REDCAR & CLEVELAND LOCAL TRANSPORT PLAN 2011-21

MARCH 2011

Ian Wardle Director of Regeneration Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council Redcar & Cleveland House Kirkleatham Street Redcar Cleveland TS10 1RT

Contact :- Tony Gordon: Tel. (01287) 612545 e-mail – [email protected]

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CONTENTS

Contents

Foreword

Executive Summary ------7

1. Introduction ------21

2. Connecting the Tees Valley - - - - - 27

3. Redcar &Cleveland Local Context and Vision - - 49 The Long-Term Transport Strategy for Redcar & Cleveland - 89

4. The Reduction of Carbon Emissions - - - - 95

5. Supporting Economic Growth - - - - - 115

6. Promoting Equality of Opportunity - - - - 129

7. Contributing to Better Safety, Security and Health - - 147

8. Improving Quality of Life and a Healthy Natural Environment 173

9. LTP Performance Monitoring - - - - - 187

10. LTP Implementation ------199

Delivery Programme ------209

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FOREWORD

I am pleased to support the Redcar and Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 for submission to the Department for Transport. The plan builds on the excellent work that we have been doing throughout LTP2 and it addresses the guidance given by the Department for Transport (DfT).

The Council supports the national transport goals and the economic growth strategy being pursued across the Tees Valley and the North. The plan reflects these priorities and shows how transport can help to deliver the wider objectives of the community plan, Our Plan, as part of a suite of plans and strategies aimed to improve life for our residents, businesses and visitors.

Economic growth and carbon reduction are recognised as the Government’s two key priorities and we have identified the importance of promoting equality of opportunity to the residents of our borough. It is recognised in the plan that car ownership and traffic flows are both increasing and thus improving and promoting alternative travel choices is a key part of our transport policy.

The Council is pursuing regeneration initiatives in Redcar, Greater Eston and within East Cleveland, with transport seen as a key component to the success of these initiatives. Easy access by bus, cycle, on foot and by car are important for these projects to be fully accessible to maximise the economic benefits whilst minimising the impact of increased activity within these parts of the borough.

At this time of national financial restraint, we are aware that the levels of funding available in, at least, the earlier years of LTP3 will be significantly lower than those that were available during LTP2. It is likely that the level of available funding will change throughout the 10-year LTP3 period and it is unrealistic to try to predict the funding so far ahead. Our delivery programme is therefore indicated for a five-year period to provide a level of reliability and a new programme will then be developed for the second half of the LTP period when a better indication of the likely Government funding is available.

The development of the Plan has been based on the capital funding guidelines provided by DfT. It will be difficult to deliver significant capital projects to bring about a step change in transport provision within the borough. It has been necessary to develop gradual programmes to deliver a slower pace of improvement in the early years than could have been achieved with a higher level of funding. We are fortunate that the funding remains in place for the implementation of the Tees Valley Bus Network Improvement Scheme and the new Local Sustainable Transport Fund will provide an additional opportunity to bid for funding for promotional measures.

Finally I would like to thank all those who have contributed to the development of this LTP and hope we will all do our bit to help bring about improvements in our borough.

Mary Lanigan Cabinet Member For Highways, Transportation & Planning

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. Introduction The Council has produced its third round Local Transport Plan (LTP3) for submission to the Department for Transport (DfT) in March 2011. This takes account of the guidance that has been provided by DfT on the key national issues that need to be supported by local actions. As the main focus of the LTP, the document sets out strategies to address the five national transport goals identified in the strategy document “Delivering a Sustainable Transport System” (DaSTS). These are:

 Reduce Carbon Emissions  Support Economic Growth  Promote Equality of Opportunity  Contribute to Better Safety, Security and Health  Improve Quality of Life and a Healthy Natural Environment

The LTP has been developed in partnership with key stakeholders and neighbouring authorities to reflect the external factors that are affecting service delivery. A timescale of 2021 has been adopted for the long-term transport strategy. The level of funding that will be available is much less certain and so it is only appropriate to develop the outline implementation plan to 2016 at this stage. This will then be reviewed in the future when the availability of funding becomes clearer.

LTP3 is not a bidding document for funds but sets out what the Council expects to achieve through the expenditure of funding, both capital funding that will be provided by DfT and Council revenue funding. The need for financial restraint measures to address the national financial deficit means that there is no longer the original intended level of funding available for transport. Funding for 2010/11 was reduced in-year and DfT has indicated that funding will remain at reduced levels for the foreseeable future.

The levels of funding that have been indicated for each of the first four years of LTP3 are given below:

Funding Allocations Table 2010-2015 (£’000s) 2010/11 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15

Original Revised Final Final Indicative Indicative Integrated Transport 1,421 1,065 751 801 801 1,126 Block Highways Maintenance 1,657 1,657 1,530 1,542 1,565 1,474 Block TOTAL 3,078 2,722 2,281 2,343 2,366 2,600

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2. Strategic Context The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan needs to be placed in the wider context of the five unitary authorities of the Tees Valley City Region, the region and the national picture. Tees Valley Unlimited has developed a Statement of Ambition for the regeneration of the city region that has two key aims:  to drive the transition to a high value low carbon economy; and,  to create a more diversified and inclusive economy.

The Statement of Ambition focuses on delivering the benefits of a joined up and connected polycentric city region as the driver for economic growth and prosperity, making the best use of the assets of each town and district. Leading city region stakeholders have identified the following key challenges as being most important:  Improve the journey experience of transport users of urban, regional and local networks, including interfaces with national & international networks;  Improve the connectivity and access to labour markets of key business centres;  Deliver quantified reductions in greenhouse gas emissions within cities and regional networks, taking account of cross-network policy measures.

The Statement of Ambition draws upon demographic and socio-economic trends, key policy influences and the results of major transport studies to develop a strategy for the improvement of transport in the City Region. It highlights Teesport as a major asset to the area and identifies the following actions as key initiatives:

 Smarter Choices measures for implementation across the Tees Valley – many of which build upon the Darlington experience  “Softer” bus measures – a range of measures to build on the delivery of the proposed Tees Valley Bus Network Improvement scheme  Rail based proposals – as these will better connect dispersed pairs of settlements within the Tees Valley  Rail Loading Gauge Clearance – to increase the opportunities for freight transport by rail  Park and Ride – a mix of strategic and local schemes  Targeted highway schemes – the majority of which are relatively low cost measures that seek to make best use of the existing infrastructure

3. Redcar and Cleveland Context and Vision Authorities need to recognise that people are travelling for a reason, to access facilities and services. Future developments and changes to service provision will create new opportunities for residents and will influence the travel choices that are being made. The key driver for future land-use spatial planning will be the emerging Local Development Framework (LDF). This reflects the aims of the former Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) with particular emphasis on addressing deprivation and the need to develop sustainable communities. The LDF sets out a long-term vision for the borough’s residents to enjoy a 8 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 high quality of life based on a dynamic economy and a healthy environment.

Regeneration is the key objective of the vision for Redcar and Cleveland, to be actively addressed by all local agencies. It will be given prominence among all of the DaSTS Goals within the LTP. An integrated approach to improving housing stock, increasing employment opportunities, improving access to facilities and enhancing environmental conditions is needed to achieve sustainable regeneration. The following objective has been identified within the LDF:

To regenerate areas so that they can contribute to the delivery of sustainable, inclusive and cohesive communities and stem population decline.

The key areas of the borough that need attention and the issues that are being addressed are:

Redcar – To improve retailing in the town centre; To reverse urban decline in priority wards; To improve visitor attractions.

South Tees – To promote the area for major industry; To support new and existing industrial sectors.

Greater Eston – To tackle problems of unemployment, low housing demand, poor environment and poor health.

East Cleveland – To address pockets of deprivation in rural towns; To diversify the rural economy and promote tourism.

A Regeneration Masterplan has been developed to direct the required changes in these areas. During the course of this LTP, an opportunity exists to create more fully integrated walking, cycling and bus routes within these areas and improve the streetscape of the current network. Developer contributions will need to cover internal layouts and local junction improvements and LTP capital funding is planned to add value to these areas through complementary works. The Tees Valley Bus Network Review has brought about changes to the operation of buses in the borough and this will need to adapt where necessary to meet the future aspirations of the wider strategies. It will be necessary to assist the regeneration programme through infrastructure improvements to encourage walking, cycling and bus use and to ensure that new developments do not increase localised congestion.

The LDF identifies a need for the construction of an additional 5,100 new homes in the borough by 2021 in addition to replacement properties in regeneration areas. It will be necessary to ensure that the locations for these developments have a satisfactory level of accessibility to essential services. Emphasis needs to be placed on addressing the problems of housing market collapse in some areas, particularly in areas of terraced street housing in South Bank and Grangetown. 9 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

A lot of effort is being made to promote tourism in the rural and coastal areas of the borough and industrial regeneration particularly in the brownfield areas in the west of the borough. These need to have good transport links to encourage visitors and to promote inward investment. An important element of this is the desire to promote the expansion and use of Teesport as a gateway to the northern region. This is already attracting attention for port related development but will require rail and trunk road improvements that will need to be supported by Network Rail and the Highways Agency.

The health agenda is being driven by the need to reduce patient waiting times for treatment and to make health services more accessible to local communities. This is being addressed by NHS Redcar & Cleveland by the replacement of the hospital in Redcar and the development of new health centres within the borough. These are bringing GP practices together and allow the introduction of new services that would otherwise only be available at James Cook University Hospital (JCUH) in Middlesbrough. This will reduce the need for residents to travel to JCUH but introduces a need to ensure that the new locations are accessible from throughout the surrounding neighbourhoods.

The delivery of social care is also changing with the introduction of Self Directed Support through the Health and Social Care Act 2008. Service delivery is moving to a different service model with the choice agenda giving more rights to clients on how and where they receive their necessary care. In transport terms, this is leading to a requirement for more journeys to a wider range of destinations in smaller vehicles and fewer in traditional social services buses. Having transport options available is as important to clients as the availability of the social care activities. There is a need for the Council to work with bus and taxi operators and the Community Transport sector to ensure that satisfactory alternatives become available. An Integrated Transport Unit has been established within the Council that is seeking to provide the appropriate transport to Social Care clients in a cost effective manner. It also has resources available that can be used in a community transport role to provide transport for other health and education purposes.

An important issue that has influenced changes to education provision in the borough is the need to reduce the number of surplus school places. Schools across the borough have been amalgamated to improve efficiency, resulting in the need for some pupils to travel greater distances to attend school. The Choice Agenda also gives parents the right to express a preference for which school they wish their children to attend so that some schools have become much more popular than others. Again, this has led to some pupils travelling greater distances and both of these issues influence the choice of transport mode for travel to school.

Protection of the local environment has been addressed through an extension of the Safer Streets programme. Members of the public and the Council’s Area Committees have the opportunity to promote and prioritise measures that address their local concerns. These particularly look at a range of options to ease local congestion problems arising from on-street car parking in residential areas.

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The improvement of bus services across the borough is a key issue to be addressed during LTP3 to promote accessibility and a reduction in traffic congestion. Widespread concerns about public transport issues are raised in a range of public consultations undertaken by the Council and our partners. The Tees Valley local authorities jointly commissioned the Tees Valley Bus Network Review that has provided recommendations on actions that should be taken to improve bus service quality and future patronage. The continued implementation of this is a fundamental element of the initiatives to make improvements against the DaSTS Goals.

An update is provided on progress that has been made in implementing the second round LTP. Processes for consultation and the design and delivery of transport schemes have improved considerably over the past five years. A lot of work has been undertaken on the provision and improvement of infrastructure for buses, walking and cycling and on highway maintenance. Excellent results have been achieved against the majority of the transport outcome targets that were set to measure progress.

Arising from the above issues, the Council has identified its long-term strategy for transport improvements in the borough. This demonstrates the linkage between the objectives of the Redcar & Cleveland Sustainable Community Strategy, the Council’s Corporate Plan and the DaSTS Goals.

4. Reducing Carbon Emissions There has been an increasing awareness of the need to address the issue of transport’s contribution to climate change through the need to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide. For many years, one of the key aims of local transport strategy has been to provide facilities for and promote the use of alternatives to the private car such as walking, cycling and bus use. In taking a balanced view of how transport can be used to assist the delivery of local objectives, account needs to be taken of the contribution that these can make towards achieving national carbon reduction targets.

Redcar & Cleveland has no local air quality issues or identified Air Quality Management Areas.

The promotion of the use of alternatives to the private car will reduce the level of use of carbon based fuels and will address other key objectives of improving health, reducing congestion, improving the environment, promoting equality of opportunity, etc. Since two- thirds of trips and over half of car journeys in the UK are less than five miles long, measures to change travel behaviour and reduce the need to travel could bring significant benefits. The emphasis will therefore be to improve the availability and attractiveness of other modes of transport. For shorter journeys, walking and cycling should be encouraged to be the principal mode while for longer trips it will be necessary to offer a range of attractive bus services targeted at key services, such as schools and colleges, hospitals and places of work.

The Tees Valley Bus Network Review has been an important starting point in the process of developing a new bus network for the area that will best meet local needs. The 11 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 continued implementation of the findings of the Review will help to maintain and improve accessibility to services for residents. We have joined in partnership with our Tees Valley neighbours to commit to the Plugged in Places programme to increase the number and distribution of electric vehicle charging points across the region. The use of electric vehicles provides an opportunity to move away from the use of carbon based road fuels, particularly as the level of electricity from non-carbon based sources increases. Whilst realistically we expect the take-up of electric vehicles to be slow initially, the Council is prepared to lead the way. In 2011/12 we will install at least eight charging points in the main centres of Redcar, Guisborough and Saltburn and we then have plans to extend this further to the centres of Skelton, Brotton and Loftus in East Cleveland.

The overall range of education and encouragement measures available to influence people’s travel decisions is known by the banner title of Smarter Choices. In encouraging increased use of sustainable travel the challenge is to move to a position where walking, cycling and public transport are viewed as good alternatives for a substantial proportion of the trips people make and private motorised travel is the option of choice only when most appropriate. Promoting the use of sustainable modes of travel needs to begin with children and young people so that they develop the habit and confidence for using these later in life. This particularly needs to be undertaken through schools to address issues of local congestion, road safety and air quality caused by the school run. All of the borough’s primary and secondary schools now have an approved School Travel Plan and year on year reductions are being made in the level of car use.

The location of services is fundamental to the level of travel involved in employees and service users being able to have access. To reduce carbon emissions, it is desirable for services to be located locally to reduce the need to travel. The integration of land use and transport planning through the Local Development Framework process is essential, having full regard to future development and regeneration opportunities. Incorporating the principles of accessibility and reducing the need to travel as a priority through the planning process will make it possible for key services and residential developments to be located in a manner that reduces the need for car travel.

Throughout 2009-10, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council has been working in partnership with the Carbon Trust to establish a Carbon Management Programme in order to realise carbon and cost savings. The aim of the Programme is for the Council to look at all aspects of its own energy use so that we can provide an example to others, enabling us to act as leaders in the wider community. The Carbon Management Plan (CMP) brings together the results of our work so far and sets out a programme of action over the next 5 years. It will assist the Council in saving money on energy and putting it to good use in other areas, whilst making a positive contribution to the environment by lowering our carbon emissions. Key transport actions in this programme are:

 Minimise the emissions from over 20,000 streetlights and illuminated signs by making better use of higher efficiency lamps and control equipment and investigating energy reduction opportunities.

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 Minimise the emissions from our fleet operations of around 200 vehicles by ensuring that we only purchase the most efficient vehicles and by implementing efficiency measures such as journey planning, speed limiters and driver training.

5. Supporting Economic Growth Promoting regeneration and economic growth is a key objective of the Council and the Redcar and Cleveland Strategic Partnership. The identified aim is to improve and secure economic opportunities such as jobs, new businesses and tourism, while ensuring that the environment is protected, so that residents can access their basic needs and enjoy a better quality of life. The Council is committed to tackling barriers to employment and helping to improve and strengthen the skills of the workforce. Increasing economic participation, particularly in deprived communities and reducing barriers to economic engagement, is key to regenerating the area. The development of sustainable local transport has a role to play in achieving this goal.

The Council will need to include a mixture of transport delivery approaches to address the requirements of economic growth in the borough. These will need to make the best use of existing infrastructure, target any necessary local improvements and make changes to transport services for the benefit of residents, employees and businesses. The objective is to provide an efficient highway network in Redcar & Cleveland and to offer viable alternative modes of transport to the private car. It needs to be recognised that the journeys of customers to make use of services are just as important for economic growth as the commuting journeys of employees who provide those services.

Supply-side initiatives have the objective of offering viable alternative modes of transport to the private car. These involve improvements to infrastructure and facilities that improve peoples perceptions of the safety, comfort and quality of their use as appropriate. Improvements to walking, cycling, bus and rail use will address all of the DaSTS Goals by improving accessibility, health and safety and reducing carbon emissions and other negative impacts on the environment. These physical measures need to be complemented by demand management tools that can be effective in managing the demand for travel with the aspiration of reducing the likelihood of saturating the network during the busiest periods.

Transport and accessibility are issues that are raised in consultations on all Council services and the activities of our partners. Access to work, social and health facilities are restricted by the current public transport systems within the borough. The Council has recognised that the establishment of an efficient and integrated public transport system is essential. The key factors in developing this public transport system are accessibility to and connectivity of the network. These issues are to be addressed as part of the Council's work with the other Tees Valley Authorities in developing the Tees Valley Bus Network Project.

Short-term, peak period delays that occur in the borough arise at junctions rather than being due to link flows. The Council remains committed to monitoring any current or emerging congestion issues in conjunction with neighbouring authorities. The 13 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Council will continue to improve facilities for walking, cycling, rail and bus use as being preferable to the use of cars and will promote the development of school and workplace travel plans to reduce peak-time congestion.

A key factor in encouraging investment in business is through the reduction of congestion delays and improvement in the reliability of journey times for the movement of people and freight. This needs to be addressed through targeted highway improvements at congestion hot spots and demand management initiatives such as car parking policy and travel planning to reduce levels of car use. There is a large amount of heavy industry that generates considerable volumes of freight in the borough, however, the movement of freight causes relatively few problems in comparison with the volumes moved. The industrial heritage of the Tees Valley region means that the major industrial sites have good rail connections and continue to use them where appropriate.

The Council exercises a statutory Network Management Duty that arises from the Traffic Management Act 2004 to deal with works and incidents that can cause congestion and disruption on the network. The main aims of the duty are to minimise the impact and duration of works on the highway on road users and to plan ahead for the impacts of planned and unplanned events. The key process has been the coordination of the highway maintenance programme with other Council highway works and with planned works by utility companies. Considering these programmes together reduces the need to carry out works on the same section of road within a relatively short period of time.

6. Equality of Opportunity Ensuring that transport systems provide effective access for everyone, including disadvantaged groups and disabled people, to jobs, services and social networks is a core aim of national and local transport policy. People’s life-chances can vary hugely depending on birth and geography, with household incomes varying widely - there are pockets of deprivation in even the most affluent areas. National statistics indicate that average household income varies from £18,800 in the North East to £26,100 in the South East and £29,200 in London. We need to identify where transport improvements can help redress inequalities of this kind and we need to target effort to prevent poor accessibility from reinforcing wider social exclusion.

Access to services is not simply a transport issue. It is about the range of opportunities and choices that people have in connecting with jobs, services and friends and families. Their level of access will depend on where people choose to live, where services are located, the availability of ‘home delivery’ of goods or services such as medical care, and the availability and affordability of transport. Improving accessibility can be achieved through changes to one or a mixture of these.

Transport and accessibility are issues that are raised in consultations on all Council services and the activities of our partners. Key sources of information on the needs of local people are:

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 The Children and Young People’s Plan (CYPP);  The Strategy for Services for Older People 2009-14;  The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA);  The Redcar & Cleveland Disabled People’s Partnership;  The Redcar & Cleveland Bus Network Consultation.

A key way in which the Council can improve access for individuals is by removing physical barriers that are encountered by the mobility impaired. Where these cannot be totally removed, efforts will be made to lessen the difficulty of overcoming obstacles to movement. Important aspects of this are to ensure that bus stops have raised kerb treatments to help those who currently have difficulties boarding and alighting at stops and the provision of dropped kerbs and other footway improvements.

The Council has provided a Dial-a-Ride service for disabled people since the abolition of Cleveland County Council in 1996. The Redcar and Cleveland Real Opportunities Centre (ROC), acted in partnership with the Council to support a major programme of consultation for the restructuring of the Dial-a-Ride service in 2008. New vehicles have been introduced to improve the operation of the service and the new booking centre is now capable of receiving bookings via a text facility to improve their level of independence. Disabled people have highlighted that the greatest priority is to introduce accessible buses and taxis as quickly as possible to give them access to fully inclusive transport services that are available to everyone.

Actions also need to be taken to address accessibility to individual services. Changes are being made to schools in the borough so we need to ensure that pupils are not disadvantaged from accessing their schools and to maximise the opportunity to use modes of transport other than the private car. All schools in the borough now have approved School Travel Plans and these need to continue to be promoted and reviewed over the years to maximise the benefits that can be achieved.

Improving access to existing and proposed employment and regeneration sites throughout the Tees Valley has been identified as not solely an issue for residents in the more rural parts of the borough, but to ensure good quality access to key locations outside the borough. The 2009 Bus Network Consultation has assisted in identifying where there are gaps in the bus service network and issues with existing services. Examples are distances, journey times, unreliability of services and the lack of services into the major South Tees and Teesport employment areas. This evidence will allow new and improved services to be considered and, where appropriate, implemented along with other physical improvements to public transport infrastructure to encourage people to use buses.

One of the major driving forces behind health delivery is the need to improve patient access to services. The consolidation of GP practices and changes to the range of services available in hospitals in the area provides an opportunity to ensure that the appropriate form and level of transport provision is available to patients. The changes

15 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 have reduced the need to travel to James Cook University Hospital for some patients but have introduced the need to ensure a good level of access is provided at the new locations.

Many of the more rural communities in Redcar & Cleveland have accessibility problems, due to the distances from key services. Many of the measures identified will improve accessibility for those without access to a car. The route improvement measures of the Bus Network Improvement Scheme and the introduction of new vehicles will improve the reliability and punctuality of the bus services to enable people to rely on them to travel to work, college, appointments etc. Tourism is seen as an important aspect of regeneration, creating jobs in the tourist industry by encouraging more people to visit the area. These need to have good transport links to encourage visitors and to promote inward investment.

7. Safety, Security and Health Road safety has always been a high priority for the Council with our transport policies geared towards delivering a continued and lasting improvement in road safety problems across the borough. However, this is only one of a range of issues that impact upon road users and the travel decisions that they make. People travel daily and want a system that gets them from A to B safely, securely and without damaging the environment. These issues are identified together in the DaSTS goal to protect people’s safety, security and health. The issues are intrinsically linked with each having a direct impact on the others. For example, for people to feel confident about switching to alternative modes of transport, they will need to feel sufficiently safe in terms of road safety and personal security and they will want to feel that they are not being unduly affected by air pollution.

A consultation document “A Safer Way” was published by DfT in April 2009. This provides suggestions for a set of new casualty reduction targets to 2020. The intended targets for Redcar & Cleveland are: 1  A 33 /3% reduction in All Road User Killed or Seriously Injured Casualties (KSI)  A 50% target reduction in Child KSIs  A 10% reduction in all Slight Casualties  A 10% reduction in Casualties to Vulnerable Road Users

A range of partnerships is in place to address casualty reduction and a range of initiatives is undertaken involving Education, Enforcement and Engineering measures. All opportunities need to be taken to make improvements to road safety including consideration in the full range of highway works undertaken by the Council. It will be important to consider the road safety implications of changes to wider service delivery, arising from changed travel patterns, increased levels of traffic and increased promotion of walking and cycling. Casualty data will be kept under review throughout the LTP3 period and will be used to inform education and enforcement campaigns and to determine locations for remedial engineering measures.

DaSTS discusses security issues with a particular emphasis on terrorism, however, it

16 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 recognises that this is much less of an issue on local transport networks where personal security is a greater concern. Crime and the fear of crime are issues for public transport, walking and cycling that can deter their use, particularly in the evenings. These need to be addressed by partnership action. Street lighting improvements on walking and cycling routes and around bus stops will discourage anti-social behaviour and will enable the public to feel safer. CCTV systems have been installed in some bus shelters to increase public security. They also have the added benefit of reducing revenue costs incurred in repairs and maintenance due to vandalism. Bus operators are also routinely installing CCTV systems on their vehicles, again to act as a deterrent to anti social behaviour. Throughout LTP2, work has been undertaken on car park improvements to bring the majority of pay and display car parks up to Park Mark standards. Crime has been reduced significantly in those car parks that have already been treated.

In recent years, national actions such as changes to vehicle and fuel regulations have brought about a huge reduction in some of the negative impacts of transport on health and life expectancy. There is also a positive side to the transport-health issue that needs to be promoted. The health benefits of cycling and walking are clear-cut and these forms of transport can contribute to reducing levels of air pollutant emissions. There is a clear local role in encouraging modal-shift and reducing people’s need to travel through promoting the use of alternatives to the private car. This will reduce the levels of road accidents and local exhaust emissions and, most importantly, it will encourage an increased level of physical activity. For shorter journeys, walking and cycling should be encouraged to be the principal mode whilst for longer trips it will be necessary to offer an attractive bus network targeted at key services.

Promoting the use of sustainable modes of travel needs to begin with children and young people so that they develop the habit and confidence for using these later in life. This particularly needs to be undertaken through schools to address issues of local congestion, road safety and air quality caused by the school run. This range of issues needs to be tackled through the implementation of this Local Transport Plan.

8. Quality of Life and a Healthy Natural Environment Transport can make a strong contribution to the quality of people’s lives by providing access and mobility to a wide range of goods and services, enjoy leisure activities, spend time with friends and relatives and have access to the natural environment. These positive impacts tend to be taken for granted, however, there is sometimes a tension between the benefits that transport users enjoy and the costs that transport can impose, for example on people who live near roads and railways and on the natural environment. The negative impacts can be very significant for the environment and people’s well-being including the noise air and water pollution, the loss of wildlife habitats and countryside and the visual intrusiveness of roads and railways. The Council needs to act to balance the needs and desires of residents and businesses while protecting the natural environment from avoidable harm.

The Council needs to plan ahead for additional housing and commercial development in the area and this must have regard to the impact on the environment. In particular, 17 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 areas that have been designated as important sites for nature conservation purposes need to be protected from development, pollution and noise. It is important that land use and transport infrastructure developments recognise the presence of these assets and do not cause harm to them or their settings. In LTP3 implementation, it is proposed that the majority of physical works should be undertaken within existing adopted highway boundaries with no major highway schemes proposed in sensitive countryside areas.

Transport noise has not been raised as a significant issue in any areas of the borough and there are no zones identified under the Environmental Noise Directive. However, this is an issue that needs to be considered into the future in any new or revised transport schemes. This will ensure that existing sources of noise and the potential for new noise sources or increasing noise levels will be addressed. There are aspirations to double the frequency of passenger trains on the Darlington to Saltburn Heritage Line and to reintroduce passenger rail services to East Cleveland. These would have the potential to introduce increased levels of noise through the small towns and peaceful rural areas through which they would pass. Similarly, new residential and industrial developments will generate additional traffic that would have the potential to impact on existing communities. For public transport, there will be an impact on the design of new bus services and the design and siting of facilities, particularly those that are used in the evening and at night. These issues will need to be carefully considered in future land use and infrastructure planning.

The risks and impacts of flooding are becoming increasingly important and the borough was directly affected by widespread flooding incidents in July 2009. The Council has undertaken an investigation of the local causes of these incidents and the identification of proposed solutions to the problems in order to prepare a five-year improvement programme. An additional £1.1million has been allocated to implement as many as possible of the identified solutions and LTP3 will need to support the implementation of this programme. To reduce the risks of additional problems being created in the future, new developments must prepare Surface Water Management Plans to control water discharge. Hard standings must be sustainably drained with water attenuation to prevent flooding of built-up areas and pollution of watercourses. This will reduce the risk of water run-off from roads and car parks polluting the natural environment. Wherever possible, opportunities will need to be taken to introduce these measures into existing facilities to reduce current impacts and improve environmental protection.

All aspects of the LTP have a role to play in improving public spaces and streetscapes in the borough. These involve the design, use, maintenance and management of highways and public transport infrastructure, and segregated routes for pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians. These cover all of the DaSTS Goals and implementation plans for the borough. The Council’s Safer Streets Scheme process now includes the provision of car parking lay-bys to remove some of the negative impacts of on-street car parking in residential areas by reducing congestion and damage to grass verges and footways. The Council adheres to Residential Design Guidelines to ensure a 20mph average speed for new secondary access and residential roads and in areas immediately outside schools.

