GREEN TRAVEL PLAN: UPDATED JUNE 2014

1. INTRODUCTION

The objective of this plan is to remove unnecessary travel, with an emphasis on the minimisation of the use of and reliance upon travel by car. To this end, use of more sustainable modes of travel – bicycles, shared cars and public transport all need to be promoted in more practical ways. The updated Travel Plan will apply to all users of the College – students, staff and visitors.

Priestley College has one main campus located on Loushers Lane, . The College attracts learners from over 40 high schools and also offers a wide and diverse combination of subjects to young people beyond Warrington. The main daytime age range of students is 16 to 18 years. In the evening, courses on offer are aimed towards adult learners. In addition to offering adult courses on one evening a week at the main site, the College runs a range of adult courses, focused mainly on skills for life, in some 30 outreach centres in the Warrington area. The use of outreach centres is designed to ‘take learning to the learners’ and generally in venues such as church halls and community centres. Analysis of learner post codes demonstrates that learners very rarely travel far to study in these centres.

At present, the only restriction limiting the number of students and staff bringing cars on to the campus is the parking space available. In 2009, the College introduced separate car- parking arrangements for staff and for students. The College now designates 40 parking spaces for students, which reduces car traffic movement about campus during peak hours (improving safety). Many staff arrive on campus early in the morning and leave late afternoon unlike sixth form students who tend to have very staggered start and end times. It is made very clear to prospective students that there is only very limited car-parking on campus, with students being encouraged to make use of the public transport options which the College routinely negotiates and, in some instances, subsidises.

2. RATIONALE

2.1 Why is a Travel Plan necessary?

The College has a Sustainable Development Policy approved by Governors in May 2010 which was developed in collaboration with the Sustainable Development Committee of the Consortium of Cheshire & Warrington Colleges. A key strand of this policy is to ‘promote practical measures to reduce the impact of travel’ and the effective implementation of a Green Travel Plan is seen as essential to deliver improvements in this area. The College has a track record of achieving improvements in targeted areas through its Travel Plan over the last few years. The College recognises the need for continued efforts in this field and seeks to embed existing good practice within the plan, whilst also identifying new initiatives to provide momentum for further progress.

The College naturally aims to continue to meet the demand for sixth form provision in the area, but recognises that there are a significant number of factors that have impacted or will impact on recruitment in future years including:

 The opening of the sixth form centre at Birchwood Community High School The closure of Frodsham High School with pupils now located at  The conversion of Halton High School into Ormiston Bolingbrook 1  The development of Hope Academy to replace St Aelred’s and Newton le Willows High Schools  The Heath School will be opening a Sixth Form in September 2014  The opening of the new Sixth Form block at  The strong national focus on expanding Apprenticeship provision.  The opening of the new free schools in Woolston and Sandymoor with the Sandymoor school opening a Sixth Form Centre from September 2014  The opening of the new Studio School sponsored by Warrington Collegiate in September 2014  The approval for the University of Chester to open a University Technical College to open in September 2015.  The conversion of Bankfield to an academy and the associated plans to open a Sixth Form from September 2015  The proposed phased closure of Culcheth Sixth Form from September 2014

The overall impact of some of the above has resulted in a recent decline in student recruitment (5% since 2010/11) The College aims to keep student enrolment at the current level moving forward, but it envisages that maintaining this will prove challenging. The factors above will also impact on the geographical distribution of our student community in the coming years and much work has been undertaken to anticipate in advance the likely travel patterns of future student cohorts.

Such is the College’s continuing significance in the area that the need or duty to cultivate environmentally supportive attitudes and beliefs has never been greater and the College recognises the need to encourage effective sustainable modes of transport. This Travel Plan outlines a package of measures designed to tackle different aspects of travel to and from College and promotes sustainable modes of transport. Its purpose is to make alternatives to single-occupancy car travel easier and more attractive to use by providing choice and information on the options available.

It is acknowledged that the car will continue to play an important part in future transport needs.However, the College is committed to encouraging more appropriate use by combining journeys or by using other modes of transport. National statistics showing the rising levels of obesity in young people and the health related problems of inactivity suggest that cycling and walking as part of a daily routine should be more actively encouraged. The College has promoted cycling over the past few years; increasing cycle parking in prominent locations, introducing cycle lockers, running cycle to College days, bicycle raffles, advertising cycle grants for learners and operating a Cycle to Work Scheme.

