Agenda item

To consider the report of the Director of Development which presents evidence for Session 1 as defined by the Scrutiny Board within the Inquiry Terms of Reference

(Report attached)

The Board considered the report of the Director of City Development providing an update on major schemes announced since December 2011 and setting out the general approach to transport planning in the city in order to provide the basis for discussion for future Inquiry sessions. The report set out current transport challenges in Leeds; forecasting, planning and delivery of transport projects. An overview of the links between transport and deprivation and the economy was also included.

Members were also in receipt of supplementary document “transport planning and forecasting data” sent out after the despatch of the agenda for the meeting.

The following officers attended the Inquiry Session:

Gary Bartlett, Chief Officer, Highways & Transportation

Andrew Hall, Acting Head of Transport Policy

Tim Harvey, Transport Initiatives Manager

Key issues were highlighted as being:

• Transport infrastructure and the balance between commuter traffic movements and the local transport network to service needs of residents.
• Forecasting & planning and the importance of recognising transport as a catalyst for investment into the city. Discussions were ongoing regarding proposals to create a West Yorkshire Transport Fund which would facilitate Leeds taking responsibility for the implementation of local transport policy from the Department for Transport.

(Councillor Akhtar withdrew from the meeting for a short while at this point)

Members requested both bus and train capacity figures for comparison and discussed the following matters:

Bus Routes – commented that routes should be integrated. The response regarding commercial viability and that operators followed growth rather than provided routes for emerging developments was noted. All operators sought city centre routes, thus there was a reduced offer between the suburbs, however it was important to retain routes that linked communities with services

Quality Bus Contracts – the Authority may be in a position to influence fare structure through the bidding process

City centre hub - whether the city centre remained the development/business hub and whether transport planning should refocus on emerging out-of-town developments which tended not to be easily accessible by public transport

Deprivation & accessibility – referred to figure 11 (bus accessibility to the city centre) and commented that the residential areas best served by the bus network were paradoxically areas of highest deprivation in the city. The Board discussed the impact of fare structures on people’s ability to travel to services/employment. The Authority had limited influence but could assist/influence fares by negotiating travel packages with providers

(Councillor Harrand withdrew from the meeting for a short while at this point)

Population growth and the need for transport and network planning to accommodate increased volume of travellers

Utility works – Noted the Authority was seeking to implement a permit scheme for works undertaken by utility companies in order reduce the impact on development through better co-ordination. Officers noted the comment that it could be beneficial to notify local ward Councillors in advance of any utility works in their ward along similar lines as planning application notifications

RESOLVED – To note the contents of the report and the comments made by Members

(Councillor Cohen withdrew from the meeting)