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The Countryside & Rights of Way Act 2000 introduced a duty for all local highway authorities to prepare a Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) to improve local accessibility, particularly in rural areas. The Council’s ROWIP is intended to meet the national and local aims of better provision for walkers, cyclists and horse riders, improving health and quality of life and supporting rural economies and tourism. It will also contribute to local transport and road safety objectives and address issues relating to the social exclusion of the partially sighted, less mobile, young people and ethnic minorities.

The main aim of local transport policy is to encourage people to think more carefully about their choice of modes in their transport decision making. We have been developing facilities and promoting the alternatives to private car use so that people will have a choice available for the journey that they need to make. The Council needs to examine the full range of interactions that the public have with transport networks and the environment in making their end-to-end journeys in order to achieve this aim. It is through many of the smaller details of journey making that people can become more comfortable with the idea of using alternatives to the private car. We can assist through improvements to information, safety and security and journey quality. We will seek to implement a programme of Smarter Choices measures to give people the information that they need to make their transport decisions.

9. LTP Performance Monitoring An important element of the LTP process is the provision of evidence that the expenditure and implementation involved is proving beneficial. Local authorities must establish a set of performance indicators with targets to monitor progress throughout the Plan period. These must show the benefits that will be achieved rather than the level of work undertaken and should be challenging while being realistic about how much change can be achieved.

For LTP3, we will continue to use the ten transport indicators of the former National Indicator Set (NIS) to monitor progress. The new government has decided not to continue with the NIS and has only retained three of these in the new Single Data List. However, DfT has identified that the remaining former NI topics are also useful information so they have determined that they will continue to provide the data results for these as they did in the past. Two additional indicators for road accident casualty categories and one for rail patronage have also been included as LTP local indicators.

An indication has been provided of how the targets have been determined along with the works to be undertaken to achieve them. The targets will be updated in the future, if necessary, to ensure that they remain both challenging and realistic for the Council to achieve.

10. Implementation To ensure that this Local Transport Plan is realistic, prioritised, and broadly deliverable,

19 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 we have drawn up our plan in a way that is informed by the availability of funding. At this time of national financial restraint, we are aware that the levels of funding available in, at least, the earlier years of LTP3 will be significantly lower than those that were available during LTP2.

It is likely that the level of available funding will change throughout the 10-year LTP3 period so it is unrealistic to try to predict the funding so far ahead. The outline delivery programme is therefore indicated for a five-year period 2011-16 to provide a level of reliability. A new programme will then be developed in 2015/16 for the second half of the LTP3 period when a better indication of the likely Government funding is available.

The programme set out in the LTP does not therefore represent a bid for integrated transport and highway maintenance capital funds, but is a prioritised programme to deliver the best possible value for the indicated capital funding levels. Revenue funding levels are also under pressure so we are indicating the measures that we would like to undertake if revenue funds remain available at the appropriate levels. We will use any opportunities to raise additional funds for the improvement of transport through partners and financial bids.

Achieving value for money is the key principle that has been taken into consideration in developing the implementation programme. The revenue impact of capital schemes is taken into account when developing measures for implementation. The current LTP period has given the Council the opportunity to develop its processes for identifying and implementing suitable measures. It has also learnt from the experiences of other authorities about the benefits that can be achieved from different courses of action.

The implementation programme consists of a wide range of measures designed to achieve the challenges of the DaSTS Goals. Types of measures have been identified at this stage and the identification of specific schemes will take place over time as further information is gathered and consultation takes place, for example, for road safety schemes and for bus and cycle route improvement schemes. Key to determining how expenditure takes place will be the need to demonstrate value for money, achieving the best outcomes for the level of spending proposed. It will be necessary to demonstrate which measures have the best chance of success based on experience in Redcar and Cleveland and in other authorities.

Highway maintenance funding will be used to support the key objectives of the LTP through the implementation of the Transport Asset Management Plan. Value for money principles will be used to determine appropriate condition standards and frequency of maintenance while seeking to integrate maintenance more closely with wider transport scheme delivery. Account will be taken of the need for revenue expenditure throughout the LTP period both for revenue support and promotion of integrated transport measures and for the maintenance of new facilities

20 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

CHAPTER 1 :- INTRODUCTION

LTP3 INTRODUCTION The requirement for local authorities to develop a Local Transport Plan (LTP) arose from the Transport Act 2000 with the first and second round LTPs submitted to the Government in July 2000 and March 2006 to cover the periods 2001-06 and 2006-11 respectively. The Council is now required to prepare its’ third round LTP (LTP3).

The LTP is a comprehensive document setting out the objectives and priorities for the borough and the transport actions that will be taken by the Council and our partners to help to achieve these. Importantly, it recognises that transport is not an end in itself but is used by people to access the goods, services and leisure that they need to live their lives. The LTP therefore concentrates on the contribution that transport can make to address the wider objectives of the borough such as economic regeneration.

The Department for Transport (DfT) expects authorities to consider their contribution to national transport goals as over-arching priorities for their LTPs. Following consultation, DfT published a national transport policy document in November 2008 called “Delivering a Sustainable Transport System” (DaSTS). This presents a set of five key goals and related challenges for development of the UK’s future transport policy and infrastructure, at local, national and international levels. The five goals replace the shared priorities of LTP2 guidance and reflect key issues that are already being addressed by local authorities. The goals and the local challenges for city and regional networks are:

Goal 1 – Reduce Carbon Emissions  Deliver quantified reductions in greenhouse gas emissions within cities and regional networks, taking account of cross-network policy measures.

Goal 2 – Support Economic Growth  Reduce lost productive time including by maintaining or improving the reliability and predictability of journey times on key local routes for business, commuting and freight  Improve the connectivity and access to labour markets of key business centres  Deliver the transport improvements required to support the sustainable provision of housing, and in particular the PSA target of increasing supply to 240,000 net additional dwellings per annum 2016  Ensure local transport networks are resistant and adaptable to shocks and impacts such as economic shocks adverse weather, accidents, terrorist attacks and impacts of climate change

Goal 3 – Promote Equality of Opportunity  Enhance social inclusion and the regeneration of deprived or remote areas by enabling disadvantaged people to connect with employment opportunities, key local services, social networks and goods through improving accessibility, availability, affordability and acceptability. 21 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

 Contribute to the reduction in the gap between economic growth rates for different English regions

Goal 4 – Contribute to Better Safety, Security and Health  Reduce the risk of death, security or injury due to transport accidents.  Reduce social and economic costs of transport to public health, including air quality impacts in line with the UK’s European obligations.  Improve the health of individuals by encouraging and enabling more physically active travel.  Reduce the vulnerability of transport networks to terrorist attack.  Reduce crime, fear of crime and anti-social behaviour on city and regional transport networks.

Goal 5 – Improve Quality of Life and a Healthy Natural Environment  Minimise the impacts of transport on the natural environment, heritage and landscape and seek solutions that deliver long-term environmental benefits.  Reduce the number of people and dwellings exposed to high levels of noise from road and rail networks consistent with implementation of Action Plans prepared under the Environmental Noise Directive.  Support urban and rural communities by improving the integration of transport into streetscapes and enabling better connections between neighbourhoods and better access to the natural environment.  Improve the journey experience of transport users of urban, regional and local networks, including at the interfaces with national networks and international networks.

The LTP3 Guidance indicates - “As with the previous shared priorities, local authorities need to consider the relative importance of the five goals for their area or for different parts of their area, and may wish to refine them to reflect local needs... It is important in preparing Local Transport Plans that local authorities start by determining a clear view of their own strategic goals and of their priorities for dealing with the different challenges they face.”

As a Council we recognise that people are travelling for a reason, to access facilities and services. Transport delivery, therefore, is directed at improving access efficiently and economically while limiting any adverse impacts. While it is important that the authority continues to consider a wide variety of transport modes and policy options appropriate to the locality, it is also important to understand and reflect on the wider issues in society that are affecting people’s transport decision making.

The LTP needs to contain a long-term transport strategy and an implementation plan. In order to improve the quality of forward planning, the Local Transport Act removed the requirement that these should be prepared every five years. As transport initiatives can take some time to deliver measurable change, particularly in relation to changing peoples transport decision making habits, it is more appropriate that the transport strategy should 22 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 cover a longer period of time. A timescale of 2021 has been adopted to coincide with the existing time horizons for the Sustainable Community Strategy and the Council’s Local Development Framework. The level of funding that will be available is much less certain and so it is only appropriate to develop the implementation plan for a shorter timeframe. It is proposed that this should have a timescale of five years to 2016, in line with the duration of the existing LTP2. The implementation plan will then be reviewed at this time to take account of transport conditions and economic and financial circumstances to determine the most appropriate way to proceed for the remainder of the LTP3 period.

THE BOROUGH Redcar and Cleveland is situated in the North East of England and at 24,490 hectares (93 square miles) has the largest area of all of the Tees Valley authorities. However, with a population of only 139,700, the borough has the second lowest population density at 5.7 people per hectare. The borough is located south of the River Tees and is bordered by Middlesbrough to the west and North Yorkshire to the south and east. Twenty three square miles of the borough lie within the boundaries of the North York Moors National Park.

The population is spread across the main urban conurbation of Redcar and Greater Eston, and many smaller commuter towns, rural villages and coastal settlements. Redcar is the largest town in the borough with a population of 37,600. The urban area of Greater Eston is four miles west of Redcar and includes the settlements of Eston, South Bank and Grangetown. It has a combined population of nearly 41,000 and immediately borders the Middlesbrough administration area. South and east of Redcar, along the coast, are a number of smaller towns and villages: Marske (8,600 population), Saltburn (6,000), Brotton (5,500), Loftus (4,800) and Skelton (7,600). Guisborough (17,600) serves as a market town for a number of small villages principally located within the East Cleveland countryside. The settlements and communication links within the borough are shown on Figure 1.1.

With over 12km of Heritage Coastline, part of the Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast Ramsar and Special Protection Area, a site of European importance for wildlife, twenty- three square miles of North York Moors National Park, and extensive areas of nature conservation sites, woodland and agriculture, the borough is rich in natural assets. In complete contrast, along the south bank of the River Tees lies a large complex of heavy industry dominated by iron, steel, petrochemicals, process engineering and logistics, including the second largest port in Britain. This area forms the economic powerhouse of the Tees Valley.

Between Redcar and Greater Eston, the chemical plants at Wilton and the Corus Steel works dominate the area. Traditional employment in Redcar & Cleveland has been manufacturing based on steel, chemicals and heavy engineering. These are still fairly dominant and in turn play a major role in transport movement and generation. However, over recent years, there has been a restructuring in these industries that has impacted upon many communities in the borough, resulting in areas of urban deprivation and a declining population. The population is gradually increasing in age as younger 23 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 people move away to take advantage of better economic opportunities elsewhere. Local economies are generally weak following the decline of the traditional industries around which the communities developed and economic regeneration can be difficult to achieve.

National statistics for April 2010 show that unemployment stands at 6.3% compared with the national average of 4.1% and that 32% of households in the borough do not own a car compared with 27% in England and Wales as a whole.

Redcar is the borough’s main retail and commercial centre serving a wide catchment area as well as being a popular seaside resort for day visitors. Investment over recent years has improved the Esplanade and led to pedestrianisation of the High Street and the improvement of the main retail area, but high vacancy levels give concern for the long- term vitality of parts of the town centre. Although a relatively vibrant town, it includes neighbourhoods suffering from urban deprivation where the Council is concentrating on regeneration projects.

The settlements of Eston, South Bank, Normanby and Grangetown comprise the most built-up part of the borough. Some parts of this area have experienced socio-economic decline due to job losses associated with the declining manufacturing industries. This has manifested itself in problems associated with population decline, unemployment, multiple deprivation and environmental degradation. Major regeneration schemes have been focussed on the area and some success has been achieved. Significant challenges remain and the Council and its partners will be continuing to address these throughout the LTP3 period.

The borough includes two passenger rail links, one linking Saltburn, Redcar and Marske to Middlesbrough and through to Darlington, connecting with the East Coast Mainline, and another linking Nunthorpe to Middlesbrough along the Whitby line. The A174 and the A66 link the main urban areas of the borough through to the A19(T) to the west. Guisborough is linked by the A171, which is the main road linking Whitby to Middlesbrough. A network of minor roads connects the small villages. Bus services in the borough provide a relatively good public transport network throughout the borough, although the need for improvements to the quality of the routes to and from Middlesbrough centre has been recognised by both Redcar and Cleveland and Middlesbrough Councils.

JOINT WORKING AND PARTNERSHIP Transport policy and implementation in the borough has been developed over time through extensive partnership working with key stakeholders and with widespread consultation to identify the external factors that are affecting wider service delivery. In short, LTP3 has been developed through our involvement with: • Local people, through Council Members, Residents Associations and voluntary organisations. • Transport Planners and Operators, including neighbouring Tees Valley authorities, the Highways Agency, Council Departments, bus and train operating companies and taxi operators. 24 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

• Business, including major employers, new developers, chambers of commerce and other representative bodies. • Interest Groups, including environmental organisations, user groups, pressure groups and special interest groups. • Health and Safety Organisations, including local health authorities, police, fire and ambulance services.

Consultation on the development of LTP3 has been undertaken through a range of processes including: • Meetings with key stakeholders and interest groups; • Public consultation directly and indirectly related to transport issues; • Consultation with 200 individuals and organisations on the Draft LTP3 documents; • Posting of the Draft LTP, Executive Summary and Strategic Environmental Assessment on the Council’s website.

The views of all of these stakeholders have been taken into consideration and reported throughout the final document.

FUNDING ALLOCATION The emphasis for LTPs has changed so that they are no longer bidding documents for funding. DfT developed formula based approaches for the calculation of the funding that should be available to each authority for the implementation of integrated transport schemes and strategic highway maintenance. For LTP2, they provided an indication of the level of funding that should be available for each of the five years of the LTP2 period, known as the Planning Guidelines.

However, the impact of the credit crunch and the need for financial restraint measures to address the national financial deficit means that there is no longer the original intended level of funding available for transport. In June 2010, the Council was informed that the block grant for smaller scale integrated transport measures for 2010/11 had been reduced in-year by 25%; the Road Safety Capital Grant was completely removed and the Road Safety Revenue Grant was reduced by 27%.

Funding Allocations Table 2010-2015 (£’000s) 2010/11 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15

Original Revised Final Final Indicative Indicative Integrated Transport 1,421 1,065 751 801 801 1,126 Block Highways Maintenance 1,657 1,657 1,530 1,542 1,565 1,474 Block TOTAL 3,078 2,722 2,281 2,343 2,366 2,600

In December 2010, DfT indicated the levels of funding that will be available for each of

25 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 the first four years of LTP3 as given in the table above. The overall 47% cut to the Integrated Transport Block capital funding in 2011/12 and continuing reduced levels in the following years will limit our ability to implement infrastructure improvements in the early years of LTP3. The capital block for major maintenance works has only decreased by 8%, recognising that it is more important to maintain the highways and structures infrastructure that we already have.

DOCUMENT STRUCTURE This LTP contains 9 further chapters. Chapter 2 contains a Tees Valley overview of how national and regional policies and initiatives will have an impact and how they need to be reflected in the sub-region. Chapter 3 looks at how wider service delivery issues are being addressed through the actions of key stakeholders in the borough and the likely transport implications of these. This includes the long-term transport strategy, demonstrating the relationship to the core objectives of the Redcar and Cleveland Sustainable Communities Strategy. Chapters 4 to 8 provide strategies to address the DaSTS Goals, setting out the objectives for these and identifying a range of actions that can be undertaken to achieve the LTP3 key objectives.

Chapter 9 sets out the indicators and targets that will be used to report on performance in future years to measure the improvement in transport outcomes that is being achieved. The proposed transport implementation programme for 2011-2016 is set out in Chapter 10, including the Council’s approach to delivery and the achievement of value for money.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION A full Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has been carried out for the Redcar and Cleveland LTP. The results of the SEA have been incorporated into, and used to inform the development of the LTP. For example, no major highway schemes are proposed and the majority of works will be undertaken within existing highway boundaries. It also contains a series of mitigation measures that have been incorporated into the LTP to ensure that it achieves full environmental protection and enhancement. Details of how the LTP will protect and improve the quality of the environment are also mentioned in Chapter 8, Quality of Life and a Healthy Natural Environment.

A Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) has been undertaken for the Local Development Framework Core Strategy Document and a further one will be undertaken to assess the servicing and operation of proposed development sites identified in the Communities and Economy Development Planning Document. The work undertaken for the SEA has identified that there is no need to conduct a separate HRA as no highway works are being proposed in the LTP that will affect any environmentally sensitive sites.

A complete version of the SEA Environmental Report and the accompanying Non- Technical Summary is available for download from the Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council website - www.redcar-cleveland.gov.uk

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CHAPTER 2: CONNECTING THE TEES VALLEY A STATEMENT OF TRANSPORT AMBITION

INTRODUCTION

The Tees Valley is one of two city regions at the heart of the North East of England. The Tees Valley consists of five local authority districts - Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees – and has a sphere of influence that extends into parts of neighbouring County Durham and North Yorkshire. The Tees Valley and its wider sphere of influence has a population of around 875,000, of which more than 650,000 live in the five Tees Valley local authorities.

Source: Tees Valley Unlimited

Economic and Regeneration Statement of Ambition Tees Valley Unlimited (TVU), a partnership between the five Tees Valley Local Authorities, local regeneration agencies and business leaders, has mapped out its vision for the Tees Valley through its Economic and Regeneration Statement of Ambition.

This vision builds upon the successes of the first decade of the new millennium, including the continued development of process industries, the growth of container traffic through Teesport, the continued growth of the service sector, the regeneration of town centres,

27 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 and the provision of new educational infrastructure necessary. This decade of success has ensured that the Tees Valley has significant economic assets. The Tees Valley is home to the largest integrated heavy industrial area in the UK, containing petrochemicals, energy and industrial biotechnology plants of a world scale, the fourth largest port in the UK, a steel industry specialising in construction steels and a world class advanced engineering industry. There is also a significant export economy, focused around the port. The advantageous position on the River Tees and associated port related businesses is a major asset.

In addition to these national and international assets the Tees Valley has other major assets. Each of the centres has its own strengths. These include the market town and mainline connectivity of Darlington, the marina facilities and business incubation space in Hartlepool, the cultural and retail facilities and Teesside University in Middlesbrough, the rural and coastal splendour of Redcar & Cleveland and the engineering companies and business connectivity of Stockton. From these foundations, going forward, the two key ambitions are:  to drive the transition to a high value low carbon economy; and,  to create a more diversified and inclusive economy.

As part of delivering the second of these, the Statement of Ambition identifies the benefits of a joined up and connected polycentric Tees Valley. This requires recognition that the Tees Valley as a whole will offer the range of facilities needed to attract growth, but that individual Boroughs will bring their own distinctive advantages to the offer. The polycentric model recognises the importance of the core retail and service centres, and also the roles of the other centres of activity. These include the other employment and town centres and the North-South Tees industrial complex as the focus for specialised industrial development and employment as the Tees Valley moves through its transition to a low carbon economy.

The development of this economic and regeneration Statement of Ambition responds to the critical indicators in the Tees Valley. These indicators compel the overall approach adopted to be one that focuses on the economy, and on tackling the socio-economic consequences that arise from its relatively poor performance. These indicators show a clear picture. The Tees Valley has an economy that is performing less well than the UK as a whole. The most recent figures show the Tees Valley’s GVA per head to be only 75% of the national average. Unemployment levels are higher than the national average, and issues of deprivation and relatively poor quality of life are widespread. The Tees Valley has unemployment of 5.7%, compared with 4.6% in the North East as a whole and 3.6% nationally. All five of the Tees Valley local authorities are within the 30% most deprived of the 354 local authorities nationally.

The Statement of Ambition sets out a clear vision for the Tees Valley, one that responds to its economic geography and builds on the strengths of each economic centre. As each centre builds on its strengths, it is clear that good transport within and between the centres of activity is vital, be they town centres or industrial complexes, in order that people can access the range of economic, educational and service opportunities that 21st 28 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Century living demands. Hence, this transport strategy responds to the Statement of Ambition and, building on significant work on transport in the Tees Valley and wider North East of England since 2008, sets the context for delivering improved transport networks and services in support of the wider vision.

Transport evidence This transport strategy is a critical component of joint working in the Tees Valley, reflecting the ongoing development work which has been undertaken immediately prior to, and as part of the response to the previous government’s Delivering a Sustainable Transport System (DaSTS). This transport evidence base has been built up over the last two years, including:

 an August 2008 study by ONE North East of the evidence supporting the identification of transport challenges across the North East of England in response to the Eddington Transport Study, the Stern report on climate change and Towards a Sustainable Transport Strategy;  the formal response to government on DaSTS from the North East region; and encompassing  work that specifically addresses the transport issues that exist in developing a pro- active response to the challenges of supporting economic regeneration in the Tees Valley in accordance with the aims of the City Region Business Case, known as the Tees Valley Area Action Plan (AAP).

This last piece of work came out of an earlier City Region Transport Strategy which identified that there was a clear need to bring together development proposals and the required transport improvements with a clear forward programme. The development of the AAP to date has been a model of partnership and collaborative working between local authority partners and the Highways Agency.

The June 2009 response from the North East region to Government highlighted the transport challenges facing the North East of England, and identified a number of evidence gaps that needed to be addressed in preparing a robust investment plan going forward. This response to Government therefore outlined a work programme of evidence based study to inform the development of a long term strategy to 2030, and a programme of prioritised investment in transport over the next 10 to 15 years. Three reports produced as part of the first phase of this work programme are of particular relevance in informing and providing the foundation for this transport strategy for the Tees Valley, namely:

 the Tees Valley City Region Connectivity and Accessibility Study  the North East Strategic Connections Study; and,  the North East Rural Transport and Connectivity Study.

Defining transport challenges in the Tees Valley The new Coalition Government has signalled a number of priorities for its transport

29 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 programmes. Alongside the effective prioritisation of public spending on transport and the vigorous pursuit of efficiency, the Government has highlighted the primacy of two transport challenges of national importance, namely:

 Supporting growth by improving the links that move goods and people around our economy;  Tackling climate change through policies which deliver technology and behaviour that will decarbonise mobility as we progress through the 21st Century.

Key Local Authority, business and other public sector leaders in the Tees Valley, through Transport for Tees Valley, the Transport Board, have prioritised three transport challenges, based on the national transport challenges in place prior to May 2010. The three challenges are entirely consistent with the Coalition Government’s primary goals for transport. These commonly agreed challenges have been confirmed by Transport for Tees Valley, and are:

1. Improve the journey experience of transport users of urban, regional and local networks, including interfaces with national & international networks; 2. Improve the connectivity and access to labour markets of key business centres; 3. Deliver quantified reductions in greenhouse gas emissions within cities and regional networks, taking account of cross-network policy measures.

The evidence supporting these three challenges has been examined in detail within the earlier 2010 study programme, and has identified a number of detailed issues, which in turn have influenced the identification of options to tackle the transport challenges within the Tees Valley. The three challenges are considered in the pages that follow this introduction.

The Coalition Government has also signalled that it wishes to see strong leadership and autonomy within local communities, led by local government, business and other key stakeholders in their locality. In transport, many issues that can be tackled at the local level emerge, and indeed the Coalition Government has identified that social justice and quality of life are important outcomes that improved transport can deliver. These local challenges include road safety, local network management, highway maintenance (including management of local infrastructure assets), and local infrastructure that supports active travel such as walking and cycling. Tackling each of these challenges through local action will contribute to delivering outcomes that are important with each locality, and will help to enhance health and quality of life in local communities across the Tees Valley.

Challenge 1 - The quality of urban, regional and local networks including at the interfaces with national and international networks The transport priorities that flow from this challenge are strongly influenced by the socio- economic evidence, and by the evidence around how the Tees Valley’s transport networks currently perform, and will perform in the future as the economic and 30 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 regeneration vision for the Tees Valley is delivered over the next twenty years.

This challenge to ‘improve the journey experience of transport users of urban, regional and local networks, including at the interfaces with national networks and international networks’ comprises of issues on two levels, namely:

 Travel patterns and journey experiences on urban, regional and local passenger networks that provide local accessibility for a range of purposes; (and are therefore closely related to the challenge on access to labour markets);  Freight and passenger movements to and from national and international gateways to the Tees Valley.

Good international and national linkages are important as the Tees Valley economy grows. Some of the industries are, as noted earlier, nationally important, and good rail and road connectivity into and beyond the Tees Valley is fundamental to the growth and continued success of these industries.

External connections The economic geography and peripheral nature of the North East region as a whole is one of the greatest challenges faced by the region. This holds true for the Tees Valley.

Maintaining and improving transport links to London is important to help capture potential productivity benefits. Recent work commissioned by One North East confirmed that improved links to other city regions would provide economic benefits to the North East. This indicates that there is an economic advantage of the location of Darlington within two and a half hours travel time of two national capitals, and the connections to the Leeds city region are also identified as being particularly important. ODPM research on core cities asserts “that an indication of physical connectivity is given by the fastest available journey times to London by rail”.

An earlier One North East report demonstrated that international airports represent vital pieces of modern infrastructure that contribute to the competitiveness and prosperity of regions (both in terms of business and inward tourism). Whilst Durham Tees Valley Airport (DVTA) has in common with other regional airports seen a decline in passenger numbers, retention and modest growth of existing markets in the future is important for the Tees Valley. DVTA had a throughput of 288,296 passengers in 2009 representing a significant decline from 2008, when the passenger throughput was 645,138. In particular the Amsterdam service is fundamental to the service provided from DVTA as the connectivity provided by access to a major international hub is vital to local business and therefore to the core market for the airport.

Rail competitiveness Rail patronage on routes to and from the Tees Valley highlights the importance of the East Coast Main Line. Movements to the South East of England are less pronounced from the east of the Tees Valley, with 30,000 annual return trips from Middlesbrough,

31 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 compared to over 250,000 return trips from Darlington. This is despite Middlesbrough having a higher population than Darlington.

Located on the East Coast Main Line, Darlington is the main interchange hub in the Tees Valley for national and inter-regional rail connections, making it a ‘gateway’ for rail journeys into and out of the Tees Valley. However, in comparison to its excellent north- south connectivity, Darlington is relatively inaccessible from other key centres within the Tees Valley. Journey times to Darlington from Middlesbrough and Stockton (as adjacent key centres) is relatively poor, taking between 40-60 minutes, compared to a journey time of 19-23 minutes for car travel. There are, for example, currently no direct train services from Stockton to Darlington; passengers would have to change at Thornaby station, a journey which would take between 35 and 50 minutes. This relatively poor east-west connectivity by rail within the Tees Valley impacts on the external connectivity of the Tees Valley as a whole, reducing the attractiveness of the excellent north-south links from Darlington to potential users from the rest of the Tees Valley.

External connections from the Tees Valley to London (via Northallerton, Thirsk and York) are also provided by the Grand Central services from Hartlepool and Eaglescliffe. Four services a day (two morning and two evening services), are currently offered on this route, with a journey time of between three and three and a half hours to London. In terms of internal connectivity, Eaglescliffe is more widely accessible by public transport than Darlington. Eaglescliffe thus offers important supplementary rail access options to London and the south from the Middlesbrough-Stockton conurbation and eastern parts of the Tees Valley.

Strategic connections (to Manchester Airport via Thornaby and Yarm) are also offered from Middlesbrough. However, Middlesbrough station is operating at close to capacity in terms of train paths, due to an extensive and frequent freight train operation which exists alongside an intensive local train service and these regional inter-urban trains, limiting the potential to enhance these options.

Significant numbers of journeys within, to and from the Tees Valley already use the rail network. Moreover, rail patronage in the Tees Valley has grown at a considerably higher rate than observed both across the North East as a whole and nationally. However, rail journey times are currently uncompetitive compared with the car within the Tees Valley, as is illustrated by the Darlington example above. Given the predicted increase in car ownership in the Tees Valley, this advantage of car journey times could generate increased trips on the road network. Therefore, it is imperative that rail services are enhanced, to ensure that rail is a competitive alternative and that increasing demand for travel does not result in increasing levels of car trips within, to and from the Tees Valley.

Besides high fares, rail passengers in the region consider train capacity, punctuality of trains and availability (frequency) of trains to be below expectations. The recent North East Strategic Connections Study reported that service availability on Sundays, early in the morning and late in the evening is often poor. This evidence emphasises the importance of a number of factors in ensuring the competitiveness of rail, with not only 32 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 journey times, but increased frequency, better information, better interchange, and other journey experience issues also to the fore.

