Comments and Consultations
£32.9 million to create national network of active travel experts
Active Travel England has invested £32.9 million to create a national network of experts to work with communities, enhance high streets and make places truly walkable and cyclable for everyone. The fund could see up to 1,300 new green jobs created across England.
What does this mean for Wiltshire and Salisbury residents. As part of this capability funding Wiltshire council were awarded their first tranche of monies from ATE and were allocated ££183,110.
This may not sound much and may achieve very little in terms of active travel across Wiltshire but it is step up from the £0.00 that Wiltshire Council were allocated for Tranche 3. Particularly when councils like Oxfordshire and Gloucester were awarded £10.5M and £14M respectively.
What would you do with £1-2M to spend on active travel in Salisbury?
We in Wiltshire have a long way to go and what we lack is the leadership that is apparent in those other councils who were more successful.
With 42% of all journeys under 2 miles 1 cities like Salisbury could make simple logistical changes to our roads and pavements to enable more residents to walk and cycle. Improving accessibility not only helps children and the elderly but those with mobility issues.
As pointed out in “Walkable City" by Jeff Speck 2, walking and cycling are the bedrock to a healthy (public health) and economically viable city in which not only do the residents decide not to own a car, but those residents have more money (as a consequence of deciding that they do not need a car) and that that the money they do spend stays local.
Where journeys are less than 2miles one is definitely considering a 10 min or 15min community where all the facilities that Salisbury residents require are within easy reach.
However, for this to happen we need to convince the leaders at Wiltshire Council that active travel results not only in health city but residents who are not only healthier but are richer too! Not having a car gives residents more disposable income which they spend locally so that our traders and commerce benefit as that money stays local.
Parliament. Active travel: increasing levels of walking and cycling in England - Transport Committee - House of Commons. (2017).
Speck, J. Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step …. (2012).
Salisbury Housing Management Area Formulating alternative development strategies
COGS Response to the "Salisbury Housing Management Area Formulating alternative development strategies" p12, Table 6:
It is a surprise to find that Salisbury and Wilton score 5 on these criteria. Salisbury may have a plan for a cycle network but it is largely aspirational, is incomplete and has not been added to since 2009, despite numerous housing developments constructed in the last 10-15 years, e.g. Hampton Park, Riverdown Park, Fugglestone Red, Wilton Hill, Longhedge. In fact in 2021 Wiltshire Council are actively removing cycling facilities that were only installed in 2020 in response to the Government’s Emergency active travel fund. Wilton and Alderbury are not joined to Salisbury by a safe cycling route despite the best efforts of Sustrans and others over the last 20 years. Is the estimated funding enough to complete the existing network as well as new facilities outlined in the Transport Review?
I also refer to the Central Area Framework document Constraints, p15, please see quote below (https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/media/4948/link-1-salisbury-future/pdf/Link1_SalisburyCAF_Final.pdf?m=637435629113930000) that emphasises the lack of coordinated, waymarked and convenient facilities for pedestrians and cyclists. We would hope that the Local Plan would address these deficiencies as a priority given the hierarchy of interventions outlined in the Transport Review (p36, Table A2) and the ambition to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2030, well within the timescale of the Plan.
Salisbury’s urban form presents barriers to movement, many of which have been put in place as a means of avoiding damaging the city core. Both the railway and the main through road – the A36 – skirt the central area to the north. In doing so, they create a barrier between the central area and the residential communities beyond. Existing subways, footpath bridges, roundabouts and tunnels are often not attractive to people walking and cycling. Pedestrian crossing points can be rare and the cycling and walking network is poorly integrated and waymarked. To the south, the ease of movement is somewhat restricted by the natural setting of the water meadows and rivers. Bridge crossings are limited and access on foot or by bike can be indirect. These barriers impact upon public transport services. Physical and visual barriers make it seem as if distances are further than they actually are, while traffic discourages cyclists and pedestrians. Walking and cycling to and through the centre can be perceived as difficult because of the poor public realm, narrow footpaths and poor wayfinding. Existing way-finding is often cluttered amongst uncoordinated street furniture and A-boards. There is a lack of infrastructure for people to sit, dwell, meet and spend more time in the centre.
