTP in place by the end of March prior to a period of public consultation.

2. The Chairperson asked what the risks of delay to the draft LTP timeline and what mitigations are in place.

3. The Service Director, Economy & Growth responded that the reason for delay to the programme is due to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was out to consultation following the General Election last year. The outcome of that was that housing numbers allocated to the county have risen significantly. Therefore, there needs to be consideration of the LTP alongside the growth in population in the county. In terms of the risks of delay from the original plans, there are no hard deadlines from government as to when the LTP needs to be finished. With the publication of the NPPF in December, the LTP team is working through the implications for that and how to take forward the Local Plan to manage that alongside the LTP.

4. The Chairperson asked what the likelihood of a draft LTP is for the March committee meeting.

5. Will Pratt (WSP) responded that a draft LTP and the required statutory environmental assessments should be ready by the end of March.

6. In response to a question about how alignment is ensured with the daughter documents to the LTP, such as the LCWIP, Will Pratt noted that the development of the LTP is cognizant of relevant related plans and strategies.

7. In response to a question about potential government revisions to the LTP guidance and funding for councils and LTPs, Will Pratt noted that the new government is looking to publish new LTP guidance and there might be links to carbon around that. The current draft Herefordshire LTP is mindful of the draft LTP guidance that was produced a few years ago.

8. In response to a question about whether the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is an iterative process and that the high-level objectives of the LTP have fully taken into account the SEA findings, Will Pratt noted that the objectives reflect what was approved at Cabinet and which went out to consultation. In terms of progressing the SEA, that has been done alongside and in an iterative process with the LTP. A draft of the SEA has to be consulted alongside the draft LTP which is being worked to.

9. Councillor Stef Simmons noted that in relation to the emerging strategy and priorities for the transport network, there is some concern that there is a lack of a priority for nature enhancement/protection in line with targets for a nature and climate emergency.

10. The Head of Transport and Access Services clarified that the council’s engagement mechanism with bus operators is  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37