Rail loading gauge clearance Rail loading gauge clearance is a key constraint for rail freight movements to and from Teesport, the important international gateway that is fundamental to the economy of the Tees Valley, and on the UK rail network beyond. Teesport is by some margin the most important port in the North East, and in 2008 the third most important port by goods lifted in the UK. Teesport is not only an important asset to the local Tees Valley economy, but represents a significant regional and indeed national asset.

There is a significant opportunity and justification for the development of a deep-sea container terminal in the north of England. To realise the full potential of this opportunity, PD Ports is developing a £300 million deep-sea container terminal on the south bank of the River Tees, which will be known as the Northern Gateway Container Terminal (NGCT). However, this proposal to expand the container side of the port’s operation raises fundamental issues regarding freight access to and from Teesport.

Container traffic being transported by rail (rather than by road) is not only consistent with the UK’s sustainability aims, but is also much more cost-effective for freight operators. However, there are severe constraints for unitised (i.e. container) traffic that prevents full access between Teesport and the East Coast Main Line (ECML) and beyond. The problem lies in the present rail gauge clearance limitation on potential routes to the ECML and on the ECML itself. To ensure that the potential for rail freight for unitised traffic through Teesport is developed, W9 loading gauge clearance on rail links for small deep- sea containers can be tolerated economically, but W10 clearance for 9’6” containers is optimal. The figure below shows current rail gauge clearance:

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This illustrates that the local rail network linking Teesport to the national rail network has gauge clearance no better than W8 at present, and the ECML itself is only W9. Rail gauge clearance is not an issue isolated to local level in the Tees Valley. The national network is just as important, given the wide marketplace for Teesport across the whole of northern England and Scotland. It is therefore critical to ensure that the wider network is also of adequate gauge.

Traffic levels The lack of a single dominant commercial centre has transport implications. The Tees Valley contains a number of centres within a very small area, meaning that interconnectivity is vital for the Tees Valley to function effectively. Consequently, the communities within the Tees Valley are highly interdependent with intense commuting and other flows in multiple directions. This presents a challenge to create and sustain viable public transport networks and has resulted in an over reliance on the use of the private car for many trips.

Aggregated traffic flow data indicate that traffic levels rose steadily from 2000 to about 2004 across the Tees Valley. This trend follows the economic growth experienced in this period, with more trips accessing the Tees Valley in general, and specifically in key employment growth areas (such as Darlington and Hartlepool).

Traffic flow data show that there has been variability across the Tees Valley, with a wide range of growth rates dependent upon location. Counts to the north of the Tees Valley, across the South East Durham and Teesside to Hartlepool “screen lines” show the highest growth rates. Since 2004, traffic levels have remained broadly static, with a combined growth in traffic of around 11% over the decade.

Highway constraints Whilst the Tees Valley does not suffer from widespread traffic congestion to the same extent as some other city regions, there is congestion on localised sections of the local and trunk road networks. Congestion is evident on critical routes such as the A19-A66 interchange encompassing the Tees flyover and links to Middlesbrough, A19 south of Wynyard, and the A1053 access to Teesport and important local arterial roads; this represents a significant threat both to local, but also regional and national economic priorities, and serve to reduce economic potential, especially at peak times.

Of particular significance is the congestion on the A19 northbound carriageway caused in the main by the traffic accessing the Wynyard Park development. This congestion could affect access to Seal Sands and the North-South Tees proposals, hindering access to the area and the distribution of goods, and having the potential to stifle regeneration proposals in the area. There is also a build up of trips on a number of radial routes leading to Darlington centre and rail station, with potential negative implications for access to this important gateway to the Tees Valley. If congestion in the Tees Valley worsens, there is a risk that this could ultimately stifle economic growth.

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Strategic highway modelling work focussed on the Tees Valley shows that current congestion is focussed on the strategic road network with specific problems summarised as:  A19 Tees Viaduct and Stockton Road Interchange with A66;  A66 particularly through Middlesbrough and Stockton;  A19/A689 Wolviston Interchange;  A174/A1053 Greystone Road network, the key route to and from Teesport and the industrial and petrochemical centres; and  Darlington radial routes.

The network map below is from the Tees Valley TRIPS model, showing the 2010 morning peak hour. This illustrates a number of the issues highlighted.

Challenge 1 - Summary The evidence on current use of and the quality of journey experience on the transport networks in the Tees Valley leads to the following issues being identified:  The threat posed by rising car ownership and use, with the potential for this to grow quickly as the economy improves, leading to increases in congestion and other adverse impacts from growing car use, including environmental impacts;  The importance of links to London and the rest of the English regions to the south, especially neighbouring Yorkshire, and the role that Darlington can play as the gateway to the Tees Valley, especially for rail services;  The importance of Teesport and good road and rail connections to the port, including on wider national and regional networks, as well as good direct local access.

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Progress to date in addressing the challenge A number of targeted local highway network improvements have been delivered as the first stage of tackling this challenge. These include:  The £13.5m North Middlesbrough Accessibility Scheme, comprising a number of highway improvements to improve access to the area of Middlesbrough north of the A66 including Riverside Park and the Middlehaven development site;  The roundabout interchange at the A19(T)/A174(T) has been signalised on the three trunk road approaches as the first stage of the Teesport Access Improvements.

Ongoing work to address the challenge The Tees Valley Metro project continues to be the main focus for future rail enhancements in the area. The key long term outcomes that Tees Valley Metro will deliver are:  A service frequency of 15 minutes between Darlington and Saltburn, and between Hartlepool and Nunthorpe during the working day - compared with 30 - 60 minutes today;  Darlington to Saltburn end-to-end journey time of no more than 48 minutes – compared with 53 minutes today;  Additional tracks to provide sufficient capacity to meet the demands of the next 20 – 30 years, including freight movements;  A new station at Durham Tees Valley Airport, replacing the existing Teesside Airport station;  Additional new stations at Morton Palms, Teesside Park, Middlehaven, The Ings, Nunthorpe Parkway, James Cook University Hospital and Queens Meadow;  Improvements to existing stations; and  Newer, lighter trains.

In addressing issues on the strategic road network, £3.9 million of funding has been secured towards the delivery of the first phase of the Network Management Strategy, which will see the Highways Agency install traffic lights at five entry slip roads along the A19 and A66. This Tees Valley Ramp Metering scheme, which will help to improve the efficiency and operation of the core trunk road network at peak times, has gained full funding approval and is programmed to be delivered by the Highways Agency on behalf of City Region partners by April 2011. The scheme is to be funded through the Community Infrastructure Fund (CIF), enabling important housing growth to be delivered across the Tees Valley that may otherwise have been delayed due to impacts on the strategic network.

The five Tees Valley Authorities have also worked with the Highways Agency and transport operators to develop an overall strategy for building up an Urban Traffic Management and Control (UTMC) system that will support the area's future transport needs. The base system is expected to be operational in 2011.

What we still need to do There are a number of critical rail infrastructure improvements within the rail investment 36 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Control Period 4 to 2014 that will benefit businesses and communities within the Tees Valley. Funding is a consistent barrier to delivery of many of these improvements, which include W9 and W10 gauge clearance from Teesport to ECML; Boldon East Curve reinstatement, York-Northallerton and Northallerton-Eaglescliffe line speed increases, and Stillington Branch signalling and line speed improvements.

Challenge 2 - Connectivity and access to labour markets of key business centres To stimulate the necessary growth and regeneration, the economic strategy for the Tees Valley focuses on the existing town centres, together with key employment locations in the North-South Tees axis. Each of these locations will, as described earlier, play to its strengths rather than compete against each other, meaning that the Tees Valley should have all the necessary services and facilities, but not necessarily all in one place. This will reinforce the essentially polycentric nature of the Tees Valley, with no single dominant centre of commercial activity acting as a focus for the transport networks, in contrast to other conurbations of similar size and population, where the focus is often on one key centre. Indeed, the future spatial priorities identified by Tees Valley stakeholders suggest that this polycentricism is likely not simply to be reinforced, but will become more pronounced as the Tees Valley develops, given the considerable number of ‘key centres’ within a relatively small area, and the diverse range of unique or specialised economic opportunities that are likely to available at specific locations. This will accentuate the need for good connections to, from and between the diverse labour markets and other local services.

Whilst improved rail services and improved facilities for active travel will be important, it will be fundamental to improve access by local bus in tackling this challenge.

The polycentric nature of the labour markets is shown in the figure below:

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Journey patterns Evidence on journeys to work and peak hour trip making patterns in the Tees Valley shows that car commuting accounts for a higher proportion of journeys to work in the Tees Valley than in the North East as a whole, which is in turn at higher levels than in the UK. This is despite car ownership levels in the Tees Valley being lower than the national average (although slightly higher than the North East as a whole).

Car ownership In contrast, car ownership in the Tees Valley is forecast to rapidly increase (at a higher rate than the national average), and this gap is forecast to close significantly by 2021 when only 27% of Tees Valley households are likely to have no access to a car, compared with 34% in 2001. This compares to a figure of 23% nationally. During this time, growth in the number of 2 and 3 car households in the Tees Valley is forecast to be significantly higher than the national average as car ownership grows from a low base.

This signals the threat posed by rising car ownership and use, with the potential for this to grow quickly as the economy improves leading to increased congestion and other adverse impacts from growing car use, including environmental impacts.

Self-containment Evidence suggests that approximately 90% of the Tees Valley’s workers live in the Tees Valley and that each centre is relatively self-contained, with high levels of trip making being confined within each district. More recent evidence from the Tees Valley TRIPS model, (which includes updated data from more recent surveys over the last decade), demonstrates that this high level of self-containment of trips in the Tees Valley remains, and specifically a strong degree of self-containment within the individual authority areas themselves.

Bus network As identified in the introductory comments on this challenge, it is clear that local bus services will be vital in tackling the challenge. In recent years decline in bus patronage has been significant, from 44.2 million passenger journeys in 2002/03 to 38.8 million in 2008/09. In 2008/09, the first year-on-year growth in bus patronage was recorded in the Tees Valley for many years. However, much of this growth is considered to be attributable to the introduction of the National Concessionary Travel Scheme. Despite declining patronage, the bus remains the most important form of public transport in the area in terms of passenger numbers and distance travelled.

The lack of a single dominant commercial centre has made it more difficult in the Tees Valley than it is elsewhere to create and sustain viable bus networks. As a consequence, the bus network across the Tees Valley is not particularly well co-ordinated, a characteristic resulting from a history of piecemeal network development. However, bus inter-connectivity will be important to support the Tees Valley’s economic strategy, which focuses on economic specialisation within different areas. Bus punctuality across the Tees Valley is also declining with all five districts demonstrating poorer punctuality in 38 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

2008/09 than two years previously. Performance in all districts falls short of the Traffic Commissioners' desired performance of 95% of buses being on time.

There is a complex range of operator-exclusive and multi-operator tickets available to public transport users in the Tees Valley. This complex bus ticketing and fare system acts as a barrier to increasing use. Opportunities for simplification as an encouragement to new and existing users should be looked at as part of measures to improve the attractiveness of public transport services in the Tees Valley.

Public transport accessibility

Examination of current accessibility levels by public transport demonstrates that a number of the existing major centres have relatively good public transport connectivity to other labour markets within the Tees Valley. The example illustrated below shows that Stockton, at the heart of the Tees Valley, has good connectivity within the 40 minute travel time boundary by public transport, which includes Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Darlington centre and Redcar.

However, using the example of Stockton, a centre with relatively good public transport connectivity, it is clear that car journey times between Stockton and other principal centres are considerably lower (for example 10 minutes to Middlesbrough, 21 minutes to Hartlepool and 20 minutes to Darlington). The peripheral areas in particular have relatively poor public transport connectivity to other labour markets within the Tees Valley.

Furthermore, evidence shows that some of the economic regeneration priority locations in the North-South Tees have exceptionally poor accessibility by public transport from the Tees Valley as a whole. This is demonstrated by the example of Teesport.

Teesport itself and the opportunities in associated economic sectors in and around the 39 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 port estate represent a major economic opportunity, not just for the Tees Valley directly, but for the whole of the North of England. Growth of port-centric warehousing and distribution at Teesport has already contributed significantly to the local economy, and has potential to develop further on the Teesport estate. Around 2000 people are already employed on the Port, and coupled with the existing and future distribution related jobs there is a pressing need for good transport to the area from both Middlesbrough and from Redcar and East Cleveland. Existing public transport accessibility to Teesport, or more pertinently the absence of such access, is illustrated below.

This means that there is increasing pressure to provide high quality passenger transport services to the existing and future jobs on Teesport. If the area is not to become completely reliant on car access, and if the opportunity to access the growing economic opportunities in the area is not to be limited to those with access to a car, improved public transport access is a necessity.

Rural transport The spring 2010 North East Rural Transport and Connectivity Study assessed the role of transport in widening access to economic and social opportunities within the diverse rural communities across the region. The study presented three case studies areas, one of these being East Cleveland, an area on the periphery of the Tees Valley. East Cleveland is an area of significant contrasts, with considerable variation in accessibility to economic and social opportunity, serving to heighten inequalities across the area.

The consultation and analysis of evidence in East Cleveland identified a series of common challenges that influence transport and accessibility issues in rural communities, namely:  Access to employment and other services: The availability of public transport in remote locations is a major barrier to accessing the increasingly limited employment 40 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

opportunities, particularly for those who do not have access to a car.  Awareness and perception of travel options: Negative perceptions of public transport services and availability even in relatively accessible locations.  Cost of transport: The cost of transport is a key barrier to accessibility in rural areas, particularly for those on low incomes or working part-time in accessing employment opportunities, and for young people accessing education, leisure and part-time work.  Involvement of the transport sector: The transport sector needs to be visibly involved in demand-led approaches to providing access to a range of opportunities as transport consistently represents the main barrier that is faced in rural communities.

Challenge 2 - Summary The evidence on existing journey to work patterns and the quality of transport networks in supporting access to employment in the Tees Valley highlights the following issues:  A range and choice of transport to key labour markets is important in order to provide opportunity for everyone to access appropriate employment;  Car use is higher than the national average for commuting. Options that provide alternatives or manage demand need to be developed before rising levels of car ownership reinforce these patterns;  Economic specialisation within the Tees Valley as part of the vision for regeneration is likely to reinforce the Tees Valley’s polycentric form. Sustainable transport solutions that support this economic vision to provide better quality links between the centres will be vital;  The availability of public transport in remote locations is particularly limiting job opportunities for those who do not have access to a car.

Progress to date in addressing the challenge Significant progress has already been made to some aspects of the local bus service in improving access to local employment. Many of the improvements also have a significant positive impact on access to a wide range of opportunities throughout the day, not simply employment.

The bus operators continue to invest in new vehicles. For example, Arriva introduced over 50 new buses in 2010, equivalent to around one fifth of their Tees Valley fleet; fifteen new Stagecoach buses, predominantly branded for use on their key inter-urban service 36, linking Middlesbrough with Stockton, Billingham and Hartlepool, entered service by the end of September 2009; and bus replacement at Leven Valley has continued with the fleet being the first in the Tees Valley to be fully low floor and wheelchair accessible. New infrastructure supports these service improvements, including the completion and opening of Hartlepool Interchange in August 2010.

Real time journey information is being rolled out on some of the main bus corridors. An increasing number of Arriva and Go North East services now feed real time information into the call centre journey planner, traveline-txt (the text messaging service), as well as the mobile internet NextBuses service, enabling passengers to receive live data for short notice journey enquiries. The Connect Tees Valley web site, managed by Tees Valley 41 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Unlimited, provides information on all modes of transport in the area, including holding the current timetables for all public transport services operating in the Tees Valley as well as details of forthcoming changes, both permanent and as a result of road works and events.

Ongoing work to address the challenge A major Tees Valley Bus Network Improvements scheme is being progressed by the local authorities in partnership with bus operators Arriva and Stagecoach. This will provide a comprehensive series of bus priority measures, improved passenger waiting facilities, consistently high quality specification for vehicles, and measures to improve information and ticketing on core bus routes across the Tees Valley. This scheme achieved final approval from the Department for Transport in June 2010 confirming that £37.5 million of central Government funding would be made available for the improvement to bus services, passenger facilities and information across the Tees Valley. This is now likely to be delivered over a five year period to 2015.

The investment is being focussed largely on the core, frequent and commercially provided tier of the hierarchical bus network, to bring about a quality, stable and sustainable system that offers an effective alternative to the private car. However, all services will benefit to some degree from the measures. Network wide initiatives will include the provision of high quality, clear and focussed information and marketing materials in a wide variety of formats, and the enhancement and simplification of fares and ticketing. This is being complemented by ongoing bus operator investment in high quality accessible vehicles, enhanced standards of driver training and vehicle cleaning, and the consistent provision of frequent services from early morning to late evening.

What we still need to do A Quality Partnership Agreement between operators and the local authorities, designed to recognise and protect the current investment from the bus operators, and ensure that this continues alongside the ongoing delivery of the Tees Valley Bus Network Improvements Major Scheme is being developed. This will reinforce the progress being made.

The provision of a range of bus services to new and emerging employment opportunities is fundamental if these jobs are to be accessible to people across the Tees Valley. For example, a range of bus services to the North South Tees developments, including to the Teesport estate, are needed to ensure that the emerging employment opportunities to everyone. These include ensuring that the new developments within the port centric distribution sector are accessible to everyone, regardless of whether they own a car, and to ensure that these developments do not add to congestion on important routes, thereby damaging the local economy in the process.

Challenge 3 - Reducing carbon emissions from regional and city transport networks As the UK and its constituent local authorities seek to address the impacts of climate change, it is also important that transport does not add to the changing climate through further emissions of greenhouse gases. This remains one of the main tenets of national 42 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 transport policy under the Coalition Government, which has signalled the importance of both technological improvements and behavioural change in reducing carbon emissions from transport.

Partners in the Tees Valley have identified that it is important to develop economic and spatial plans and supporting transport systems in the future that do not add further to problems with respect to our changing climate.

Significant contributions to reducing CO2 from transport can be delivered through tackling local trips, through the promotion of active travel such as walking and cycling for short trips, and through targeted programmes of Smarter Choices. Targeting energy use in the transport system, such as the management of the use of lighting may also contribute to reductions.

The impact of climate change on transport systems in the Tees Valley The North East of England’s transport infrastructure as a whole is likely to be affected by climate change in a number of ways. Surface water flooding will be a major concern on highway networks, whilst higher temperatures could lead to cracking and pot-holing of road surfaces. Road closures will cause more frequent disruption to network users. Moreover, delays on the local road network due to extreme weather conditions will also have a detrimental impact upon the reliability of scheduled bus services.

Bus and rail services could be affected by storms, as a result of blown debris and leaf litter falling onto tracks, or by expansion and contraction in extremes of temperature. Station building structures could be damaged by flood events or by strong winds or lightning strikes. Other climate change forecasts indicate significant economic losses from increasing flood risk; the rail network is particularly vulnerable in a few key locations.

Carbon emissions in the Tees Valley In 2000, the Tees Valley’s total carbon emissions were around 20.5 million tonnes (across all sectors). Recent data published by the Department for Energy and Climate Change shows that in 2007 carbon emissions were approximately 6.7 million tonnes (this figure includes emissions from industry and commerce, domestic and road transport).

A revised Tees Valley Climate Change Strategy, published in 2010, includes significant changes to the target reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. In the previous published strategy, this target was to reduce carbon emissions by 8.75% below the year 2000 level by 2012. The revised target is a 21% reduction by 2020 against a 2005 baseline. This will align the strategy and action plan with the Climate Change Act 2008 and follow a uniform method of measurement.

In 2007, most emissions in the Tees Valley (4 million tonnes, or 59% of total emissions) came from industry. The overall decline is largely due to a decline and refinement of industry in the Tees Valley over the last decade. However, the figure below shows carbon emissions from industry in the North East are still significantly greater than the average for England. Similarly, it shows that the North East has the lowest per capita emissions 43 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 from transport (with the exception of London).

Note: LULUCF represents land use, land-use change and forestry

Carbon emissions from transport Whilst current emissions from road transport are comparatively small compared to those from other sectors (1.3 million or 19% of total), it is important not to ignore the contribution that transport makes, a contribution that will represent a greater proportion of emissions over time as programmes to reduce emissions from industry take effect. The use of private vehicles (diesel and petrol cars) accounts for 65% of total road transport emissions. The largest contributor to carbon emissions from road transport in the Tees Valley is the use of petrol cars (47% of the total emissions from transport). This is despite car ownership being considerably lower in the Tees Valley than the national average. Road transport emissions per capita for the Tees Valley are higher than for both the North East and the UK. Road transport emissions per capita are particularly high in the Middlesbrough and Stockton-on-Tees local authority areas. As car ownership is forecast to increase significantly, carbon emissions from transport will become increasingly important to manage.

What delivers reduced CO2 emissions from transport? There are a range of measures that will contribute to reducing carbon emissions from transport. Some sections of the literature on delivering low carbon transport systems place an emphasis on finding technological solutions to reduce transport emissions. However, the 2009 Carbon Reduction Strategy for Transport stresses that whilst technological and efficiency improvements are important, they will not themselves be sufficient to reduce carbon emissions to the extent needed.

Such technological improvements include the use of electric and low emission vehicles; the development of a recharging network for such electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles; the 44 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 development of sustainable biofuels and alternative fuel sources; and improved broad band coverage to help reduce the need for travel. Alongside technological improvements, cultural and behavioural change is fundamental to achieving the reductions in carbon emissions necessary, whether that is in changing travel behaviour itself, or in taking the decision as an individual or society as a whole to invest in a lower carbon technology. As well as promoting less travel, the use of active travel modes and lower emission modes such as clean public transport, influencing driving behaviour through applying “eco driving” techniques, and enforcing speed limits is an important aspect of this behavioural change.

Encouraging cultural and behavioural change A wide range of measures aimed at influencing travel behaviour and cultural change are now firmly established in the main stream of transport planning in the UK. Often referred to as Smarter Choices, after the report of that name that raised the profile of the use of such measures in a unified form in the UK, there are a wide range of interventions that reduce the need to travel and encourage a greater use of active travel and less environmentally damaging travel modes. Measures to improve the attractiveness of modes such as bus and rail are an important part of strategies to reinforce Smarter Choices. Smarter Choices techniques are based around persuasion, realising the importance of positive incentives, rather than punitive measures, to encourage behaviour change.

There is now a significant body of evidence that demonstrates what shifts in travel behaviour can be achieved through Smarter Choices programmes, and the benefits to individuals and society as a whole that such a shift can deliver in terms of economic, social, environmental and health outcomes.

Necessarily this section focuses on the reduced levels of CO2 from transport that can be delivered through such programmes. It is however important to emphasise that targeted programmes of Smarter Choices measures can deliver a range of improved outcomes across the community, including individual and community wide health benefits from increased walking and cycling, local environmental benefits, and a range of equity and social justice benefits.

Estimations based on household surveys suggest that the Sustainable Travel Towns programme (implemented in Darlington, Peterborough and Worcester) resulted in annual per capita carbon savings of roundly 50kg of carbon dioxide in 2008, compared to 2004. This estimate used per capita changes in car driver kilometres for trips <50km from the weighted dataset, and emission factors published by Defra/DECC based on an average- sized car. At a town-wide level and accounting for increases in population, there was a combined estimated saving of 17,510 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum in 2008 across all three towns. Whilst this figure only reflects reductions in car driver distance on journeys of less than 50km, it is equivalent to a reduction in UK average annual per capita emissions from car driving of approximately 4.4% for journeys of all lengths.

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Challenge 3 - Summary The evidence on carbon emissions from surface transport in the Tees Valley shows:  The private car is responsible for the majority of carbon emissions from land based travel, and trends suggest that transport is the one sector where carbon emissions continue to rise. Options need to address the threat posed by rising car ownership and use on these trends

Our progress to date in addressing the challenge There has been a significant record of achievement across the Tees Valley in delivering programmes of activity that promote less environmentally damaging and lower carbon forms of transport. These include:  Darlington Local Motion project, funded initially by the Department for Transport’s sustainable demonstration town programme, but which continues to deliver sustainable transport improvements;  The five Tees Valley local authorities support the running costs of Sustrans' Tees Valley Office, which promotes cycling and walking in the Tees Valley;  A range of cycling initiatives such as Doitbycycle.com, an online cycle journey planner, Bike-it training in schools, the Active Travel project, the Stockton Active Travel Hub, and a range of events through the year;  The Darlington Cycle Demonstration Town project;  Workplace and school travel planning across the Tees Valley;  Roll-out of electric vehicle charging points through the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) Plugged-In Places programme.

Our ongoing work to address the challenge Many of the small scale initiatives being delivered across the Tees Valley described above continue to be rolled out. Much of this activity is either borough specific or on a local community scale.

What we still need to do Tees Valley-wide programmes of Smarter Choices measures, on a scale akin to that delivered through the Local Motion programmes to 2009, will provide the impetus across the Tees Valley to deliver significant travel behaviour change in support of the investment in new and improved infrastructure.

DELIVERING IMPROVED TRANSPORT IN THE TEES VALLEY In concluding the May 2010 work, in order to address the need to tackle the identified transport challenges in the Tees Valley, a process of option generation to develop a “long list” of potential interventions was undertaken. This long list included both existing transport proposals at various stages of development, and new ideas for achieving the Tees Valley’s agreed goals. This approach therefore ensured that innovative and non- transport options were accounted for alongside the full range of transport modes and potential transport options.

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Types of potential interventions to deliver the Tees Valley transport strategy There are consequently a broad suite of potential interventions that should be the priority for partners across the Tees Valley when investing in programmes of activity or in infrastructure projects. These can be broadly summarised as:

 Investment in Smarter Choices measures to reduce car travel (and hence greenhouse gas emissions) and increase access to services for all those within the Tees Valley – many of these measures building upon the Darlington experience;

 Continue to invest in our bus network alongside the 20 or so routes that will benefit from significant investment in the coming years, examining cost effective ways to provide linkages to core commercial routes that will benefit from investment in the next five years, and developing an integrated smart ticketing system with partners across the North East;

 Work with the rail industry to secure the development of Tees Valley Metro to use the rail network in a much more efficient way to connect our main centres and service the new industries, with greater scope for the negotiation of future rail franchises to provide services that better meet the needs of future users rather than rely on historic patterns;

 Look to develop strategic park and ride opportunities;

 Provide targeted highway infrastructure investment to support specific development proposals and improve the management of the strategic road network as part of a joint development plan agreed with the Highways Agency;

 Continue to enhance links to our national and international gateways.

This suite of measures should allow partners in the Tees Valley to develop programmes of investment that deliver improved economic outcomes, reduced carbon emissions from transport, and provide the choice of high quality transport networks to deliver the connectivity and access to a range of opportunities that residents, businesses and visitors need to improve their life chances.

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48 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

CHAPTER 3 :– REDCAR & CLEVELAND LOCAL CONTEXT AND VISION

OVERVIEW A consideration of future transport needs for residents and visitors to Redcar & Cleveland requires an examination of the wider issues that influence people’s travel decisions. People travel to access facilities and services to fulfil their lives. It is important for transport providers to understand future trends affecting these facilities and services, and the transport implications of these trends. Discussions have been held with key stakeholders to identify up to date position statements on the factors affecting their service delivery and the actions being taken.

This chapter looks at the long-term vision for the borough, a vision that transport choices and investments will play their part in making happen. It examines the needs and driving forces behind other service providers to help the Council to develop transport in a manner that supports the wider agenda, placing an emphasis on the partnerships that have been developed to inform the preparation of this Plan. The key role of LTP3, to assist this wider delivery, is identified for each of these service providers. Issues raised in this chapter will influence both the life of this Local Transport Plan to 2021, and have transport implications in the longer term beyond 2021.

Chapter 2 sets out the regional and sub-regional context for the wider Tees Valley, with regeneration identified as the imperative. This chapter then demonstrates the local changes and actions that are taking place to ensure the implementation of the higher vision. The findings of the Tees Valley Bus Network Review are set out as this is an important foundation for actions to be taken during LTP3. This chapter concludes with the long-term transport strategy for Redcar & Cleveland.

THE BOROUGH’S VISION - STATUTORY DEVELOPMENT PLANNING The key drivers for future spatial planning within the borough are currently the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) and the Redcar and Cleveland Local Development Framework (LDF), which together form the statutory development plan for the borough.

Regional Spatial Strategy Regional Planning has played an important role in guiding land use planning for many years. However, in June 2010, the new Government announced that it intends to abolish Regional Planning to allow more decisions to be made locally. The key themes above continue to provide sensible strategic direction for the borough and they have already been incorporated into the adopted Local Development Framework. They are also closely aligned to the priorities of the Sustainable Community Strategy so it is therefore appropriate that they are referred to in LTP3.

