Agenda item

To receive any updates, including an update on the Devizes Gateway project and to approve any recommendations from the Devizes Air Quality and Sustainable Transport Group.

Cllr Tamara Reay as lead councillor on the AQST introduced the item. A successful meeting of the AQST was held on 6 July and the notes from this meeting were included in the agenda.

Cllr Reay thanked the Cycle Friendly Devizes group for the work they had done over the last year or so.

A cycling strategy for Devizes was being developed as follows:

·       Based on Sustainable Devizes’ survey from summer ’20

·       Focused on getting families back on bike, not “speed” riders

·       Organised a led ride as part of national Big Ride on 30 May

·       Sustainable Devizes has mapped an off-road route parallel to London Rd; now with Highways to be assessed for suitability.

·       This route was ridden with DAB members on 18 July

·       Central government wants LAs to have walking and cycling plans which was happening in Wiltshire – larger towns first, then Devizes. This opens the ability to bid for funding

·       Connecting Devizes to villages via routes to Potterne and to Poulshot.  Potterne route currently with Rights of Way team to be assessed.

Air Quality updates included:

·       Levels in Devizes were below the 40?g/m3 threshold. Much of this was due to drop in number of vehicle journeys due to Covid-19

·       Sources of pollution were looked at by vehicle type and measures were discussed that could help keep them from Wiltshire’s town centres.

·       Aecom was working on modelling in Wiltshire and had looked at a breakdown of traffic data

·       The group discussed EV charging points and funds were available to help with “new technology” like this.

·       New Cycle Parking within Devizes:

o   Devizes TC has working party looking at this along with Sustainable Devizes

o   Close to agreeing locations and design of racks and are looking to the AQ&ST group for funding.

·       New Car Club for Devizes

o   Currently looking to bring a car club to the town.

o   Members pay an annual fee, then get to rent cars at an hourly or daily rate.  Users pay by the hour.  Cars can be booked through an app at short notice and unlocked by the same app on their smartphone

o   This could be an attractive alternative to owning a 2nd car that is rarely used and can lead to a number of cars being taken off the road when no longer needed.

Cllr Reay also had an update on the Devizes Gateway Project, the details of which had been published in agenda supplement 2. Cllr Reay stated that draft strategic outline business case (SOBC) was submitted to the Department for Transport (DfT) in May and feedback received in July. They noted that there was a strong strategic case to improve connectivity to the town and area, but work was required in three key areas, these being:

·       Operational feasibility

·       Demand modelling and profiling

·       Capital costs for infrastructure

So, there was more work to do. It was anticipated that a revised strategic outline business case would be submitted to the Devizes Gateway Station Steering Group for approval prior to submission to the DfT by the end of October 2021.

Cllr Reay proposed in summary to note the minutes of the AQST, to note the progress made towards developing a strong SOBC for the Devizes Gateway project with the hope that it would be submitted to the DfT by the end of October 2021 and to note the work lead by Cycle Friendly Devizes. This was seconded by Cllr Iain Wallis. It was,

Resolved:

·       To note the minutes of the AQST

·       To note the progress made towards developing a strong Strategic Outline Business Case for the Devizes Gateway project, and that it is anticipated that the final document will be submitted to the Department for Transport by end of October 2021, following approval by the Devizes Gateway Steering Group. 

·       Devizes Area Board note the work led by Cycle Friendly Devizes towards developing a Cycling Strategy for the Devizes Community Area and looks forward to recommendations for further developments following review at the Air Quality and Sustainable Transport Group.