To provide an update on the Council’s Active Travel Programme and School Streets Initiative, and to seek approval of an experimental School Street on Downing Road and Lambourne Close, Reading.

The Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report providing an update on the Council’s Active Travel Programme. The report also provided an update on the Council’s School Streets Initiative.

The Council’s Active Travel Programme

At the meeting of Policy Committee on 18 May 2020 (Minute 97 refers), members approved progression of a series of Active Travel proposals in Reading. These proposals had been presented in response to the Coronavirus Pandemic which, alongside the Climate Emergency, had dramatically enhanced the focus on enabling greater levels of active travel through the provision of walking and cycling facilities.

The report explained that in June 2020 the DfT had formally announced the Active Travel funding Programme and confirmed the available funding (subject to application) for each authority. The Council had been allocated indicative funding in two tranches: £295k in the first tranche and £1,179k in the second tranche.  Appendix A was a map showing the Tranche 1 schemes and the Tranche 2 schemes.

On 2 July 2020 the DfT had announced the outcome of the Council’s Tranche 1 application. The award was 75% (£221,240) of the indicative allocation. 

The report set out the progress of the Tranche 1 schemes.  Officers confirmed at the meeting that all of the Tranche 1 schemes had been completed and that they would be commencing a review of these schemes early in 2021. The Committee would be provided with updates on progress in the coming months.     

On 10 July 2020 the DfT had announced the guidance and process for applying for Tranche 2 funding.  The Council’s Tranche 2 Active Travel Bid for the sum of £1.179k had been submitted to the DfT on 7 August 2020. The Council’s Programme of improvements which formed the Tranche 2 bid to the DfT had comprised two ‘core’ schemes and three further supplementary schemes, in addition to a package of promotional activities. The Council’s list of proposed schemes which formed the Tranche 2 bid were set out in the report. 

The report stated that the DfT had confirmed that the announcement on the Tranche 2 funding was imminent.

At the meeting, Officers reported that on 13 November 2020 the Council had received notification from the DfT that the provisional allocation of £1.179k had been approved. The Council was waiting for the detailed grant conditions on Tranche 2 from the DfT, but with a clear communication from the DfT of the need to carry out publication consultation on the proposed schemes. The Council would, in any event, be consulting fully on any Active Travel proposals before being implemented. Officers noted that they may wish to review the priorities, given that the schemes for this second tranche had been drawn up some six months ago. 

The Committee discussed the report and commended Officers on the progress that had been made in delivering the Tranche 1 proposals in September 2020. It welcomed the provisional allocation of Tranche 2 Active Travel funding of £1.179k that had been announced by the DfT, noting that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10