Agenda item

Members were presented with the Draft Regional Transport Plan (RTP) for the South West Wales region.

Officers highlighted that they were seeking approval, from the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee, to commence the public consultation process for the Draft RTP. It was stated that the proposed timeframe for the consultation was eight to ten weeks, starting from the end of January/beginning of February. Officers added that the two strands that would form part of the consultation were the Draft RTP and the Draft Regional Transport Delivery Plan (RTDP).

The Committee were made aware of the following changes that Officers would be making to the circulated documentation. It was noted that the updated version will be presented to the South West Wales Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee:

·        Inclusion of Policy 15 which was missing from the circulated report.

·        Amendment to the list of schemes:
1. Inclusion of a number of third-party rail and trunk road schemes, delivered by Welsh Government, which Officers noted to be essential for the region. It was explained that this was particularly important due to the fact that the National Transport Delivery Plan will be expiring in 2027; therefore, there would be opportunities to highlight schemes that the region would like to see in the next iteration of that plan.
2. Inclusion of a broad location for each scheme to provide further clarity on where the schemes would be delivered, whether that be Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire or throughout the region.

Officers referred to the Case for Change which was submitted to Welsh Government in February 2024. It was explained that Welsh Government had not provided formal comments on the Case for Change; however, they had been supportive and agreed that the region should proceed in the development process. It was added that Officers would now need to seek approval from Welsh Government in terms of moving forward with the public consultation process.

It was reiterated that the Case for Change captured the regions current position and why there was a need to develop the RTP; the Case for Change and the Draft RTP reflected the Welsh Transport Strategy Guidance from 2021. The Welsh Transport Strategy set out three broad themes, which were reflected in the six objectives that Officers would be putting out to consultation along with the supporting material.

Reference was made to the number of policies within the Draft RTP which set out the framework to move forward with decision making in terms of scheme investments. It was noted that this affected a range of other policy areas such as land use planning, economic development, environmental issues and tourism; Officers provided an overview of how these different work streams interlink with the RTP.

A discussion took place in regard to accessibility, specifically the detailed exercise that Officers had undertaken to analyse the accessibility of key locations across the region, including town centres and hospitals. It was highlighted that the accessibility analysis was included as an appendix to the circulated report. 

Officers explained that the RTDP was a key element in terms of progressing this work stream; the plan consisted of a list of schemes that had been generated through what had been planned and considered in the region previously, as well as determining what could be considered in the future. It was noted that Officers will be working in parallel with the public consultation, to try and understand what the priority of those schemes would be.

The Committee was informed that Officers were yet to receive final clarity on funding or the mechanisms by which the funding will be distributed for the RTP from 2026 onwards. It was explained that there was a process regarding grants modernisation underway in which Officers were heavily involved in; Officers had gained informal views from Welsh Government officials from being involved in this process, some of which were highlighted to Members.

Officers referred to the Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) which formed the statutory analysis of the RTP and RTDP; this document was noted to be a working progress as the scheme matrix evolves. It was stated that scoping reports for the IIA would be included in the consultation pack, which set out what should be covered, why it should be covered and how the assessment would be undertaken.

Further to the above, it was noted that Officers were required to conduct a strategic environmental assessment of the Plan and the schemes within it; this was based on the complexity of the RTP and advice received from the Monitoring Officer. Members were informed that Officers had already reached out to the appropriate statutory bodies in relation to this matter; the scoping report, included in the circulated documentation for this meeting, reflected the views of the relevant statutory bodies including Welsh Government, Transport for Wales, Cadw and National Resource Wales.

Following on from Officers overview, further detail was provided in relation to Policy 15 which was missing from the circulated report. It was explained that Policy 15 related to aviation and access to aviation; this policy had to be included in the documentation as it formed part of the guidance. In general terms, Officers stated that this policy specifically looked into matters surrounding large airports such as Cardiff and Bristol, and how they were operating; although these airports were outside of the South West region, the policy reflected the importance of ensuring that South West Wales would be included in the discussions regarding access to those airports.