The North East of England Plan: Regional Spatial Strategy to 2021 (RSS) was published in July 2008 and incorporates the Regional Transport Strategy. The RSS sets out the regional strategy for sustainable growth based around improving the housing stock, 49 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 increasing employment opportunities, improving access to facilities and enhancing the environment.

The RSS is based around the delivery of four key themes. These aims are reflected in the LDF and in turn they are addressed by the Council’s long-term transport strategy. The key themes of the RSS and the land use implications for Redcar and Cleveland are as follows:

Delivering Economic Prosperity and Growth – Promoting industrial regeneration, particularly in the South Tees area and tourism along the coast and in rural East Cleveland.

Delivering Sustainable Communities – Revitalising the local housing market, particularly in Greater Eston, and improving the accessibility of essential services to improve quality of life.

Conserving, Enhancing and Capitalising Upon the Regions Diverse Natural and Built Environment, Heritage and Culture – Control the spread of development and improve the quality of existing local environments to make the borough a more attractive place to live, work and visit.

Improving Connectivity and Accessibility within and beyond the region – Maintain local transport links and work with partners to improve major road and rail links, particularly to Teesport and the South Tees regeneration area.

Redcar and Cleveland Local Development Framework The Redcar and Cleveland LDF is aligned to and forms the spatial delivery mechanism for ‘Building a Better Borough’, which is the Council’s Sustainable Community Strategy up to 2021. The Sustainable Community Strategy sets out the borough’s priorities focused upon enhancing the quality of life of our local communities and to improve the long term economic, social and environmental well-being of the borough and its citizens.

The overall vision of the Sustainable Community Strategy is that:

“In 2021 we want Redcar and Cleveland to be the place to be, a great place for families to live, a great place to visit, shop and have fun, and a clean green place to work and invest”.

The Redcar and Cleveland Local Development Framework is being prepared as the local development plan for the borough to replace the Redcar and Cleveland Local Plan.

Work is well underway on the preparation of the LDF, with the Core Strategy and Development Policies Development Planning Documents (DPDs) having been adopted in July 2007. The Core Strategy sets out the over-arching strategic vision for the borough, including policies relating to the improvement of connectivity within and beyond the 50 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 borough. The following policies are particularly relevant to the Local Transport Plan:

 Policy CS1 Securing a Better Quality of Life Sets out the principle of sustainable development within the borough. Development will be expected to be situated within easy access to jobs, shops, local services and transport services by all sections of the community.

 Policy CS2 Locational Strategy Sets out the spatial strategy for Redcar and Cleveland. This Policy seeks to focus the majority of development within the main urban areas (Greater Eston, South Tees, Redcar and Marske)

 Policies CS3 – CS7 Spatial Strategies These policies set out a spatial strategy for each area of the borough. Each of these policies recognises the importance of access and connectivity within and between these communities and indicates how this should best be achieved.

 Policy CS26 Managing Travel Demand Seeks to improve transport choice, minimise the distance people need to travel, contribute positively to a demand management strategy to address congestion and encourage park and ride at public transport interchanges.

 Policy CS27 Improving Accessibility Seeks to improve accessibility within and beyond the borough through improving bus routes; passenger rail services and facilities; transport connections to Durham Tees Valley airport; integration between the different modes of transport; strategic road links to the A19 and beyond to the A1/A1(M); access routes to Middlesbrough; and the efficiency of freight access and existing freight interchanges within Teesport.

 Policy CS28 Sustainable Transport Networks Seeks to support the development of pedestrian, cycling and equestrian networks.

The Development Policies DPD sets out more detailed guidance covering site selection, development requirements and design. The document also contains a selected number of policies relating to particular types of development. Of particular relevance to the Local Transport Plan are:

 Policy DP2 Location of Development Sets out guidance on the most suitable locations for development. This includes locating development in the most sustainable locations where there is adequate infrastructure, services and community facilities.

 Policy DP3 Sustainable Design Seeks to ensure that development is designed to a high standard. This includes creating suitable access to development for all users and requirements for the

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creation of travel plans.

 Policy DP4 Developer Contributions Indicates that the Council will seek to negotiate planning obligations to secure necessary community benefits required as a consequence of a development. This includes possible highway improvements, public transport provision and pedestrian and cycling facilities.

Work is also underway on the preparation of the Communities and Economy DPD, which will set out specific policies, designations and allocations for the following:  New housing development  Business and industrial development  Town, district and local centres  Community facilities  Transport improvements

The Tees Valley Joint Minerals and Waste DPDs will set out policies and allocations for Minerals and Waste development across the five Tees Valley authorities. The submission drafts of the documents have been prepared and include policies to direct waste management facilities to the South Tees and other Industrial areas. The documents also allocate the South Tees Eco Park site for waste management development. An infrastructure Strategy was prepared to support the documents and sets out the necessary highway improvements required to allow the proposals to be brought forward.

Close cooperation will continue throughout the preparation and implementation of the LDF and the LTP for the borough.

Delivering this approach will involve addressing issues relating to a wide range of issues including housing, employment and regeneration, health and education. Development decisions in these sectors will consider transport needs and implications.

This Local Transport Plan’s role in complementing the delivery of the Local Development Framework is to:  Place emphasis on the transport requirements of new developments in all stages of the planning process;  Ensure that accessibility is a key criterion when considering the suitability of development sites, for any land use;  Ensure that the application of accessibility imperatives result in appropriate provision of a range of housing, employment and regeneration, health and education initiatives.  Ensure that transport links between existing and future areas of housing, employment, education and shopping are well connected by a range of travel modes; and  Ensure that sustainable transport modes are considered in the development of site proposals.

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HOUSING

The RSS indicated that over the plan period (2004-2021), a total of 5,100 net additional homes should be provided within the borough, in addition to a programme of replacement housing in various identified regeneration areas.

The Preferred Options Draft of the Communities DPD was published in April 2009. This sets out the Council’s proposed housing allocations for the next 15 years and was subjected to a six week public consultation in Spring 2009. It is expected that the Communities DPD will be merged with the Economy DPD and further work will be undertaken in the preparation of future housing allocations. One of the key considerations in identifying suitable sites for housing allocations has been their accessibility by a number of modes of transport, including public transport, and their proximity to existing services in order to reduce the need to travel. This will continue to be a key consideration in the preparation of housing allocations in the LDF.

A New Perspective, The Greater Eston Delivery Plan seeks to address, amongst other things, problems in the housing market, particularly housing market failure in South Bank and Grangetown. Significant demolition has already taken place throughout South Bank and Grangetown and sites have been identified for new housing development and refurbishment. Most significantly, the plan identifies land for a mixed development at Low Grange Farm between South Bank and Grangetown. The scheme will provide approximately 1,000 mixed tenure dwellings as well as a new district centre comprising of a new supermarket, health and social care village and other smaller retail units. These proposals are set out within the LDF Core Strategy and a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) has been prepared to outline the development expectations of the Low Grange Farm site.

The Greater Eston Design Code SPD was adopted in January 2010 and sets out detailed design guidance for new development within Greater Eston. Transport and accessibility issues were taken into consideration in the preparation of the document, including an emphasis on street design which promotes low speeds and shared surfaces.

The Council is also preparing a Design of Residential Areas SPD which will set out detailed guidance to developers looking to provide new residential development within the borough. The input of transport considerations continues to play a key part in the preparation of this document.

Decisions between options for new housing sites will continue to be heavily influenced by transport access considerations, alongside factors such as wider sustainability, marketability of land packages and the relationships between housing and regeneration. A list of larger land allocations in the LDF and their transport implications is given in Table 3.1.

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Table 3.1 – Local Development Framework Land Allocations Allocation Scale of Development Timescale Transport Issues Housing Low Grange Farm, Approximately 1000 2010-2021 Significant impact upon local highway network South Bank dwellings and a new District Centre Swan’s Corner, 115 dwellings 2016-2021 Location for potential East Middlesbrough road link or Nunthorpe Park &Ride. Site access issues need to be resolved. Hewley Street, 72 dwellings 2016-2021 The site is currently inaccessible and there are Normanby implications for traffic volumes on Normanby High Street. Normanby Hall 20 dwellings 2010-2016 Access constraints need to be resolved Rydal Avenue, 112 dwellings 2016-2021 Highways Agency have identified that the site could Grangetown have a potential impact upon the local and strategic road networks North Grangetown 129 dwellings 2010-2016 Highways Agency have identified that the site could Clearance area have a potential impact upon the local and strategic road networks Mannion Park, 100 dwellings 2010-2016 Highways Agency has highlighted the potential impact Grangetown that the proposals could have upon the local highway network Former Allotments, 82 dwellings 2010-2016 Potential impact on traffic flow on the local highway Enfield Chase, Guis network Newstead Farm, 40 dwellings 2016-2021 Access constraints need to be overcome to provide Guisborough safe access. Middlesbrough Road, 50 dwellings 2016-2021 Access constraints to the northern section of the site. Guisborough Land East of Brotton 100 dwellings 2014-2018 Highways Agency has highlighted the potential impact Brickyards that the proposals could have upon the local highway network. Coatham Enclosure, 359 dwellings and leisure 2010-2016 Scale of the development likely to have an impact Redcar development upon the highway network.

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Table 3.1 (contd) – Local Development Framework Land Allocations Allocation Scale of Development Timescale Transport Issues Housing Former School Site, 32 dwellings 2010-2016 Concern raised regarding local access to the site Mersey Rd, Redcar Former Connexions 69 dwellings 2016-2021 Highways Agency has highlighted the potential impact Campus Playing that the proposals could have upon the local highway Field, Redcar Lane, network. Needs to be considered alongside the Redcar adjacent site which already has permission for residential development. Land at Newcomen 30 dwellings 2010-2016 Concern raised regarding local access to the site Primary Sch, Redcar Redcar Housing 357 dwellings (11 sites) 2010-2021 The cumulative impact of allocated housing sites Sites (General) within Redcar is likely to impact upon the local highway network. Consideration will need to be given to improvements where there are capacity issues. Land to the South of Circa 750 dwellings 2016-2026 Potential implications for the capacity of the local road Marske network. Consideration will need to be given to the impacts and any mitigation measures required. Employment MGMT, Tees Dock 290MW Biomass fuelled 2010-2013 The additional employment may create some Road, Teesport powerstation (150 additional capacity problems on the road network permanent jobs when within the South Tees area. operational.) South Tees Eco Park Waste management 2010-2021 The proposed development represents a strategic facilities across a site area location within the Tees Valley Joint Minerals and of over 50 hectares Waste DPDs, dealing with waste from all five Tees Valley authorities. The development would give rise to a significant increase in traffic for both workers and waste management vehicles. This will impact on the local and strategic road networks.

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This Local Transport Plan’s role in delivering housing proposals in the borough is to:  Ensure that all housing allocations are made with transport accessibility considered as a key requirement, and ensure good links between new housing developments and external destinations are maintained by a range of transport modes in order to deliver accessibility;  Integrate walking and cycling routes that serve new housing developments with existing networks;  Design estate roads and layouts such that high standards of real and perceived safety are designed in from the start, and such that the impacts on capacity and safety on the local road network are minimised;  Improve the streetscape of the current network to complement regeneration works; and  Ensure internal site layouts are designed to cater for pedestrians, cyclists, and where appropriate bus users, within a safe and pleasant street environment.

EMPLOYMENT AND REGENERATION

The Regeneration of Redcar & Cleveland The Council and our strategic partners have identified the Economic Regeneration of the borough as the highest priority for action in the area. The need for intervention is beyond dispute; unemployment in the Tees Valley as a whole rose by 58% between January 2008 and July 2009. Whilst long-established industries have been hard hit, a measured response based on best possible analysis of the future shape of the economy will ensure that public sector interventions, whether policy based or financial, have maximum effectiveness and impact. Over the past year, the Council has developed the Redcar and Cleveland Regeneration Masterplan as the foundation for economic recovery in the borough. This has a time horizon to 2025 for implementation.

Employment in industry and manufacturing in Redcar & Cleveland fell from 16,800 in 1991 to 7,150 in 2007, consistent with other areas once dominated by industry. Employment in other sectors such as financial services, business, retail and distribution has not grown significantly to replace the jobs that have been lost. This has left the borough with a very weak service sector which needs to be addressed through the Regeneration Masterplan. In the remaining industrial sectors such as steel and chemicals, much of the decision making on investment and products takes place outside the borough, further exposing the local economy to wider national and global factors.

The economy of Redcar & Cleveland needs to change and shaping positive changes in the structure of the economy lies at the heart of the Regeneration Masterplan. Knowing where to focus interventions and support is vital if the limited resources of the public sector are to be used effectively and the potential of the private sector harnessed. The Regeneration Masterplan has identified the main economic drivers in Redcar & Cleveland and also evaluated the potential contribution of each over the period up to 2025. Delivery 56 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 across the spectrum of economic drivers will be required but it is those sectors that contribute to the future growth of the City Region that have the power to transform the economy. The approaches and opportunities for regeneration are given in Table 3.2.

The Objective – Redcar & Cleveland 2025 The Regeneration Masterplan sets out a 15 year framework for economic regeneration across the borough of Redcar & Cleveland. During this period, the aim is that the effects of the global recession of 2008/9 will have been managed and the foundations of a stronger, more diverse economy will have been laid. Several transformational economic interventions will have taken place, resulting in a strong and sustainable economic future for the residents and businesses of Redcar, South Tees, Greater Eston and East Cleveland. The industrial economy will still be a key employer and major player in regional, national and international markets, but the service sector – particularly the public sector, creative industries and tourism and leisure services – will form a larger part of the economy. Employment in both the new and modernising industries and the service sector will drive local wealth and draw on a more skilled labour force, which is more likely to be resident in the borough, increasingly recognised for its attractive and wide-ranging urban and rural assets.

Table 3.2 – Approaches to Regeneration Approach City Region Vitality Measured Revival Stabilise / Significant new investment A phased Consolidate in key economic sectors, as approach, offsetting Modest reshaping well as in housing and town job losses initially of the economic centres, delivering and creating structure to offset transformational change, conditions for long job losses benefiting the City Region. term growth

Opportunity  Existing industrial - port  Service  New industrial  Existing industrial - economy – - petrochemicals business manufacturing  New industrial -  Service  Service renewables economy - economy -  Service economy - creative retail tourism industries  Existing  Population growth  Service industrial  Linking to economy - Middlesbrough and the leisure wider City Region  Rural renaissance

The vision for the community and the economy The Community Strategy for Redcar & Cleveland sets a vision of the borough as “An attractive place to live, work, visit and invest”. The Regeneration Masterplan sets an

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Economic Vision that supports the Community Strategy, based on the economic drivers identified as key to shaping the future economy:

 New industrial – An economy based on a competitive industrial base, including a focus on green and renewable technologies;  New economy – Sustained growth in the service sector, especially enterprising digital/creative, tourism and leisure businesses;  New people and communities – Attracting a growing population based on great services and attractive neighbourhoods;  New connections – A better connected economy, connecting local residents, visitors, jobs, attractions and services.

The actions that need to be taken to realise the community and economic vision are grouped under four headings:

 Diversifying and strengthening the local economy - To include a stronger service sector, creative and visitor economies whilst maintaining and strengthening existing strengths in primary and port related industries;  Delivering of healthy, sustainable, inclusive and cohesive communities – The delivery of healthy, sustainable, inclusive and cohesive communities, to attract and retain population and reverse population decline;  Improving connectivity - To improve the means of accessibility throughout the borough and beyond, to connect residents, jobs and visitors to the attractions of the borough and the wider Tees Valley;  Protecting, conserving and enhancing the boroughs’ built, historic, cultural and natural environments – To use the existing assets to promote pride in place, underpin the visitor economy and provide a setting for investment.

Environment Economy  Green infrastructure  Tourism and leisure  Open space and natural  Industrial excellence resources  The enterprising borough  Industrial heritage  Skills for a modern economy  North York Moors

Sustainable Communities Connectivity  Place making  Delivering improved bus and  Extending housing choice rail networks  Access to opportunity for all  Multi-modal movement around and to the town  Infrastructure improvements to facilitate development  Movement by sustainable modes of transport

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A Strategy for Place-Making The diverse nature of the borough does not lend itself to a single delivery approach in the Regeneration Masterplan. The industry of South Tees is as far removed from the rural economy of East Cleveland as the challenges and opportunities of Redcar are different from those of Greater Eston. The “Drivers of Change” vary across the borough and to reflect this, the implementation of the Regeneration Masterplan will be through four distinct Spatial Frameworks – one each for Redcar, South Tees, Greater Eston and East Cleveland.

STRATEGIES FOR CHANGE Economy The focus of the Regeneration Masterplan is on the modernisation of the business base, driven by significant private sector investment over the next 10 years. This applies to both the industrial and service sectors, taking advantage of the economic upturn that will create the conditions for further growth. The economic strategy for change is focussed on four interventions:  Industrial Excellence - South Tees in particular is a competitive location for a number of specialist activities and sectors e.g. port and logistics, petrochemical processes and bio technology. The combination of an expanding port and new opportunities around renewable and environmental industries provides considerable potential for new investment and employment.  Tourism and Leisure – This will be focussed around a renewed Redcar seafront and the development of the East Cleveland offer based on the Heritage Coast and the brand and attractions of the North York Moors. It will be a key driver of investment and employment in the service sector.  The Enterprising Borough - This will be built around small businesses in the creative and digital sector.  Skills for the Modern Economy - Enabling local residents to access employment in the visitor and leisure economy across the borough and in industrial and manufacturing businesses at South Tees.

Sustainable communities Redcar and Cleveland faces significant challenges in coming years to ensure that economic growth is supported by sustainable communities. This will involve providing places where people want to live and creating the conditions required to grow the population of the borough, in line with regional objectives. A growing population will help to sustain local communities and generate increased local expenditure and jobs. With parts of Redcar and Cleveland already attractive to incomers, there is the potential to enhance this further. Creating sustainable communities that people will choose to live in is a key objective for the Regeneration Masterplan.

Connectivity The vision for Redcar and Cleveland is that by 2025, significant improvements to connectivity will provide good accessibility throughout the borough and beyond, through

59 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 access to public transport and choice of movement. This will be delivered by providing transport choice and the implementation of projects that provide areas of the borough with sustainable modes of transport.

The connectivity strategy supports key economic drivers that will shape the future economy of the borough. The specific interventions will support:  New Industrial Sectors;  The visitor and leisure economy;  Small Businesses;  Population growth and rural renaissance.

These must be backed with a transport infrastructure that offers public transport and more sustainable travel patterns than car-based commuting, notwithstanding that this will continue to form a key travel choice for existing and new residents for some time. The interventions through the connectivity strategy are borough-wide and include delivering improved bus and rail networks, infrastructure improvements to facilitate development, better accessibility around town centres.

Environment The Environment Strategy can deliver the cleaner, greener environment in which to live, work and visit, so supporting the industrial and tourism economic drivers in particular. These include:

 New industrial and other employment-generating development;  Tourism and visitor economy;  Green infrastructure network;  Linking the National Park and Heritage Coast;  Enhancing open spaces;  Coatham Marsh and South Gare;  Industrial heritage of Redcar & Cleveland;  The North York Moors National Park

The Impact in Redcar, South Tees, Greater Eston and East Cleveland The Regeneration Masterplan strategies – economic, sustainable communities, connectivity and environment – will be delivered through four individual spatial frameworks. This ensures a holistic approach in each spatial area, whilst reflecting their particular characteristics, issues and opportunities. The proposed delivery of each strategy in each area is given below. This also includes the highways and transportation initiatives that have been identified for each area. These will need to be investigated and implemented where possible throughout LTP3 to put the Masterplan into effect. Foundation projects which are implemented in the first three years will deliver immediate benefit and typically be funded through existing programmes and committed funding. They will set the conditions for transformation projects which will shift the local economy onto the City Region and national stage.

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REDCAR REBORN

Redcar is the largest town in the borough and includes the main retail centre serving a wide catchment area. In addition, the town is an important leisure and entertainment destination for both local residents and visitors to the area. Despite its significant role, parts of Redcar are suffering from urban decline and actions are being identified to address a wide range of regeneration issues including priority wards, the town centre, the seafront and transport.

Redcar has four main routes into the town. The Heritage Coast rail line bisects two of these at level crossings within the town. Due to the frequency of closure of the level crossings (on average for 12 minutes every hour) congestion can occur. A Retail Study has identified the need for a holistic approach to improving the town centre including a review of car and bus access arrangements and parking policy. There is limited scope for the provision of new access roads into the town centre so our actions need to get more out of the existing network. The central section of the High Street is pedestrianised and a scheme has been implemented to improve the pedestrian and bus facilities at the eastern end. Arriva North East reopened their bus station in this section in 2009 to assist their bus movements.

Economy Driving forward the tourism and leisure economy and growing a business economy around the creative and digital industries and public sector.

Sustainable Communities A focus on the creation of new communities, with a proposal to support new high quality residential development along the seafront, linked to the renewal of the front with a new promenade and outstanding public art. Supporting growth in the service economy through a new civic heart.

Environment Making the most of the beach and the seafront – the key asset – together with better use of other natural assets and heritage.

Connectivity Better access to public transport, improved access for cars including car parking and a high quality public realm to encourage more pedestrian based movements around the town centre.

Redcar Town Centre Transport Strategy and Action Plan The Redcar Reborn project will be delivered over a 15 year period. To ensure that development projects can be adequately supported a wide ranging programme of transport measures have been brought together in a single package. The measures seek to deal with the following key issues:

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 Delivering a new transport interchange at the heart of the town centre and improved bus facilities across the town. The interchange project is linked to the Town Hall Square project;  Creating a fantastic set of entry points to the town – to ensure that you know ‘you have arrived in Redcar’;  Improvements to parking facilities including in-town and park and ride projects;  Traffic management measures designed to improve traffic movement around the town centre;  Improvements to level crossings.

SOUTH TEES: INDUSTRIAL EXCELLENCE

Industrial and commercial developments are being promoted on brownfield land in the South Tees area and some examples of recent progress are:

 A partnership with – and investment by – One North East has enabled land to be opened up for the development of a freight park;  A biomass electricity generating facility has been constructed at the Wilton chemicals complex;  A new warehousing distribution facility for Asda opened at Teesport in the spring of 2006 creating 300 jobs. This has been followed by a similar but much larger development for Tesco which opened in 2009 employing 500 people. Other similar developments are currently in the pipeline at Teesport; and  Identification of the Cleveland Truck Stop site at South Bank as a prime location for the promotion of overnight lorry parking.

It is anticipated that there will be significant further investment, particularly in the chemical and energy sectors, both at Wilton and in the South Tees area. A number of very substantial projects are underway or are being considered with the support of ONE-North East and through the Northern Way strategy. These have a potential capital investment value of over £1.5billion though they are currently affected by the downturn in the economy. These projects will bring direct employment and significant indirect employment in supply chains. This will place additional demands on the road and rail networks and generate additional port traffic.

Teesport is one of the top four ports by tonnage in the UK and has abundant brownfield land available that PD Teesport in partnership with the Council, Tees Valley Unlimited and One North East, is seeking to regenerate through an expansion of port use. As identified in the Northern Way Growth Strategy, Teesport is well located to develop deep- sea and warehousing facilities to attract container business away from congested container ports in the South East. This growing market is already serving areas as far south as Birmingham. Further expansion of facilities at Teesport will create local jobs in the borough, taking advantage of the good labour force that is readily available in Redcar & Cleveland. Such developments will also reduce the distance goods are transported 62 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 around the country compared with the use of Southern ports, although it is recognised that local transport issues on the approaches to the Port will need to be managed in partnership with the Highways Agency. Major improvements to junctions on the A174(T) and A1053(T) trunk roads, funded by PD Teesport to accommodate their developments, are currently being implemented and will be complete by the end of 2010.

All of the above proposals will create new jobs in deprived areas and help reverse decline in these areas, bringing about an improvement to quality of life. However, they will also generate further transport implications that need to be carefully planned for in conjunction with partners in industry and the Highways Agency, in terms of goods vehicle movements and access to new jobs. They could create pressures for vehicle movements on the strategic road network, particularly at roundabouts on and between the A66, A1053(T), A174(T) and A19(T). These potential pressures will need to be addressed to enable full economic advantage to be taken of the regeneration, but in a manner that does not undermine strategies for the growth of sustainable transport use. A new Tees Crossing is a long-term proposal to improve access in the area by enabling vehicle movements to and from north of the river to avoid bottlenecks on the A66 and A19 around Middlesbrough and Stockton-on-Tees.

PD Teesport also has ambitious targets to transport up to 30% of containers from the port by rail but this is dependent on upgrading of major sections of the wider rail network to W12 gauge standard to accommodate modern standard 9’6” containers – however this is not currently seen as a priority for Network Rail. Indeed the current rail network in the Tees Valley is approaching its capacity as a result of import volumes of raw materials and export of steel from the adjacent Corus works. This level of use may be affected by the recent closure of the blast furnace within the works. Signalling improvements are required on the Heritage Coast rail line to create more rail paths in the area to facilitate more rail freight movements. These works will make a significant contribution to the local and national economy and will have a wider impact than a single borough. The works for the Tees Valley Metro Project could have assisted with this however, the funding for this has been withdrawn. The Council will continue to support efforts and bids to have rail facilities improved.

Economy Ensuring industrial excellence and delivering sites and infrastructure to support new and existing industrial sectors.

Environment Providing an appropriate setting for modern industry and celebrating the industrial heritage of the area.

Connectivity Maximising the attractiveness of South Tees as a destination for major industry through the provision of appropriate transport infrastructure is the focus for the connectivity strategy in the South Tees area.

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South Tees Transport Strategy and Action Plan The South Tees: Industrial Excellence project will be delivered over a 15 year time period. A wide ranging programme of transport measures, to ensure that development projects can be adequately supported, have been brought together in a single package to maximise the attractiveness of South Tees as a destination for major industry. The measures seek to deliver the following:  Ensure that access from South Tees to the strategic highway network is maintained and where possible improved;  Rail improvements across South Tees, with particular regard to existing and future industrial / businesses requirements, providing appropriate infrastructure for increased movement of rail freight;  The movement, from east to west, across South Tees to the north of the railway line which is currently restricted, via a new dock road which would provide improved vehicular access;  A number of ‘Gateway’ features across the borough in strategic locations where settlements require a sense of identity to be established – to ensure a sense that ‘you’ve arrived in South Tees’

A GREATER ESTON WITH A BIG HEART

Greater Eston is not the single place the name suggests but a series of distinctive linked communities. It began as a series of small settlements, that later grew and joined through the incremental development of estates. The incremental development of Greater Eston has resulted in a place that, whilst it is serviced with local shops and facilities, lacks the infrastructure, services and presence of a small town which it deserves to be. The major industries on which the settlements were based have experienced significant decline over the years leading to a number of neighbourhoods that suffer from high levels of deprivation. Within these areas, there are pockets of pronounced housing market failure.

Major steps have been taken to begin the regeneration of the area with The Greater Eston Strategic Masterplan completed in July 2008. A key feature is the proposed development of a new District Centre at Low Grange Farm in the heart of the area. A new health facility has been completed and discussions are well advanced for the development of major new housing and retail areas. Housing Market Renewal Funding has been used to purchase and demolish several hundred terraced street houses in South Bank however this funding source has now been suspended in the current financial climate. Works to improve the appearance and viability of Eston Centre will be undertaken in 2010/11 using “Uplifting Our Town Centres” funding.

LTP3 needs to support all of the proposed regeneration measures for this area.

Economy Linking people to jobs and building entrepreneurial capacity.

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Sustainable Communities Supporting its transformation into a place where people choose to live, particularly working families. New affordable housing will be linked to strengthened educational and community infrastructure, this supporting a reduction in worklessness and raising local incomes.

Environment Transforming the urban environment to reduce vehicle domination and encourage pedestrian circulation, promoting quality in building and public realm design to create the ‘place’ that will retain and attract people to live.

Connectivity Focus on projects that either enhance the pedestrian environment to improve the sense of place and community, or enhance the strategic transport infrastructure, to improve access by all transport modes to employment and other opportunities in the Wider Tees Valley.

