To consider the findings of the Hereford Transport Strategy Review and the Peer Review of the South Wye Transport Package and Hereford Transport Package, recommendations made by the general scrutiny committee and determine any strategy proposals to be taken forward.

The leader of the council opened the discussion on this item, noting that it was eagerly awaited. He highlighted the climate emergency and that consideration of the planet was becoming more and more important. The decision to pause and review the transport strategy was felt to be correct in light of this and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic was a life changing shock which would have significant repercussions. Cabinet members had an important decision to make and should reflect on the ambitions in the adopted County Plan.

The cabinet member infrastructure and transport made an introductory statement. He reflected on the work that had taken place to review the options and find the best way forward. He commended the work and input of all involved and thanked members of the scrutiny committee for their thoughtful deliberations and recommendations. He concluded with an assurance that decisions would be based on sound evidence and made with the intention to deliver the best outcome for the future of the city and county.

The head of transport and access services introduced a presentation by officers. The presentation included comments from the consultant representing Mott Macdonald in relation to the peer review and critical friend work and from WSP in relation to the review of the Hereford Transport Strategy.

Cabinet members discussed the presentation and content of the report. The following key points were noted:

•               The strategic business case for the southern link road had not been submitted to DfT so no formal response had been received on that report;

•               There was an element of uncertainty on costs but the work within package A was scalable and did not have to be delivered all at the same time;

•               The council needed vision led plans for the future to respond to the climate emergency and to make an investment in the city overall, the evidence was now in place to underpin that new vision;

•               The report flagged the number of short trips taken each day within the city boundary, the majority of which were single persons, and reducing that figure would transform the experience of the city;

•               The strategy needed to work for everyone, supporting the economy and levelling up access to affordable and regular transport options for those households that did not have access to private vehicles;

•               There was a typographical error on page 56 of the WSP report (page 176 of the agenda pack) – the eastern link option c would link to the A438 Ledbury Road not Worcester Road as stated;

•               There was support for the introduction of a second river crossing in the city, while the quantitative measures for the western and eastern options were felt to be not dissimilar the cost of the western route was significantly higher in the report;

•               The impact of school travel on congestion was recognised and it was noted that this could be addressed by integrating elements from package B to improve school buses with the elements in package A to support safer walking and cycling routes;

•               The bus priority elements of package B were important so that those using the bus did not end up sat in the same traffic as they would in a car, switching from car to bus was an easier choice to make in bad weather than use of cycling or walking;

•               The health benefits of active travel measures should be considered;

•               Elements from the various packages could be brought together as a blend of options;

•               The bus options had significant revenue costs whereas other options in package C such as parking charges could generate revenue income to balance these out;

•               Resilience of the transport network was an important element and was included in the assessment under the economy heading;

•               The location of facilities such as park and ride sites should be carefully considered to manage how people came into the city from surrounding areas;

•               Previous work to model the impact of the southern link road with a package of active travel measures showed a transfer of traffic from Belmont Road to Ross Road with a reduction in rat running through some of the rural roads, however the flow north of the river would not change much from the introduction of the southern link road alone;

•               There was recognition that in rural areas there was little alternative to use of a car;

•               It was possible that the longer term impact of covid might be an increase in home working which would alter travel patterns;

•               Delivery of road schemes was estimated to take up to 10 years, including time to agree and design a specific scheme, receive democratic approval and planning consent and then to construct;

•               Cabinet members were aware that feedback from many residents highlighted concerns about congestion and a wish that this be tackled as soon as possible, however there were differing views as to how this should be achieved and in many cases residents did not have a specific preference on any one package of measures.

The meeting adjourned at 5:08 and resumed at 5:15. While hearing contributions from group leaders attendees agreed to extend the meeting beyond 3 hours.

