Agenda item

To receive the North Tyneside Transport Strategy Annual Report.

Cabinet received the North Tyneside Transport Annual Report outlining activities and trends relating to transport in the Borough over the last year.

The Authority was responsible for managing the borough’s network of highways, cycling, wheeling, and walking routes, alongside a range of other transport responsibilities. The North Tyneside Transport Strategy was originally adopted in 2017 and an updated version was approved by Cabinet on 18 October 2021. The document sets out the Authority’s vision for transport in the borough.

The strategy sought to ensure that “North Tyneside will have a safe, easy to use, healthy, affordable, accessible and integrated travel and transport infrastructure that works for residents, businesses and visitors effectively and efficiently”, and sets out five principles which were key to achieving this. As transport was a major contributor to carbon emissions, it had a vital part to play in the Authority’s response to its declaration of a Climate Emergency.

The report outlined that North Tyneside’s transport network was becoming safer, reflecting the Authority’s significant and targeted investment over recent years. Cycling was becoming even more prevalent as a way of getting around North Tyneside and the Authority continued to develop the ‘Go Smarter’ activities delivered through schools, including road safety education and Bikeability cycling training.

The updated North Tyneside Transport Strategy was approved by Cabinet on 18October 2021 and sets out the Authority’s vision for transport in the borough. It seeks to ensure that “North Tyneside will have a safe, easy to use, healthy, affordable, accessible and integrated travel and transport infrastructure that worked for residents, businesses and visitors effectively and efficiently”. It sets out five principles which were key to achieving this.

In order to provide regular information about transport in North Tyneside, the Transport Strategy contained a commitment to provide an annual information report to Cabinet.

Since the Transport Strategy was originally adopted in 2017, the following policies and strategies relating to transport in North Tyneside had been adopted; work was underway to update certain of these documents to reflect the revised Transport Strategy adopted in 2021:

·         Transport and Highways Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) – adopted May 2017; updated version in preparation

·         Highway Asset Management Plan (HAMP) – adopted September 2017

·         North Tyneside Parking Strategy – adopted February 2018; updated version prepared

·         North Tyneside Cycling Strategy – adopted March 2018

·         North Tyneside Travel Safety Strategy – adopted March 2018

·         North Tyneside Network Management Plan – adopted October 2018

·         North Tyneside Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) Strategy – adopted November 2021

·         North Tyneside Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy – adopted February 2020

·         North Tyneside Home to School/College Transport Policy – refreshed 2020

One of the Transport Strategy’s key principles involved reducing carbon emissions, by encouraging modal shift and taking part in regional initiatives to encourage wider adoption of low-carbon technologies in both vehicles and transport infrastructure. The importance of this objective was emphasised when full Council formally declared a Climate Emergency at its meeting on 25 July 2019.

Transport accounted for just over a third (34% in 2019) of the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions, and since 2016 transport, rather than energy supply, had been the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the UK.  In order to deliver the Authority’s carbon net-zero aims it was therefore vital that the Authority met its objectives and made transport more sustainable. The Our North Tyneside Plan commits the Authority to publishing an action plan of the steps it would take and the national investment it would seek to make North Tyneside carbon net-zero by 2030.

The annual report attached as Appendix 1, covered the period 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 and sets out relevant local transport data.  A Transport Strategy Data Factsheet summarising the key performance data for 2021/22 was included as Appendix B to the annual information report. The Network of Strategic Cycle Routes (“Tub Map”) was attached at Appendix C, and the 2019-2021 Collision Cluster Locations for the period 2019-21 at Appendix D.

The five principles of the Transport Strategy guide the Authority’s actions and acted as a framework for measuring performance. The annual information report summarised the Authority’s performance against each of the following principles in section 1.5.3 of the report:

1. Reduce carbon emissions from transport;

2. Improve health outcomes;

3. Support inclusive economic growth;

4. Improve connectivity; and

5. Manage demand and enable smart choices for all.

Resolved that the content of the North Tyneside Transport Strategy Annual Report report and associated supporting information contained within Appendix 1 to the report, be noted.