Issue - meetings

Local Walking and Cycling Infrastructure Plan Scrutiny Report

 

 

Meeting: 09/09/2025 - Connected Communities Scrutiny Committee (Item 77)

77 Local Walking and Cycling Infrastructure Plan Scrutiny Report pdf icon PDF 429 KB

To seek the views of the Connected Communities Scrutiny Committee on the draft Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP), prior to its consideration by Cabinet. The committee is invited to scrutinise the plan, provide feedback, and endorse its strategic direction. The report also outlines key findings from the public consultation and proposes next steps for refining and implementing the LCWIP.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The committee considered a report on the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP).

 

The principal points of the subsequent discussion are summarised below:

 

  1. The Transport Planning Services Manager presented that:

 

  1. The plan will be used to create a priority list of projects that officers will progress for design and delivery over the coming years and will work with external partners to ensure that the work they are doing reflects what the council wants in relation to local cycling and walking infrastructure. It also helps to unlock national funding as having an LCWIP allows the council to be a higher-rated council and provides more opportunities for grants.

 

  1. As part of the papers, the technical note is the basis of the LCWIP and provides the thinking behind the LCWIP.

 

  1. The public have been consulted with 1,713 unique visitors to the consultation page and 761 contributions with 340 subscribed for future updates.

 

  1. The main projects supported in the consultation were routes from residential areas in to the city.

 

  1. The next step of the LCWIP is to go to Cabinet to gain approval and once that is achieved, part of the Cabinet recommendation is to give approval to the Chief Operating Officer – Resident Services and the Cabinet Member Transport and Infrastructure to prioritise the list of routes to be delivered.

 

  1. In response to a question about what the political imperative is for driving the LCWIP forward, the Cabinet Member Transport and Infrastructure noted that there is no political imperative of it than if there is any need or want to move forward infrastructure projects, there has to be the basis of a plan to draw down the evidence to support any bids or applications made. It was noted that without these plans, bids will be unlikely to be successful for grant funding.

 

  1. The Transport Planning Services Manager noted that the five most popular improvements that the public are asking for are: quiet lanes, highway route upgrades, junction safety upgrades, traffic calming, and footway improvements. Accordingly, these priorities are taken into account when determining the allocation of funding.

 

  1. The Chief Operating Officer – Resident Services noted that active travel funding is already available. With an LCWIP in place, the council is hopeful that its grading will improve, thereby increasing the likelihood of securing additional funding.

 

  1. In response to a question about other LCWIPs and whether it would have been good practice to have had an implementation strategy at this stage, Rhiannon Evans (Active Travel England) noted that it is helpful to have one in relation to a capability assessment which is calculated on three things: 1. Leadership; 2. Network plans; and 3. Delivery.

 

  1. In response to a question regarding the rating system, Rhiannon Evans (Active Travel England) explained that all local authorities in England are assessed on a scale from 0 to 4, with Herefordshire currently rated at level 1.

 

  1. The assessment is based on three key criteria: (1) Leadership – the strength of policies and the presence of members who actively support  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77