Agenda item

To receive a presentation on Local Transport Plan (Movement for Growth) review Green Paper.

The Board’s views were sought to inform the review of the Local Transport Plan.

The Local Transport Plan was a statutory document prepared by Transport for the West Midlands as part of the West Midlands Combined Authority in its role as Integrated Transport Authority. The Plan covered the seven West Midlands metropolitan local authorities and as such, formed the adopted transport strategy and policies for Sandwell.

The Plan set out the highway authority’s policies, strategies, objectives and targets for improving transport over a five year period.  Annual progress reports were submitted to the Department for Transport so that they could be used to inform the development of policies on local transport, inform and support policies on land use and place making, inform decisions on capital funding for local authorities and monitor the delivery of objectives and targets. 

The Board noted the achievements from the current Plan, which had contributed to securing significant amounts of funding from the Transforming Cities Fund, Housing Deal and West Midlands Future Mobility Zone.

To better inform the preparation of the 5th Local transport Plan, Transport for West Midlands had published a Green Paper: Reimagining Transport in the West Midlands: a conversation about change, which would form the basis for engagement with elected members, partner organisations, key stakeholders and the wider public.

The key drivers behind the new Plan were:-

•        Tackling Climate Change.

•        Creating a fairer society.

•        Becoming healthier and more active.

•        Supporting places and communities.

•        Sustaining economic success.

These aligned well with the ambitions of the Sandwell Corporate Plan. The Plan would, along with the Black Country Plan, be a key element in the physical and economic development of the Borough.

The reviewed Plan would include separate area strategies for Coventry, Birmingham and Solihull, and the Black Country. These area strategies would provide more specific detail on the application of the strategy and the projects and programmes required to support them.

The final Plan would be approved by the West Midlands Combined Authority Board in Summer 2022.

Members of the Board made the following comments/observations: -

·       Behaviour change was needed, and personal mobility was key. 

·       E scooters were a nuisance in some neighbourhoods.

·       The Council should look at other European cities to see how their success could be mirrored in Sandwell.

·       The whole of West Midlands needed to be prioritised in terms of convenient public transport journeys, and not just journeys to Birmingham i.e. it was often quicker to travel the longer distance by bus to Birmingham than it was to a local town centre, therefore people were more likely to choose to drive. 

·       The M6 motorway was a huge contributor to traffic congestion.

·       There needed to be some focus on Sandwell’s canal network, which had not been upgraded like other local authority areas.

Officers responded to members’ comments/observations with the following points:-

·       E-scooters were currently being trialled in some areas and the outcome of the trails would help to identify the best ways of integrating them into the existing transport network.

·       The challenge was the same across the developed world, for example, Amsterdam and Copenhagan, still had comparable rates of car transport despite the high cycle usage.

·       As an area synonymous with car manufacturing, decreasing car usage in West Midlands would be a challenge so incentives needed to be considered to make other modes of transport more attractive.

·       There needed to be a trade off against improving the environment but also keeping life moving.

·       Analysis of trips indicated that the congestion on the M6 was caused by short journeys, which was not the purpose the motorway was built for. It would be a challenge to change these behaviours.  The toll road had not addressed the issue.

·       Clean air zones were a useful method of driving change in particular areas but did not help to reduce carbon levels.

The Board asked for a further update in due course, as the development of the plan progressed.