2.2 What are the overall benefits of a Travel Plan?

At , an effective Travel Plan provides benefits for all users of the College and for those who live or work nearby. These benefits are associated with the replacement of car usage by healthier/safer alternatives. The more tangible benefits include:

- improved air quality and less traffic congested streets - exercise for users of the College; seeking to reduce the costs/losses subsequent to ill health, through promoting widespread community health - safer and more accessible College grounds - reduced costs in maintaining the College site and its car-parks - personal savings for those who opt out of single-user cars

Less obvious or immediate benefits include:

- inculcation of healthier attitudes and outlooks amongst students - setting of good examples for others to follow 2 - better value obtained from public transport services - compliance with local and central government environmental and planning initiatives - minimized negative impact on the immediate local community

3. SITE AUDIT

3.1 Location

The College is situated on Loushers Lane; near the southern edge of the town centre. A driveway allows vehicular and bicycle access, as well as pedestrian access, from Loushers Lane. A separate pedestrians-only access from Wilderspool Causeway (via Menin Avenue) is the main route into College for those on foot from the Town Centre/railway stations or who exit from certain buses that stop on Wilderspool Causeway. Indeed, for many years this was the only vehicular and pedestrian entrance and exit. The College is close to a number of small residential avenues, but we co-operated with the Borough Council and local residents in the introduction of ‘residents only’ parking restrictions in these roads, this development being funded by the College.

3.2 Staff, students and visitors

At present, there are some 2,160 full-time students and up to 240 staff attending the College during the core day, with Wednesday and Thursday being the quietest days. Moreover, there are up to 20 staff members working within our community provision and they access College on a daily basis to collect teaching resources. The College regularly reviews the timetabled structure of the day and has tried to stage student start and end times to reduce pressure on public transport at peak times and therefore hopefully increase the chances of learners opting for this mode of transport. Following the 2012/13 travel survey which highlighted issues using public transport on certain routes for early morning lessons, due to congestion, in September 2013 the College changed the start time for the first lesson of the day from 8.45 am to 9.00 am and paid to put on additional buses to supplement the Warrington Borough Transport buses and so ease pressure on routes to and from Wilderspool Causeway and the Bus Interchange. In 2012/13 the College introduced a 4 day week for our level 2 cohort of students (some 130). Moreover, some of our Level 3 Vocational students undertake work placements and this results in a lower figure attending College each day than the full-time roll may suggest. Indeed, this varies between 1870 and 1900 across the week in 2012/13 with Tuesday being the busiest day.

3.3 Car Parking

Planning permission for a new building that opened on site in 2007 had the effect of reducing the number of designated car parking spaces. Designated spaces are provided for some 170 cars, including 6 disability spaces. As outlined earlier these spaces are divided between staff and students, with students using the Crescent Car Park which is situated nearest to the vehicular entrance to the campus.

The College has 25 spaces allocated to motorcycles/mopeds.

3.4 Car Park Management

Prior to 2008, other than to ensure orderly usage of the car parks on site, the College had not sought to bring into play any management measures designed to affect car usage. However, there is now a designated student car park with 40 spaces. Use of this car-park requires a permit and student are not allowed car access beyond the Crescent roundabout. All other car parking is for staff and visitors only. In September 2010 additional staffing was introduced to provide car park/traffic management at the start of the day, but, in recent

3 years, management of the parking arrangements has become more straightforward.

The College also permits cars dropping off in the roundabout area in order to encourage car sharing and discourage congestion in local narrow streets.

The College consistently urged students not to use narrow local streets to park. In 2010, the College agreed to a planning condition (costing the College £10,000) whereby nearby avenues were designated as Access Only. This is regularly publicised with students through plasma screens and student newsletters.

3.5 Public Transport

a. Rail: Warrington has two railway stations, Bank Quay (approx. 1 mile from the College) serves the north-south routes (eg. Frodsham, and Newton-le- Willows), and Central (approx. 1.5 miles from the College) serves the west and east (eg. Birchwood, Widnes, Liverpool and Manchester).

Both stations are a 20-25 minute walk to the Menin Avenue pedestrian entrance to the College off Wilderspool Causeway.

b. Bus: All bus routes in Warrington, other than any directly funded by the College, terminate at the Warrington station interchange (approx. 1 mile from the College) and a range of buses pass the College on Wilderspool Causeway every 8 minutes.