Greater Eston Transport Strategy and Action Plan The ‘Greater Eston with a Big Heart’ project will be delivered over a 15 year time period. A wide ranging programme of transport measures, to ensure that development projects can be adequately supported, have been brought together in a single package to focus on projects that either enhance the pedestrian environment to improve the sense of place and community, or enhance the strategic transport infrastructure; to improve access by all modes of transport to employment opportunities in the wider Tees Valley. The measures seek to deliver the following:

 Support the already identified development of the Grand Boulevard (Trunk Road) and The Great Street (Normanby Road);  A corridor along the B1380 to the south of Greater Eston, with an improved Eston District Centre as the focus of the scheme;  The Tees Valley Bus Network Strategy (TVBN) - a project being promoted and delivered by Tees Valley Unlimited (TVU); seeking to implement a number of improvements to bus services across the Tees Valley;  Ensure bus stop facilities are of a standard that is required by bus users and seek to ensure that facilities are in place to support these schemes where possible across all local areas, particularly in terms of bus stop facilities;  Improvements to the existing South Bank Station to provide an attractive and welcoming station and approach;  An extension to the existing Metro proposals, providing a new section of track from the vicinity of the A66 / Old Station Road junction to the heart of Greater Eston;  A Council run (or outsourced and funded) shuttle bus service which runs a set route through Greater Eston;  A number of ‘Gateway’ features across the borough in strategic locations where settlements require a sense of identity to be established – to ensure a sense that ‘you’ve arrived in Greater Eston’ 65 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

EAST CLEVELAND: CLEVELAND LIVES

Greenfield industrial sites are available for the extension of Kirkleatham Business Park in Redcar and Skelton Industrial Estate. These will help to provide additional employment in the east of the borough but will require partnerships between the Council, Government agencies and the private sector to ensure best use is made of the available land allocation.

Car parking concerns, regarding the availability of capacity in light of proposed regeneration proposals, need to be addressed in the coastal towns of Saltburn and Loftus to promote retail and visitor activity.

Saltburn, Brotton, Skelton and Loftus are the main regeneration areas in East Cleveland where accessibility is a key issue for the rural towns and villages. The Tees Valley Bus Network Review has examined the balance between access for all to all services and improved frequency of core routes. Proposals to improve accessibility to health, education and employment are key for the sustainability of these communities.

Economy Developing quality and building capacity in the tourism and leisure economy alongside provision of infrastructure to support local and rural business development.

Sustainable Communities A focus on increasing the borough’s population and strengthening rural service provision, by capitalising on the attractiveness of the rural and coastal area as a place to live, along with encouraging the trend of home working.

Environment Maximising the value of the natural assets including the national park, heritage coast and intervening rural areas.

Connectivity The connectivity strategy addresses the dispersed nature of the settlements through enhancements to public transport, to support the local community and foster business growth.

East Cleveland Transport Strategy and Action Plan The Cleveland Lives project will be delivered over a 15 year time period. A wide ranging programme of transport measures, to ensure that development projects can be adequately supported, have been brought together in a single package to address the dispersed nature of settlements in East Cleveland. The measures seek to deliver the following:

 The Tees Valley Bus Network Strategy (TVBN) - a project being promoted and

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delivered by Tees Valley Unlimited (TVU); seeking to implement a number of improvements to bus services across the Tees Valley, including particular routes in Redcar & Cleveland;  A number of ‘Gateway’ features across the borough related to key settlements– to ensure a sense that ‘you’ve arrived in East Cleveland’;  An assessment of the feasibility of re-introducing passenger services on the existing railway line between Saltburn and Boulby;  Setting up demand responsive services where possible using either minibuses or in the more remote areas taxis;  Ensure bus stop facilities are of a standard that is required by bus users and seek to ensure that facilities are in place to support these schemes where possible across all local areas, particularly in terms of bus stop facilities.

Costs and outcomes The funding requirement for the Regeneration Masterplan is estimated at approximately £290m, from public sector sources including the Borough Council, ONE Northeast, Homes and Community Agency (HCA), the Environment Agency, European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF). The private sector is expected to invest £1.08 billion. In return Redcar & Cleveland will benefit from an anticipated 9,800 new additional jobs and 4,800 replacement jobs. The primary outputs and outcomes to be generated through the Masterplan implementation are:

 Jobs Created 14,617  Business created 379  Business supported 610  Brownfield land returned to use 77 hectares  Additional number of visitors per annum 1,740,000  Additional visitor number spend per annum £20,790,000  Public sector investment £291.15m  Private sector leverage £1,080m

The Regeneration Masterplan and Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council The Council is at the heart of the Regeneration Masterplan for Redcar & Cleveland. The LDF Core Strategy sets out the Council’s high level development ambitions for the borough. The Community Strategy encapsulates the vision of Redcar & Cleveland as a place of choice. Now, the Regeneration Masterplan provides the framework for intervention to secure the economic future of the borough and will provide part of the evidence base for future LDF documents. Bespoke delivery agencies are proposed for each of the four spatial frameworks, but the Council has a central, proactive role in each, working with stakeholders to realise a shared ambition – This is Redcar and Cleveland.

Regenerating Middlesbrough – the Sub-Regional Centre Middlesbrough is the sub-regional centre for the Tees Valley and attracts a lot of cross- boundary trips from Redcar & Cleveland for employment, health and education. 67 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Developments in Middlesbrough create additional movements that need to be addressed in partnership with Middlesbrough Borough Council. The Middlehaven development, on a large brownfield site to the north and east of Middlesbrough town centre, is currently being promoted. This will provide a wide range of residential, business and educational uses and major access improvements to the site from the A66 have already being implemented. Development will take place during the 2011-2021 period of the LTP and beyond.

The Stockton Middlesbrough Initiative, to the west of the town, will be a similar mixed development but is at an earlier stage of consideration. It is also likely to come on-stream during the LTP period. Both of these developments will generate additional demand for travel from Redcar & Cleveland residents so both authorities will need to work together to develop and promote access by a range of transport modes.

Regeneration Through Tourism One of the key economic sectors within the borough identified as a focus for regeneration, is tourism, in particular activity tourism. This is one of the elements identified in the Coastal Arc Strategy of the Tees Valley Vision. The aim is to create jobs in the tourism service industry by encouraging more people to visit and, in particular, to encourage an increase in overnight stays. This involves a requirement to create and improve the quality of visitor facilities to ensure that the borough is an attractive place to visit.

Equestrian and Activity Tourism Strategies have been produced for the borough and actions were taken during LTP2 to develop safe and attractive, long circular routes for walking, cycling and horse riding. Again, these will seek to encourage people to stay overnight while touring around, creating jobs in accommodation, equipment suppliers and other associated industries. The Council will be heavily involved in promoting these business ideas and the use of the routes during LTP3. It will be necessary to ensure that encouraging the additional activity will have a limited environmental impact to protect the conditions that people would be coming to enjoy.

East Cleveland is an area of great potential for improved walking and cycling based tourism. A recommendation from the East Cleveland Rural Strategy, within which transport infrastructure plays an important part, is improving the quality of the local environment. Again, opportunities will be investigated to help deliver improvements to the area to complement other regeneration initiatives.

This Local Transport Plan’s role in delivering regeneration and employment proposals in the borough is to:  Support Teesport in their expansion plans and work with them to seek improvements to the strategic road and rail networks;  Improve accessibility throughout South Tees and Greater Eston, particularly through bus services, walking and cycling;  Ensure development proposals in Middlesbrough and Stockton are accessible to

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residents within Redcar & Cleveland through close working with our neighbouring authorities;  Improve accessibility to and around Redcar to assist regeneration;  Improve the streetscape in Redcar High Street to aid regeneration;  Ensure that the Redcar regeneration proposals provide good access for all modes and have strong connectivity with the town centre;  Improve accessibility from East Cleveland to health, education and employment;  Improve the streetscape of the East Cleveland towns and villages to aid regeneration;  Provide improved routes for walking, cycling and horse riding in East Cleveland to promote activity tourism; and  Address concerns regarding the quality and availability of car parking in rural and coastal centres.

HEALTH

The health agenda is a major issue that has an impact on transport decision-making. The borough is now served by NHS Redcar & Cleveland whose role is to develop Commissioning Strategies to set the direction for health service delivery in the area. They need to meet the needs of local people through providing for GPs, pharmacies, dental services, community services and secondary hospital care. This organisation is working closely with the Council and has provided information on their issues and actions.

The main guiding principles for health service delivery are:  Care closer to home;  Improving Choice;  Clinical Excellence  Reducing waiting times.

The ways in which these principles are being implemented include:  The devolution of health services from main hospitals to local health centres; and  Increasing choice for GPs and patients to make decisions on where patients can attend to receive secondary treatment.

Many hospital services are now concentrated on the James Cook University Hospital (JCUH) site at Marton Road, Middlesbrough and there are three community hospitals in the borough in Redcar, Guisborough and Brotton.

A major health facility has recently been completed in the Eston corridor as the first stage of a Health and Social Care Village, procured by means of a partnership with the private sector. The development comprises four existing General Practices from the Eston area, accompanied by the provision of ‘above practice’ services as integral and complementary components. The site also includes the co-location of health and social care staff, a Council One-Stop Shop and a library to improve access and delivery. Service provision at 69 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 this level will relieve pressure on JCUH, and enable improved inter-agency working. These proposals provide clear transport benefits by reducing the need for patients to travel to JCUH for some routine treatments. Consideration is also being given to the provision of residential and day care facilities for the elderly.

Access to the new health centre at Greater Eston has been considered in the context of the general increased activity of the new district centre, to ensure local trips diverted from existing surgeries to the new development are facilitated. The site has the advantage of being located close to the junction of two main roads, each of which carries a range of bus services that access the surrounding neighbourhoods.

A similar integration of services has been achieved in Redcar through the relocation of the Stead Memorial Hospital. The new accessible hospital on West Dyke Road combines the previous services of the hospital with 4 GP practices from Redcar Health Centre and expanded services from JCUH. This is available to serve all of the residents of the NHS Redcar & Cleveland area, again enhancing local delivery and to reduce travel to JCUH.

The Transport Assessment undertaken during the planning stage of the project identified that there were perceived to be problems for the public having access to the site. The relocation of services created wider issues in the borough about how people would have access to the services on the new site from other towns in the borough. The site is located on the route of the most frequent bus service in the borough and on National Cycle Route 1 to maximise accessibility. The Council is also in discussion with bus operators regarding the provision of additional direct bus services to the site from other parts of the town.

Now that the hospital has opened, NHS is planning to have a review undertaken of the Transport and Access document for the new site. This will involve questionnaires to patients and staff asking about how they travel to the facilities against how they used to travel to previous locations. This will provide a body of evidence for any changes that are required.

Services are also being maximised at the other two hospitals, in Guisborough and Brotton, and new premises have been provided for GPs in Skelton to improve service to patients. By making these improvements to local services, the NHS will seek to reduce the incidence of patients failing to attend appointments and to gain best value from patient transport services. NHS evidence indicates that older people in East Cleveland would like to have more services delivered locally. The Council will seek to assist in achieving these benefits.

It has been recommended that surveys with patients and staff should be undertaken for all health facility developments to fully understand patients’ needs and the potential impacts of proposed changes.

The health agenda also incorporates health promotion activities. Figures from the North East Public Health Observatory show that the area has higher death rates from coronary 70 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 heart disease and respiratory diseases compared with the England averages. NHS National Standards Frameworks (NSF) are in place for coronary heart disease and physical activity.

The Health Improvement Strategic Delivery Plan (HISDP) that has been developed jointly by the NHS, the Council and other partners sets out aims for improvements to a range of health issues. Transport can contribute towards improvements to Physical Activity, Obesity and Mental and Physical Health. Promoting walking and cycling in particular will contribute to improvements in these. The Council and the former Langbaurgh PCT jointly produced a Physical Activity Strategy for the area and it is a key aim for the strategy to promote these sustainable modes.

The HISDP Partnership members are working together to improve access to services and local sub-groups have been established to deliver improvements. The existing partnership arrangements will need to adapt to maintain the current dialogue and working arrangements on transport issues.

This Local Transport Plan’s role in delivering health improvements in the borough is to: • Work with NHS Redcar & Cleveland to maximise the accessibility of hospital and GP surgery development proposals; • Work with health sector partners in the development and implementation of actions to improve accessibility to health service facilities, both locally and sub regionally; and • Encourage walking and cycling as a healthy activity to contribute to improving the health of the borough’s residents.

SOCIAL CARE

Over several years, the delivery of social care has been increasingly driven by the need to provide clients with the most appropriate level of assistance to meet their needs and to fulfil their potential. The Council now only operates one residential care home as a much greater level of provision is now available from the private sector. We still operate 9 day centres for elderly and disabled people and these are complemented by services operated by other private and third sector providers such as Age Concern and St John’s.

Delivery of social care is moving to a different model with emphasis on choice giving more rights to clients on how and where they receive their necessary care. The Health and Social Care Act 2008 defines standards for care provision and introduced the legislative framework for the provision of personalised budgets. Known as Self Directed Support, disabled people are now able to receive their own means tested budgets to pay for care, transport and social activities as they see fit. In transport terms, this is leading to a requirement for more journeys in smaller vehicles and fewer in traditional social services buses. Being able to give people a choice in transport options is as important as their choice in social care activities.

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There are key issues of accessibility to services. As part of a reorganisation of Council service delivery, an Integrated Transport Unit has been established that includes the fleet management activities associated with social care transport. This seeks to provide the appropriate transport to Social Care clients in a cost effective manner. There is a need to use a smaller number of vehicles more efficiently to keep costs down and ensure value for money. However, it has been recognised that needing to make more pick-ups or drop- offs on each trip can be unsettling for clients, particularly for those with challenging behaviours. There are currently limited numbers of wheelchair accessible taxis in the borough but steps are being taken to change the licensing requirements to make this a more attractive option. The bus operators are gradually introducing more low-floor vehicles into their fleets in compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act. There are also several small Community Transport operators in the borough and funding has been agreed for a transport brokerage project to help organisations to work together more closely. The role of transport delivery will need to be developed as the new models of service delivery take shape.

This Local Transport Plan’s role in working with the social care sector in the Borough is to:  Review the way Council transport is provided to adapt to a more diverse set of travel patterns;  Encourage the use of conventional public transport for appropriate journeys;  Revise Taxi Licensing Regulations to introduce more wheelchair accessible vehicles; and,  Work with the Community Transport sector to increase the range of travel options and services available.

TRANSPORT EQUALITY – THE NEEDS OF DISABLED PEOPLE

Before the Local Transport Plan process was introduced, disabled people were poorly served by highway and transport networks. The Council adopted the need for improvements to these as a priority and has been making accessibility improvements to highway infrastructure to address these needs. It has been recognised that engineers and other able-bodied partners need to improve consultation and liaison to understand the needs and, more importantly, the desires of disabled people. The 2001 Census indicated that 3% of people in the borough identified themselves as being disabled, in excess of 4,000 people.

Transport personnel have played a leading role with local organisations representing disabled people, most recently, the Disabled Peoples Partnership (DPP). DPP is an independent group that predominantly consists of disabled people and their carers. It provides a forum for the sharing of experiences and liaison with the Council and other service providers to resolve problems. The organisation holds bi-monthly meetings and these have always been attended by transport staff. 72 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

In an early survey carried out by DPP, the top three issues for disabled people in Redcar and Cleveland were:  Transport  Accessibility  Attitudes

They have conducted transport focus group sessions with their members over the years. They convened specifically to discuss the content of LTP3 and how the Council should address the needs of disabled people in the future. Key messages that arose from the focus group are:

 Transport is the biggest issue for disabled people to allow them to lead inclusive lives and there is an ageing population in the borough;  R&C has the poorest level of accessible taxi provision of all authorities locally;  Disabled people need to have opportunity to inform work programmes of the Local Strategic Partnership;  Need to see quicker introduction of fully accessible buses and a change in driver attitudes;  Branded transport services stigmatise disabled people as being different;  There is a poor case for specialised transport being provided to bring people to day centres – Funding should be used more wisely and more equitably;  Too many services are being provided to suit the needs of the drivers;  Council should end specialised transport services for disabled people in favour of giving people choice of inclusive transport options;  Money could be used more smartly to subsidise fares for disabled people who are making journeys – especially people with assessed social care needs;  Community Transport services can provide travel for larger groups to single destinations;  “Other Peoples Shoes” training should be compulsory training for taxi drivers and this is part of licensing change proposals;  DPP welcome the Blue Badge abuse initiative being undertaken by RCBC;  Parking across dropped kerbs is a major problem in the Borough, particularly around schools;  The “Disabled Pound” needs to be considered in the regeneration agenda - the Information and Shopmobility facility that is under threat costs £70,000 but brings £500,000 into Redcar by attracting families and tourists into the town.  Many services are under threats that disproportionately affect disabled people;  There is a need for an Equality Impact Assessment of proposed actions and changes before decisions are made;  Need serious consideration of how best to support people who have eligible social care needs;  There is a need for capacity for inclusive communities and “The Big Society” to happen;

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 An Accessible Transport Task Group, involving disabled people, Adult Social Care and transport people needs to be held during 2011/12 to discuss the way forward for the replacement of the Dial-a-Ride with access to more inclusive forms of transport.

A key general point that arose is that disabled people do not want to be seen as being set apart from the general public in terms of having “special” transport services provided for their use. They want to see much faster introduction of accessible buses and taxis in the borough so that they can make use of fully inclusive services that are available to everyone. They have identified that disabled people need to be given the opportunity to be included on relevant committees and reference groups to discuss service design and contract evaluation and have the evidence of feedback and action. There was also an issue throughout that sensory impaired people have difficulty in finding information and making themselves understood in order to make use of a broad range of transport options. Improving the attitudes of transport staff is a key priority and would encourage greater use of public transport. Disabled people would like to see transport companies taking a lead in training their staff in disability equality and awareness, and advertising the fact that they are doing this.

The transport focus group has investigated views on a range of key transport issues that have provided an important starting point on which improvements need to be made. These are considered further below.

Dial-a-Ride The focus group discussions centred on the accessibility of Dial-a-Ride and the lack of possible spontaneity when Dial-a-Ride is the main method of transport. They have a particular interest in the operation of the Council’s Dial-a-Ride service as many of their members are users of the service. The main areas of concern were:  Late arrivals for pick-ups resulting in missed appointments.  Customers being left stranded when they have booked a return journey.  Having to book in advance so the need to be spontaneous was impossible.  Limited capacity.  The Dial-a-Ride service finished at 5.30pm, so a night out is impossible.

The longstanding Dial-a-Ride service was restructured from April 2008 and operated by the Council’s Integrated Transport Unit. As a result of the DPP input, the service specification and eligibility for membership were revised, changes to policy and practice were phased in and new vehicles were introduced during the 2008/09 financial year. Following comments from the deaf and hearing impaired community, the booking centre is now capable of receiving bookings via a text facility to improve their level of independence.

However, it is recognised that the need for booking the service in advance reduces spontaneity and that this sets disabled people apart within the community. There is a need to address the accessibility of other modes such as buses, taxis and trains to improve the level of choice for everyone. If the availability of accessible buses and taxis

74 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 can be improved satisfactorily, it may be possible to discontinue the Dial-a-Ride service from April 2012.

Public Buses The majority of disabled people involved in the consultation that were wheelchair users did not use public buses at all. The reason for this was the lack of accessible buses that are only gradually being introduced by the bus companies to comply with Disability Discrimination Act requirements. Other issues were:  Some people felt that the drivers had a lack of awareness of disabled people’s needs;  Deaf people have difficulty in making their destinations understood, and find some drivers unwilling to help;  Lack of information on bus concessions for disabled people was highlighted.

These have been addressed during the LTP2 period but require continuing work to improve accessibility and reinforce positive attitudes.

Train Services Key issues arising in the focus groups were:  Deaf people experience difficulties hearing announcements at stations where there are no display screens;  Space reserved for wheelchair users is often used for luggage, resulting in the wheelchair user spending the journey in the train corridor;  Lack of room creates difficulty in disabled people accessing the toilets.

Whenever possible, opportunities need to be taken with the rail operating companies to improve the service provided for disabled people.

Taxis Key issues arising in the focus groups were:  Deaf people experience difficulties planning taxis and giving directions;  There is a lack of accessible taxis for wheelchair users in Redcar and Cleveland, in comparison with other local boroughs.

Taxi companies need to be encouraged to introduce texting facilities to improve the booking of their services and the Council needs to review the licensing of taxis to secure the operation of a greater number of wheelchair accessible vehicles. A consultation with the taxi trade on the introduction of new rules for accessible vehicles and driver training has commenced in 2010/11.

Car Parking - Blue Badge Abuse The consultations identified that the Disabled Persons Parking Scheme, known as ‘the Blue Badge Scheme’ has made a valuable contribution to the continued mobility of many disabled people. However, the Government’s review of the scheme identified that there were concerns with abuse by non-badge holders which could potentially undermine the

75 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 scheme.

The focus groups identified problems in relation to the enforcement of parking restrictions in hospitals, supermarkets and public car parks. Their recommendations for action were:  Supermarkets and Hospitals to adopt a “Bay-Watch” Campaign;  An increase in disabled parking bays;  More enforcements and fines for blue badge abuse;  The use of the media to raise awareness of blue badge abuse;  Signs placed in disabled parking bays warning of fines for illegal parking;  Revenue recovered from fining non-blue badge holders to be used to finance enforcement.

Liaison The DPP provides an easy opportunity for disabled people to raise any general issues regarding highways and transportation policy and procedures and to make requests for the provision of dropped kerbs. They also act as a focus for transport staff to hear the views of disabled people on our proposed works. The Council undertakes a range of infrastructure works to assist disabled and other mobility impaired people. We have conducted walking route audits for the provision of dropped kerbs and other footway improvements and we have implemented raised bus boarders on five Quality Bus Corridors. These are being complemented by the gradual introduction of low floor accessible buses by the major bus operator.

EDUCATION

The delivery of education is an important service that has major impacts on transportation. Choice of mode for school travel can have significant consequences in local areas and the Council has a statutory role for the provision of home to school transport in certain circumstances. Following the election of the new government, many aspects of education policy and funding are under review. Some of these will become clearer after the Comprehensive Spending Review announcement in October 2010 while others will only be developed during the early years of LTP3.

There are many external drivers that are affecting the shape of education delivery including:

 The number of surplus places in schools;  Freedom of choice of schools;  Increasing independence of schools: and  Where appropriate, mainstreaming of children with special needs.

The number of school pupils in the Borough is falling, as in many authorities, and there is a requirement placed on the Local Education Authority (LEA) to improve the cost efficiency and effectiveness of education funding. Amalgamation of pairs of primary schools on to single sites has taken place in locations across the borough and this has 76 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 had the effect of reducing the level of increase in surplus places.

In secondary schools, three schools merged in East Cleveland to become the Freeborough Community College and this has gained independent academy status from September 2009. A further amalgamation of two secondary schools on adjacent sites in the Greater Eston area will take place over the next couple of years within the existing buildings. The merger of two catholic schools was proposed, making use of Building Schools for the Future (BSF) funding. However, the cancellation of this national funding programme has left this proposal on hold for the foreseeable future. Sixth form education provision has been created at two schools in the west of the borough to promote continuing education and reduce the need for travel to colleges in neighbouring towns.

Amalgamations lead to some schools being further away from some of the pupils’ homes than their original schools. For both primary and secondary schools, parents have the opportunity to choose which school they wish their children to attend, subject to places being available. This has led to some schools generating a demand for places and being reasonably well filled, while others have high levels of surplus pupil places. Rules on the provision of free school transport for pupils who are living at a distance from their schools generally only apply when they are attending the nearest suitable school to meet their needs. Parents that have chosen schools further away must usually make their own arrangements for transport.

The Council encourages these parents and pupils to make use of spare places on school buses whenever possible to limit any increase in the level of car use for school transport. Additional car use can create problems around school gates that need to be addressed through the implementation of School Travel Plans. All of the schools in the borough have developed approved School Travel Plans during LTP2 and these will continue to be reviewed and promoted during LTP3.

Over many years, there has been a policy that, where appropriate, children with special needs should be taught within mainstream schools to promote integration and reduce social exclusion. However, the new government is proposing to increase parental choice in whether children with special needs should be taught in mainstream schools or in special schools. They are proposing to release a consultation Green Paper on Special Educational Needs in October 2010 to continue the debate on this issue. This will have some implications for the Council on how and where children are transported and the numbers involved.

The Council had proposed the relocation of two special schools on to the campuses of two existing secondary schools using BSF funding. These are:  Kirkleatham Hall School to the Redcar Community College site; and,  Kilton Thorpe School (Brotton) to Laurence Jackson School site (Guisborough).

These would have remained as separate establishments on each campus but would have benefited from sharing the additional educational facilities on the sites. The cancellation of this funding prevents these moves in the near future but they are still an aspiration for 77 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 the Council for the longer term.

Schools are being given increased rights to choose to operate independently from the LEA. No schools in the borough are currently pursuing this option, however, this could become an issue in the future. This could give them the right to opt out of centralised school travel commissioning that currently has benefits of economies of scale by being able to cover all schools. There would be an adverse impact on the efficiency of overall school transport provision if some schools begin to opt out to provide their own services.

Secondary school pupils are currently able to opt to study for a secondary education diploma that can involve travel between education sites. Travel arrangements are being made by the educational establishments but this could change as provision of courses develops and as plans for the courses and qualifications to become part of mainstream education come into effect.

Schools are also able to opt to provide additional Extended Schools services after hours that provide additional tuition or activities for pupils. The majority of schools have not found it necessary to make any additional special transport arrangements to facilitate these. Only Freeborough College has had an additional late bus provided as the majority of their students travel by school bus. As they have now gained independent academy status, they will need to consider the priority for this provision in the future.

This Local Transport Plan’s role in meeting education transport needs in the Borough is to:  Work with schools and the LEA to mitigate the travel impact of amalgamations;  Assist schools in reviewing and implementing school travel plans to tackle problems of parking and congestion at school gates;  Review the way Council transport is provided to adapt to a more efficient method of service delivery and vehicle utilisation; and  Ensure that transport is included as an important factor in decision making on education premises and the promotion of educational attainment.

BUS SERVICES

Arriva North East, the major bus operator in Redcar and Cleveland, provided information on the pressures that affect the provision of bus services. Key external factors that have an impact are the increasing levels of car ownership and use that are leading to some localised areas of congestion along with decreasing local populations. These are combining to reduce the local level of bus patronage. The operators also have internal pressures, particularly arising from fuel, labour and insurance costs that are beyond their control.

Several approaches are being used to address these issues. Non-essential costs are kept to a minimum and regular marketing campaigns are undertaken to promote specific local bus services and ticketing schemes. Revisions to services are undertaken to ensure 78 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 that the levels of service and the routes served reflect the needs of existing and potential passengers. Major events like the closure of the Corus blast furnace at Redcar in 2010 with the loss of 1600+ jobs have a negative impact on the usage of bus services in the area.

Key actions that have been taken by Arriva to improve the quality of their services are:  Investment in 52 new low floor, Euro 5 engined vehicles operating in Teesside, 32 of which are at Redcar Depot;  All staff on Teesside taking part in "Route to Success" training - their culture change programme;  Growing partnership working between RCBC and Arriva;  Extension of Service 48 & refurbishment of 4 buses which includes new seating and digital "next stop" displays and audible announcements.

The Tees Valley Bus Network Review has been a useful joint exercise between the bus operators and the local authorities to provide an independent view on current actions and recommended improvements. Key actions that need to continue to be undertaken by the Council are:  Provide bus priority at congestion hotspots;  Review car parking policies;  Improve access to bus stops; and  Improve waiting facilities at bus stops.

The latter two of these have already been progressing during LTP2 and will continue into LTP3. The Tees Valley Bus Network Improvement major scheme will enable bus priority measures to be provided on core bus routes. Car parking policy will be kept under review by the Council but this needs to balance the strategic aims of promoting regeneration while controlling demand for car use.

THE TEES VALLEY BUS NETWORK REVIEW

Bus services are the backbone of local public transport across Britain and a lot of action has been taken over the years to increase the use of public transport. However, bus patronage nationally is continuing to decline year on year (by 1.8% over 2008/09-09/10 Nat. Statistics). Traffic congestion is escalating, bus operating costs are increasing and fares necessarily continue to rise at above the rate of inflation, whilst in real terms the cost of motoring decreases. In Redcar and Cleveland, patronage has declined by 2.3% during LTP2 since 2004/05. This has been considerably less of a decrease than previous years, particularly due to the introduction of the National Concessionary Fares Scheme.

To address these concerns, the five Tees Valley local authorities jointly commissioned the TAS Partnership to undertake “The Tees Valley Bus Network Review” in 2005, project managed by the Tees Valley Joint Strategy Unit (now Tees Valley Unlimited) and with the full support and cooperation of the major bus operators. This examined how the bus network across the Tees Valley could be made fit for purpose to maximize patronage 79 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 growth whilst maintaining accessibility and social inclusion. The study also aimed to identify how funds for bus enhancement measures could be targeted and coordinated to maximise their impact, both in terms of geographical locations and types of measures, and objectively justified and supported.

