Local Sustainable Transport Fund - Application Form

Guidance on the Application Process is available at: www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/

Bids for both small projects and initial proposals for large projects should be no more than 20 pages long.

Applicant Information

Local transport authority name(s)*:

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

*(If the bid is a joint proposal, please enter the names of all participating local transport authorities and specify the co-ordinating authority)

Senior Responsible Owner name and position:

Nick Bubalo, Area Director – Regeneration and Economy, Sandwell MBC

Bid Manager name and position:

Andy Thorpe, Senior Transportation Planner, Sandwell MBC

Contact telephone number: 0121 569 4261

Email address: [email protected]

Postal address: Regeneration and Economy Sandwell MBC PO Box 42 Development House Lombard Street West Bromwich West Midlands B70 8RU

Website address for published bid: www.sandwell.gov.uk/travelwise

SECTION A - Project description and funding profile

A1. Project name: Smoothing the Path for Walking in Sandwell

A2. Headline description: (100 words max)

Our bid aims to bring about healthy connectivity for particular areas of Sandwell by creating continuous good quality walking routes that connect residential areas to public transport routes and local/town centres. Parts of the public rights of way network would be improved and work would be undertaken with residents to promote the journey possibilities enabled by better walking routes and short-cuts. LSTF funding would enable routes to be improved in a shorter timescale than stated in Sandwell’s Rights of Way Improvement Plan and therefore help to widen the opportunities for walking, thereby addressing sustainable travel, accessibility, health and economy issues.

A3. Geographical area:

The bid comprises 16 sections of public rights of way or proposed public rights of way situated in residential areas of Sandwell that are within 800 metres of main public transport corridors. The 16 sections require work which could include their creation as public rights of way, other legal work, surfacing, signposting, clearance of vegetation or being brought back to a fully accessible standard through maintenance work. Zones have been established around each of the sections (at 400 metres distance) in which it is proposed to carry out promotional and personalised travel planning work to residents. Approximately 15,000 households lie within the zones and around half of this number would be targeted to participate in this exercise.

The zones, some of which are clustered together, are within public transport corridors specified in the proposed large bid being prepared by the Integrated Transport Authority (Centro) for the West Midlands Metropolitan Area. The Sandwell bid would therefore support the Centro bid. A plan showing the public rights of way and proposed public rights of way in relation to the Centro corridors can be found in Appendix 1.

A4. Type of bid (please tick relevant box):

Small project bids Tranche 1 bid Expression of interest for Tranche 2 (please complete sections A and B only) Tranche 2 bid

Large project bids Key component bid Large project initial proposals

A5. Total package cost (£m): 0.568

A6. Total DfT funding contribution sought (£m): 0.306

A7. Spend profile: Details of the funding sought over the period 2011-12 to 2014-15, broken down by financial year and split between revenue and capital. Details of any local contribution should also be included. Please enter figures in £000s (i.e. £10,000 = 10).

£K 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 Total Revenue 48.600 40.500 40.500 129.600 funding sought Capital 24.137 121.745 30.987 176.869 funding sought

Local 56.321 81.163 123.948 261.432 contribution Total 129.058 243.408 195.435 567.901

A8. Local contribution

Please provide details of the source of any local contribution to the overall cost of the proposed package. Where the contribution is from external sources, a letter confirming their commitment to contribute to the cost of a specific package element(s) will be required.

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council – Integrated Transport Block Programme (Measures to Improve Walking Budget for the financial years 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15)

A9. Partnership bodies

Details of the partnership bodies (if any) you plan to work with in the design and delivery of the proposed package of measures. This should include a description of the role and responsibilities of the partnership bodies such as Civil Society Organisations, Private Sector bodies and Transport Operators, with confirmatory evidence of their willingness to participate in delivering the bid proposals.

Most of the capital work would be carried out by Sandwell MBC and involve resolving land ownership issues along the course of public rights of way and proposed public rights of way, carrying out improvement works (such as surfacing, removing vegetation overgrowth, signposting) and carrying out the necessary legal work required to dedicate the routes. A sum for future maintenance of the routes would also be included in the capital cost.

The revenue work would mostly be carried out by a consultant in terms of engaging with residents about the journey possibilities created by the improved routes and encouraging use of the routes for health, cost and environmental reasons. Sustrans have already been approached to give their views on the likely cost of such activities. (Sustrans have also prepared a letter of support for the project which is contained in Appendix 2.) It is envisaged that a light-touch personalised travel planning project delivered to half of the households in the zones around the routes would be appropriate. In addition, residents would be made aware of the travel card and bicycle related discounts associated with the Sandwell Company TravelWise initiative so that they could ask their workplaces to affiliate to the initiative. Bus operators would also be made aware of the project so that timetable and ticket information could be made available to residents and workplaces.