Wiltshire Local Plan Transport Review
COGS Response to the Wiltshire Local Plan Transport Review January 2021
Wiltshire Local Plan Addressing Climate Change and Biodiversity and others (e.g. Appendix 1 for update on the Council’s response to Climate Emergency) identify the major emitters of CO2 in Wiltshire, as well as the trajectory needed to reach carbon neutrality by 2030 that the council is seeking to achieve. Transport accounts for 45% of emissions and therefore the Local Plan covering the period up to 2036 needs to have a robust strategy in place to assist the whole county to progress towards this as soon as possible. Given that the Local Plan is not due to be adopted until 2023, the urgency of beginning to work towards the target becomes even more imperative. Therefore it is surprising that the Transport Review contains very little in terms of strategy or policy to support this objective.
The “business as usual” approach to travel and transport, housing allocations and energy usage described in various documents seems unlikely to result in the desired reduction in carbon emissions. Despite some welcome leadership from the council in tackling internally generated emissions, the lack of a coherent plan that involves the general public is likely to fail to meet any target.
It is pleasing to see a hierarchy of interventions to mitigate the LP highlighted in Appendix A of the Transport Review (Table A2), however, this is not reflected in proposed schemes for Salisbury or elsewhere in the county where detailed planning is shown only for modification of major road junctions and road building schemes which themselves lack any detailed planning for assistance for cycling or walking. New cycle infrastructure is described only by some non-specific thick lines on large scale maps that are impossible to comment on, some of them duplicate existing facilities, are these to be replaced or left as they are? Many existing facilities are substandard in width and surfacing, or are shared use with pedestrians. We would expect all new facilities to be designed to LTN1/20 standard as were those shown on Brown Street and Exeter Street that are about to be removed (1st March 2021), are these to be reinstated at a later date together with the unsupported Tranche 2 scheme on Downton Road as shown in Fig.3-3?
The following comments refer to the proposed facilities shown in Fig 3-3, p18 for Salisbury
The Sustrans NCN cycle routes which go from Wilton through Salisbury to Alderbury (NCN route 24) and the route from Salisbury Cathedral north via the Woodford Valley (NCN 45) have always been considered important links. Parts of these routes (e.g. out to Alderbury and Wilton) are still missing, why are these not prioritised and shown on Fig 3-3?
Wilton should be joined to Salisbury/Harnham via Wilton Road/Quidhampton and Netherhampton Road
The River Park proposals for Salisbury offer opportunities for improving sub-standard parts of NCN 45. This should be shown on Fig 3-3.
Some of the roads where on-carriageway cycle lanes are shown do not appear to be wide enough to accommodate such lanes, particularly if they are built to LTN 1/20 standards – e.g. Wilton Road, Devizes Road, South Western Road, Milford Mill Road.
In some cases on-carriageway cycle lanes or segregated cycle tracks are marked in Fig 3-3 when previous cycle network plans (see Salisbury and Wilton Town Cycle map on https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/transport-town-cycle-networks) have shown ‘quiet streets’ which would not typically need such lanes (e.g. Heronswood, Old Blandford Road, Bedwin Street/Bourne Hill, Estcourt Road)
Employment at Churchfields needs linking safely along Churchfields Road where there is a high proportion of HGV movements, and links with housing at Harnham and Netherhampton Road via Broken Bridges improved
Major housing areas at Bemerton Heath and St Peter’s Place not joined to network
Wilton Hill and St Peter’s Place not joined to Wilton or Salisbury
No direct link to Longhedge
Petersfinger Road route should continue to the Alderbury junction using the A36 signal-controlled crossing and Marshmead Close (supporting Sustrans NCN 24)
Other missing links
No apparent facilities for cycling or walking shown in Figs D4 Salisbury junctions. Detailed surveys of all road users are necessary to determine the proportion of journeys and their destinations so that facilities for cycling and walking can be designed to reflect this appropriately.