The key aim of the study was to develop a bus network that would assist the promotion of regeneration in the sub-region, to achieve the objectives of the Tees Valley Vision and the wider Northern Way. With no intervention, the vast majority of new journeys would take place by private car, ultimately generating congestion, which may choke off any economic revival. The alternative approach is to improve the public transport network so that it offers a viable alternative to the private car. This will not only lead to the most efficient use of the highway network but will also facilitate regeneration by improving the attractiveness of the area.

In conducting the Tees Valley Bus Network Review, the consultants have examined and recommended changes to the existing network of bus routes across the Tees Valley that they identified as being most appropriate to encourage an increase in bus patronage. In parallel with these, they also recommended enhancements to other aspects of public transport promotion that would add value to the investment that is being made. The issues relating to these proposals are discussed in the sections below.

The Bus Route Network The bus route network had developed for a variety of historic reasons and had become outdated, no longer matching many key passenger requirements. Travel demand within the borough and within the Tees Valley as a whole, is multi-centric, with skewed patterns and high levels of social deprivation. The view formed by the external consultants was that the bus network was over complex and difficult to understand. It included a lot of low frequency services, trying to serve everywhere to maximize patronage, but only succeeding in doing so slowly. The network was also inconsistent, with no clear structure and differing levels of provision, depending upon local authority policies and finances. They identified that the use of separate service numbers to identify subsidized journeys does not help, however, most crucially, they identified that the network was not car competitive.

The Review emphasises that the key to the future of the Tees Valley bus network is perhaps the realisation that the objectives of social need and patronage growth through modal shift require different strategies. In particular, meeting social need objectives through supported bus services generates minimal (2%) growth at a high cost for little recognition. In contrast, delivering modal shift requires a simple competitive network, reinforcing success, but, as evidence elsewhere shows, can deliver up to 18% growth and can be high profile and attractive to current non-users. A better balance between the emphasis on social need and the necessity of offering a realistic alternative to the car is crucial. However, the latter can assist social inclusion by removing many of the barriers to bus use, such as the availability of information and bus journey times, through, for example, the provision of frequent services on key corridors.

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The Review therefore proposed a hierarchical network of bus services based on travel patterns, with political boundaries having no influence. This comprises seven different types of route ranging from high frequency Super Core routes with at least 8 buses per daytime hour down to low frequency Tertiary and rural services that meet social accessibility needs but often requiring local authority funding owing to low usage. The provision of the services would need to be paralleled with appropriate levels of bus route priority measures, Real Time route management, CCTV and automated ticketing initiatives to suit the standard of the route. In Redcar and Cleveland, routes from Middlesbrough to South Bank, Eston, Redcar and Guisborough would be Core routes while the majority of others would be Secondary routes with a half-hourly frequency or Tertiary routes.

The proposed hierarchy targets the separate but linked mode shift and social inclusion objectives using consistent criteria and have been developed from concept stage to a series of route maps for the entire Tees Valley. Although many complementary measures are also proposed, an important aspect of the introduction of the revised service pattern was that it should be virtually cost-neutral. The table below demonstrates the levels of patronage increase that are predicted, with and without the parallel complementary measures.

Lower Growth Potential Upper Growth Potential Service Category (Network Implementation (with Enhancements to Only) Add Value) Super Core/Core 7% 18% Secondary/Inter-Urban 3% 9% Others NIL 2% Overall 6% 16%

The Review identified that while the revised network would result in some areas and links being served less frequently, there should be more winners than losers. Key issues that were identified were:  There were some routes where demand didn’t justify the current level of service or the additional time required to serve an area reduced the car competitiveness of the service for all of the other users.  Interchange would be required for certain, currently direct, journeys, but this should be mitigated by through ticketing and regular interval service patterns.  Overall accessibility and total journey times will improve with the emphasis on a core network of high frequency services.  Social inclusion should benefit through the removal of barriers to bus use, such as complicated timetable information and long journey times.  The differentiation in service numbers between commercially operated buses and supported buses on single routes should be ended to reduce complications.

The issue of the integration of bus and rail services was also investigated. The Review determined that the majority of the rail stations in the borough are located within walking 81 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 distance of a range of regular half-hourly and hourly bus services (South Bank Station is a greater distance but is only served by two trains each day) and the bus services are already joining up the main centres of population. As the rail service is at best half-hourly, it is identified that there is no justification for the provision of additional buses to serve the railway stations.

The major bus operator in Redcar & Cleveland, Arriva North East, supported the proposed pattern of changes and implemented most of the recommended changes to the bus network in one package from 2 May 2006. This included service frequency improvements on the more popular “core” routes while cutting some lesser-used and duplicate services. They also introduced some further changes in East Cleveland in May 2009 following the closure of their depot in Loftus. The Council has subsequently undertaken a Bus Network Consultation across the borough to identify missing links in the bus service network and we have been working with a range of operators to fill some of these gaps.

Infrastructure & Bus Priority The report emphasises that higher passenger growth will only be generated when the entire bus journey experience is improved with parallel investment in vehicles, bus priority, passenger infrastructure and safety and bus stop access routes. Bus stop improvements should be introduced on all routes and priority measures should be implemented where required to maintain and improve punctuality.

The Council has already been implementing some of these measures as quickly as finance allows. Raised kerbs to assist boarding of buses have been introduced on main bus routes 63, 5, 48/49, 81 and 64 across the borough through the Quality Bus Corridor and Transport Hubs programmes. Timetable information has been introduced at 90% of bus stops and CCTV cameras are being introduced on to buses by the main operator. The report rightly points to the need to address these items on a comprehensive route- by-route basis rather than on a piecemeal basis.

Arising from the major routes identified in the Review, a comprehensive package of measures was developed, titled the Tees Valley Bus Network Improvement Scheme (TVBNI), designed to address the overall decline in passenger numbers, offer a step change in bus service provision, and provide a real alternative to the private car to help support long-term economic recovery.

The TVBNI scheme includes a range of junction and route improvement measures on the main bus corridors in order to reduce journey times and improve punctuality and journey time reliability of the major bus services. While the geographical coverage of the routes that are the subject of this scheme are only a proportion of all bus routes that cover the Tees Valley, the benefits of the scheme will reach across the whole of the network.

The TVBNI scheme focuses on a set of key elements:

Core Commercial Services - These are the main bus routes across the Tees Valley, 82 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 generally within the urban areas, supported by selected inter-urban links that complement emerging rail-based proposals; Bus Priority and Infrastructure - A comprehensive series of bus priority measures implemented to alter the traffic balance in favour of buses, to improve the punctuality and reliability of the service for existing and new passengers; Passenger Facilities - Improvements at all bus stops on the core commercial routes, including new passenger shelters, information displays and CCTV coverage, as well as new crossing points and better routes to and from bus stops; Vehicles - Extension of the existing hours of operation, regular even frequencies across all designated services, with newer, high quality vehicles; Fares and Ticketing - Work with the bus operators to promote cashless entry that reduces the need for the driver to handle cash fares, thereby reducing delays at the stops; Complementary Measures - Provision of high quality accessible information and real time journey information (screens at stops, on-line and SMS messaging) and marketing of the new services; Partnership Working - Development of a new Quality Partnership with the principal bus operators, Arriva and Stagecoach, in order to guarantee the ongoing delivery of both infrastructure and services.

A bid was made to DfT in 2008 for the funding of the TVBNI as a 3-year scheme and this was finally given approval in March 2010. In the initial spending review of the new Government in June 2010, this funding was confirmed, though to be spread over a longer time period (4-5 years). This is currently being discussed with DfT.

The proposed infrastructure schemes in Redcar & Cleveland are:

(a) A171 / B1380 Ormesby Roundabout – Creation of signalised bus lanes on the eastbound and westbound approaches in order to bypass queues in the peak hours.

(b) A1085 Corporation Road / Locke Road Junction, Redcar – Widening on the northern side of Corporation Road to provide a right turn lane in the junction for the eastbound and westbound approaches. This will reduce delays to through traffic including buses.

(c) Troutbeck Road and West Dyke Road, Redcar – Provision of three car parking lay- bys on each road in order to reduce the impact of parked vehicles on bus services.

(d) West Dyke Road / Kirkleatham Lane Junction, Redcar –Signalisation of the existing T-junction.

(e) Kirkleatham Bus Stops and Footway to Village – Route improvement works on Kirkleatham Lane and accessibility improvements through the village.

(f) A174 Kirkleatham Roundabout – Part signalisation of the roundabout to improve 83 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

accessibility of buses from Kirkleatham Lane.

(g) Skelton, Brotton, Loftus, Guisborough, Saltburn, Marske – Review of car parking on main roads to improve access to bus stops.

(h) Normanby Road, South Bank – Review of kerb build-outs to revise car parking and improve access to bus stops.

(i) Redcar Town Centre – New public transport interchange with alterations to signal control and timings around centre to improve bus flow.

(j) A174 / A1053(T) Roundabout – Widening and signalisation in connection with expansions at Teesport etc. Revisions to accommodate improved bus flow.

(k) Guisborough Town Centre – Improvements to infrastructure provision to provide focus for bus services.

(l) A1085 Trunk Road / Normanby Road Junction – Improvements arising from Low Grange Farm development. Revisions to accommodate improved bus flow.

Priorities among these are being finalised to enable construction to proceed during 2010/11. Detailed consultation will be undertaken with the public and stakeholders at a later date on the details of the proposals as design proceeds. This will enable views on potential impacts to be taken into consideration and maximise public knowledge and understanding of the changes before implementation takes place.

Concessionary Fares A free concessionary fare scheme with all-day, cross-boundary enhanced terms within the Tees Valley was introduced from 1 April 2006. This was an extension of the statutory terms that were introduced for concessionary fares schemes nationwide. These enhanced terms for all Tees Valley pass-holders were then carried through to the introduction of the National Concessionary Fares Scheme providing free travel across England from 1 April 2008. It was a strong recommendation of the Bus Network Review that a single Tees Valley concessionary fares scheme be introduced with a standard set of operating conditions in order to reduce public confusion. Passes are issued from two main libraries in the borough and payments to operators are managed centrally by Stockton BC to reduce administration.

Redcar & Cleveland BC has also introduced a half fare travel pass for all 16-19 year olds in the borough from August 2010 to improve youth accessibility. This can be used at any time and for any purpose, and builds on the previous scheme that only allowed travel to and from a college or other approved training centre.

Promotion Consistency, to eliminate the ‘soft’ barriers to use is also essential including uniform 84 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 service procurement standards, comprehensive network wide standards of marketing, publicity and information, all inclusive network ticketing and an interchange strategy.

Off-route information on bus services within Redcar & Cleveland has predominantly been provided within a comprehensive bus and rail timetable book published annually by the Council, supplemented by individual route detail leaflets published by the operators. However, this has not been produced for a couple of years due to major changes that have been taking place to the bus service network. We will look to have this produced again when the network has stabilised sufficiently.

A weakness identified by the Review was that there was no up-to-date map of bus services available that could be used as an easy reference by new bus service users. It was suggested that maintaining an up-to-date map with some basic service frequency information and individual leaflets could be more beneficial than the current arrangements. We took this proposal on board during LTP2 in 2007/08, with the production of a comprehensive Redcar Route Map that was delivered to all households in Redcar and bus shelter maps for a couple of main routes showing all of the services leaving those stops. Unfortunately, these all then became out of date very quickly with the service changes introduced by Arriva in May 2009. We will need to reconsider whether this is an appropriate course of action during LTP3.

Information is also available through the Traveline information service and will become available through the Tees Valley Real Time Bus Information System that is currently being implemented. The improvement of information provision in a coordinated manner will be taken forward in the TVBNI scheme.

Ticketing In parallel with the TVBNI, the Council is a partner in the North East Smart Ticketing Initiative (NESTI) that will introduce a comprehensive smart card ticketing system throughout the region over the next three years. Initially, the major bus operators will install smart card readers on to their buses so that people will be able to pay for journeys in advance and speed up the process of boarding the bus. Smaller operators will also be encouraged to participate so that people should eventually be able to travel across the whole of the region using a single smart card. This will improve the experience of using bus services, particularly for current infrequent passengers.

Management To develop and maintain momentum on service change and patronage growth, it will be necessary to set up a robust management framework at all levels, with new forms of partnership, although it is envisaged this will be achieved within existing resources. At the most senior level, the Transport for Tees Valley (TTV) Board has been established to take key decisions, involving the five local authorities, Tees Valley Unlimited, the major bus operators and other key regional stakeholders. This gives direction for the drive towards major public transport improvement in the area and will oversee the implementation of the TVBNI.

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The Tees Valley Unlimited Transport Group has also been reorganised during LTP2. This now includes the former Joint Public Transport Group, previously hosted by Redcar & Cleveland BC, to procure and monitor supported bus services along with the provision of public transport information. This provides an economy of scale to provide these services across the authorities.

A large quantity of work will be required below the level of the TTV Board on network changes, concessionary fares and publicity. The majority of this would not be contained within individual local authority boundaries. It is envisaged that the Tees Valley Quality Bus Partnership would coordinate the delivery of this work, with the majority being undertaken by the new Tees Valley Unlimited Transport Group and the bus operators.

Key benefits of the new management and delivery structure would include a more target driven approach with agreed service based targets covering service frequency and period of operation, operating speed, reliability, patronage, public perception and investment, with the full sharing of data. Joint business cases for investment and funding will also be implemented with firm commitments to action. The local authorities will need to adopt a ‘joined up’ public transport focus in all aspects of their planning activities and the bus operators will need to cooperate more closely in all areas where current legislation permits.

The Bus Network Review identified the need for changes to bus services and promotion, infrastructure, concessionary fares and strategic management. It is therefore proposed that the Review’s recommendations be fully implemented, in partnership with the bus operators and the other Tees Valley authorities

Redcar & Cleveland Bus Network Consultation To assist in identifying the necessary secondary and tertiary service network for the borough, a major consultation exercise on Public Transport needs was undertaken during August to October 2009. Residents were given the opportunity to indicate journeys that they need to make that did not have a bus service available. The aim of this has been to provide evidence for approaches to the operators to introduce commercial services, or that can potentially be used to support funding bids for the provision of additional services to improve accessibility across the borough. Respondents could also raise any other issues that could be addressed by the Council or the local bus operators to make improvements to existing services.

The main locations for new service requests were:  East Cleveland (Brotton, Liverton Mines, Loftus);  Ormesby Bank;  Lazenby Village;  Guisborough.

The main “other issues” raised were:  Unreliability of older buses;

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 Need for newer, accessible vehicles;  Cost of fares;  Capacity at peak times;  Poor punctuality of frequent services;  Timetabling of non-frequent services across the hour.

Arriva North East has made changes to their service network in East Cleveland in response to the requests and has introduced new low-floor buses that will improve reliability. Tees Valley Coach Travel is planning a new commercial service to connect Lazenby to Redcar. Other opportunities continue to be investigated to address the identified issues.

LTP2 PROGRESS The Council has made significant progress on important aspects of transport planning, delivery and transport outcomes. Funding greatly increased over the levels previously available and it has been necessary to improve processes to enable satisfactory scheme delivery.

Transport Planning Consultation processes have been developed to give the Council a better understanding of local needs and to give the public and stakeholders more information on what the Council is trying to achieve. Staff attend regular meetings of organisations such as the Redcar and Cleveland Disabled Peoples Partnership and the Area Committees to understand local needs. We work in partnership with organisations involving our neighbouring authorities and other key stakeholders to share best practice and develop ideas for implementation. These include:  Tees Valley (TV) Transport Planning Officers Group;  TV Cycle Forum;  TV Community Transport Forum;  Cleveland Casualty Reduction Group;  TV Highways Maintenance Group.

We have engaged with partnering consultants throughout LTP2, principally Aecom, to enable the provision of top-up service delivery. The consultants have been able to provide technical expertise and training to investigate specific schemes, thus complementing and adding to the existing range of expertise within the Council. They have also been able to provide staff to conduct audits of facilities and routes that have enabled the development of future work programmes and thus improved the Council’s forward planning of scheme delivery.

Steps have been taken to continue the improvement of the delivery of highway services in line with the principles of Rethinking Construction. The Council outsourced its highways DSO and successfully entered into a long-term partnering contract with Carillion plc, formerly Alfred McAlpine Government Services, to deliver highway maintenance and integrated transport works. The contract covers all aspects of Local 87 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Transport Plan physical work and revenue funded scheduled and unscheduled highway and footpath maintenance works. Increased co-ordination is undertaken between highway maintenance and integrated transport delivery programmes to achieve satisfactory local environmental improvements and value for money with the least possible local disruption during delivery. A Private Finance Initiative (PFI) arrangement commenced in September 2007 for street lighting renewal and maintenance.

Systems have been developed to encourage public involvement and support for specific measures that are being proposed. Safer Streets schemes for the provision of traffic calming or local car parking measures require majority support within a local neighbourhood to enable them to proceed. Local residents are given the opportunity to comment on Quality Bus Corridor proposals to determine the appropriate level and style of works for each bus stop location. School Travel Plans are now required to be in place to justify proposed improvement works around schools and local Safer Journeys to School steering groups need to include parents and local residents.

Delivery The partnership arrangements for planning and implementation have enabled the Council to satisfactorily deliver its transport implementation programme each year. National Cycle Route (NCR) 1 across the borough is nearing completion and extensive work has been undertaken to convert disused rail lines around Guisborough into a local cycleway network. Further Quality Bus Corridor works have been undertaken on major bus routes 48/49, 81 and 64 during LTP2 and this work will continue in LTP3. School Travel Plans have been developed at all of the borough’s schools and a combination of LTP, Cycling Projects Fund and School Travel Initiative funding has enabled the introduction of on and off site transport measures.

Programmes of walking route improvements, Safer Streets schemes and Local Safety Schemes have been implemented each year. Highway Maintenance is undertaken each year, based on condition monitoring results and this has included the use of Public Service Agreement funding to accelerate condition improvements. Strengthening and maintenance of structures has been undertaken with the final strengthening scheme, Carlin How Bridge, completed by Network Rail in 2009/10.

Transport Outcomes The Council recognises that the most important factor in LTP implementation is to try to achieve the transport outcome targets that were established at the start of the process. In this regard, the Council has achieved mixed results during LTP1. A stretched target for a 30% reduction in slight road accident casualties has already been achieved, well ahead of schedule, however, numbers of killed and serious injuries (KSI) for all ages and for children have consistently been above trajectory levels. Redcar and Cleveland had the greatest level of casualty reduction in the country against Target 2000 so that the fact that we were starting with relatively low numbers as baselines may partially explain the current disappointing results.

Bus patronage was in decline for several years but this has now been stabilised by the 88 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 introduction of the national free concessionary fares scheme for OAPs. Levels of cycling in the borough have increased significantly due to the work that has been undertaken on the provision of infrastructure, on the NCR and at schools, and on training. The level of car use for school journeys is being reduced by the level of work that has taken place at schools over the years and this will need to continue in order to maintain the current excellent progress.

Areas where high levels of success are being achieved are on rail patronage and highway maintenance. While the Council is not directly responsible for the operation of trains, we work with our neighbouring authorities and Tees Valley Unlimited, formerly the TV Joint Strategy Unit, to influence the rail authorities to maintain the level of local rail service provision. The condition of local highways has improved so that very low levels of the highway network are in need of maintenance work as a result of condition monitoring results being used to successfully guide the highway maintenance programme.

For all of these key areas, the council has been adapting its implementation procedures and work programmes to bring about success. Information on these is provided throughout the rest of this document to explain how the Council is adapting to meet its LTP3 responsibilities. This will be particularly important in the current period of financial austerity.

THE LONG-TERM TRANSPORT STRATEGY FOR REDCAR & CLEVELAND

The Long-Term Transport Strategy has been derived from an understanding of how transport needs to develop to meet the needs of wider service delivery, public expectations and the Council’s vision – “We are working to achieve an excellent environment for living, learning, visiting, working and investing.” Key to achieving this vision is regeneration through creating employment and lifestyle opportunities for people within the borough and improving the quality of existing urban and rural environments.

The long-term transport strategy to 2021 has been derived from the priorities raised through various consultation processes with stakeholder organisations and the general public. The key issues arising from the discussions with the key stakeholders relate to accessibility. Attracting businesses to promote regeneration will depend on ensuring that new staff will be able to have access to employment areas and that there will be an easy movement of goods on the major road network. These will be required to overcome any perceptions of the peripherality of the borough within the region. Promoting tourism will depend on ensuring that there is an attractive environment and that visitors can move around freely to ensure that they will want to return. Schools and health facilities need to be accessible by staff pupils and patients and the existing problems arising from over- reliance on car use need to be addressed.

The message arising from the Bus Network Consultation with residents shows that there are serious concerns about the quality of bus services in the area. This is the top priority

89 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 to be addressed during LTP3, in partnership with the bus operators, and through improvements to bus services, infrastructure and information. The previous Talk Travel consultation had issues arising relating to walking and cycling, for the improvement of infrastructure and safety for these forms of transport. Development and promotion of the non-car modes is a key aim of the transport strategy and the LTP implementation plan.

The Sustainable Community Strategy has five priority themes that have given rise to fourteen corporate key objectives that form the basis of the Council’s Long-Term Transport Strategy to 2021. They also align with the five DaSTS Goals to demonstrate that transport can contribute towards wider service delivery. The Council will work with all internal and external partners to achieve these aims. The Sustainable Community Strategy priority themes and the corporate key objectives are given in Table 3.1. The transport activities to address these and the linkages to the DaSTS Goals are described in further detail.

1. Children and Young People The future of the borough lies with the future abilities and opportunities that are available for today’s young people. Transport will contribute to this aim by promoting healthier lifestyles that will improve physical and mental well-being and through improvements to access to education and job opportunities that are essential for a dynamic borough. These will predominantly be undertaken through walking, cycling, bus and school travel initiatives. This priority links to the following DaSTS Goals:

Promote Equality of Opportunity – To improve access to education, lifestyle facilities and job opportunities for young people. Contribute to Better Safety, Security and Health – To improve road safety, security on transport networks and to promote an active lifestyle. Improve Quality of Life and a Healthy Natural Environment – To improve the quality of local neighbourhoods to make the borough a place in which they can have some pride.

2. Healthier Communities The borough has a Standard Mortality Rate 10% higher than the national average and a 30% higher proportion of people stating that they have poor health. Transport will contribute to the aim of improving health by promoting healthy exercise. Safe, improved networks for walking and cycling will be developed and promotion of their use will be undertaken with people from an early age. Pedestrian and cycling training will continue to be delivered to children and the Sustainable Modes of Travel Strategy for school travel will seek to encourage the use of these modes to be put into practice. Promotion of walking and cycling will address the needs of people of all ages to provide safe facilities, education and training. This priority links to the following DaSTS Goals:

Reduce Carbon Emissions - Promote a reduction in harmful transport emissions through the promotion of the use of more environmentally friendly transport modes. Support Economic Growth – Reduce the harmful effects of congestion on people and neighbourhoods by reducing reliance on car use. Promote Equality of Opportunity - Increase accessibility to local facilities to reduce car 90 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 use for short journeys. Contribute to Better Safety, Security and Health – Create safe and secure walking and cycling networks and provide education, training and publicity for their use. Improve Quality of Life and a Healthy Natural Environment – Improve the health of local people through the promotion of transport modes that increase physical activity and exercise.

Table 3.1 – Strategic Priorities for Redcar & Cleveland Priority Themes Corporate Key Objectives Sustainable Communities Strategy Our Plan 2009-14 2008-21

1. Children and Young People 1. Improve educational achievement among young people. 2. Increase the number of young people in education, employment or training through improved engagement. 3. Safeguard our children and young people

2. Healthier Communities 4. Reduce health inequality. 5. Transform services for adults and older people

3. Safer Communities 6. Tackle anti-social behaviour and reduce criminal damage.

4. Stronger Communities 7. Re-design our services to improve neighbourhood delivery in disadvantaged communities.

5. Sustainable Communities 8. Tackle worklessness and poverty. (Economic Development and the 9. Deliver improvements in our towns and Environment) villages. 10. Create a regeneration blue print for the whole borough. 11. Reduce our carbon footprint. 12. Grow our tourism potential to deliver economic and cultural opportunities. 13. Promote an integrated, efficient public transport system.

6. Council Theme – 14. Deliver our top 10 business improvement Business Improvement projects.

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3. Safer Communities This is a key area to the improvement of the real and perceived problems in the borough. Transport will contribute to these aims through improvements to road safety and to community safety. Programmes of education, training and publicity initiatives will be implemented along with physical measures where necessary to reduce the number of road accident casualties occurring on the borough’s roads. Particular attention will be given to casualties to children and vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists. Community safety will be addressed through improvements to transport networks to increase public confidence and personal security. CCTV is being introduced on buses and at bus stops and security improvements are being made in public car parks. Street lighting improvements are being made through a PFI agreement. This priority links to the following DaSTS Goals:

Contribute to Better Safety, Security and Health – To reduce the number of road accident casualties and the levels of crime and the fear of crime.

4. Stronger Communities To maximise the benefits of neighbourhood renewal, it is important to ensure that residents have a large amount of involvement in the local decision making process and in service delivery. The Council has reorganised to enable local neighbourhood delivery of Area Management services so that residents can closely engage with the people who are delivering local services. Attention will be given to the standards of all work undertaken to improve the quality of streetscapes and neighbourhoods and increase local pride in the borough. Work will be undertaken with partners to improve residential areas and to revitalise housing markets and to create accessibility to education and job opportunities. It is also important to strengthen the voluntary and community sector so that people can engage in helping others in their own communities. The Council will continue to engage with community organisations to provide practical assistance and take actions on issues of concern. It will be through enabling people to take advantage of the opportunities that are available that social inclusion will be increased. This priority links to the following DaSTS Goals:

Promote Equality of Opportunity – To improve access to education, employment and other services, particularly for people who do not have the use of private cars. Improve Quality of Life and a Healthy Natural Environment – To improve the quality of streetscapes and neighbourhoods to increase local pride and promote healthier lifestyles.

5. Sustainable Communities (Economic Development and the Environment) The unemployment rate in Redcar and Cleveland (6.3%) is more than 50% higher than the national average (4.1%) so all services need to act to redress this imbalance. Transport will contribute to this aim through ensuring the availability of infrastructure networks and public transport service networks to enable the efficient transport of people and goods to meet local needs. This will encourage the creation of more jobs in the borough and will give people the opportunity to access the employment opportunities that are available both within the borough and throughout the Tees Valley. 92 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

However, in taking these actions, it is also important to recognise the potential environmental impacts of increased job creation. Increasing the sustainability of places and lifestyles is an important factor for the future of the borough and for the country as a whole. Transport initiatives will contribute to both of these areas. Through the planning system and working with partners, the location of new development will be controlled in a manner that reduces the need to travel. Public transport, walking and cycling networks will be improved to reduce reliance on the use of private cars. The potential environmental impact of all schemes will be taken into consideration during design and will be minimised as far as possible. Where appropriate, additional environmental improvement measures will also be undertaken. Education, training and publicity will be used to encourage people to adapt their lifestyles to protect the environment and to understand the implications of their personal transport decision making. This priority links to the following DaSTS Goals:

Reduce Carbon Emissions – To manage the locations of new developments to reduce the need to travel and promote commuting by sustainable modes. Support Economic Growth – To limit highway congestion to enable efficient movement of people and goods. Promote Equality of Opportunity - To enable residents to access job opportunities. Improve Quality of Life and a Healthy Natural Environment – To improve streetscapes and neighbourhoods to ensure that the borough is an area where people will want to live invest and work.

6. Council Theme – Business Improvement This is an overarching objective that needs to be considered in all of the Council’s actions. Achieving value for money is an important element of transport delivery to ensure that the maximum benefits are gained from the use of scarce resources. The Council will work as efficiently as possible with partners for the identification, development and delivery of all transport initiatives. While this does not relate directly to DaSTS, efficiency will contribute to the achievement of the wider goals.

The Long-Term Transport Strategy demonstrates the linkages between transport delivery and the DaSTS Goals and the main aim of contributing to the Redcar & Cleveland Strategic Partnership Priority Themes. This demonstrates how the works that are associated with DaSTS will work together to achieve the higher goals. The LTP sets out the aims and the works that will be undertaken for each of the DaSTS Goals.

