NOTE OF MEETING – ACTION POINTS
Date of Meeting: 13November 2014 File: 13 November 14Cycling Forum minutes
Topic: NEWCASTLE CYCLING FORUM & CCAF STAKEHOLDER GROUP JOINT MEETING
In attendance: John Litherland (Chair CCAF Stakeholder Group) Cllr Marion Talbot (Chair Cycling Forum), Bill Dodds (Vice-Chair Cycling Forum), Cllr Stephen Psallidas, Graham Grant, Craig Blundred, Justin McLaughlin, Peter White(all Newcastle City Council), Heather Evans (CTC),Tom Bailey, Tony Russell (both Sustrans), Colin Green (Living Streets), Peter Riddell (British Cycling), David Stobbs (Newcastle Hospitals Health Improvement), Jim Dodds (Newcastle CVS), Chris Jackson, Chris O'Connor (both Newcastle Bicycle Couriers), Rachel Clarke, Andy Garbett, Tom King, Rorie Parsons (all Newcastle University), Chris Jackson, John Dixon, Nick Mason, Peter Macdonald, John Davies, Peter Hawthorn.
Apologies: Paul Snedker, Michelle Whitworth.
John Litherland (Chair, CCAF Stakeholder Group) welcomed everyone to the combined CCAF and Cycling Forum meeting, and apologised for the cancellation of the previous meetings. Cllr Marion Talbot (Chair, Cycling Forum) also welcomed everyone and said that Chairing future combined meetings would probably rotate between them.
1. Actions from previous Stakeholder and Cycling Forum meetings / Action
GG had compiled a list of these and actions taken to date, and he quickly went through this. The list will be placed on the website and circulated with minutes.
Active Travel: CB reported that Liz Jackson has been appointed as Cycling and Walking Co-ordinator. She is currently based at Walker Activity Centre. Email: / GG
2. Governance of cycling meetings
A paper had been circulated via the E-newsletter explaining the reasons for merging the Cycling Forum and the CCAF meetings. The paper includes suggestions such as:
- key stakeholders will be asked to nominate people to attend to represent their organisation, although members of the public would also be welcome
- meetings would be bi-monthly
- two special meetings would be arranged to attract or tie in to wider participation events
- Task and Finish Groups would be set up for certain areas of work.
The terms of reference for both meetings will be merged and following agreement by both Chairs these will be circulated via the E-newsletter for comment. / GG
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3. Update on the combined capital programme and progress report
PW went through a list which detailed progress on various capital works and this list will be placed on the website. The Strategic Routes Map was also displayed.
Strategic Cycle Routes
City Centre, John Dobson Street: A two-way cycle track is at the draft design stage, with worksplanned to commence in June 2015.
SCR 1 Elswick: Benwell Lane orders are out for consultation and objections have been received. Elswick Road is closeto a detailed design.
SCR 4 Gosforth:Officers are still in discussion with the University about the route past the Robinson Library as the University aren't keen to see a Strategic Route here. Students present offered their help to pressure the University to resolve this by promoting cycling internally. Ad-hoc cycle parking outside the Library and on nearby parapetsalso needs to be resolved.
Works at Brandling Park are due to start end March 2015 (delayed by utility works).
At Forsyth Road,works at the GNRjunction are substantially complete, but there are objections to the speed table planned on Forsyth Road. A note on what works need a Traffic Regulation Order and the process for dealing with objections will be circulated.
Proposals are out for consultation onJesmond Dene Road/Little Moorand objections have been received.Works are nearing completion at GNR/Hollywood Avenue and theBroadway roundaboutis to progress to detailed design. Further work will be done on the link north to Sandy Laneafter 1 April 2015.
SCR 6 Heaton:Draft designs are being progressed for a replacement footbridge over the Central Motorway but no funding is currently available (could cost £3m). The City Stadium link is nearly complete.
SCR 7 Walker:The bus operators aren't happy with the draft proposals for the City Centre toByker Bridgeand these need to be look at again.
It was made clear that the SCR routes are just the start and that it is planned to link these as further funding becomes available. A new member of staff, Justin McLaughlin, has been employed and has been conducting a review of all maps including plotting current cycle routes.
PW also reported that the DfT have confirmed that there is no intention to clawback monies if these aren't spent on time. All CCA Cities have big delivery issues, often due to objections being received. DfT have also appointed a Cycleproofing Strategy Officer.
