Scrutiny Review Panel 2 (Transport) - Minutes - 30 th June 2016

SCRUTINY REVIEW PANEL 2 – TRANSPORT

MINUTES

Thursday 30 th June 2016

PRESENT : Councillors: Aysha Raza (Chair), Gary Busuttil, Theresa Byrne, Patrick Cogan, Joanna Dabrowska (Vice-Chair), Gurmit Mann, Rajinder Mann, Karam Mohan, Kamaljit Nagpal, Gareth Shaw, Alex Stafford, Lauren Wall and Ray Wall.

Co-opted Members Present: John Gashion - Passenger Transport Users’ Group (EPTUG)

Ealing Officers Present: Harjeet Bains - Scrutiny Review Officer Chris Cole - Transport Projects and Policy Manager Russell Roberts - Acting Manager, Transport Projects and Policy Lee Teasdale - Democratic Services Officer

Other Attendees: James Guest - Local Resident

1. Apologies for Absence (Agenda Item 1)

There were none.

2. Declarations of Interest (Agenda Item 2)

Councillor Ray Wall advised that he was employed by a private company which worked on railway re-signalling systems.

3. Matters to be Considered in Private (Agenda Item 3)

There were none.

4. Panel Terms of Reference and Work Programme 2016-2017 (Agenda Item 4)

The Chair asked that Members agree the proposed scope of the Panel and asked that Panel Members welcome and agree to the co-option of John Gashion the Vice- Chairman of Ealing Public Transport Users’ Group (EPTUG), who would sit on the Panel as a representative of EPTUG.

The Chair advised that the overarching remit of the Panel would be to look at how public transport use could augment and support pedestrians in the Borough, encouraging healthier living and a move away from private vehicles, which in turn would support the local and wider environment.

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Scrutiny Review Panel 2 (Transport) - Minutes - 30 th June 2016

It was agreed that the scope of the proposed work programme would be fully considered at the conclusion of the meeting.

Resolved: That

(i) the Panel’s Terms of Reference be agreed; and

(ii) John Gashion be appointed to the Panel as the EPTUG co-opted representative.

5. Overview of Public Transport Connectivity in the Borough (Agenda Item 5)

The Chair invited Russell Roberts, the Acting Manager for Transport Projects and Policy and Chris Cole, the new Manager for Transport Projects and Policy, due to begin employment with the Council on 4 July 2016 – to present a report which provided an overview of connectivity for public transport in the Borough.

Public Transport Accessibility Levels

Panel Members were provided with a heat map which analysed Public Transport Accessibility Levels (PTALS) in the borough. Ealing Broadway was highlighted as an area of high accessibility, whilst , and parts of , , and were notable for low levels of accessibility. Low- scoring PTALS were usually areas at a significant distance from the nearest rail/underground station and suffered from a scarcity of bus services.

Ealing was currently ranked in the bottom quartile of all boroughs for public transport access to further education colleges and open spaces. It was ranked in the second quartile for access to GPs and the third quartile for primary schools, secondary schools, food shopping and access to employment. The relatively poor access to services reflected the high proportion of car use seen in the Borough.

The 2013/2014 London Travel Demand Survey (LTDS) estimated that 34% of households in the Borough had no access to a car and over 37,000 (12% of residents) of Ealing’s population had reduced mobility. Around 98% of Ealing’s bus stops were now fully wheelchair accessible (up from just 43% in 2009) but many stations still lacked step free access. With being the most used of those stations which still lacked such access.

Greenford Station had been made step free in October 2015, and feasibility studies had now been drawn up for North Acton, Northolt, Northfields and Perivale Stations. However, local physical restraints and particularly costs were significant barriers to achieving full accessibility at the remaining stations.

