Agenda and minutes

·        16 April 2021

·        14 May 2021

The minutes of the following meetings were approved:

·        16 April 2021

·        14 May 2021

To select appropriate items from the Cabinet Board agenda for pre-decision scrutiny (reports enclosed for Scrutiny Members)

The Committee chose to scrutinise the following Cabinet Board items:

Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013: Consideration of requirements for the Consultation Draft Active Travel Network Map (ATNM) for

Neath Port Talbot and the publication / consultation procedures to be implemented

The circulated report provided Members with the consultation draft Active Travel Network Map (ATNM) for Neath Port Talbot and the consultation procedures for the forthcoming consultation exercise.

Officers explained that it was a requirement to review the Council’s ATNM every three years; the map will need to be submitted to Welsh Government for ministerial approval by 31 December 2021. It was noted that active travel had a specific meaning in Wales; these routes were for everyday purposeful journeys to places such as work and school, and did not include trips made purely for leisure or social purposes. Members were informed that there were two elements to the map:

·       Existing routes – the routes that already met active travel standards set by Welsh Government and what the Council already publicised as suitable routes

·       Future routes – the routes that were aspirations of the Council for the next 15 years; they were either improvements to existing routes or identification of new routes to be added to the network going forward

It was highlighted that there wasn’t a commitment placed on the Council to deliver the ATNM; instead it was essentially a tool to enhance the forward planning of active travel routes going forward.

In terms of the methodology that had been applied, it was noted that the ATNM had been developed jointly between Sustrans and Local Authorities across the regions; this ensured that there was consistency in approach across administrative boundaries with some of the active travel routes connecting between authorities.

The Committee was informed that the team conducted an initial consultation at the end of 2020/beginning of 2021, which was the first stage of the process; the team received an extremely good response from this (over 2,500 responses were received). It was mentioned that the initial consultation set out to engage and obtain public opinion in terms of what was good and what was bad about the network in Neath Port Talbot currently.

Officers stated that there had recently been an audit of the existing routes in place; 10 routes had been added to the list of existing routes following the audit. It was noted that there had also been an element of information gathering and journey mapping which looked at what journeys were being made and what were the departure and destination points.

It was explained that the last stage of the methodology will be to prioritise the routes, which will be completed after the next consultation; it will set out the scheduled routes in terms of short, medium and longer term aspirations for the Council.

A discussion took place in relation to the fact that the Council was not committed to deliver an ATNM. Members expressed the importance of clarifying that although the Council was not committed to do  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

Members noted the Regeneration and Sustainable Development

Scrutiny Forward Work Programme for 2021/22.

It was agreed that a Regeneration and Sustainable Development Scrutiny Forward Work Programme Workshop be arranged for the autumn period.