Issue - meetings

Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/22/23) on the 20mph projects prioritised for delivery in 2022/23, attached.

An Impact Assessment has also been prepared and is attached for the attention of members at the meeting. The Assessment is also available on the website - 20mph projects prioritised for delivery in 22/23 - Impact Assessment (devon.gov.uk).

In addition, at full Council on 26 May 2022, a Notice of Motion on 20mph scheme delivery was referred to the Cabinet for consideration.  The Notice of Motion is considered within the Report and Cabinet is asked to consider the content of this when deciding its recommendation back to Council (later in the agenda of this meeting).

RESOLVED

(a) that the recommended 20mph schemes for delivery in 2022/23 (pending

detailed design, costing, and democratic process), be approved;

(b) that the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport in

consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highway Management and local

Member be given delegated authority to approve the detailed design for each

scheme; and

(c) that the content of the Report be taken into account when making a

recommendation to Council on the Notice of Motion on the Implementation

Process for 20mph Roads and zones, later on the agenda for the meeting.

(Councillors Adams, Bailey, Biederman and Brazil attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/22/23) on the 20mph projects prioritised for delivery in 2022/23, circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012. This was following the agreement of a framework for assessing and prioritising requests for 20 mph Speed Limits (20SPLs) at Cabinet in December 2021, at Appendix 1 to the Report.

In February 2022, Members were invited to engage with their communities and put together expressions of interest for new 20SPL schemes. 105 expressions of interest had been received which had been reviewed against the framework and placed in priority order according to the adopted ranking system (See Appendix 2 for the full list of schemes submitted, the top 23 with scores).

The following sites had been recommended and were included at Appendix 3:

-       Tiverton (Mid Devon) – Selected areas

-       Ashburton (Teignbridge)

-       Atherington (North Devon)

-       Winkleigh (Torridge) – Selected area

The sites were identified as priority sites via the scoring matrix. In addition to scoring, the sites were recommended for progression as they:

-       provided a fair split over the County, covering 4 district areas

-       provided a range of environments for study; “A” and “B” roads, schools, residential, commercial, and rural; and

-       could be delivered within the available budget.

If agreed, detailed design would be progressed in liaison with the Local Member.

The Cabinet noted that the recommendations of the Report aligned with the Authority’s Strategic Plan 2021-2025 (The best place - Strategic Plan (devon.gov.uk)) to address climate change; reduce carbon emissions by encouraging modal shift for local trips by making walking and cycling safer and easier.

An Impact Assessment had been prepared and circulated with the agenda for the attention of Members at the meeting as well as published on the website - 20mph projects prioritised for delivery in 22/23 - Impact Assessment (devon.gov.uk). It was expected that introducing appropriate 20SPLs would assist in community cohesion and focus resources to areas where there was a higher risk of residents being affected by road safety matters.  By including within the framework, the Index of Mass Deprivation this should help prioritise those areas with greatest need.

The Report also referred to the Notice of Motion on 20mph scheme delivery which had been referred to the Cabinet for consideration from Council on 26 May 2022.  This highlighted that a budget of £100k had been allocated for 20SPLs for 2022/23 through the Local Transport Plan which would provide for schemes as detailed in Section 3 of the Report. In addition, Cabinet was due to consider the allocation of the 2023/24 Local Transport Plan Integrated Transport Block in the autumn at which time consideration could be made for future funding of 20mph speed limits alongside the other priorities for delivery.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 188