Some in-kind contributions of Sandwell MBC officer time and marketing materials from local authority and health related (currently Primary Care Trust) partners would be made to both the capital and revenue aspects of the project. Sandwell Primary Care Trust’s health walks programme could be developed further for this project.

Liaison with the Integrated Transport Authority (Centro) has already taken place in terms of how the project would support the large LSTF project being developed for the West Midlands metropolitan area. Since the Sandwell project involves the improvement of walking routes within some of the corridors identified for the Centro project, the increased use of sustainable modes in such corridors would be expected to take place.

SECTION B – The local challenge

B1. The local context

A brief description of the economic environmental and social issues in the geographical area, including plans for housing and jobs growth, and the role of transport in addressing those issues . This should draw on the contextual factors identified in preparing the Local Transport Plan.

Sandwell is part of an area known as the Black Country and adjoins with Boroughs of Dudley, Walsall, the City of Wolverhampton and the City of Birmingham. Sandwell is therefore an intensely urbanised area at the centre of the main West Midlands conurbation, which itself is centre of the national rail and road networks. It is home to approximately 270,000 people with 125,000 households and, along with an ageing population, is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse areas in the UK.

The project would concentrate mostly on areas in the north east of Sandwell because this is where most of the opportunities to improve or create public rights of way in relation to main public transport corridors exist. Combined with two areas in the south of Sandwell, the project as a whole would cover approximately 15,000 households that are within 400 metres of the 16 sections of public rights of way or proposed public rights of way.

The West Midlands Local Transport Plan (WMLTP) and the Black Country Core Strategy (BCCS) are the main policy documents that will form the future direction and development of Sandwell, particularly in terms of economic growth and the provision of housing to stem the loss of the local population to other areas. The WMLTP and BCCS will address a range of major economic, social and environmental challenges which have largely resulted from a long period of industrial decline resulting in unemployment and low levels of skills in the workforce. High levels of deprivation are prevalent in large parts of Sandwell and some parts are amongst the most deprived areas of the UK.

As with other parts of the country, car ownership has risen although not at the same rate, mostly due to economic and deprivation issues. In 2001 the average percentage of households with no car in UK conurbations was 32%, compared with 37.4% in Sandwell. Despite this, the issues with rising car ownership are evident in Sandwell, such as high levels of obesity due to sedentary lifestyles and poor air quality due to nitrogen dioxide and particulate emissions from transport. The latter situation in many parts of Sandwell means that the whole area is designated as an Air Quality Management Area.

The role of transport in addressing the above issues could be significant. The aim of the BCCS and LTP is to develop a transport network that enables people to make realistic sustainable transport choices and maximise accessibility to jobs, education, health, retail and services. The development of physical infrastructure to achieve this is necessary in terms of cycling, walking and public transport. There is also a need to improve awareness about why choosing less environmentally damaging and healthier transport modes can make a positive difference to people. In view of this, in the local areas where the projects that form this LSTF proposal would take place, the aim is to make it easier for people to access areas both close to home by walking and further away by a combination of walking and public transport. This will also help to meet the access to employment target included in the current WMLTP, which will be based on increasing the population that can access 50,000 jobs by public transport within a journey time of 40 minutes in the AM peak period. (The journey time includes the time to reach the origin bus stop plus origin bus stop wait time plus in-vehicle time. More information is contained on Centro’s LTP3 website www.centro.org.uk/ltp in the “LTP3 Addendum, including targets” document.)

B2. Evidence

Details of the transport issues in the geographical area with supporting quantified evidence on use of the transport network (e.g. on journey patterns, volume and proportion of journeys by different modes), on particular problems (e.g. congestion hotspots) and how they give rise to wider consequences (e.g. levels of air quality, access to employment and services). Baseline data relating to the transport challenges that the proposed package of measures are designed to address should be provided to help inform later evaluation of the Fund programme.

Much of the evidence to support the need for carrying out the proposed project to improve or create public rights of way, that are close to main public transport corridors in Sandwell, is contained in the Borough’s comprehensive and highly regarded Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP). The Plan sets out the range of improvements for 61 sections of public rights of way or proposed public rights of way in Sandwell and describes why the improvements are necessary. Better accessibility between residential areas and local services, employment, education and public transport routes would be brought about through sealed surfaces, removal of vegetation overgrowth, signposting and the creation of continuous routes and short-cuts. Improvement of the routes will also satisfy the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to ensure that disabled people should not, for a reason related to their disability, be treated less favourably than others.