Officers shared the specific details of Policy 15 at this point in the meeting, the overview was as follows:

‘Improve access to regional aerodromes and national airports – the three local aerodromes in the region are not presently licensed for commercial services. The region will work with the Welsh Government and other parties, to support the development of good access to regional and national airports in the UK, especially by public transport’. 

A further discussion took place in regard to funding, specifically longer-term funding. It was stated that Officers were waiting for the options to come through in terms of long-term funding, and then they will need to understand the impacts of whatever those options may be. Officers were hopeful that there will be acknowledgement of the difficulty with the bidding process for Local Authorities.

Members asked if Welsh Government had given any indications to the timescales associated with the decision making on funding. It was confirmed that Officers had not been informed of any specific timescales; however, Welsh Government were eager to have the mechanisms in place in readiness for RTP submission.

Additional detail was provided in regard to the amendments to the list of schemes, as previously mentioned above. The Committee were presented with a visual of the formatting that had been completed to include the broad location of the various schemes. Officers also displayed an overview of the third-party, rail and trunk road schemes, and gave a brief overview of some of the detail. It was highlighted that the region was not able to bid for funding on these schemes as they were retained by Welsh Government and its agencies to deliver; however, Officers were able to communicate the importance of the schemes for the region. It was mentioned that the initial indication from Welsh Government was to only include schemes which the region and the Local Authorities were able to deliver; however, there was a strong consensus that it would be important to have visibility of the larger, strategic schemes.

A description of the proposed consultation activities was provided to the Committee. It was noted that the previous public consultation exercise carried out was essentially an online consultation, plus a number of meetings with key stakeholder groups such as bus and rail operators and the education and health sector. In terms of the upcoming public consultation exercise, it was proposed that the online portion be carried out alongside in person events in each of the four Local Authority areas; Officers were currently trying to identify suitable locations for those sessions. It was noted that the stakeholder outreach will be repeated in terms of the focus groups; however, more formal engagement with a range of stakeholders and statutory bodies will also be carried out. The Committee was informed that an engagement plan will be reissued once the plans had been agreed with the consultants over the next few weeks.

Members raised the importance of obtaining feedback from across the whole region, and the need to work with the Communication Teams in each of the four Local Authorities to ensure that the consultation reaches more people. Officers confirmed that they would be using a lot more marketing tools to help engagement with the consultation, including posters and QR codes in various locations.

The results from the previous consultation highlighted that there was limited engagement of younger people; Officers were looking into standalone engagement exercises with younger people across the region. It was noted that discussions were taking place with the Local Education Authorities (LEAs) in terms of school engagement, and also further education bodies such as colleges and universities.

Officers were asked to provide a brief update in regard to moving forward with the prioritisation process. It was noted that some evaluation work will need to be carried out prior to the consultation, specifically regarding the delivery plans and list of schemes; Officers were then hopeful that the feedback from the consultation will also help to shape the priorities. Members were informed that discussions were underway across the four Local Authorities in terms of determining the best way to shape the list of priorities.

Following on from the above, reference was made to the Prioritisation Tool detailed at Appendix 5 of the circulated report; this set out the approach that Officers will take in order to score the schemes. It was mentioned that this tool would advise Officers; however, further deliberations would need to take place in order to provide the wider and societal context to the scoring mechanism, before finalising a recommended list to take forward. It was highlighted that local level governance would need to be considered as part of the prioritisation work; each Local Authority will need to go through a process prior to the regional prioritisation. 

A discussion took place in regard to providing the Chairperson of the Regional Transport Sub Committee with delegated authority to make any amendments that may be necessary to amend the Draft Regional Transport Plan prior to endorsement by the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee. This additional recommendation was formally proposed and seconded and supported by the Regional Transport Sub Committee.

The Committee thanked Officers for all the work that they had undertaken thus far in preparing the RTP.

RESOLVED:

That the Chair of the Regional Transport Sub Committee be granted delegated authority to make any amendments that may be necessary to amend the Draft Regional Transport Plan prior to endorsement by the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee.

That the verbal progress reports from officers on the Regional Transport Plan development workstreams be noted.

That the Draft Regional Transport Plan and supporting documents for public consultation be endorsed.

That the latest Regional Transport Plan development work programme be endorsed.