Issue - items at meetings - Queen's Park Safer Routes to School Scheme

Report of the Director of Environment (copy attached).

(1)         That the Cabinet Member approves the initial principles of the proposed road safety measures and gives permission to begin formal public consultation.

12.1         The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of Environment seeking permission to begin public consultation on the Safer Routes to School Scheme measures.

12.2         The Cabinet Member advised that the locations had been chosen due to the number of collisions in the area during school journey times over the previous three years.  The proposed scheme would improve safety for families and children at Queen’s Park and Carlton Hill Primary Schools as well as the Royal Spa and Tarnerland Nurseries.

12.3         Councillor Mitchell welcomed the report and added that such schemes were a good way of involving schools and children in the process and raising awareness of road safety and sustainable travel in children at an early age.

12.4         Councillor West advised that, while he was supportive of the intention, he was not convinced that the measures proposed would make a significant enough difference to encourage people to feel safe enough to travel sustainably. He suggested that inclusion of Killed and Seriously Injured (KSI) casualties data would have helped to inform the decision on the proposals and queried why some suggestions made in the consultation had not been taken forward. He added that it was not clear from the report what the proposals hoped to achieve.

12.5         The Assistant Director for Sustainable Transport explained that KSI data was not easy to follow, but that the key information had been distilled into the report. He advised that small measures were capable of making a significant difference and that officers would feed Councillor West’s comments in relation to the motorcycle bay in Freshfield Road into the final proposals.

12.6         Councillor Theobald advised that the measures were aimed at reducing the number of casualties and that officers had proposing the best technical ways of achieving that aim. He encouraged residents and councillors to respond to the consultation.

12.7         The Director of Environment explained that Safer Routes to Schools schemes took an iterative approach, with the council working with the school to achieve improved safety for children travelling to and from school; the proposals in the report were intended for public consultation and the final proposals would come to a future Cabinet Member Meeting. She added that it was possible to implement a large number of smaller measures within the allocated budget in order to achieve the council’s road safety priorities.

12.8         RESOLVED - That having considered the information and the reasons set out in the report, the Cabinet Member accepted the following recommendation:

(1)         That the initial principles of the proposed road safety measures be approved and permission be given to begin formal public consultation.