Sandwell’s ROWIP includes a programme which details the implementation dates of the various schemes, however recent reductions in transport funding are unlikely to enable the completion of this programme by the end of the proposed financial year of 2017-18. Further to this, and due to the need to address sustainability and accessibility issues as specified in the WMLTP and BCCS, it would therefore be desirable to revisit the programme and prioritise the route improvements that will prove to be the most useful by filling gaps in the walking network in densely populated areas. The acceleration of such a programme by the use of LSTF funding would address transport issues in the areas described below over a shorter timescale than would otherwise be possible, with the additional benefit of revenue funding to promote the journey possibilities enabled by better walking routes and short-cuts.

The sections of public rights of way and proposed public rights of way relating to this project are located within 800 metres of key strategic public transport corridors in Sandwell (please refer to the plan contained in the appendix and the table below), most of which pass through the area and link with centres in surrounding districts, as follows:

404 Corridor – Links the centres of Brierley Hill, Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. The corridor suffers from congestion at peak times, often worsened by illegal parking and short distance local car trips. Barriers to walking and cycling exist at a number of locations. A cluster of 5 sections which are close to the route between West Bromwich town centre and Sandwell’s boundary with Walsall require improvements. One of the routes partially serves the A41 corridor.

A4123 – Links Wolverhampton, Sandwell and Dudley. Congestion is an issue as well as severance/access issues for pedestrians and cyclists at key locations along the corridor. A cluster of 3 sections close to Sandwell’s boundary with Dudley and a section in Oldbury require improvement. The cluster of 3 routes would also benefit the A457 Dudley Road corridor.

A34 – Links Birmingham and Walsall, passing through the Great Barr area of Sandwell. There is high public transport demand driven by large trip generators along the corridor. There are consistent journey times along the corridor and significant “Bus Showcase” investment has taken place. A cluster of 7 sections in the Great Barr area require improvement to create continuous walking routes through this area of high car ownership. A route close to the main cluster would enable better access to an adjacent strategic corridor (A4401) if improved. A route away from the main cluster that crosses the Sandwell boundary with Walsall to link with the A34 also needs improving.

The routes in relation to the above corridors are listed below:

Walking Distance Route Corridor Description Reduction (m)

Links Hill Lane to Wilderness Lane. Allows people to gain access to WB4 A34 1000 the Scott Arms interchange and the 51 bus route. Links Templemore Drive to Allendale Avenue in the Great Barr area of WB5 A34 the Borough. The route forms part of a longer distance route to Scott 1000 Arms interchange and the 51 bus route. WB22 & WB23 link Allendale Grove, Shenstone Road and Eastwood WB22 A34 Road. They form a longer distance link to the Scott Arms Interchange 450 and the 51 bus route. WB22 & WB23 link Allendale Grove, Shenstone Road and Eastwood WB23 A34 Road. They form a longer distance link to the Scott Arms Interchange 450 and the 51 bus route. Links Spouthouse Lane to Ennerdale Road. Provides access to WB24 A34 200 Hamstead Railway Station and the 16 Bus Route.

Links Boscobel Road to Wilderness Lane in the Great Barr area of the WB25 A34 350 Borough. Provides access to the 51 and 451 bus routes. This route forms a Y shaped network linking most of the southern Various WB30 404 section of the Yew Tree Estate with the 404 Bus route. By using this 300 - 800 route users will save a variety of distance lengths. Links to a number of bus routes that serve the hospital. It also WB2 404 400 provides an off road route serving Hallam Street and Church Hill. Links Pennyhill Lane to the Newton Road. The route links the 451 and WB29 404 1000 404 bus routes. Links Leicster Place to the Ridgeacre Canal and therefore forms WB31 404/A41 200 longer distance links to the 79 bus route and the Midland Metro line 1. Links Vale Street to the Newton Road. Provides access to the 451, WB34 404 600 408 and 404 bus routes.

Links to the 126 bus route in the Tividale Ward of the Borough and RR3 A4123 230 therefore forms a short link to a frequent bus service. Links to the 126 bus route in the Tividale Ward of the Borough and a RR5 A4123 500 short link into Dudley. Links the Lion Farm area with the 404 Bus Route. It will also provide OLD3 A4123/404 160 an off road link to the Titford Pools. Links Newton Close to the Newton Road in the Great Barr area of the WB27 A34 600 Borough and provides access to the 451 and 408 bus routes. Links Birchfield Way into Walsall. This provides a link to the 51 bus WB7 A34 600 route as well as buses serving Birchfield Way.