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Table 3.2 :- Corporate Strategy Linkages Sustainable Council Key Objective DaSTS Goals Mode / Initiative Community Strategy Priority Theme Children and Young 1. Improve educational  Equality of Bus Services People achievement among young Opportunity Concessionary Fares people.  Better Safety, Walking 2. Increase the number of Security and Cycling young people in education, Health School Travel employment or training  Quality of Life and Casualty Reduction through improved a Healthy Natural Highway Maintenance engagement. Environment Smarter Choices 3. Safeguard our children and young people Healthier 4. Reduce health inequality.  Carbon Emissions Bus Services Communities and 5. Transform services for  Economic Growth Concessionary Fares Older People adults and older people  Equality of Walking Opportunity Cycling  Better Safety, Casualty Reduction Security and Smarter Choices Health  Quality of Life and a Healthy Natural Environment Safer Communities 6. Tackle anti-social behaviour  Better Safety, Walking and reduce criminal damage. Security and Cycling Health School Travel Casualty Reduction Highway Maintenance CCTV Street Lighting Smarter Choices Stronger 7. Re-design our services to  Equality of Neighbourhood Communities improve neighbourhood Opportunity Delivery delivery in disadvantaged  Quality of Life and Bus Services communities. a Healthy Natural Walking Environment Cycling Casualty Reduction Highway Maintenance Smarter Choices Sustainable 8. Tackle worklessness and  Carbon Emissions Bus Services Communities poverty.  Economic Growth Concessionary Fares 9. Deliver improvements in  Equality of Walking our towns and villages. Opportunity Cycling 10. Create a regeneration  Quality of Life and School Travel blue print for the whole a Healthy Natural Casualty Reduction borough. Environment Highway Maintenance 11. Reduce our carbon Smarter Choices footprint. Land Use Planning 12. Grow our tourism potential to deliver economic and cultural opportunities. 13. Promote an integrated, efficient public transport system. Business 14. Deliver our top 10 Neighbourhood Improvement business improvement Delivery projects.

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CHAPTER 4 :- REDUCING CARBON EMISSIONS

INTRODUCTION For many years, one of the key aims of local transport strategy has been to provide facilities for and promote the use of alternatives to the private car such as walking, cycling and bus use. These have been undertaken for a variety of reasons such as to reduce traffic congestion, promote road safety and to improve public health. More recently, there has been an increasing awareness of the need to address the issue of transports’ contribution to climate change through the need to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide. In taking a balanced view of how transport can be used to assist the delivery of local objectives, account also needs to be taken of the contribution that can be made towards achieving national carbon reduction targets.

Over recent years, there has been a realisation and an increasing consensus that Climate Change is happening and, more importantly, it is directly related to human activity. It is now accepted as one of the greatest threats facing our planet. National and Local Government have a role to play in addressing Climate Change issues both by examining their own operations and in their role as community leader. They need to assist and encourage residents, businesses, and organisations to collaboratively examine their own carbon emissions.

There is clear scientific evidence that greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide released from fossil fuels, are causing climate change and there is increasing global pressure to reduce carbon emissions. Cutting carbon emissions as part of the fight against climate change needs to be a key priority for local authorities, both to put our own house in order and to lead by example.

For much of the post-war period, people have been interested in personal mobility and the freedom and choice that this has brought to their lives. Road traffic grew inexorably, there was a rapid increase in air travel and the use of ‘greener’ forms of transport – bus, cycling and rail – all declined. More recently, however, whilst people continue to value mobility highly, they have also become much more concerned about the adverse impacts of transport on climate, health and quality of life and about their own travel experience as congestion mounts. People’s aspirations are changing, and our transport planning needs to keep pace with that.

BACKGROUND There is increasing global pressure to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from all sources. Transport policy and delivery has a role to play in addressing the national and international aims.

Kyoto Protocol: The UK Government has signed the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Protocol commits the UK to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases by 12.5% from 1990 level by 2008-12. At the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali in December 2007, participants agreed that "deep cuts in global emissions will be required" in future and to enter into discussions for a post-Kyoto agreement.

European Climate Action: The European Commission's document Climate Action 95 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 establishes the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions expected from each member state between 2005 and 2020 (16% for the UK) and sets a target of 20% share of renewable in energy use in Europe by 2020.

The Climate Change Act 2008 sets the Governments long-term goal to reduce CO2 emissions by 34% by 2020 and 80% by 2050 - setting this target in statute and put in place legislation to reduce emissions over time.

Two Government-commissioned reports have helped to put the global aims into a national context.

The first of these, the Stern Review of the Economics of Climate Change, published in 2006, makes it clear that continuing with current behaviour can not continue because catastrophic climate change would have a huge economic cost, as well as damaging people’s lives and the planet. However, while we cannot continue with the option of being ‘rich and dirty’, it is identified that this does not mean that we have to be ‘poor and green’. Reductions in carbon emissions can be achieved at a manageable cost provided the right policies are put in place. The cost will be significant, but will be lower than the costs of inaction. Similarly, the costs of failing to adapt to a changing climate would exceed those of taking early action.

The second study was undertaken by Sir Rod Eddington and examined how to improve transport’s contribution to economic growth and productivity, while still ensuring that transport will play its part in delivering reductions in carbon emissions. This study confirms that transport is vital to the economy but does not see a need to criss-cross the country with significant numbers of new transport links. It is argued that there should be a targeted approach to only the most seriously congested parts of transport networks. Beyond this, making the most of existing networks through good regulation is likely to be just as important as further investment in new infrastructure.

To reflect the aims identified in these reports, the Department for Transport (DfT) published an initial consultation document called “Towards a Sustainable Transport System: Supporting Economic Growth in a Low Carbon World” followed by “Delivering a Sustainable Transport System” (DaSTS). DaSTS sets out a national policy framework for transport planning and delivery and for the development of LTPs to address national transport goals and the aims of wider service delivery. It proposes a new approach to longer-term transport strategy and explains how Government will engage with passengers, users, the transport industry and other stakeholders during the development and implementation of the process.

DaSTS has identified the need to address climate change by cutting emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases as one of the key national transport goals. The Stern report identified three essential elements of policy for an effective transition to a low carbon economy:

 Putting a price on carbon - To be achieved through tax or trading mechanisms;  The development and use of a wide range of low-carbon technologies;  Barriers which prevent people from making informed decisions must be

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removed - Greener alternatives must be provided and their use actively encouraged.

In March 2010, DfT published their “Transport Carbon Reduction Delivery Plan” to set out the range of possible actions that the Government can undertake at a national level in partnership with delivery partners. These range from international regulations on fuel and vehicles through the European Union to initiatives that can be promoted with local authorities. It indicates the following levels of contribution from transport modes towards carbon dioxide emissions:

Cars 55% Vans 12% Mopeds & 0.5% Motorcycles Buses 4% Rail 2% Freight 18% Domestic Aviation 2% Domestic Shipping 4% Other 3%

In the development of DaSTS, the Government determined that, since delivering CO2 reduction and economic growth are both essential and mutually consistent, it was necessary for the first time to explicitly set transport goals for both. They have identified that a lot has been achieved over the past decade to deliver a transport system which can support a growing economy whilst helping us to live within carbon emission limits. Key achievements have been:  The decline in use of the railway has been reversed;  The energy efficiency of cars has improved;  Local authorities have made progress in delivering successful local transport packages; and,  Transport demand is not growing as fast as previously.

Less successfully, experience of bus patronage has been varied across the country. Meeting the transport needs of a modern economy, whilst delivering CO2 reductions, is still a challenge, but not an insuperable one.

THE DaSTS CHALLENGES Within the Goal of Carbon Reduction, the specific challenges identified in the DaSTS framework are:

Cities and Regional Networks  Deliver quantified reductions in greenhouse gas emissions within cities and regional networks, taking account of cross-network policy measures.

Cross-Network (National Policy)  Deliver quantified net reductions in greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the Climate Change Bill and EU targets.

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LOCAL ACTION For many years, the key aim of the Redcar & Cleveland local transport strategy has been to promote the use of alternatives to the private car such as walking, cycling and bus use. These have been addressing a range of local objectives even though air quality issues have not been seen to be a problem.

The UK government has identified the local authority sector as key to delivering carbon reduction across the UK, in line with its’ Kyoto commitments. Redcar and Cleveland’s Sustainable Environment Strategy 2006-2021 sets out our commitment to continuous environmental improvement across our services and operations to promote environmental sustainability. Throughout 2009-10, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council has been working in partnership with the Carbon Trust to establish a Carbon Management Programme in order to realise carbon and cost savings.

The aim of the Programme is for the Council to look at all aspects of its’ own energy use so that we can provide an example to others, enabling us to act as leaders in the wider community. The Carbon Management Plan (CMP) brings together the results of our work so far and sets out a programme of action over the next 5 years. It will assist the Council in saving money on energy and putting it to good use in other areas, whilst making a positive contribution to the environment by lowering our carbon emissions. The CMP examines the Council’s carbon footprint to enable us to plot our carbon reduction strategies and to set out what actions we will need to meet our targets.

The Council is required to report on carbon emissions from our operations each year to Government under National Indicator 185. In 2008, our total emissions were 24,440 tonnes. This includes the emissions from all of our building and transport operations and represents 2% of all public and private sector emissions in Redcar and Cleveland (including heavy industry). The CMP commits the Council to a target of reducing CO2 by 40% by 2014 and underpins potential financial savings to the Council of around £4.5 million. To date, projects have been identified to achieve 32% savings on the baseline leaving an 8% savings gap for projects still to be identified. The CMP was formally adopted by the Council at the end of March 2010 and implementation was launched with the Carbon Trust in June 2010.

Key transport projects that have been identified to contribute towards the reduction targets are:

Street lighting: The Council operates over 20,000 streetlights and illuminated signs. We will minimise the emissions from the operations of our streetlights by making better use of higher efficiency lamps and control equipment and investigating energy reduction opportunities.

Fleet: We operate a fleet of around 200 vehicles. We will minimise the emissions from our fleet operations by ensuring that we only purchase the most efficient vehicles available to us and by implementing efficiency measures such as journey planning, speed limiters and driver training.

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Awareness: We will call to action our community, partners and employees by raising their awareness of the issues and by communicating progress towards our vision to reduce CO2 emissions. We will also raise our awareness as an organisation by learning from others and our own experiences as we progress through this programme. We will seek to reduce carbon emissions from commuting and business travel by introducing car sharing and staff shuttle initiatives.

This list is not exhaustive and we will continue to identify, quantify, and implement new initiatives throughout the term of our Carbon Management Programme.

LOCAL AIR QUALITY Air quality monitoring in Redcar & Cleveland has been undertaken in partnership with the Tees Valley Environmental Protection Group since 2000. They publish an annual progress report on “Air Quality in the Tees Valley” and they undertake “Updating and Screening Assessments” of local environmental issues on behalf of the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The 2009 Assessment provided the findings below.

“The borough has a good road infrastructure, and traffic is relatively light and free flowing, although a few of the trunk routes have a higher than average percentage of heavy goods vehicles serving the large chemical and steel industrial complexes which are established around the Tees basin in the north of the Council area. The geography and demographics of the area have undergone no significant change since 2006.

Road traffic is likely to remain the largest overall source of ground level emissions, although traffic densities are generally low and free flowing. There is no significant through traffic within the Council area, and local road networks are largely segregated from potential receptor groups as a result of past investment to cater for the large industrial base. There are no roads within Redcar & Cleveland that are very heavily congested and all are free from canyon effects further minimising the impact of these road transport on objective standards. Buildings are generally low level, and set back from the roadside. The main shopping area of Redcar is now extensively pedestrianised, and while the busy main A66 and A174 east – west routes are the main links to the motorway network further West, they run in defined corridors, with no potential target group areas in their immediate vicinity. Most suburban conurbation’s benefit from bypass roads, directing traffic flows away from domestic and commercial receptors.

The area has several large petrochemical and iron / steel based industrial sites which are significant contributors to air pollutants including those targeted by the UK legislation. Emissions from these large industrial sources can, from time to time, have an impact on ground level concentrations, and it is these emissions that are monitored closely in conjunction with the Environment Agency.

Continuous monitoring carried out within the Redcar & Cleveland Council area has shown that there is no exceedance of government objectives from traffic or from industry. Further support is provided by the results from continuous monitoring carried out elsewhere in the Tees Valley area. 99 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

In 2005, a comprehensive traffic pollution study (reference 3) was carried out across the Tees Valley using the Highways Agency model. Within Redcar & Cleveland, the study looked at a continuous monitoring site, and building façades close to the busiest roads. The study showed that the model provided a good representation of traffic pollution, and confirmed that there were no exceedances of Government objectives.

It is concluded that all Government objectives will be met by the due date within the Redcar & Cleveland Council area, and there is no need to declare any Air Quality Management areas.

The next Updating and Screening report is due in 2012, with Progress reports in 2010 and 2011.”

There are therefore, clearly, no local transport related air quality issues to be addressed.

STRATEGY OPTIONS

Providing Viable Alternatives to the Private Car The key contribution that transport improvements can make to the reduction of carbon emissions is through promoting the use of alternatives to the private car. This will reduce the level of use of carbon based fuels and will also address other key objectives of improving health, reducing congestion, improving the environment, promoting equality of opportunity etc.

Urban areas will have a role to play in reducing CO2 emissions. Since two-thirds of trips and over half of car journeys in the UK are less than five miles long, measures to change travel behaviour and reduce the need to travel in urban areas could bring significant benefits. Measures to reduce the carbon footprint of urban transport by promoting public transport or smoothing the flow of road traffic will also have local air quality benefits.

The DaSTS Report identifies that while central Government needs to set the framework on pricing and technology, achieving modal shift will require sustained local action, including land-use planning. Initial results from the current Sustainable Travel Town and Cycling Demonstration Town projects show the effect that well- designed programmes of this kind can have on reducing CO2 and air pollutant emissions and improving quality of life.

Given the rural nature of large parts of Redcar & Cleveland, those with access to a private car generally have little problem in accessing essential services. The emphasis should therefore be to improve the availability and attractiveness of other modes of transport. For shorter journeys, walking and cycling should be encouraged to be the principal mode while for longer trips it will be necessary to offer a range of attractive bus services targeted at key services, such as schools and colleges, hospitals and places of work.

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Bus Services Bus services play a vital role in overcoming travel barriers and potential social exclusion faced by people living in rural areas and provide an important alternative to car use for medium distance, local journeys. The Council and partners need to undertake actions aimed at improving bus services in the borough and to recognise the importance of increased resident awareness of services and ensure the availability of information relating to bus services.

The Tees Valley Bus Network Review has been an important starting point in the process of developing a new bus network for the area that will best meet local needs. The implementation of the findings of the Review will help to maintain and improve accessibility to services for residents. Bus operators have been involved throughout the process to enable a better understanding of travel patterns to be gained.

Significant revisions have been made to the routeing and numbering of bus services to try to create a stable, economical network that will mainly be operated commercially. Sections of routes that carry high patronage levels and those that carry lower levels of flow have been identified. Generally it is proposed that sections with higher flows and a better frequency of service will be publicised as “Core Routes” with the highest standards of infrastructure and information provision to make them even more attractive. Sections of routes with lower patronage have a lower frequency, commensurate with their level of use. These are the secondary and tertiary routes that sometimes require financial support from the Council. An important aim of the Review was to ensure that the revisions to the bus service network would be cost neutral, in order to stabilise costs to the bus operators and to the Council.

In March 2010, the DfT announced their funding approval for infrastructure improvements and associated measures on major bus corridors across the Tees Valley. This is in response to a bid for the Tees Valley Bus Network major scheme that is a partnership between the Tees Valley local authorities, Tees Valley Unlimited and the major bus operators. This funding was confirmed by the new Government in June 2010. Work on the implementation of the scheme will begin in 2010/11, for four years until 2013/14.

The scheme focuses on a set of key elements:  Core Commercial Services: These are the main bus routes across the Tees Valley, generally within the urban areas, supported by selected inter-urban links that complement emerging rail-based proposals;  Bus Priority and Infrastructure: A comprehensive series of bus priority measures to be implemented at junctions and along routes. These will alter the traffic balance in favour of buses, to improve the punctuality and reliability of bus services for existing and new passengers;  Passenger Facilities: Improvements at all bus stops on the core commercial routes, including new passenger shelters, information displays and CCTV coverage, as well as new crossing points and better routes to and from bus stops;  Vehicles: Extension of the existing hours of operation, regular even frequencies across all designated services, with newer, high quality vehicles;  Fares and Ticketing: Work with the bus operators to promote cashless entry that 101 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

reduces the need for the driver to handle cash fares, thereby reducing delays at the stops;  Complementary Measures: Provision of high quality accessible information and real time journey information (screens at stops, on-line and SMS messaging) and marketing of the new services;

Works to provide raised kerbs at bus stops have been undertaken on many routes during LTP1 and LTP2 and timetable information has been provided at the majority of bus stops across the borough. The major bus operator in the borough, Arriva North East, has introduced 32 new accessible buses into their Redcar Depot in the first half of 2010 and they have also introduced new buses into the Stockton Depot that also provides services in Redcar & Cleveland. All of their vehicles are routinely fitted with CCTV systems to provide additional security and customer peace of mind. We are also working with the principal bus operators, Arriva and Stagecoach, to develop a new Quality Partnership in order to guarantee the ongoing delivery of both infrastructure and services.

The Council is a partner in the North East Smart Ticketing Initiative (NESTI) that will introduce a comprehensive smart card ticketing system throughout the region over the next three years. Initially, the major bus operators will install smart card readers on to their buses so that people will be able to pay for journeys in advance and speed up the process of boarding the bus. Smaller operators will also be encouraged to participate so that people should eventually be able to travel across the whole of the region using a single smart card. This will improve the experience of using bus services, particularly for current infrequent passengers.

Further complementary measures by the Council and the operators will also be required to achieve success. The provision of additional information to attract bus users will be necessary as a lack of knowledge about what services are available acts as a barrier to travel that should be easily addressed. The Council and operators will need to publish updated maps and timetables of bus services in parallel with route changes and then keep these updated. The Council introduced the free National Concessionary Fares Scheme for pensioners with enhanced terms of use in April 2008. The Council has also introduced a half-fare pass for 16-18 year olds that can be used at all times, from 1 September 2010. This will enable young people to be more active and less dependent on car journeys.

Many early morning, evening and Sunday bus services are financially supported by the Council as they have been unable to be operated commercially but they have been considered important to enable accessibility. In the current period of financial austerity, our neighbouring authority, North Yorkshire County Council has already decided to cut all bus support funding, including cross-boundary services. It is necessary for Redcar & Cleveland to undertake a serious review of all of our supported services to see what we can afford to provide within our reduced budgets. This will have an impact on the travel options that are available for local people, particularly in rural areas. We will work with the bus operators to see how some services may be reorganised to minimise the impact of service losses.

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Cycling The UK has the lowest cycling percentage of journeys of all Northern European countries. Cycling is the quickest and most reliable mode for many urban journeys and is a good form of healthy exercise. Evidence suggests that if conditions are made pleasant, people continue cycling because it gives such advantages.

The Council adopted the original National Cycling Strategy Board target of trebling cycle trips by 2012 and has already achieved this target through initiatives undertaken during LTP1 and LTP2. Programmes are undertaken to improve accessibility by cycling by improving cycle links to schools and key employment sites and creating routes that will promote tourism and health particularly via National Cycle Route 1. Cycling training is provided for young children, teenagers and adults to improve safety and build personal confidence. We will seek to continue these programmes throughout LTP3.

Walking Walking trips have been in steady decline over the past 20 years. There remains great potential to encourage more walking for short trips to avoid carbon emissions and for the wider benefits of promoting healthier communities.

As regeneration takes place, and trip making becomes longer and more dispersed, there may be a decline in journeys made on foot as the dominant mode of travel, but investment should be focused on measures encouraging the use of such modes for short journeys within local communities and as part of a multi-modal journey that does not necessarily involve the private car at any stage. The Department for Transport document “Walking and Cycling: An Action Plan” recognises that the most effective approach to increasing walking is a combination of improvements to the environment and facilities for walkers, together with carefully targeted information about travel choices. Engineering measures to improve routes, lighting and security need to be accompanied by “Smarter Choices” promotional measures.

Several respondents to the draft LTP3 document expressed support for the Sustrans “Quality Streets” initiative that advocates the introduction of 20mph zones in residential areas to promote walking and cycling. However, the Council has generally found that local residents tend to be resistant towards the traffic calming that is required for the introduction of 20mph zones. We have been using the Safer Streets process as a method of ensuring local support for these measures and we will need to keep this under consideration in the future. We will need to see if this situation changes during LTP3 to have a more general public acceptance of traffic calming measures before we could consider introducing these as a blanket initiative in residential areas.

A combination of increasing walking and cycling to avoid carbon emissions whilst assisting regeneration and health is an exciting challenge. The Activity Tourism strategy is providing opportunities to encourage greater use of sustainable modes in an off road environment. It is anticipated that this will encourage further use of walking and cycling for non-leisure activities within the local area as well as contributing towards the Council’s wider objectives.

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The Council has an established School Crossing Patrol Service covering 80 sites to encourage safe walking to school.

Passenger Rail The Council wishes to assist the rail authorities in promoting an increase in rail use in order to limit road traffic growth for longer journeys. In 2004, the Association of Train Operating Companies predicted a 28% rise in national rail travel over ten years. A 23% increase in patronage has been achieved to and from railway stations in Redcar & Cleveland to 2010.

The five Tees Valley Authorities have worked with One North East and Network Rail to develop a long term plan to deliver the Tees Valley Metro project. To support the future economic and social plans of the sub-region, we need a rail network that has high quality vehicles, frequent services and goes to where people will want to travel in the future. This is the principle behind the Tees Valley Metro project. The aim is to provide a 21st century transit system for the Tees Valley, using our existing rail network in a more cost effective and efficient way. The desire is to provide a more frequent, faster, day-time rail service using newer, lighter trains with new and improved stations along the routes through the area. Funding was approved by DfT for Phase 1 of implementation of the project, however, this funding is now subject to review by the new Government.

Taxis Taxis, both hackney carriages and private hire cabs, provide an important public transport service. They improve accessibility by providing a door-to-door service and they are regularly used to provide an interchange service to and from rail and bus stations. Taxis can be efficient for commuting if several people travel together to share the cost. In particular, they provide a service to locations that are poorly served by other forms of public transport and an after hours service when regular bus and train services are not operating. This helps to contribute to road safety by reducing incidences of drink driving. They are also used for Council transport contracts for the movement of small numbers of school pupils and Social Care clients as a cost effective alternative to larger public transport vehicles.

The Council has had responsibility for all taxi licensing since 1997 and for taxi rank provision. There is no sub-division of the borough into licensing zones. It has been Council policy not to attempt to restrict the number of licences but to allow market forces to determine the appropriate numbers. These are currently at around 120 licensed hackneys, 230 private hire vehicles and 470 licensed drivers. There have been no public complaints to the Council relating to the unavailability of taxis and so this policy appears to be working satisfactorily.

Vehicles must be under three years old when first licensed and must meet the Council’s “Exceptionally Well Maintained Exterior / Interior” criteria in order to continue to be re-licensed. Drivers are required to undertake a detailed “Knowledge” test on the rules and regulations of taxi operation before a licence is issued. Even so, there are still some complaints from the public about drivers’ attitudes, over charging and other issues. These complaints are investigated by the Council’s taxi enforcement officer and prosecutions can be brought and licences withdrawn when

104 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 appropriate. These measures help to improve public confidence in the safety of the system.

There are few wheelchair accessible taxis operating in the borough, either hackneys or private hire, as the Council does not specify the compulsory provision of wheelchair accessible vehicles. The introduction of a policy for this purpose was considered in the past but was discounted due to the likely impact that the cost of the vehicles would have on the level of service provision in the borough. Currently, our policy for hackney carriage vehicles stipulates that all new saloon vehicles must be fitted with an approved rotating seat to improve ease of access. Both the hackney carriage and private hire vehicle policies contain sections relating to the compulsory carriage of guide dogs and the carriage of wheelchair bound passengers in adapted vehicles.

It is recognised that this is an issue that is of great concern to our disability organisation partners and so a review of the current situation is currently being carried out (Sept 2010). It is proposed that wheelchair accessible vehicles being introduced as taxis can be up to six years old, as long as they meet the Exceptionally Well Maintained criteria, in order to reduce the potential cost of introducing these vehicles. It is also proposed that there will be a discounted cost for the licensing of the vehicles as taxis and that all drivers will be required to undertake mandatory disability awareness training. It is proposed that a consultation with the taxi trade will be undertaken from mid-September to November 2010, to seek Council approval in December and introduce the revised requirements in the New Year. The Disabled Peoples Partnership has requested that there should be a requirement for all wheelchair accessible vehicles to be side-loading, for safety, convenience and dignity purposes. This will be added to the consultation.

Part 12 of the Equalities Act 2010, commencing at Section 160, covers the provision of taxi services and allows the Secretary of State to make regulations governing the specification of vehicles used as taxis. If any regulations are made under these sections, the Council will obviously make the necessary amendments to our policies to achieve compliance. We are currently carrying out a survey of all proprietors relating to accessible vehicles which we will be collating into a public register which will comply with Section 167 of the Act.

Electric vehicles The use of electric vehicles provides an opportunity to move away from the use of carbon based road fuels, particularly as the level of electricity from non-carbon based sources increases. Whilst realistically we expect the take-up of electric vehicles to be slow initially, the Council is prepared to lead the way. This is very much a chicken and egg situation - without a charging infrastructure across the North East and beyond, people will simply not be prepared to buy an electric vehicle – where the Council needs to step up and take the initiative.

We have joined in partnership with our Tees Valley neighbours, to confirm our commitment to the Plugged in Places programme led by the regional development agency One North East (ONE), to increase the number and distribution of electric vehicle charging points across the region. We have received £20,000 of funding from

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ONE with the same level of local match funding to enable the installation of at least eight charging points in the main centres of Redcar, Guisborough and Saltburn. We then have plans to extend this further to the centres of Skelton, Brotton and Loftus in East Cleveland to have an early total of 15 installations.

This programme will ensure that we have wide coverage across our borough. As the infrastructure develops in the Region and nationally, it will become possible to drive around the country, stopping off to re-charge at various locations using zero emission, electric vehicles. All charging points will be located in high profile places to maximise awareness and parking will be controlled and free to ensure access for electric vehicles. Most of the points will be in public car-parks with the possibility that two of the points in Redcar may be located in dedicated on-street bays. Gradually, the overall provision of charging points should increase significantly as they are installed at new homes, workplaces, shopping centres etc.

Electricity is currently not subject to the same duties as petrol or diesel and a full vehicle re-charge, off-peak, overnight can be counted in pennies rather than tens of pounds, bringing the cost of motoring down. Electric vehicles are also mechanically very simple so there is less to go wrong. They are zero rated for road fund licence and congestion charging. Owners of electric vehicles should therefore enjoy significantly reduced running costs over the life-time of their vehicle, helping to pay back the extra initial purchase price. Re-charging would normally be done overnight from the domestic supply or throughout the day from the various charging points being developed. A unique identity key can ensure that the cost of electricity used at charging points will be charged to the key-holder’s personal account, not to the host.

Electric vehicle and battery technology is developing rapidly with great improvements in performance and reliability. There is still much to do but major vehicle manufacturers are now getting on board and can see the future demand for electric vehicles. However, it is vital that they also see a firm commitment to the development of solid infrastructure. Without this electric vehicles will not become a viable alternative to the car, or perhaps, more realistically to the second car for the eco-conscious, two-car family.

The Council has been successful in securing one electric vehicle with 50% support funding from the Government’s Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Programme. This vehicle will be a MiEV (Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle) which is a small four door car similar in appearance to their Colt model. It is capable of carrying four people at speeds of 70mph with rapid re-charging capability. Range is expected to be about 100 miles on a single charge. This will provide a demonstration of how an electric car can be used as a replacement for a conventional petrol or diesel vehicle within a mixed urban and rural authority.

School Travel Promoting the use of sustainable modes of travel needs to begin with children and young people so that they develop the habit and confidence for using these later in life. This particularly needs to be undertaken through schools to address issues of local congestion, road safety and air quality caused by the school run.

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The Council has fully embraced the concept of School Travel Plans so that all of the borough’s primary and secondary schools now have an approved School Travel Plan. Although very much tailored to the particular needs of individual schools, the common objective of these School Travel Plans is to reduce the number of journeys to school by car. The greater challenge now, however, is to turn the planning into reality by reducing reliance on cars. The Council has made steady progress in this area throughout LTP2 with year on year reductions in the level of car use. A reward scheme is in place to encourage schools to deliver the desired outcomes of the excellent plans they are producing. Capital funding has been allocated each year to assist schools to introduce physical measures that will encourage greater levels of walking and cycling to school. This complements the education, training and publicity activities that take place in this area.