No connecting links between radial routes to join communities with employment or education
Joining Downton to Alderbury via disused railway line (requires coordination with Hampshire and New Forest Councils). The trackbed needs to be protected from further development.
Improved access Fugglestone Red to Bemerton (Westwood School)
Potential links for all these places have been proposed in various documents initiated locally (Salisbury Greenspace Partnership connectivity study, emerging Local Cycle and Walking Infrastructure Plan) and in responses to planning applications, but not accepted as of importance or concern by planning officers over the last 20 years.
Table A2 notes that only Medium (public transport) and High (active travel, walking and cycling) interventions will result in lower carbon emissions, impacts on air quality and improvements in health and wellbeing.
The Table further states (under Low Highway Schemes) that there are “Potential increases in traffic and potential inconsistencies with policies to address Climate Emergency.
“The aim is therefore to mitigate impacts of Local Plan development by reducing demand and encouraging mode shift, rather than using infrastructure measures to facilitate a greater number of vehicle trips.” This is not reflected in plans for road building and lack of planning for active modes throughout the county
It is also noted in several documents that a complete lack of monitoring since 2009 means that there is no baseline data on which to base the success of any interventions or inform any part of a strategy for modal shift to active travel. This should be specified in the Plan to give confidence that active travel is being promoted and analysed.
What funding source is proposed? This is described in some detail for road improvements that seem to have shovel ready schemes in place, this should be the same for cycling and walking facilities that should be in place by the time they are needed, not as an afterthought.
Please also refer to the COGS response to the Formulating Alternative Development Strategies (ADSs) Wiltshire Council Salisbury.
Changes to the cycle way on the A36 Southampton Road cycleway (Jan - March 2021)
Wiltshire Council have been notified that Highways England propose to make some changes to the cycleway on the north side of the A36 Southampton Road. This changes are scheduled from 4/1/2021 to 31/3/2021 (which probably means they will take place sometime within that window). Plans for the scheme are available below if of interest:
Plan 1: Wiltshire College to Petrol Station
Plan 2: Petrol Station to Piggy Lane
Plan 3: Past Bourne Way (Tescos) roundabout
Plan 4: To Petersfinger Park & Ride
Salisbury River Park Masterplan & draft proposals for Phase 1 of the River Park project
There is a lot of potential interest for cyclists here, because the proposals (in theory) aim to provide "direct, safe and clear access for pedestrians and cycles traversing the city through the River Park" which covers the Maltings area and extends beyond it.
In practise the proposals need to be strengthened to show how this will be achieved. The draft COGS reponse is available here (NB it is designed to fit into the online consultation response form). If you would like to see changes please let Margaret know, but please try and submit your own views: this is a really key development for Salisbury and it is important as many people as possible contribute.
There are two separate consultations (1) the draft Masterplan and (2) the draft Phase 1 planning application proposals, and details of both are on WC’s website at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/salisbury-future. The consultation runs until 5:00pm Friday 8th January 2021.
Consultation on Phase 1 (in place) & Phase 2 (planned) cycleways to Harnham
This consultation is on the cycleway which has already been put in along Brown St/ St Ann St/ Exeter St as well as the planned shared-use cycle path along Downton Road. This is to be created by widening into the verge, and it will connect to existing shared path facilities on New Bridge Road via low traffic streets, where a 20mph zone will be introduced, to the Britford park and ride site. Details are available on https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/highways-road-reallocation-schemes,
Wiltshire Council are particularly keen to hear from as many people as possible, so please try and complete the consultation form (see 'Take Part in the Consultation' on the webpage). The consultation will end at 23:59 on Friday 8 January 2021.
The draft COGS response is available here (NB it is designed to fit into the online consultation response form). If you would like to see changes please let Margaret know, but do use this opportunity to submit your own views.