The table also lists the extent to which walking distances to key public transport corridors can be reduced, which in some cases can result in significant time savings. Such savings and spreading the awareness of this knowledge would increase the number of people accessing public transport.

Walking data for Sandwell does not exist but it is expected that the proposed improvements in the walking network will enable more walking and public transport trips to take place simply because it will become possible to undertake such trips, particularly if residents are guided towards the improved routes and encouraged to use them for health, cost and sustainability reasons. Further knowledge about longer distance journey possibilities and destinations would also need to be passed on to residents, particularly if they are employees or students at organisations that benefit from travel plans offering sustainable travel incentives.

Improved connectivity through implementing the proposals for this project would improve accessibility to jobs by public transport and therefore help to satisfy the LTP3 target to increase the population who live within 40 minutes’ public transport travel time of 50,000 jobs.

Health problems in Sandwell resulting from a lack of physical activity (eg 23.5% of year 6 pupils in Sandwell are obese) could be reduced by increasing the possibilities for walking. Much of the recent work in this context has centered around school travel although there is an opportunity through the personalised travel planning aspect of the project to determine the level of improvement in physical activity for the adult population.

B3. Objectives

The objectives set out in the Local Transport Plan with an explanation for how the proposed bid package would support these objectives.

Economy - to underpin private sector led growth and economic regeneration in the Metropolitan Area, including support for housing development and population growth, increased employment and low carbon technologies.

Improved connectivity for walking in local areas will also enable improved connectivity by public transport to more job opportunities further afield. Modal shift from single occupancy cars in particular, resulting from easier walking journeys, would improve journey time reliability and reduce congestion on the main corridors.

Climate Change - to contribute towards tackling climate change through achieving a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and ensure the resilience of the transport system to any changes to the Metropolitan Area’s climate.

A modal shift from single occupancy cars through people being encouraged to walk further and more often will assist in meeting this objective.

Health, personal security and safety - to improve the health, personal security and safety of people travelling in the Metropolitan Area.

The facilitation and promotion of walking for local trips and trips made in combination with public transport will help to increase levels of physical activity and therefore health. A modal shift from single occupancy cars will also assist in meeting air quality objectives by reducing levels of nitrogen dioxide emissions. Personal security would be improved where walking routes need to be cleared of vegetation, therefore creating better sight-lines along the routes and reduced opportunities for anti-social behaviour. Safety will also be improved where routes need to be cleared of vegetation both along them and at their start and end points.

Equality of Opportunity - to tackle deprivation and worklessness, so enhancing equality of opportunity and social inclusion, by improved access to services and other desired destinations within and adjacent to the Metropolitan Area.

Removal of barriers to walking (and public transport) and enhanced connectivity to schools, workplaces, leisure and community facilities will support access to employment opportunities, reduce social exclusion and assist in reducing levels of deprivation. Improvement of the routes will also satisfy the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to ensure that disabled people should not, for a reason related to their disability, be treated less favourably than others.

Quality of life and local environment - to enhance wellbeing and the quality of life for people in the Metropolitan Area and the quality of the local environment.

Improving walking routes will help to create more walkable local areas and enhance the local environment. Congestion should be reduced through more walking and the use of public transport and the subsequent improvements in air quality and better physical activity rates will result in better health.

SECTION C – The package bid

C1. Package description

Please provide a detailed description of each of the package elements being bid for.

The package elements relate to a number of Public Rights of Way (PROW) as described in section B2 above and listed in the table below. The routes require improvements and personalised travel planning projects in the areas around them so that they become better used and therefore provide better access to local services and public transport.

The capital elements of the package include tasks that will ultimately enable physical improvements to be made to the routes. Legal work is usually required to address land ownership issues, issues surrounding the course of the PROW route and formal recording of the PROW. Reporting to the appropriate Cabinet Advisory Teams or simply using delegated powers to dedicate routes is also a stage in the process to enable works to be carried out. The works themselves could range from sign-posting to re-construction of the PROW.

The revenue elements refer to the personalised travel planning (PTP) projects that would be undertaken in relation to each route listed in the table below. Targetting about half of all households in the geographical area around each route, it is intended that the lighter-touch face-to-face version of the Sustrans TravelSmart approach will be employed. Instead of multiple contacts with participating households using a variety of channels, fewer contacts on a face-to-face basis only would take place. The method applies the same behaviour change principles but at a reduced cost. Although the shift in travel behaviour could be less significant than a standard TravelSmart approach, awareness of the availability of the new transport possibilities to access employement and services (ie through the improved route and public transport) could make up for this. A map for every household in the area showing the new route, or a cluster of the new routes, will help to further increase awareness and therefore a further shift in travel behaviour.

