Agenda item

Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/24/63) on the Tranche 3 Capital Schemes of the Bus Service Improvement Plan, attached.

An Impact Assessment has been prepared for the attention of Members at the meeting. This is attached and available at Barnstaple Rail Station Bus Integration Enhancements - Impact Assessment (devon.gov.uk)

RESOLVED

(a) that the advertising of the traffic regulation orders necessary for the

schemes in the Report be approved, and, in the absence of objections, to

make and seal the orders subject to the requirements of the legislation and

the council’s procedures;

(b) that, subject to the resolution of the traffic regulation orders, the

construction of the Barnstaple Rail Station Bus Integration Enhancements

scheme be approved, within the budget of £785,670;

(c) that, subject to the resolution of the traffic regulation orders, the

construction of the schemes within the Countywide Pinchpoint Removal

programme be approved, within the budget of £346,571;

(d) that the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport be given

delegated authority, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highways

Management, to make minor amendments to the relevant advertised Orders

in relation to the Countywide Pinchpoint Removal programme; and

(e) that the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport be given

delegated authority, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Climate

Change, Environment and Transport and the relevant Local Member to make

minor amendments to the Barnstaple Railway Station scheme.

(Councillors Biederman, Leaver and Whitton attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item raising questions on Sticklepath Terrace and links with cycle schemes).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/24/63) seeking approval for the Tranche 3 Capital Schemes of the Bus Service Improvement Plan, 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.

The Cabinet noted that Bus services were well documented to have significant social, economic and environmental benefits and recognising the value of buses, in 2021 the Government published its National Bus Strategy, which provided a pathway to help bus services improve following the COVID-19 pandemic.

This Strategy required local transport authorities to form Enhanced Partnerships with bus operating companies, and to publish a Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP). The Council’s BSIP had been developed and approved by Cabinet on 13 October 2021, and an Enhanced Partnership formed.

In 2022, the Council had been allocated £14.1 million BSIP funding, split into capital (£8.8 million) and revenue (£5.3 million) for a three-year period from 2022/23 to 2024/25. All schemes were subject to final approval from the Department for Transport. The Report covered the final tranche of BSIP capital schemes (following BSIP scheme Cabinet approvals in October 2023 and July 2024).

The Report highlighted the proposals as follows:

1. Barnstaple Rail Station – a number of changes were proposed (2D scheme in Appendix 1) to overcome the current barriers to seamless connections between rail and bus, as well as for onward walking and cycling connections, for instance towards the town centre. An overview of the existing road network in the vicinity of Barnstaple Rail Station was shown in the Report and the existing road layout and parking/waiting facilities at the station.

The scheme was being developed in partnership with GWR, the operator of trains serving Barnstaple rail station, and Network Rail, the owner of Barnstaple rail station and other rail infrastructure.

In terms of option, Appendix 3, showed the two alternative high-level options considered for the Barnstaple Rail Station scheme:

2. Countywide Pinchpoint Removal Programme – it had been identified there were locations throughout the network where smaller-scale, quick-win interventions could improve the smooth, safe passage of public service vehicles by removing “pinchpoints”. The sites identified for action were included in Appendix 2 of the Report as well as those where minor physical engineering changes had been identified to address the issues experienced. Where a TRO was required, designs had been developed and local Members approached for permission to advertise. Details of these were also included in Appendix 2. Should objections be received, the TROs would be taken to the relevant local Highways and Traffic Orders Committee (HATOC) for resolution, but in instances where no objections were received, the Orders would be made and sealed as per recommendation (a).

Section three of the Report outlined the detailed public consultation for Barnstaple Rail Station and responses received. A PowerBI dashboard allowing users to analyse the quantitative responses in greater detail was available online at devon.cc/NorthDevonBSIPs. The Report then outlined the amendments to the proposals following the consultation period.

Further technical data was outlined in terms of Traffic/Pedestrian/Cycle Counts and Projected Bus Flows.

The Cabinet noted the schemes were well aligned with a range of the Strategic Plan priorities, the table at section 4 summarised how the proposals would impact the relevant Strategic Plan actions according to a seven-point scale.

They further noted that the BSIP funding was ringfenced for schemes identified within the Devon BSIP programme. Changes must be approved by the Department for Transport and could not be used for alternative transport schemes. The costings for each scheme were outlined in section 5.

An Impact Assessment had been prepared for the attention of Members at the meeting. This was available at Barnstaple Rail Station Bus Integration Enhancements - Impact Assessment (devon.gov.uk). It was noted in the Impact Assessment that greater proportions of trips were made by bus for people identifying as ‘Black’ or mixed ethnicities than the general population. This indicated the potential to advance equality of opportunities for these groups by enabling faster, and more direct travel to employment, services and leisure facilities. Additionally, it was noted that greater proportions of trips made by young people (aged 17-20), elderly people (ages 75+), people with reduced mobility and females were made by bus than the general population, all of which would see an advancement in equality of opportunities as a result of these schemes.

The Countywide Pinchpoint Removal programme was covered by the Impact Assessment presented to Cabinet in September 2021 covering the overarching principles of the BSIP project Bus Services Improvement Plan - Impact Assessment (devon.gov.uk).

In summary, approval of the recommendations would enable the construction of a capital scheme to improve multimodal integration at Barnstaple Rail Station, improving safety and making it easier to change between buses and trains and improved walking and cycling connections. The pinchpoint removal programme also supported these outcomes by ensuring buses run smoothly and safely with more reliable journey times.

The matter having been debated and the options and alternatives and other relevant factors (e.g. financial, sustainability and carbon impact), risk management, equality and legal considerations and alignment with the Council’s Strategic Plan) set out in the Director’s Report having been considered:

it was MOVED by Councillor Davis, SECONDED by Councillor Hughes, and

RESOLVED

(a) that the advertising of the traffic regulation orders necessary for the schemes in the Report be approved, and, in the absence of objections, to make and seal the orders subject to the requirements of the legislation and the council’s procedures;

(b) that, subject to the resolution of the traffic regulation orders, the construction of the Barnstaple Rail Station Bus Integration Enhancements scheme be approved, within the budget of £785,670;

(c) that, subject to the resolution of the traffic regulation orders, the construction of the schemes within the Countywide Pinchpoint Removal programme be approved, within the budget of £346,571;

(d) that the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport be given delegated authority, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highways Management, to make minor amendments to the relevant advertised Orders in relation to the Countywide Pinchpoint Removal programme; and

(e) that the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport be given delegated authority, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment and Transport and the relevant Local Member to make minor amendments to the Barnstaple Railway Station scheme.