Retail Areas, Adelaide Terrace: The bus operators aren't happy with the suggestion to remove the centre line here – further negotiations will follow.
DIY Streets: TB gave a short presentation which will be placed on the website.
A two-way cycle track outside Heaton, Ravensworth Primary Schoolisto be street trialled early December.Work is still ongoing on the other DIY streets.
Active Travel Centre: TB reporting that the lease for Higham House is very near to being signed by Sustrans. There has been good expressions of interest from potential partners to run a social enterprise cafe and cycle repair/maintenance/bike sales. Extensive fitting out will be needed and the planned opening date is now March 2015.
Frequently asked questions: MT announced that a list of "Frequently asked questions" was being looked at, with the intention of places this and the responses, on the website. / GG
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4. Future work across the city
GG gave a presentation which showed the works planned throughout the Newcastle area for the next few years, and this will be placed on the website. More detailed proposals for e.g. Blue House roundabout and some City Centre schemes, should be available at the next Forum meeting in January. He commented that for context the CCA £5.7m is around the same amount as the works planned for Haddricks Mill.
The business case for major schemes was queried and whether health and well-being were factored in. GG responded that they are (e.g. journey times saved by 1,000 pedestrians crossing Barras Bridge per hour) but they don't have as much weightin DoT models as other factors such as journey time savings for vehicles. He mentioned a toolkit "Valuing Urban Realm", developed by TfL to provide monetary values for proposed improvements to public space.
Monument Area: TB referred to the traffic management proposals recently consulted on to amend the existing traffic restrictions in this area. This would have banned cycling across the Monument area. GG referred to the other proposals consulted on and confirmed that the Monument area would remain as pedestrian priority, which includes use by cyclists. Those who had responded to the consultation would receive a written response shortly. / GG
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5. Monitoring the effectiveness of interventions
GG displayed a datasets slide which showed the headings of the various traffic data streams collected by the Council. This data is used by Newcastle University but is also available to others at with journey times and speed and flow details listed for many locations. The datasets slide and other details will be placed on the website.
The new Go Smarter website, which will include the new Journey Planner, will be available shortly.
Bicycle Account: Newcastle has now signed up to this project, and a common set of indicators have been agreed with the other Cities involved. Newcastle is currently unable to measure all the information it needs.
It was agreed to set up a Task and Finish Group to progress this, led by Bill Dodds. This will be a small group and include Justin McLaughlin (City Council), Sustrans and volunteers from Newcastle University and other interested partners.
Platform for Communities: AndyGarbett(Newcastle University) reported that he is developing an app which allows people to evaluate routes and cycle parking and then publicise the best ones. or
for cycle parking. / GG
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6. Cycle City Conference
GG reported that this Conference, organised by Landor Links,is planned for 24-25 June 2015 in Newcastle, and will be attended by the Secretary of State for Transport and around 600 professional delegates. There is also a Faculty of Public Health Conference at the Sage that week and it is hoped to end the week with the Sky Ride.
Newcastle Bicycle Couriers indicated that they may have rickshaws and big trikes in use by then.
It was agreed to set up a Task and Finish Group to look at putting on additional events. The Group will include Cllr Marion Talbot, the Council's Communications Officer, Craig Blundett (Health) and other volunteers. An informal meeting will be held next Tuesday and details of thismeeting will be circulated in the E-newsletter. Anyone interested in being involved should email . / GG
7. Communicating with people about cycling
Website: JLand Claire Prospert had met with Adele Bradley (web manager) to discuss the CCAF information on the website as this didn't compare well to the information shown on the Cycle City websites. GG will pick up on this and get back to JL,but he suggested that using the Go Smarter website might be a better option.
Information on works taking place: JL used the City Stadium works as an example. There had been no indication on-site e.g. signs and banners, indicating what the final works would look like and who these would benefit. This had also been discussed with Adele Bradleyand it had been agreed that we need to do a lot better when implementing other works. / GG
8. Notes of previous meetings
These were available.
9. AOB
Cycling Delivery Plan: MT reported that the Council had sent in a response which had been included in an E-newsletter, along with links to the responses made by CTC, Sustrans and the Newcastle Cycle Campaign.
10. Next meeting
There won't be a Cycling Forum meeting on Thursday, 4 December2014, although this date may be used for a Task and Finish Group meeting. A CCAF Stakeholder Group meeting was planned for Thursday, 22 January 2015 but this date has still to be confirmed as the date for the next joint meeting. / GG