The table below details the capital and revenue tasks for the work package.

Capital Tasks Revenue Route Corridor Tasks Legal Reporting Works

Land ownership investigation and creation order. Formal New surface and WB4 A34 Formal Report PTP dedication by Council sign posts. department. Land ownership investigation New surface and WB5 A34 Formal Report PTP and creation order. sign posts. Land ownership investigation New surface and WB22 A34 Formal Report PTP and creation order. sign posts. Land ownership investigation New surface and WB23 A34 Formal Report PTP and creation order. sign posts. Formal dedication by Council WB24 A34 Dedication Sign posts. PTP department. Formal dedication by Council WB25 A34 Dedication Sign posts. PTP department. Land ownership investigation Patching of and creation order. Formal WB30 404 Dedication existing surface PTP dedication by Council and sign posts. department. Patching of Check land ownership and legal Already on WB WB2 404 existing surface PTP records. Draft Map. and sign posts. Patching of Formal dedication by Council WB29 404 Dedication existing surface PTP department. and sign posts. Land ownership investigation and creation order. Formal Dedication via New surface and WB31 404/A41 PTP dedication by Council Formal Report sign posts. department. Land ownership investigation and creation order. Formal WB34 404 Dedication Sign posts. PTP dedication by Council department. Land ownership investigation New surface and RR3 A4123 Formal Report PTP and creation order. sign posts. Land ownership investigation New surface and RR5 A4123 Formal Report PTP and creation order. sign posts. Formal dedication by Council New surface and OLD3 A4123/404 Dedication PTP department. sign posts. Land ownership investigation WB27 A34 Formal Report Sign posts. PTP and creation order. Land ownership investigation and creation order. Formal New surface and WB7 A34 Formal Report PTP dedication by Council sign posts. department.

C2. Package costs

A breakdown of the proposed package of measures with the DfT funding required for individual elements identified by financial year and split between revenue and capital. This should align with the funding profile in Section A.

The table below lists the costs (£) of improving the various routes described in section B2 and the total package costs (£), including the capital and revenue elements.

The capital elements are required for legal fees at an average of £5000 per route, construction works and professional fees. The revenue elements refer to the personalised travel planning (PTP) programme that will be carried out in relation to each route. This is based on an average of 450 households per route (7200 in total) at a cost of £18 per household. The PTP project would be a “lighter-touch face-to-face” version of Sustrans’ TravelSmart approach.

Annual Annual Route Corridor Works Fees Legal Total Sub-total Sub-total (Capital) (Revenue)

WB4 A34 9394 2443 5000 16837

WB5 A34 8177 2126 5000 15304

WB22 A34 9118 2371 5000 16489

WB23 A34 9885 2570 5000 17456

WB24 A34 170 1810 5000 6979

WB25 A34 170 2224 5000 7393 80458 48600

WB30 404 39742 19364 5000 64106

WB2 404 1568 408 5000 6976

WB29 404 27712 10457 5000 43168

WB31 404/A41 57735 14521 5000 77256

WB34 404 175 6227 5000 11402 202908 40500 RR3 A4123 6700 1742 5000 13442

RR5 A4123 1553 404 5000 6957 OLD3 A4123/404 77795 20227 5000 103022 WB27 A34 165 974 5000 6138

WB7 A34 16171 4204 5000 25375 154935 40500

Total 438301 129600

Total Package Cost 567901

In terms of the DfT funding being sought and the extent of local contributions, the table below lists the amounts (£) that relate to each year of the package.

Local DfT Funding DfT Funding Financial Corridor Capital Costs Contribution Sought for Sought for Year (Capital Only) Capital Revenue

2012-13 A34 80458 56321 24137 48600

2013-14 404 202908 81163 121745 40500 A4123 (and A34 2014-15 154935 123948 30987 40500 out of corridor)

Total 438301 261432 176869 129600

The intention is to complete groups of route improvement works (capital) in the corridors listed in the table in each of the three financial years. This will then enable the PTP projects (revenue) to take place in relation to a route or cluster of routes.

C3. Rationale and strategic fit

An explanation on how the individual measures interlink and mutually support each other and represent a coherent package to successfully address the local challenges identified in Section B. The package proposal should demonstrate a good strategic fit, that it complements policies and proposals in the Local Transport Plan and other relevant local strategies and plans, and that it does not impact negatively on particular groups within the community or locations within or outside the geographical area covered by the bid.