Bus Pass Information  Students using Warrington Borough Transport Services to get to College are able to buy Town Saver pass. The Town Savers cost £11 per week or £34 per month whilst the Network Saver costs £13.20 per week or £43.20 per month. A yearly pass is available at a cost of £230 (prices correct at 1/6/2014) These passes entitle the students to use any Warrington Borough Transport service in the area covered on any day of the week including weekends. The Town Saver area covers areas such as: Great Sankey, Penketh, Callands, Dallam,Winnick, Locking Stumps, Birchwood, Padgate, Woolston, Thelwall, Grappenhall, Appleton, Stockton Heath and all central Warrington areas. The Network Saver covers the same areas but in addition: Stretton, Northwich, Hatton, Burtonwood, Earlestown, Newton-le-Willows, Croft, Leigh, Culcheth, Warburton, Lymm, Knutsford and Appleton Thorn.

 Halton passes cost £14.50 per week. Arriva passes can be bought online at reasonable prices. (prices correct at 1/6/2014) Both Halton and Arriva passes can be used on any day of the week including weekends.

 To encourage more students to use public transport, and provide a good customer experience the College has been selling Halton and Warrington Bus passes on campus to students.

3.6 Cycling

Most bicycle parking is now located in a prominent position at the front of the Crescent Building with a further 24 cycle parking to the rear. There are several on-road and off-road cycling routes nearby and a cycle map for Warrington is available to students and staff. A Cycle Focus Group meets biennially to review ways to promote cycling and access the sufficiency of cycle parking facilities on campus. Current facilities now accommodate 111 bicycles in total and appears to meet the current demand. Over a third of the cycle spaces

4 are under cover and there now a number which have lockers. In summer 2014 the College plans to designate a new area for motorcycles and scooters which will free up further space for bicycle parking but also improve safety by better segregation of pedal and motorised vehicles and also reduced the impact of noise on students and staff teaching in the front classrooms in the Crescent Building.

3.7 Walking

Many students/staff that arrive/leave on foot currently use the Menin Avenue pedestrian access. This also leads to the bus-stop on Wilderspool Causeway. A significant number of those on foot also use the driveway to Loushers Lane.

5. SURVEYS

Biennial surveys are conducted Covering (a) College employees and (b) students. All staff and students are invited to complete the Staff Travel Questionnaire. In autumn 2012 the College invited all full-time students to complete the questionnaire and 348 completed the on-line survey.

Both questionnaires seek to clarify current travel practices to/from College, and to obtain some indication of staff/students preparedness to make less routine use of their cars and more use of the obvious alternatives – walking, cycling and public transport.

The findings from the latest Staff Survey and the Students Survey are given in more detail in the Annexes to this Travel Plan.

6. MONITORING AND UPDATING

Monitoring will be by the Senior Management Team. Many key targets are also incorporated in the Strategic Plan which is monitored by the Governing Body. The Plan is annually reviewed and updated, as part of the Strategic Self-Assessment cycle,, giving particular attention to the messages from any Travel Survey of staff and students, student focus groups.

5 7. ACTION PLAN

Objective One

To urge and direct towards the use of more sustainable modes of transport.

Context

The College attracts students from both Warrington and a wider area. The proportion of students travelling over 6 miles fell between autumn 2010 and autumn 2012 from 40% to 37%. The College has analysed the locations from which students travel ‘longer distances’ and put a number of initiatives in place in 2013/14 and further are planned for 2014/15 to ensure that most travel by public transport.

The proportion of students using cars, including getting lifts, car sharing and using motorcycles, to travel to College remained fairly static at 23% from 2002 to 2007 but this has been reduced significantly in recent years and by autumn 2012, this had reduced to 16%, The 2012 survey confirms that a high proportion (67%) of students today travel by public transport, compared to 54% back in 2002. Given the College investment in 2013/14 in improving bus provision to site it is anticipated that the proportion of students travelling by public transport will now exceed 70% An increase in the use of public transport by staff (reported in 2010) has been sustained with 6% continuing to use public transport compared to 0% in 2007.

Despite additional improved bicycle storage on-site and promotional activities, we have only increased regular cycle usage by just under 1% since 2010. This is disappointing but may reflect in part the timings of the survey (which are undertaken in the winter months) The use of the cycle racks appears to be higher now during the summer months and in 2014/15 a more details survey related to cycling is planned. The demise of cycle grants from Warrington Borough Council together with recent cycle thefts on campus, and in other local schools and colleges, may have negatively impacted on cycle use. To counteract the security issue College has introduced a free rental of high security cycle locks for students to use and also worked closely with the local police to ‘catch’ those in involved in cycle thefts in the Warrington area. .

