Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage and Councillor Andy McGuinness

There were no declarations of interest.

It was RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 1 November 2023 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

As a pre-scrutiny policy development item Members are invited to receive a presentation from Officers on a proposed cycle hire scheme for Stevenage, including locations and potential phases of the scheme.

Copy of the presentation slides to follow.

The Chair introduced Officers present, as well as Jill Borcherds and Tina Walker from Cycling UK, to present and speak on the item.

The Principal Planning Officer gave a presentation detailing the proposed cycle-hire scheme for Stevenage. There was a long history of cycling within Stevenage although recent data showed that only 3% of Stevenage residents cycle to work compared to around 68% driving.

The Principal Planning Officer highlighted the cycle hire scheme in Watford that was implemented in 2020. Watford had seen a 30% modal shift from car to cycling as a mode of transport to work and had over 33,000 users.

The cycle hire scheme would allow people to hire a bike for short durations. There were three types of schemes: docked, virtual, and hybrid. The proposed plans for Stevenage would be a docked scheme as it would reduce the possibility of the bikes being abandoned. The aim was to provide a public low-cost scheme that was inclusive to all and would complement the existing public transport. There would be 220 cycles with at least 45 docked stations accessible 24/7, 365 days a year. They were also looking at a scheme that offered the option to hire bikes with or without a smartphone. She added that they were looking at additional protections, such as extra locks or two step authentication, as some degree of vandalism was likely to occur as reported with most cycle hire schemes. However, Officers took lessons learned from other Local Authorities, including close partnership with the police and further advances in technology and expected vandalism to be kept to a minimum.

The Principal Planning Officer gave Members a brief overview of the timeline which included:

·       In 2019 Stevenage Borough Council commissioned a feasibility study with Transport Initiatives to explore things like the feasibility and where the docking stations could go.

·       SBC requested an update to this in 2023 after COVID and took into account the new developments and explored the current market.

·       In August 2023 Planning Policy Officers published a soft marketing brochure with the aim of gaining feedback. It was important that the potential suppliers aligned with the SBC vision and aims.

·       During August and September 2023 there was a consultation on the cycle hire scheme. Officers aimed to make this as user friendly as possible.

·       There was also an engagement event during the consultation period for business users and employers. Three suppliers attended and gave presentations of their models. There were also bikes for people to test and maps for people to show where they wanted docking locations.

·       There were three surveys – a cycle hire survey, a youth survey, and a map survey which allowed people to highlight various points of interest such as locations for docking, unsafe cycle routes, lack of signage, or lack of cycle storage.

·       There was a lot of data on how people travelled to work but not a lot of data on how people travel within Stevenage, therefore this was a focus of the survey.

·       Across  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To receive the draft report and recommendations of the Environment and Economy Select Committee’s review in local bus services.

The Chair expressed that the bus review was a helpful exercise and that he felt strongly about the first recommendation and that it was important to look at things like modal shift and behaviour change. He suggested the bus review should come back to the Committee and guests should be invited back annually or the portfolio holder should have regular conversations with bus operators.

Members gave opinions and suggestions on the recommendations which included:

·       Real time information at bus stops should be included in recommendation 2.

·       There were concerns around the switch to biodiesel and SBC should at least look at electric or other alternatives,

·       It was difficult for buses to do more than 20mph in certain roads due to traffic therefore recommendation 8 should look at other options, such as bus gates.

·       Regeneration of the town should be looked at as there weren’t bus routes in certain areas that there will be new developments, such as St Georges Way.

·       There was no mention of a spine service within the recommendations.

·       Other forms of public transport should be looked at in the future.

·       It was valid to challenge the current funding modal as Arriva were subject to review and weren’t doing well.

·       The site visit was positive and useful.

·       A park and ride was suggested, especially in areas such as the football ground.

·       The idea of a shuttle bus was seen as a positive.

·       The bus station should offer free Wi-Fi so people could access the timetable or see where buses were.

In response to various queries, the Scrutiny Officer and Assistant Director (Direct Services) advised that in terms of biodiesel, this had been trialled by Aviva but were unsure of the outcomes. A recommendation urging them to look at other options other than fossil fuels was a positive, but it didn’t have to be biodiesel, could be hydrogen or electric for example. The Scrutiny Officer agreed to include an image of a suggested electric shuttle bus to accompany Recommendation 9 (iii).

It was RESOLVED: That the draft report and recommendations of the Committee’s review into the bus service be noted.

To consider any Part 1 business accepted by the Chair as urgent.

A Councillor raised an issue of a diesel-powered novelty train that had been used in the town centre Event Island for a fun children’s activity arranged by Town Centre Management as it seemingly contradicted to the Councils commitment to the climate emergency.

Other Members agreed and suggested a balanced needed to be struck between events, such as the use of an ice rink in Event Island last year, and the commitment to climate change.

The Scrutiny Officer and Assistant Director (Direct Services) advised that it was reasonable to ask Officers to explore alternative options in terms of the train and consider the climate change implications.

To consider the following motions –

1.  That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as described in paragraphs1 – 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act as amended by Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006.

2.  That Members consider the reasons for the following reports being in Part II and determine whether or not maintaining the exemption from disclosure of the information contained therein outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

Not required.

To consider any Part II business accepted by the Chair as urgent.

There was none.