The nature of the package being bid for is a combination of making physical improvements to the walking network and raising awareness amongst residents of the journey possibilities that the improvements would make. This process would address the aspirations of the West Midlands Local Transport Plan (LTP3) to make workplaces, education and local services more accessible by sustainable modes of transport.

LTP3 also refers to the LSTF programme as a potential method of funding for the development of sustainable transport in the West Midlands and a “large” LSTF bid has been submitted by the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority (Centro) accordingly. The work package detailed in this bid intends to complement Centro’s bid, with the public rights of way (PROW) route improvements taking place within the key corridors described in Centro’s bid (please refer to the plan in Appendix 1).

The package would also address the policy in the adopted Black Country Core Strategy (BCCS), “Creating Coherent Networks for Cycling and for Walking” (TRAN4), which in turn will assist with the policy “Influencing the Demand for Travel and Travel Choices” (TRAN5).

At the local level, Sandwell MBC produced a walking strategy “Walking in Sandwell” in 2001 to bring about the conditions for more walking to take place. The document is currently being refreshed and updated to understand where the Strategy has already met the need to increase walking levels and what measures need to be in place to address current and future walking issues. To complement work being carried out by the local authority to do this (ie physical improvments and the TravelWise initiative), Sandwell Primary Care Trust has for more than a decade been involved with promoting the health benefits of walking and the organisation of health walks. The health aspect of walking would be promoted by the personalised travel plan (PTP) projects outlined in section C1 of this bid.

Further activity at the local level in Sandwell includes the work being carried out to progress the projects outlined in the borough’s Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP), which was highly regarded as an innovative strategy by Natural England. Indeed, the projects outlined in this bid are ROWIP projects, as designated by the route coding shown in the tables in sections B2, C1 and C2.

ROWIP projects are usually funded from the “Measures to Encourage Walking” budget, which is part of the Integrated Transport Block settlement for Sandwell MBC. A significant level of funding has been available from this budget for a number of years and this will continue until at least the end of the LSTF period. The level of funding available reflects the importance Sandwell MBC attaches to walking. As such, a substantial local contribution is proposed for the capital elements of this bid in each year (see second table in section C2 above). Additional funding from the DfT would enable more capital works to be carried out on routes that would be used mainly for utility trips (as a priority) and the added value of the revenue funded personalised travel planning (PTP) projects would become possible. The schemes do not impact negatively on local areas as they improve the public realm.

Sustainable transport in the West Midlands is promoted and facilitated by a network of transportation planners from each local authority using the TravelWise brand, with support from Centro’s Network West Midlands brand. Financial support has been available for some years through the Joint Initiative Budget for the West Midlands, which has recently enabled a TravelWise website (www.travelwisewestmids.org.uk) to be created for the metropolitan area of the West Midlands and the surrounding shire counties and unitary authorities. This resource is a portal through which journey planning tools and local transport information can be accessed. In addition, there are separate areas of the website that relate to workplace, education, community and residential travel needs where companies, schools, community organisations and housing developers can place access details for their site and carry out survey work. Awareness of the website would be raised through the PTP projects so residents in the areas around the improved routes can plan journeys more effectively in relation to various journey types.

One of the journey planning tools specific to this bid that is available through the TravelWise website described above is Walkit.com. Using funds from the budget which is made available to the TravelWise network in the West Midlands, all districts have been surveyed to include details of their walking networks. Walkit.com has become a well used tool for planning walking journeys, particularly in relation to public transport. C4. Community support

Please provide evidence of the extent of support within the community for the proposed package of measures.

Being a largely urban area, there is generally good use of PROW in Sandwell. This can increase where routes are improved. Some consultation is usually carried out when pursuing ROWIP schemes and it usually reveals that people are interested in using local off-road walking facilities, especially if improvements to them result in better access to local services and public transport.

Sandwell’s Local Access Forum is also very supportive of the work carried out by Sandwell MBC to improve PROW in the borough. Indeed, the annual PROW condition surveys of randomly chosen routes are starting to show a marked improvement in the quality of routes, which is due to both the ROWIP and general PROW work.

As part of Sandwell MBC’s TravelWise work, the Sandwell Company TravelWise (SCTW) initiative helps local workplaces to promote and facilitate sustainable travel measures to employees. Discounts on travel cards and bicycles are available to the 150 companies who have affiliated. In addition to workplaces, all schools in Sandwell have produced a School Travel Plan and, with the residential aspect of the West Midlands TravelWise website, housing developers will soon be able to support residents with sustainable travel incentives. Such support, particularly from SCTW, along with the work to improve walking routes, will help to increase awareness amongst people of sustainable transport possibilities.

