OFFICIAL REPORT (Hansard)
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Committee for Infrastructure OFFICIAL REPORT (Hansard) Greenways Strategic Plan: Department for Infrastructure 14 September 2016 NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY Committee for Infrastructure Greenways Strategic Plan: Department for Infrastructure 14 September 2016 Members present for all or part of the proceedings: Mr William Humphrey (Chairperson) Mr George Robinson (Deputy Chairperson) Ms Kellie Armstrong Mr Alex Easton Mr Paul Girvan Mr Declan McAleer Mr Fra McCann Mr Eamonn McCann Mr Daniel McCrossan Mrs Jenny Palmer Witnesses: Dr Andrew Grieve Department for Infrastructure Ms Claire Mulvenna Department for Infrastructure The Chairperson (Mr Humphrey): Good morning. I welcome Dr Andrew Grieve, the head of the cycling unit, and Ms Claire Mulvenna, who is also from the cycling unit. I take it that you will make a presentation and that members will then be free to ask questions. Dr Andrew Grieve (Department for Infrastructure): Yes. Sorry for keeping you waiting. The Chairperson (Mr Humphrey): No problem. We are early. Dr Grieve: That is uncharacteristic of me. Thanks for the opportunity, Mr Chairman, to talk to the Committee about ongoing work to develop a strategic plan for greenways in Northern Ireland. I expect that all members will have a copy of the presentation. The Department's bicycle strategy for Northern Ireland, 'Changing Gear', was published in August 2015, just over a year ago. Behind the strategy was the vision of Northern Ireland as a community in which people had the freedom and confidence to use a bicycle for everyday travelling. In general terms, freedom is about providing good infrastructure, and confidence is about providing the necessary skills and training for people who want to use a bicycle. It might be worth underlining the point that the work that we have been doing — this is not the whole family of cycling — focuses on using the bicycle for everyday travelling, active travel, although there are many reasons for using a bicycle. The objective of everyday cycling is seen in the ambitions of the bicycle strategy to increase significantly the number of shorter journeys that are cycled. Around 1 one third of the journeys we make in Northern Ireland each year are shorter than 2 miles, and, for most people, that distance could be walked or cycled relatively easily. The bicycle strategy specifically referred to the development of greenways, and it made the link to supporting local authorities in the work that they have been doing on greenways. A lot of the development of greenways has already been taken forward in local authorities. The strategy also made a commitment to look at proposals for developing greenways: in other words, to develop a strategic plan for greenways. The potential for greenways to provide a feasible and attractive travel option was also highlighted in the bicycle strategy. This slide is entitled "Political commitment". Perhaps what is most noteworthy about the development of greenways is that it has significant political support, and members may be familiar with some of the words on the slide, all of which are supportive of the creation of a greenway network or at the very least of exploring the creation of a network of greenways. The benefits of greenways are many and extend far beyond travel and transport. Many of the areas in which benefits accrue are highlighted in the developing Programme for Government. The provision of infrastructure to encourage more activity has real benefits for physical and mental health and well- being; there is a lot of literature on that subject. It is complementary to the Fitter Future for All strategy of what is now the Department of Health. There are economic benefits, in particular for local communities and through providing access to opportunities in communities where car ownership is fairly low. There are also important environmental and social benefits through the development of greenways. A couple of years ago, we began work on developing a strategic plan through a working group that brought together various stakeholders, and the greenways working group brought forward ideas and opinions about a greenway network. At the start of this year, we appointed AECOM to produce a report, and it engaged Sustrans, the sustainable transport charity. They have a lot of experience in the area, so they were engaged in that work as well. AECOM and Sustrans undertook a lot of consultation, particularly with councils, which were very enthusiastic about the idea. The report that AECOM and Sustrans produced was provided to the Department at the end of July. At the minute, we are trying to finalise a plan for publication, and the Minister hopes to publish that shortly. One slide shows a map of the current greenways and illustrates the extent of the challenge fairly well. The current greenways are mainly in the south-east and the north-west. Derry City Council did a lot of work to develop greenways along the Foyle. You can see from that map how broken up the "network" of greenways is. The strategic plan is, first and foremost, about joining those bits together into a primary network of around 450 kilometres, mainly using, where we can, bits of the old disused infrastructure such as old canals, dismantled railways etc. Not all of that still exists, of course. The plan will also propose a secondary network of about 600 kilometres, and that will bring greenways close to all areas of Northern Ireland so that there is truly a network that stretches right across the region. It will also link into cross-border routes, including those identified in the fairly recent 'North West Greenway Plan', which was published by Donegal County Council and Derry City and Strabane District Council. As we move forward, the work will begin with the forthcoming publication of the strategic plan by the Minister. From that, individual schemes will be developed, and we expect councils to be very much at the forefront of that. The greenway projects recently put forward for INTERREG V funding were all sponsored by local authorities. Alongside that, we have been working on a small grants programme for greenways. The idea of that scheme is to provide a little funding for local authorities to develop feasibility studies and detailed plans that will put them into a position to deliver some of the network. This year, in the cycling unit, we are developing proposals for a capital grant scheme that would provide part capital funding to local authorities to build greenways, and, in that way, we hope to move the work forward. The final slide — I hope that you have it in colour — gives you an idea of what we really have in mind for developing greenways, which is public space for people to become more active in. That is my presentation, Chairman. Thank you very much. The Chairperson (Mr Humphrey): Thank you. Claire, is there anything that you want to add before I bring members in? Ms Claire Mulvenna (Department for Infrastructure): No. 2 The Chairperson (Mr Humphrey): Thank you very much indeed for your presentation. You talked about a small grants scheme for councils to enable them to put plans together and do some work on that: what tangible outcomes have there been from that to put some infrastructure on the ground for cyclists? Dr Grieve: The small grants programme is not in itself about constructing greenways; it is about helping councils to develop their plans so that they will then be in a position to take forward a scheme. The capital grant scheme that I referred to at the tail end is about providing resource to enable councils to construct greenways. The small grants programme is a three-stage competition. Earlier this year, we advertised to all councils and received 27 expressions of interest. We hope — this is running behind schedule for a number of reasons — to announce shortly the successful councils, which will all be provided with £8,000 to develop a feasibility study for the schemes that they have put forward. The schemes that come forward in stage 2 will then be assessed, and we are planning that up to four of them will be provided with £25,000 to develop a detailed design and project plan, which will put them in the position that they will be ready to take forward an actual scheme and construct it on the ground. The Chairperson (Mr Humphrey): We do not yet have a situation whereby money is being given to a council. I guess what I am asking is this: has any council received money? Dr Grieve: Under the small grants programme — not yet. The Chairperson (Mr Humphrey): They go through the stage, they get £8,000, and then four of them are selected to get £25,000. Are you making sure that councils are committed and have the funding to do it? You would not want to go through the process of that money going in and a council not following through by putting it in place when perhaps another council might. Dr Grieve: One of the criteria for assessment at stage 2 is the commitment of a council to take forward the project. That is built into the selection process. The Chairperson (Mr Humphrey): The financial commitment. Dr Grieve: It includes that. In fairness, we have told councils that we hope to develop a capital grants scheme, so we hope to be in a position to provide some capital grant funding, but it will just be part funding. It will not be full funding because we want to ensure that councils have an ownership of the project. The Chairperson (Mr Humphrey): Having the financial resource to do it is absolutely essential, otherwise there is no point in having it.