Agenda item

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee received a report of the Director of the Department of the Built Environment updating on progress with delivering the City of London Transport Strategy. The report covers Quarters 1 and 2 of 2019/20 (May - September 2019).

The Chair highlighted the relationship between this Committee and the Streets and Walkways Sub Committee in terms of implementing the Transport Strategy and invited the Chairman of the Sub Committee to comment further on this.  The Chairman of the Streets and Walkways Sub Committee reported that a great deal of progress had been made in terms of implementing the Transport Strategy in recent months including further improvements at Ludgate Circus and the successful Lunchtime Streets initiative. He added that the minutes of the Sub Committee were regularly brought to this Committee for information which would allow Members to keep track on future progress here. He added that he felt a great sense of momentum to progress these matters now and a great deal of positive energy behind this. He highlighted, however, that a number of matters continued to be on hold due to the ongoing fundamental review and asked that Members seek to ensure that these projects were not unduly delayed for this reason.

A Member referred to flows coming into the City and questioned if any work had been done to look at how much more the City could reasonably manage/facilitate. He asked that Members receive an annual report looking at the bigger picture and how the Transport Strategy dovetailed with those moving around the City and the capital more generally. Officers reported that the City Corporation was working alongside TfL to improve transport links/connections into the Square Mile. They sought to provide a fuller update on this in future quarters.

Another Member congratulated Officers on moving the Strategy forward. She referred specifically to the project on consolidation of deliveries at COL sites and stated that she would be interested to understand if targets were going to be met here and how many consolidation centres were to be established and operational before buildings were occupied.

The Member went on to refer to cycle parking, something which there was a huge increase in desire for, and suggested that pavement space in the City for this purpose was not feasible. Instead, she asked that Officers combine this with a reduction in carparking spaces in the City where possible. She went on to refer to river transport stating that she would be keen to receive an update on this and consolidation opportunities here. She concluded by highlighting that there were a number of ‘quick wins’ that Officers could deliver against the Strategy such as addressing the issue of congestion on pavements by reviewing and implementing policies already in place around the positioning of A-boards and external tables and chairs.

The Deputy Chairman seconded the point around river use given that this was a huge asset in the City. He added that the purchase of the Barking and Dagenham site for potential use by the City’s markets intended to make use of the river as a means of transportation. Officers stated that future reports would provide further details on potential river use for both freight and passenger transport.

Officers added that it was envisaged that a review of the A-boards policy would be brought to Members this financial year and reported that a review of how on-street parking within the City was currently used and any opportunity to re-purpose/re-allocate spaces for dockless cycle parking was currently underway.

Another Member suggested that he would like to see the pedestrianisation of the entire City Cluster, including Leadenhall Street, pushed forward given the increased development coming forward here, support for this move from local businesses and security implications. The Chair stated that this was already being actively worked on. Officers stated that this was addressed within the City Cluster Vision and that some opportunities for quick wins such as introducing timed vehicle restrictions to certain areas were being identified. Officers clarified that this was the case across the City and not just within the Cluster.

A Member commented that there were approximately 45 projects listed within the Strategy, across the Square Mile, and suggested that Officers should seek to undertake further public consultation on these at specific points to ensure that work was still progressing in the right way, in a ‘you said, we did’ approach. Officers agreed that it was important that the Strategy did not stand still and that it would therefore be updated every three years incorporating public consultation as suggested.

A Member referred to the West side of the City, more specifically West Smithfield and stated that he was disappointed not to see further detail/progress on this, He sought reassurances that the matter would be dealt with holistically and sufficiently co-ordinated. He went on to reference the Beech Street air quality and public realm enhancements project and questioned progress around this given that we were already in Q4 of 2019/20. The Chair reported that both he and the Chairman of the Streets and Walkways Sub Committee were very much involved in work around West Smithfield which was being coordinated by Officers. Officers reported that there would be a report on the Beech Street project to the next meeting of the Streets and Walkways Sub Committee and that it was hoped the project would be delivered by March 2020.

The Deputy Chair voiced concerns around certain projects being held up by the Fundamental Review. He shared particular concerns about any delay to the Bank Junction project which could prove seriously problematic if improvements were not delivered ahead of the station works here. He suggested that clarity as to what projects could be released ahead of the conclusion of the Fundamental Review was needed as soon as possible. The Chair added that certain projects were also considered politically sensitive and that the programming of these could also be affected given the forthcoming General Election.

Officers reported that the Capital Bids process was now underway and that all projects currently on hold would form part of this. The views of this Committee would also be sought in terms of prioritisation as part of this process.

A Member requested that projects be colour coded in terms of progress in future reports so that the Committee could focus attention on those items flagged as Amber or Red. Officers undertook to introduce this system going forward.

REOSLVED – That, Members note the report.