SECTION D – Value for money

D1. Outcomes and value for money

Please refer to paragraphs 24-28 of the guidance when completing this section. Authorities can draw on their own evidence or use the results from recent similar packages of measures implemented elsewhere to explain the impacts and benefits expected from their proposals.

The proposal will need to set out what specific outputs will have been delivered by the end of the Fund period (i.e. 2014-15) and demonstrate what the expected impact and outcomes will be in terms of economic growth and reducing carbon emissions.

Where possible, in order that the Department can calculate the likely quantifiable benefits from the package proposals, information should be provided of the impacts each year over the period of the Fund, starting from the year before the measures come into operation. The information should include relevant supporting data, such as the following:

In terms of quantifiable benefits, the table below shows the distance and time savings that are possible when using the routes instead of footways associated with local road networks. The routes effectively create short-cuts between residential areas and local services and public transport services. It is believed that by improving the physical nature of the routes more people would be able to benefit from the distance and time savings that are possible. The PTP projects (revenue) would seek to increase the awareness of such possibilities.

Walking Distance Reduced Time Savings Route Corridor (metres) (minutes)

WB4 A34 1000 12.0

WB5 A34 1000 12.0 WB22 A34 450 5.4 WB23 A34 450 5.4

WB24 A34 200 2.4 WB25 A34 350 4.2 WB30 404 Various 300 - 800 3.6 – 9.6

WB2 404 400 4.8

WB29 404 1000 12.0 WB31 404/A41 200 2.4

WB34 404 600 7.2

RR3 A4123 230 2.8 RR5 A4123 500 6.0

OLD3 A4123/404 160 1.9

WB27 A34 600 7.2 WB7 A34 600 7.2

Due to the lack of pedestrian count data on the above routes, it is not possible to determine how much collective time and distance is currently saved. It is therefore impossible to determine the amount of time and distance savings that would accrue from a proportionate increase in use due to people making a modal shift to walking or a combination of walking and public transport.

Further outcomes include the delivery of greater local accessibility and therefore increased social inclusion, particularly for people who do not have access to a car. Safer and more direct walking routes away from traffic could make walking more attractive for some people, particularly children walking to school which in turn could remove some car trips from the network during peak periods. This would help to increase levels of active travel in order to address problems of obesity that are prevalent in all age groups of people in Sandwell.

D2. Financial sustainability

Bids should describe how the benefits can be sustained without the need for ongoing financial support beyond the Fund period. Where the measures are not expected to become fully financially viable in the short term, the basis for provision to be sustained after the Fund period should be explained and the expected local authority and/or external sources of future funding support stated and quantified.

The nature of the package of work is such that walking routes are physically improved and, where they are not already, become maintainable by the local highway authority. After improving the routes, the financial commitments beyond the fund period would be minimal because the surface of the routes will not degrade significantly through people walking on them. Most maintenance work usually involves the periodic cutting-back of vegetation and possible removal of rubbish.

The revenue aspect of the work through PTP projects could prove to be useful beyond the LSTF period. Lessons are likely to be learned about how people use such routes and what can bring about increases in walking traffic. In addition, some of the resources developed for the individual routes and clusters of routes, such as local walking and public transport maps, could be replicated for ROWIP and other PROW projects beyond the LSTF period at much reduced time and cost.

SECTION E – Deliverability

E1. Implementation Please provide details below of how implementation would be managed within the authority and through partnership bodies.

Sandwell’s ROWIP programme is currently in its second year of implementation and the well established processes used in the programme (and other PROW work) would be replicated for the LSTF period should this bid be successful. Sandwell MBC employs two full-time dedicated Rights of Way officers and the workload proposed for this bid would be achievable with such resources, in addition to allowing for the time needed to pursue other PROW related work. LSTF funding would therefore enable more PROW and ROWIP projects to be achieved than would be possible if restricted to the funding available from the “Measures to Encourage Walking” budget (outlined in section C3 above). The Rights of Way officers are part of Sandwell MBC’s Transportation Planning team and as such would be managed from within it.

In terms of carrying out physical works on routes, colleagues in the Council’s Highways department are highly experienced in terms of detailed design and managing contractors. The links between the Transportation Planning team and the Highways department are well established.