!0% of staff now walk to work, and a further 7% regularly cycle to work. The College operates a Cycle to Work Scheme with 10 to 15 employees participating annually.

6 Further Actions

Further Actions Required Due 2 Year Impact Date Measure 1 Encouraging cycle use: Staff:  Promote shower facilities at the start of the day Sept 14 To increase  Promote cycle to work grants Sept 14 proportion from  Promote ‘cycle routes’ Ongoing 7% to 8%  Further increase cycle storage around campus Sept 14 Students:  Promote the long term loan of cycle locks to new Sept 14 To increase cohort of students proportion from  Promote ‘Bike Week’ activities June 14 2% to 4%

2 Encouraging walking to College: Staff:  Promote location to town, to increase walking Ongoing To increase  Promote healthy lifestyle through the ACTIVE Ongoing proportion from ENRICHMENT programme 10% to 11%  Introduce the free use of pedometers to encourage Jan 15 Students: walking To increase proportion from 15% to 16% 3 Encouraging use of public transport:  Continue to Work with Warrington Borough Ongoing Council in developing the public transport Staff: infrastructure To increase  Promote easy bus routes through our website Ongoing proportion from  Work with partners to ensure bus passes remain 6% to 7% readily accessible and promote with prospective Students: students To increase  Introduce an additional Culcheth/Birchwood bus to Ongoing proportions ease pressure at peak times from 67% to  To extend the direct Great Sankey bus route to 75% Hough Green to increase use of public transport Sep 14 from Widnes students  To introduce a direct bus service from Helsby to Sep 14 meet anticipated increased demand from this area

Sep 14

4 Encouraging car sharing in preference to sole car usage by developing and implementing approaches that:  Promote the Halton car sharing scheme area for Oct 14 Staff: staff in that area and promote national car sharing To increase schemes number sharing  For staff who indicated they would be interested in Ongoing from 8% to car sharing, match potential ‘partners’ 10%  Circulate promotion materials to staff permit Oct 14 holders indicating how much a year they could save if shared 50% - targeting by distance travelled etc

7 5 Review the car park management scheme for students, Staff: staff, visitors, ‘drop-offs’ and deliveries annually to assess To decrease its effectiveness. proportion car  Write or email to all permit holders reminding them driving from of public transport routes and the cycle routes etc 72% to 68% Students: Annually To decrease each proportions July driving from 8% Oct 14 to 5%

8 Objective Two

To minimise the impact of unsustainable modes of transport and any increase in sustainable modes of transport on our local community.

Context

Once driving tests have been passed and reflective of national trends, some students choose to drive to College. The College has, through it admissions process, , made it clear to prospective students and their parents that they must not have the expectation that they can park on site or nearby and they should plan not to drive to College. This point is reiterated during student Open Evenings.

The College has consistently promoted the use of public transport which, with various subsidies and with the Education Maintenance Allowance, were accessible to most students. However, central government policies, in the context of the economic downturn, have resulted in public transport subsidies being reduced. More significantly, the abolition of the Education Maintenance Allowance has impacted on the ability of students and their families to meet travel costs. In these circumstances, the College has ‘filled the gap’ by commissioning additional bus services to/from the College and has targeted the ‘bursaries’ funding which replaced the Education Maintenance Allowance scheme to assist students in meeting travel costs.

Problems associated with off-campus parking habits of students seem to have been reduced, in part through the ‘residents only parking’ designation of adjacent streets, however, enforcement arrangements do not seem to be 100% effective, and we frequently remind students of the ‘rules’. Campaigns to promote not parking inconsiderately in local streets are undertaken through plasma screens, newsletters and assemblies.

More recently, the development of a new housing estate (and associated road-works), together with enhanced use of the industrial sites adjacent to the campus and its main exit, have presented road safety challenges for student drivers and for student pedestrians. We worked closely with Warrington Borough Council are who have been very responsive and there are now a number of pedestrian refuges on Loushers Lane to assist road safety.

Further Actions Required Due Date

1 Take all opportunities through student assemblies, student newletters and ongoing personal tutor group meetings to outline the importance of being a good neighbour and translate that into behaviour codes. 2 To advertise the ‘access only roads’ and publicise the impact of parking in ongoing them 3 To work with local stakeholders and representatives at every opportunity ongoing to raise awareness to our staff and students of any negatives issues arising but also to ensure that they recognise the many positive contributions our student can and do make in the community. 4 To add to the parent section of the website information regarding ‘not Sept 14 parking’ or ‘dropping off/waiting’ in local streets.