The quality of the roads and pavements in the Borough were also integral to how people accessed public transport. Ealing Council used independent surveyors to inspect the standard of every road and footpath in the Borough each year, with each of these being given a condition rating out of 100. In the current year’s road renewal budget, £2.9 million was due to be spent on resurfacing roads and £570,000 on pavements. In addition, had contributed £766,000 to repair sections of the main roads in the Borough that it managed.

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Scrutiny Review Panel 2 (Transport) - Minutes - 30 th June 2016

Crossrail and Heavy Rail Services

The introduction of services in January 2019 was expected to bring significant accessibility benefits to the five Crossrail stations in the Borough. All of these stations (Acton Mainline, Ealing Broadway, , and Southall) would be step-free and the enhanced service pattern alongside significantly improved journey times into Central London would raise the PTALS in many parts of the Borough.

Ealing Bus Network Connectivity

Ealing’s bus network was overseen by Transport for London and Ealing officers undertook regular dialogue on services and performance. In December 2009, the Transport and Environment Scrutiny Panel had considered bus service provision in the borough, identifying perceived gaps and unmet links. The recommendations were taken through a Cabinet report which contained a full review of Ealing’s bus network in June 2011. This was followed up by a scrutiny report in February 2014 which focussed upon access to healthcare services in the Borough.

More recently, officers had been working with Transport for London to plan for the necessary bus changes to meet the future operation of Crossrail services and the significant new developments in the Borough such as the Southall Waterside (formally Southall Gasworks) development.

Ealing residents made around 3.8 bus trips each week on average, this compared to 3.3 for residents of outer London boroughs as a whole. Over 60% of public transport trips starting in the Borough were made by bus. Network coverage was such that approximately 91% of Ealing residents were within five minutes’ walk of bus services and 99% of residents were within seven minutes (at average walking speed).

Total bus mileage was planned to be maintained at broadly present levels but additional Transport for London money for extra bus mileage was unlikely to be made available, unless savings in bus mileage were made elsewhere or additional funding was put forward. The cost of any extension to an existing or new bus service was significant and required the generation of considerable new bus journeys to justify the business case.

Ealing Tube and Train Network Connectivity

Strong east-west connection links were found throughout the Borough, but there were limitations on north-south connections.

The costs associated with new rail and tube stations and extensions meant that in order to justify any changes to the existing networks there would need to be significant levels of new or existing development to justify a business case.

In recent years, Ealing officers had focussed on improving the reliability and frequency of services. For example, officers had helped to negotiate four trains per hour through Hanwell Station as part of Crossrail plans.

Investment in improving train services and capacity continued. had signed a deal with train manufacturer Bombardier and leasing company

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Scrutiny Review Panel 2 (Transport) - Minutes - 30 th June 2016

Porterbrook for 37 Class 387 four-carriage electric train, these would join eight previously ordered.

Questions

The Chair thanked the Officers for their presentation and invited Panel Members to comment and ask questions.

Councillor Ray Wall queried when an appropriate West Ealing shuttle service would be in place. It was advised that the service would commence in January 2017. Though the service would still only have two trains per hour it was expected that there would be no more than five minutes wait at the West Ealing interchange. Councillor Wall felt that a better service could be in place and that Councillors and officers should work together on achieving this.

Councillor Rajinder Mann asked that thanks be put on record to the departing manager of Transport Projects and Policy, Nick O’Donnell – who had worked closely with several scrutiny panels in recent years. Councillor Mann then noted his concerns around the lack of transport accessibility in the Norwood Green ward, the area had seen the addition of several new schools and new housing to the local infrastructure, yet no bus service at all went through some parts of the ward. The lack of service to Tentelow Lane/Armstrong Way highlighted in the report was noted as an area of particular concern.

Councillor Mohan queried whether an estimated timescale was in place yet for a bus connection between Southall Broadway (west of South Road) and Southall Rail Station. There was concern that this would only be implemented once Crossrail and/or the Southall Gasworks/Waterside project were active, which was considered to be too far into the future. Officers stated that they would feedback on this.