The tabulated package description in section C1 outlines the various work aspects associated with each route. The ability to deliver the routes outlined for each LSTF year is not regarded as problematic because experience has shown that with the types of routes chosen the process would be straightforward. Routes in the ROWIP programme that have difficult to resolve land ownership issues have not been included in the bid because of the possibilities for the projects to be incomplete at the end of LSTF years.

The PTP projects would be delivered by Sustrans using the established lighter-touch face-to-face TravelSmart method. As such, this element of the bid would be managed and staffed by Sustrans. Some officer time from the local authority would also be needed for the PTP projects and the capacity for this would be available from within Sandwell MBC’s Transportation Planning team. The PTP projects themselves would be delivered towards the end of each LSTF year after the routes have been improved. Since the work to bring about physical improvements to each route is straightforward, it is expected that there would be no delays in implementing and completing the PTP projects.

E2. Output milestones

Details of key milestones in the delivery plan in terms of defined output measures (NB. please see paragraph 44 of the guidance for further details).

The tables in section C2 of this bid show the years in which groups of improvement works and PTP projects would be undertaken. These are the key output milestones of the bid.

Within each LSTF year, the work leading to the ability to make physical improvements would be programmed for completion three months before the end of the LSTF year, after which the associated PTP projects would take place. The table in section C1 shows the nature of the work that needs to be undertaken for each route, however the various elements (legal, reporting, works) cannot be programmed precisely due to the unique local conditions with respect to land ownership and the extent of physical works required.

E3. Summary of key risks

Please identify the key risks to delivery and planned measures for managing those risks.

The risks associated with delivering Public Rights of Way Scheme usually surround land ownership and associated legal issues. Some of the proposed schemes require land ownership issues to be resolved, although this is usually an easy process because it involves unregistered land or landowners who have dedicated the route as a PROW in the past but have not formally completed the background work.

- If the land is in unknown ownership then the Council searches extensively for the landowner. Should none be found the Order can then be made to formally record the route as a Public Right of Way.

- Should the landowner be known, it is possible for the landowner to simply dedicate the route as a Public Right of Way, which is a simple process if the landowner agrees to the proposal.

- Should the route be in Council ownership there is a requirement to report to two Cabinet Advisory Teams. The first is to the necessary Cabinet Member whose portfolio the land sits under and the second is to the Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services for formal approval to undertake the Order creation.

There is one route (WB2) that does not have a requirement to be created as a PROW because it is already recorded as such. This route will however require physical works to be undertaken. The landowner’s permission would not need to be sought. The table below summarises the land ownership and reporting requirements for each route.

Route Corridor Land Ownership Reporting

WB4 A34 Partly Council and Unknown Formal Report WB5 A34 British Waterways Formal Report

WB22 A34 Unknown Formal Report

WB23 A34 Unknown Formal Report

WB24 A34 Council Dedication

WB25 A34 Council Dedication

WB30 404 Council Dedication WB2 404 Known Already on WB Draft Map

WB29 404 Council Dedication WB31 404/A41 Partly Council and Unknown Dedication via Formal Report WB34 404 Known Dedication

RR3 A4123 Unknown Formal Report

RR5 A4123 Unknown Formal Report OLD3 A4123/404 Council Dedication

WB27 A34 Unknown Formal Report

WB7 A34 Partly Council and Unknown Formal Report

Sandwell’s PROW team have a proven track record in delivering schemes similar to those proposed for this bid. Aside from the general PROW schemes that arise from enquiries or planning applications, the Rights of Way Improvement Programme (ROWIP) is now in its second year of delivery and the schemes planned are on-track in terms of the implementation process. There is however a risk that some future schemes in the programme will not be delivered due to lack of funding. Reprioristisation in terms of concentrating on the improvement of routes that perform mainly utility functions will however help to ensure that many Sandwell residents benefit from better access to jobs, education and local services due to the ROWIP programme.

E4. Project evaluation

Please indicate your willingness to co-operate with the Department in evaluating the benefits of the Fund programme.

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council would be willing to cooperate with the Department in evaluating the benefits of the Fund programme.

Submission of bids:

• Tranche 1 small projects - by close on 18th April 2011

• Expressions of interest for Tranche 2 small projects - by close on 6th June 2011

• Tranche 2 small projects – by close on 24th February 2012

• Key Component bids for large projects - by close on 18th April 2011

• Large project initial proposals - by close on 6th June 2011

3 hard copies should be submitted to:

LSTF bids Department for Transport 3/27 Great Minster House 76 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DR

An electronic copy should also be submitted to [email protected]

Appendix 1: Plan of Proposed Improvements

Appendix 2: Letter of Support from Sustrans