Group leaders were invited to raise comments and queries on behalf of their groups. Views on which options should be progressed were mixed. The use of active travel measures and improvements in bus networks were widely supported. There was general recognition of the need for an additional river crossing to improve resilience of the network but no single view on where this should be. The following points were put forward:

•               The selected transport strategy needed to support the local economy, create a resilient system deliver value for money and reduce carbon emissions;

•               The A49 Hereford to Ross road should be upgraded and Highways England would need to play their part in progressing any packages put forward;

•               Alternative river crossings should be explored both within and outside the city;

•               Arguments in favour of an eastern link from Rotherwas to the Ledbury Road included improved access to the hospital, better access for emergency vehicles and reduced rat running through Hampton Bishop, Mordiford and Holme Lacy;

•               Arguments in favour of a western route highlighted that the review, which had cost nearly £500k, showed that a western bypass was the best way to reduce congestion and that the original transport package proposed had already included active travel measures and more space for buses and cycle routes by diverting travel;

•               The strategy should provide choice of movement and use options that unlocked the most potential for other aims, creating more growth would unlock land for houses and jobs that would be a greater return to the local economy;

•               It was queried whether most people would have time to use buses and that there might only be a small number of locations in the city where bus priority schemes could be introduced, affordability of any package was also a concern, particularly sustaining increased revenue costs in the long term;

•               It was frustrating that there were legislative challenges to establishing local bus services;

•               The easy wins should be implemented first, road schemes could take considerable time to bring forward;

•               The view that covid would significantly alter patterns in the long term was challenged but it was also noted that it provided an opportunity for everyone to consider how they commuted and to think about the importance of quality of life and access to the countryside.

The chairman of the general scrutiny committee presented the feedback and recommendations from the scrutiny session on the review report. He thanked all those who had taken part in the scrutiny meeting but questioned whether the committee had had enough time to do justice to all of the issues that needed to be considered. Of the 13 recommendations made a number queried if cabinet had all the information needed to make a judgement on how to proceed while a further recommendation highlighted the option to select a blend of measures from the various packages. The majority of the committee supported cancellation of the western bypass scheme and other major road schemes with the exception of an eastern river crossing. The chairman of the committee noted it was not a unanimous decision but that the committee was looking to move things forward. The final recommendation urged cabinet members to challenge the robustness of the report in their deliberations.

Cabinet members debated the points raised by group leaders and the recommendations of the scrutiny committee. Key points raised in this section of the debate were:

•               Cabinet members were happy to look at all options, however some of the options raised by the scrutiny committee would take time to explore and were not covered in the scope of this review;

•               Carbon offsetting would be explored in the next stages of the carbon management plan to see what was possible;

•               With reference to options such as the river bus scheme mentioned in recommendation (d) it might be for community groups to take these forward;

•               The critical friend work and peer review had been carried out to ensure the report was robust and a suitable evidence base on which to take decisions;

•               Package A – walking and cycling measures – was scalable and some elements such as the transport hub and St Owen’s cycle contraflow would soon be in place;

•               The view that a bypass would generate growth was challenged and as the top preference in the stakeholder analysis was investment in the bus network and reduction in fares it was disputed that the majority of people wanted a bypass, however it was also noted that the second highest preference was for new roads and a river crossing;

•               The park and choose sites in Herefordshire would benefit from more investment;

•               Some of the packages shared common options and some elements might be combined from different packages;

•               Cabinet members felt that all of the recommendations from the scrutiny committee could be broadly accepted for further consideration with the exception of recommendation K as the preference was for any eastern route to be taken as far as the A438 Ledbury Road.

At the conclusion of the debate the cabinet member finance and corporate services proposed that the preferred strategic transport package to be taken forward be a combination of packages A, B and E with the parking elements from the demand management (option 11) included in package C. This was seconded by the cabinet member health and adult wellbeing.

The cabinet member finance and corporate services explained that if this was the preferred package to be taken forward then the cabinet would need to be clear that work on the western bypass and southern link road must cease and appropriate action be taken to allocate financial resources to cover the costs incurred.

The monitoring officer advised that in the event that cabinet supported this recommendation a further report would be prepared setting out the financial implications of ceasing work on the two road schemes and the impact on the policy framework. Cabinet could not take the final decision itself as the proposal was contrary to the adopted policy of the Council. Instead Cabinet would need to make a recommendation to a meeting of the full Council following consideration of that further report.

It was resolved that cabinet:

(a)   notes and considers the review findings and the recommendations and comments of the general scrutiny committee;

(b)   identifies strategic transport packages A+ B + from package C demand management – option 11 car parking + E as the preferred options to take forward;

(c)   agrees the recommendations A to M of the general scrutiny committee which are set out at Appendix E with the exception of recommendation K;

(d)   seeks a further report to set out the implications of taking forward the preferred package(s) and confirms authority for subsequent work to proceed; and

(e)   with regard to the two road schemes (the southern link road and western bypass) is minded to recommend to

i.              stop progress of the southern link road; and

ii.            stop progress of the western bypass.