Councillor Dabrowska stated that as well as lacking north to south routes, there was also a paucity of diagonal routes within the Borough. Officers agreed and stated that this would need to be looked at with Transport for London.

Co-opted Member John Gashion spoke about transport accessibility in relation to local deprivation levels. There was a desperate need for new housing, and most recent housing that had been built was in poor scoring PTAL locations. It was contended that there needed to be a more holistic approach to housing and public transport accessibility.

Officers advised that deprivation was a factor and that planning colleagues were liaised with. Northolt certainly had concerning areas of linked deprivation and poor transport accessibility. The feasibility of mapping transport accessibility in relation to areas of deprivation within the borough would be looked into.

It was noted that PTALS did not tell the ‘full story’ and that whilst they indicated the level of transport available to take the public ‘somewhere’, that somewhere might not always be the place that most people wanted to get to.

Councillor Ray Wall asked about when the Great Western franchise would be up for renewal. It was advised that this would not be until the early 2020’s and that they had responsibilities to maintain the lines until that time.

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Scrutiny Review Panel 2 (Transport) - Minutes - 30 th June 2016

Councillor Rajinder Mann asked about how much Council money was being invested in the bridge widening scheme for Southall Gasworks/Waterside. Officers stated that they did not have figures available but would feed the information back to the Panel.

Ealing Passenger Transport Users’ Group

The Chair then invited Co-opted Member John Gashion to make a presentation to the Panel on the work of the Ealing Passenger Transport Users’ Group.

Broadly, the presentation highlighted concerns around:

• Chiltern Rail – Concerns over a lack of metro service. • – Overcrowding on the Heathrow branch. • Crossrail • The Greenford Rail Branch • High Speed Rail (HS2) – Bus connection issues. • Lack of uptake on bus proposals to TfL. • Bus links in relation to the reshaping of North West London medical services. • The lack of democratic accountability in TfL.

A full transcript of the presentation is available on file.

Panel Members thanked Mr Gashion and, by extension, the EPTUG members for their work and very detailed contribution.

The Chair thanked the attendees for their contribution and drew the item to a close.

Resolved: That

(i) the overview report and presentation on borough connectivity for public transport be received by the Panel;

(ii) that the information provided by Co-opted Member John Gashion on the work of EPTUG be received;

(iii) an estimated timescale for the implementation of the Southall Broadway (west of South Road) to Southall Rail Station bus link be provided to the Panel if available;

(iv) officers be asked to consider the feasibility of mapping transport accessibility in relation to areas of deprivation within the borough; and

(v) information be fed back to the Panel on the amount of Council monies invested in the bridge widening scheme for Southall Gasworks/Waterside.

6. Panel Terms of Reference and Work Programme 2016-2017 (Agenda Item 4 cont.)

Further discussion took place in regards to the work programme. Councillor Rajinder Mann stated that it would be advisable to invite relevant Cabinet Members to each meeting. 5

Scrutiny Review Panel 2 (Transport) - Minutes - 30 th June 2016

James Guest, speaking as a member of the public, suggested that any bus discussions should include consideration of hospitals outside the Borough.

Councillor Ray Wall stated that discussion of the Brentford-Southall line should be included in the meeting concerning rail connectivity; it was also felt that discussion of Gatwick connections would be worthwhile.

Some members felt that discussion of cycling, particularly in relation to cycling safety would be worth covering.

It was suggested that schools which took place in ‘park and ride’ schemes should be invited to discuss the schemes with the Panel at a future meeting.

Resolved: That the suggestions for the work programme 2016-2017 be taken forward by the Chair and Vice-Chair for inclusion where appropriate.

7. Date of Next Meeting (Agenda Item 8)

It was noted that the next scheduled meeting of Scrutiny Review Panel 2 was to be held on Thursday 14 September 2016.

Councillor Aysha Raza, Chair.

The meeting ended at 8.45pm.

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