9 Annex One: Green Travel Planning - Staff Survey Findings

During the last two weeks of term in December 2012, the staff and the students of Priestley College participated in separate, but similar, surveys entitled “Travel Questionnaire”. This is the same timescale as in previous years to enable a fair comparison between years (Note: as the academic year progresses more students pass their driving tests).

Staff Survey

Introduction

164 staff completed the Travel Questionnaire (156 in 2010 and 136 in 2007). With this level of completion, the conclusions may be presumed to be statistically significant.

The questionnaire mainly sought to clarify current travel to/from work practices and to obtain some indication of staff preparedness to make less routine use of their cars and to find out who may be interested in car sharing or in Cycle to Work.

Key Findings

The emergent picture of current travel indicates that individual use of cars still dominates but that some progress, particularly in respect to car-sharing, has been made.

Staffmodeoftravelto/fromCollegein2012

7% walk 2% bicycle 1% 10% bus 1% train 7% carshare car Motorcycle 72%

10 Comparisoninstaffmodeoftravelbetween2007,2010and2012

90 80 70 60

f 50 2007 f a

t 40 2010 s

f 30 2012 o 20 % 10 0 walk bicycle public carshare car motorcycle transport

It seems clear that there is still scope to further increase walking, cycling, car sharing (36% of car drivers indicated they would consider car sharing) and use of public transport, but account must be taken of travel-to-work distances and journey durations. To take advantage of this preparedness, complications arising from varying work start and end times may need to be addressed. Consideration also needs to be given to fall back arrangements (e.g. taxi service when emergencies leave share-passengers without transport home).

11 Comparisonofstaffdistancetravelledto/fromCollege between2007,2010and2012

35 f f a 30 t s

f 25 o 20 2007 % 15 2010 10 2012 5 0 <1mile 1-2 3-5 6-10 11-15 15+ miles miles miles miles miles

12 Annex Two: Green Travel Planning - Student Survey Findings

Student Survey Introduction 348 of the full-time cohort of students completed the questionnaire in December 2012 (486 in December 2010). All students were invited to undertake the survey on the virtual learning environment MOODLE. They were asked to select their tutor group to enable us to monitor that the student body was being fairly reflected, and a broadly even gender split. As with the Staff Survey, the general demeanour of the students was positive and constructive. In line with the Staff Survey, the questionnaire sought to clarify current travel to/from College practices and to obtain clarification of student preparedness to make less routine use of cars. The Student survey sought to identify any public transport issues and requested detailed comments if any were identified in order to be able to follow up with transport providers. Key Findings Current travel arrangements for students have ‘public transport’ – predominantly buses – as by far the most common mode of travel to/from College. 15% walk to/from College, but only a small proportion, 2%, uses bicycles on a regular basis. The total number of cyclists identified in the survey did not include a single female student.

Studentmodeoftravelto/fromCollegein2012

walk bicycle 6% 8% 3% 15% bus 2% train 2% carshare car motorcycle 64%

13 Comparisoninstudentmodeoftravelbetween2007,2010and2012

80 70 s t n 60 e d 50 u t 2007 s

40 f 2010 o 30

% 2012 20 10 0 walk bicycle public carshare car motocycle transport

14 Comparisonofstudentdistancetravelledto/fromCollege between2007,2010and2012

60 s t

n 50 e

d 40 u t

s 2007 30 f

o 2010 20 % 2012 10 0 <1mile 1-2 3-5 6-10 10+ miles miles miles miles

Since 2007, the popularity of the College has resulted in proportionally more students travelling longer distances to attend, however analysis of this group shows few of this cohort drive to College with the vast majority using public transport. The travel distance of those students undertaking the survey indicates that, unlike staff, over 80% of the students live within 10 miles of the College, with 63% less than 5 miles. A quarter of students have less than 3 miles to travel to get to College. This would suggest that improvements in the cycling numbers could be productively pursued. Previously published, more detailed surveys relating to cycling indicate that some of the perceived barriers to campus sustainability are not necessarily in the control of the College (such as the suitability of local roads).However, Warrington Borough Council issue leaflets on cycle friendly routes and these are publicised.

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