Partly as a result of falling numbers of school pupils, there has been an amalgamation of pairs of schools in the borough. This process is likely to continue and can result in some schools being located further away from pupils’ homes than their original schools. Measures must be implemented to ensure that pupils are not disadvantaged from accessing their schools and to maximise the opportunity to use modes of transport other than the private car. Of particular importance is the need to consider the accessibility of locations identified for new schools. This will ensure that the most appropriate sites are taken forward for development.

Location of Services The location of services is fundamental to the level of travel involved in employees and service users being able to have access. To reduce carbon emissions, it is desirable for services to be located locally to reduce the need to travel. However, in health and education for example, a balance needs to be struck between the level of service provided, the economy of scale and the ease of access. The integration of land use and transport planning through the Local Development Framework process is essential, having full regard to future development and regeneration opportunities. Incorporating the principles of accessibility and reducing the need to travel as a priority into Local Development Frameworks and through the planning process will make it possible for key services and residential developments to be located in a manner that reduces the need for car travel.

The Council uses planning and development control powers to optimise transport infrastructure associated with changes in land use. Developers are required to prepare a Transport Assessment in order to ensure that any new junction arrangement and access to a development site, be it residential or commercial, conforms to the Council’s design standards, offers sufficient capacity and does not adversely impact on neighbouring junctions or the local road network. Provision for sustainable modes of transport (buses, pedestrians and cyclists) also needs to be considered in accordance with the Institution of Highways & Transportations guidelines for assessing changes in land use.

Car Parking Strategy Decriminalisation of Parking Enforcement (DPE) was introduced across the borough of Redcar & Cleveland in June 2003. This takes enforcement of car parking offences away from Cleveland Police to under the jurisdiction of the Council. This allows

107 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 enforcement resources to be targeted towards areas that are the greatest concern, including schools and bus stops, thereby reducing overall congestion and delay. Other aspects of the car parking strategy include:  Improving access to car parks;  Using existing parking stock more efficiently;  Managing car parking availability and cost, in particular increased cost and reduced supply for long stay public parking; and  Improve the safety and security of the borough’s car parks.

On street residential parking is also being tackled through a combination of parking controls, including waiting restrictions and resident parking zones, and improvements to the layout of streets to ease access. The Safer Streets process has been expanded during LTP2 to include wider local concerns, particularly about local car parking. This issue has been raised by the major social landlord in the borough, Coast & Country Housing, as the major transport concern of their tenants. Undertaking local parking schemes will help to stem the decline of older housing estates and will assist in their regeneration.

Smarter Choices Sustainable transport (bus, rail, cycling and walking) has a key role to play in delivering a transport system that effectively serves the needs of residents and businesses across the borough. There needs to be a transport system that helps to achieve national and local targets to reduce carbon emissions, increase levels of everyday physical activity, to build social capital and inclusion and to underpin sustainable economic growth.

The overall range of education and encouragement measures available to influence people’s travel decisions is known by the banner title of Smarter Choices. In encouraging increased use of sustainable travel the challenge is to move to a position where walking, cycling and public transport are viewed as good alternatives for a substantial proportion of the trips people make and private motorised travel is the option of choice only when most appropriate.

This will build on the Tees Valley Congestion Statement that sets out a framework for managing the demand to travel by targeting the following:  Single occupant commuting cars travelling at peak times;  Journeys to school by car;  Short journeys under 2 miles; and  Bulk long distance freight which could use railways and the port.

Methods available include:  Car Parking Strategy - managing car parking availability and cost, in particular increased cost and reduced supply for long stay public parking;  Car Sharing (“2+ Travel”) and Car Clubs;  Reallocation of road space for transport other than the private car;  Encouraging long distance freight to use railways and ports;  Public information campaigns and public transport information improvements; 108 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

 Specifically targeted mode shift campaigns including travel planning;  Teleworking and teleconferencing; and  Home shopping.

Travel Planning has also been undertaken during LTP2 with all schools now having approved School Travel Plans and Workplace Travel Plans being requested for medium and large scale developments through the planning process. The Council encourages developers and businesses to make use of the www.redcarclevelandtravelplans.co.uk website to develop and monitor their plans.

If the full benefits of investment in infrastructure improvements through LTP3 are to be realised people must know about the improvements and, more importantly, they must start to perceive public transport as a viable travel option they would take by choice for their trip to work, to school, to the shops etc. Similarly, to maximise the benefits from investments in infrastructure for trips on foot or by cycle, it is essential to improve people’s expectations of local travel by these modes.

With the proposed delivery of the Tees Valley Bus Network Initiative and Tees Valley Metro projects and the development of LTP3, there is a major opportunity to develop and implement an area-wide Smarter Choices programme. This would have the potential to substantially influence travel behaviour across communities in the Tees Valley. Experience has been gained in travel marketing in Darlington through their Government funded Local Motion project and this will be shared across the Tees Valley. Key findings in their surveys are that people significantly underestimate the travel time by car and overestimate travel time by public transport. Overall, the implementation of their programme achieved a 9% decrease in trips by private car.

Key requirements for a Tees Valley Smarter Choices Programme should be:

(a) That it is based on evidence of the potential for change – targeting communities and organisations where there is the most potential to deliver a step change in behaviour. (b) That the programme markets sustainable travel options that will exceed levels of expectation. That is, they are quicker, more reliable, convenient and comfortable than people expect. (c) That it seeks to work with a wide range of partners across service delivery areas and across the five local authorities, providing a framework, resources and expertise for the promotion of sustainable travel. (d) That the programme has either a strong regional brand identity or strong local brand identities within each local authority area. And that the brand has local resonance, a ‘call to action’ and is applicable to all modes of sustainable travel. (e) That wider transport measures help to ‘lock-in’ reductions in the mode share of car use realised through the Smarter Choices programme. (f) That the programme is designed to enable robust monitoring, evaluation and reporting on the impact on travel behaviour. (g) That as well as providing information the programme gathers intelligence on individuals attitudes to travel, propensity to change and on how best to influence their travel behaviour.

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STRATEGY

The Redcar & Cleveland policies for the reduction of carbon emissions through LTP3 are:

. RCE1 - Contribute to national targets for reductions in carbon emissions by encouraging trips to be made by non-car modes.

. RCE2 - Promote the use of cleaner fuels for vehicles across the borough, in particular increased use of low carbon vehicles, specifically buses, taxis and Council fleet vehicles.

. RCE3 – Promote the development of more sustainable communities through land use planning and the appropriate location of services.

. RCE4 – Promote a package of sustainable Smarter Choices measures in partnership with the other Tees Valley local authorities.

Transport actions will predominantly contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions through promoting the use of alternatives to the private car. Making improved facilities available and promoting the benefits of their use will encourage people to make use of more appropriate modes of travel. The main actions to improve alternative modes of transport are given in the boxes below.

Promoting Bus Use

Key Actions for Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council  Implement the Tees Valley Bus Network Improvement Scheme.  Improvements to bus routes to improve bus punctuality.  Maintain the provision of up to date bus timetable information at bus stops.  Roll out the introduction of Real Time bus information displays.  Participate in local and regional promotion of bus use.  Work with Tees Valley partners to promote the national Concessionary Fares Scheme.  Introduce CCTV at bus stops to improve public confidence in the bus system.

Key Partner Actions  Operators to promote their revised bus services to increase patronage.  Introduce new buses to meet Disability Discrimination Act requirements.  Produce bus service timetables and participate in promotion.  Improve vehicle maintenance and driver training to improve the profile of public transport.  Developers to make provision for bus services in major developments.

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Promoting Cycling

Key Actions by Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council  Develop and promote the use of a network of cycle routes across the borough, including the completion of the National Cycle Network (NCN), within the sub- region;  Establish links from the NCN to schools, town centres and residential areas;  Implement additional cycle parking facilities to encourage increased cycle use;  Promote cycling development as an integral element of School Travel Plans;  Provide cycle training to children and adults; and  Improve the level of cycling information, including a proposed on-line journey planner.

Key Partner Actions  Assist the provision of facilities and promotion of cycling;  Schools to assist with the provision of facilities and the provision of cycle training to pupils; and  Developers to provide new cycling facilities in new developments.

Promoting Walking

Key Actions by Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council  Continue implementation of walking improvements on routes to Transport Hubs, Railway Stations, bus stops, car parks, schools;  Improve street lighting on walking routes;  Improve road crossing facilities on walking routes;  Continue implementation of Disabled Access Programme;  Implement new and improved Public Rights of Way (PROW) and road crossing facilities to improve accessibility and the connectivity of the PROW network;  Create wheelchair accessible PROW routes through the improvement of surfacing and the removal of gates and stiles; and  Create parking lay-bys etc to reduce obstruction of footpaths by parked cars.  Promote the health and environmental benefits of walking.

Key Partner Actions  Healthy walks promotions;  Promotion of Activity Tourism; and  Work with local Primary Schools to continue child pedestrian training.

Promoting Passenger Rail Use

Key Actions by Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council  Pursue the implementation of the Tees Valley Metro Project; 111 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

 Improve access and signage to railway stations;  Assist rail companies in promoting passenger rail use, and,  Support the Esk Valley Line Community Rail Pilot.

Key Partner Actions  Work to improve the quality and reliability of passenger rail services; and  Promote the benefits of passenger rail use to the public.

Promoting Taxi Use

Drivers and Vehicles  Continue “Knowledge” test for all new licence applicants.  Continue enforcement actions as appropriate.  Continue vehicle testing to maintain standards.  Introduce new regulations for the introduction of wheelchair accessible vehicles.  Develop register of accessible vehicles, compliant with S167 of Equalities Act 2010.

Taxi Ranks  Monitor and review taxi rank provision as necessary.  Introduce new ranks at visitor attractions.  Investigate change to taxi rank enforcement regulations.

School Travel Key actions by Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council and by Partners to reduce the level of car use for journeys to schools, primarily through School Transport Plans are summarised below.

Mode Share of Journeys to School

Key Actions by Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council  Work with schools to update and promote School Travel Plans.  Implement physical measures around schools to put School Travel Plans into effect.  Provide pedestrian and cycle training to school children to encourage mode shift.  Introduce and enforce parking restrictions around schools.  Liaise closely with partners during the planning stages of school amalgamations to ensure that appropriate sites are selected.

Key Partner Actions  Schools to develop and actively promote School Travel Plans.  Other partners to assist with the promotion of the benefits of School Travel change to encourage mode shift.

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Electric vehicles The Council will make a commitment to the provision of electric charging infrastructure across the borough over the coming years. This step needs to be taken to enable the take-up of electric vehicles by the public. Initially, we will use a combination of LTP funding and grant funding from the regional development agency One North East to install at least eight charging points in the main centres of Redcar, Guisborough and Saltburn. We then have plans to extend this further to the centres of Skelton, Brotton and Loftus in East Cleveland to have an early total of 15 installations. This programme will ensure that we have wide coverage across our borough. All of the charging points will be located in high profile places to maximise awareness and parking will be controlled and free to ensure access for electric vehicles. Mechanisms will also be introduced to recharge the cost of the electricity to the customers rather than having this falling to the Council.

Land Use Planning The Core Strategy document of the Redcar & Cleveland Local Development Framework has the reduction of the need to travel and the location of new developments in existing conurbations as key policies. This will play a fundamental role in enabling the use of non-motorised modes of transport for shorter journeys. These fundamental principles will be carried through into the development of the Communities and Economy Development Plan Document that is programmed for adoption in early 2013.

Smarter Choices The introduction of a Smarter Choices programme of measures is proposed as part of the Tees Valley Bus Network Improvement major scheme. This is proposed to be introduced in a series of phases over several years. At present, these proposals are:

Phase 1, Audit (6 months)  Audit of what Smarter Choice measures are already taking place including the number of staff involved and resources currently available or planned;  Identify the residential areas, businesses and education facilities where it is believed there is the most potential for increasing use of sustainable travel.

Phase 2, Business Plan (9 months)  Development and agreement of a business plan for the delivery of a Tees Valley Smarter Choices Programme to include branding and resourcing.

Phase 3, Delivery of programme (5-years)  Phased delivery and monitoring of a Smarter Choices programme with a package of measures involving: o Travel marketing to raise awareness of the project and key messages; o Provision of bus timetables, local bus maps, cycle maps and walking guides; o Provision and marketing of web based resources, for example a public transport information portal, a car sharing site, information on walking and cycling routes; o School and workplace travel campaigns; o Individualised travel marketing – focused on specific target areas, though of 113 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

sufficient scope to generate critical mass at a local level (for example a minimum of 3-5000 households in each area); o Events and activities promoting sustainable travel potentially linked to existing events and festivals taking place in the Tees Valley; o Launch of a Tees Valley Smarter Choices Club, with incentives or prizes for participants; o Promotion of smart public transport ticketing; o Engagement with professionals across a range of service delivery areas, utilising their contact with the public to disseminate sustainable travel information and help motivate change. For example, work with GP practices to promote active travel; o Ongoing communication with internal stakeholders and influential decision makers; o Regular reporting on the project outcomes and case studies.

In September 2010, DfT announced the introduction of a Local Sustainable Transport Fund for the promotion of sustainable transport initiatives. The detailed guidance for bids indicates that promoting carbon reduction and economic growth are essential requirements for any bids. This will provide a potential funding opportunity for the delivery of the Smarter Choices programme.

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CHAPTER 5 :- SUPPORTING ECONOMIC GROWTH

BACKGROUND Promoting regeneration and economic growth is a key objective of the Council and the Redcar and Cleveland Strategic Partnership. Key challenges relevant to this objective, identified within the Sustainable Communities Theme of the Redcar & Cleveland Sustainable Community Strategy 2008-21, are:

 Tackling the acute levels of deprivation that still exist in some of our communities  Reversing the falling self-employment rate  Increasing employment, particularly in the most disadvantaged communities  Increasing access to services and employment through improved public transport

Within the Council’s Corporate Plan “Our Plan 2009-14” these challenges are reflected in the following key objectives:

 Tackle worklessness and poverty.  Deliver improvements in our towns and villages.  Create a regeneration blue print for the whole borough.  Reduce our carbon footprint.  Grow our tourism potential to deliver economic and cultural opportunities.  Promote an integrated, efficient public transport system.

The identified aim is to improve and secure economic opportunities such as jobs, new businesses and tourism, while ensuring that the environment is protected, so that residents can access their basic needs and enjoy a better quality of life.

The Council is committed to supporting people by investing in projects and programmes that tackle barriers to employment and help to improve and strengthen the skills of the workforce. Increasing economic participation particularly in deprived communities and reducing barriers to economic engagement is key to regenerating the area. To address the gap in our employment rate means that we need to work towards getting an extra 5,000 people into work. The development of sustainable local transport has a role to play in achieving this goal.

Corporate consultation with residents and visitors in an exercise called “Love It, Hate It” reinforced our knowledge that many of our towns, villages and employment areas need investment in buildings and in the public realm. Physical improvements directly create jobs and commercial floor space and contribute to the local economy. The Council will continue to invest in improving the area to support future business growth.

The diverse needs of the borough require a complex range of policy approaches. There isn’t a ‘one-size-fits–all’ approach and the right mix of policies and programmes, and the resources to implement them, are essential if we are to bring about lasting improvements to our towns, countryside and coastline. Physical investment can act as a driver of economic growth but it is important that such investment is considered as part of an integrated package of measures looking at

115 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 skills, the environment, housing etc.

Transport and accessibility are issues that are raised in consultations on all Council services and the activities of our partners. Access to work, social and health facilities are restricted by the current public transport systems within the borough. The Council has recognised that the establishment of an efficient and integrated public transport system is essential. The key factors in developing this public transport system are accessibility to and connectivity of the network.

These issues are to be addressed as part of the Council's work with the other Tees Valley Authorities in developing the Tees Valley Bus Network Project, supported by the Council's Local Transport Plan (LTP3). To achieve the objective of a fully integrated network which maximises accessibility and connectivity, further work will be necessary to determine the extent of the Council subsidised Borough Bus Service network and how it can be provided.

The challenges to contribute towards economic growth respond to the recommendations made in the “Eddington Study” (2006) to improve transport’s contribution to economic growth and productivity. This report identified that delays and unreliability increase business costs and affect productivity and that growth in travel demand is concentrated on certain parts of the network at certain times of day. The challenge is therefore to improve the performance of the existing network in order to improve ‘predictable end-to-end journey time’ for travel to work, and for business trips and goods movements. The Council and our partners need to engage fully in addressing these issues to improve the economy of the borough. The Eddington Study recommended the following policy mix:

 Making best use of existing networks such as traffic flow management on roads or lower-carbon transport choices.  Targeted new infrastructure investment in airports, ports, rail and road, with smaller projects to unlock pinch points potentially offering very high returns.  Adapting the delivery chain to meet changing demands including prioritising those policies which offer the highest returns for each pound of resources and reforming transport governance at local and sub-regional levels.

National funding will provide investment in the national rail and highway networks and for concessionary bus travel arrangements for older and disabled people. Support for local authority investment in transport will recognise that small local schemes often represent excellent value for money. This covers local measures to improve traffic-flow, promote buses, cycling and walking, enable effective road maintenance and enhance local travel networks.

As the Eddington Study recognised, however, investment alone will not be sufficient to deliver the step-change in transport that is needed in our congested urban areas. Local authorities and sub-regional groups of authorities also need the right powers to co-ordinate all the key parts of their transport network to deliver sustained improvements in reliability and capacity. For this reason, we are promoting the Local Transport Bill to improve local transport governance, as well as giving authorities powers to improve local bus services and to facilitate the introduction of local road 116 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 pricing schemes alongside public transport improvements, in consultation with local people.

THE DaSTS CHALLENGES

Within the Goal of Promoting Economic Growth, the specific challenges identified in the DaSTS framework are:

Cities and Regional Networks  Reduce lost productive time including by maintaining or improving the reliability and predictability of journey times on key local routes for business, commuting and freight.  Improve the connectivity and access to labour markets of key business centres.  Deliver the transport improvements required to support the sustainable provision of housing, and in particular the PSA target of increasing supply to 240,000 net additional dwellings by 2016.  Ensure local transport networks are resistant and adaptable to shocks and impacts such as economic shocks, adverse weather, accidents, terrorist attacks and impacts of climate change.

Cross-Network (National Policy)  Ensure a competitive transport industry by simplifying and improving regulation to benefit transport users and providers and maximising the value for money from transport spending.

BACKGROUND – THE EVIDENCE BASE

Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council Corporate Plan “Our Plan 2009-14” Key messages on the state of the economy and the Council’s vision from “Our Plan” are:

How things are now:  We host world-class industries of international importance.  Unemployment has been reducing year on year but is a major issue.  We have skills gaps in key areas – scientists, technicians etc.  Funding of £11m secured for the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative.  Training and other services delivered to local people to improve employability.  There is some £8 billion of inward investment planned.  We have some significant deprivation issues.  Poor quality town centres and run down industrial estates.  Acute deprivation in 3 wards has got worse.  We don’t have enough suitable business premises across the borough.  Some urban areas are experiencing severe housing market collapse while others are faced with rapidly rising house prices and a shortage of good quality affordable/supported housing.  The Rural Bus Grant has been used to support services to enable residents to access early shift employment. 117 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Our vision for the future:  We will provide a range of employment opportunities reflective of the needs and aspirations of our communities.  We will see a renaissance in the area becoming a tourist destination, building on our magnificent coastline, countryside and industrial heritage.  By encouraging the development and use of sustainable technology by local businesses we will seek to minimise the impact of industry and commerce on the environment.  We will protect the borough’s areas of natural beauty, ensuring that the borough celebrates, maintains and promotes its great heritage and assets, and improve our towns and town centres to attract tourists, visitors and new businesses.  As a major employer in the area, we will drive to provide and extend opportunities for training and employment.  We will harness the outstanding character of our borough to promote tourism linked to an improved economy and the creation of local jobs.  We will work with the voluntary and community sectors to increase the skills and confidence of this sector and encourage more people to become more active within their local community.  We will work to address housing market failure and create sustainable inclusive and cohesive communities where people choose to live.  We will extend the “housing offer” throughout the borough to provide real choice for our residents.  We will improve and maintain the condition and management of existing housing and neighbourhoods, and provide housing that is healthy, energy efficient and safe.  We will facilitate the development or adaptation of housing to meet the specialised needs of specific sections of the community to promote social inclusion and enable people to live independently for longer.  We will facilitate the development of new housing in sufficient numbers to meet the present and future needs of the borough, and to take account of aspirations for better housing and a balanced housing stock.  We will extend the range of housing options available to a variety of vulnerable residents including older people and single households providing housing with care as amore suitable alternative to communal traditional residential and nursing care particularly for older people.  The transport system will enable residents in all areas of the borough to have access to a modern, accessible and integrated service.  We will ensure that the borough contributes to and benefits from national and regional cultural initiatives.  We will incorporate the development of culture and tourism within all our plans to regenerate the borough and contribute further to the growth of our local economy.  We will improve our highway network ensuring that it is safe and serviceable and meets the needs of all future requirements.  We will increase the opportunities for paid employment for disabled people.

Employment There are approximately 55,000 people in employment within the borough and our

118 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 employment rate had been improving to mid-2008. However, at 68.3%, it lagged behind the national average of 74.5% and since then, in line with National Trends, unemployment has increased again by 2%. 47% of those unemployed are under the age of 25 and 32% of those unemployed have been so for over 6 months.

Consultations Transport and accessibility are issues that are raised in consultations on all Council services and the activities of our partners. Access to work, social and health facilities are restricted by the current public transport systems within the borough. Examples of issues arising are given below:

Just the Ticket – consultation with disabled people Transport & access  Need better access to local shops, towns, buildings & housing  More regular accessible public transport  More low line accessible buses  More regular / accessible buses within Eston & East Cleveland  More accessible taxis. Employment & Training  More disability awareness from employers  More accessible buildings & facilities  Wider choice of courses, training & job opportunities  Better access to employment & training  More flexible hours at training centres.

Joint Strategic Needs Assessment – Partnership with NHS Tees To ensure that communities are supported equally to access:  Affordable, modern and accessible transport  Public transport to a wider range of places, including health care facilities and services  Safe, warm and dry housing  A range of information and support to facilitate healthy choices and lifestyles  Adult learning/training and employment opportunities

To develop a wide range of services which provide or address:  The health and social needs of community groups, for example older people, but also those in the more deprived wards  Positively impact on the environmental health of residents (e.g. CO2 emissions from industry)  Regenerate Redcar and Cleveland and increase employment opportunity and economic sustainability for new business, the voluntary and community sectors and individuals through modern apprenticeships and appropriate support/training  Support for those with health problems to maintain tenancy agreements, access to transport, education and employment opportunities  Initiatives which overcome barriers of low income to living a healthy lifestyle

Congestion 119 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

In the national context, congestion in Redcar & Cleveland is not as significant an issue as in other urban areas. For monitoring of LTP2, the Council has used annual information on total road traffic mileage that is provided by DfT. A target was set for a maximum 10% increase from 2003 to 2010 (Latest Figures 2008). This target is unlikely to be exceeded.

Mandatory Baseline Actual and Trajectory Data End Indicator Data Target LTP2 2003 Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 2010 Change in 950 Actual 961 995 1012 1011 Road Figure Traffic Trajectory 977 990 1004 1017 1045 Mileage

Car Ownership Based on Census data, the percentage of households in Redcar & Cleveland without access to a car fell from 38% in 1991 to 32% in 2001. This compares to the national trend for England and Wales of 32% to 26% during the same period. Beyond this period, the number of cars per 1000 households in the borough increased from 914 in 2001 to 1010 in 2004. This increase in car ownership emphasises the popularity of the private car. Furthermore, Redcar & Cleveland still has some way to go to reach the national level of access to a private car, hence there is potentially a degree of latent demand.

STRATEGY OPTIONS

The Council will need to include a mixture of transport delivery approaches to address the requirements of economic growth in the borough. These will need to make the best use of existing infrastructure, target any necessary local improvements and make changes to transport services for the benefit of residents, employees and businesses. The objective is to provide an efficient highway network in Redcar & Cleveland and to offer viable alternative modes of transport to the private car. It needs to be recognised that the journeys of customers to make use of services are just as important for economic growth as the commuting journeys of employees who provide those services.

Supply-side initiatives have the objective of offering viable alternative modes of transport to the private car. These involve improvements to infrastructure and facilities that improve peoples’ perceptions of the safety, comfort and quality of their use as appropriate. Improvements to walking, cycling, bus and rail use will address all of the DaSTS Goals by improving accessibility, health and safety and reducing carbon emissions and other negative impacts on the environment. The proposed improvements to these, and the details of the proposed Smarter Choices promotional initiative are discussed in Chapter 4, Reducing Carbon Emissions.

These physical measures need to be complemented by demand management tools that can be effective in managing the demand for travel with the aspiration of reducing the likelihood of saturating the network during the busiest periods. Key opportunities are considered below. 120 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Tees Valley Demand Management Framework The Tees Valley Congestion Statement has formed the basis for managing the demand to travel throughout the LTP2 period by targeting the following:  Single occupant commuting cars travelling at peak times;  Journeys to school by car;  Short journeys under 2 miles; and  Bulk long distance freight which could use railways and the port.

Methods available include:  Car Parking Strategy - managing car parking availability and cost, in particular increased cost and reduced supply for long stay public parking;  Car Sharing (“2+ Travel”) and Car Clubs;  Reallocation of road space for transport other than the private car;  Encouraging long distance freight to use railways and ports;  Public information campaigns and public transport information improvements;  Specifically targeted mode shift campaigns including travel planning;  Teleworking and teleconferencing; and  home shopping.

Car Parking Strategy The management of off-street car parks has been a long standing duty of the Council and this was extended to on-street parking when Decriminalisation of Parking Enforcement (DPE) was introduced across the borough of Redcar & Cleveland in 2003. This took the enforcement of car parking offences away from Cleveland Police and placed them under the jurisdiction of the Council. This allows enforcement resources to be targeted towards areas that are the greatest concern, including schools and bus stops, thereby reducing overall congestion and delay.

Other aspects of the car parking strategy include:  Improving access to car parks;  Using existing parking stock more efficiently;  Managing car parking availability and cost, in particular increased cost and reduced supply for long stay public parking; and  Improve the safety and security of the borough’s car parks.

On street residential parking is also being tackled through a combination of parking controls, including waiting restrictions and resident parking zones, and improvements to the layout of streets to ease access.

Travel Planning Travel planning provides a mechanism for establishing existing travel patterns to and from a place of work and helps to identify opportunities to change travel behaviour in order to relieve localised congestion issues.

The Council has established the www.redcarclevelandtravelplans.co.uk website to encourage developers and businesses to develop and monitor travel plans. 121 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Workplace Travel Plans are requested for medium and large scale developments through the planning process.

Other travel planning opportunities to be explored during LTP3 include:  Personalised travel planning; and  Local travel awareness campaigns.

Information on Travel Options Opportunities to make best use of technological advances to encourage efficient journey choices through better information include:  Websites for information and guidance;  Telephone / web / text / shopping centre information;  Lift share database; and  Multiple language support for foreign visitors.

Community Transport The Council is engaged with the Tees Valley Community Transport Forum, led by the Tees Valley Rural Community Council, to try to identify opportunities for the introduction of small scale transport services for small numbers of passengers. We have provided vehicles to the FROG Community Transport organisation in Grangetown and we are working with a community group in East Cleveland to establish a Rural Community Transport Hub. The aim is to provide journeys to work and other services that are not provided by commercial bus services using vehicles and operating procedures that are appropriate in scale for the small numbers of passengers involved. The Council’s own Integrated Transport Unit has already undertaken the provision of some minibus services to connect the villages of Lazenby and Easington to neighbouring towns.

Managing the Network The Traffic Management Act of 2004 placed a statutory Network Management Duty on Local Traffic Authorities to establish processes to identify and, where reasonable practicable, deal with works and incidents that can cause congestion and disruption. The main aims of the duty are to minimise the impact and duration of works on the highway on road users and to plan ahead for the impacts of planned and unplanned events. The arrangements that an Authority must make to manage the network are set out in Section 17 of the Act. These include the appointment of a Traffic Manager and the need to determine specific policies and objectives for the different roads in their network.

The Council undertook a reorganisation of its highways functions to take account of the requirements of the Traffic Management Act 2004. Road and streetworks responsibilities were combined into a remodelled highways maintenance group and the Traffic Manager role was included within the remit of the Highway Maintenance Manager. This role is now included within the remit of the Council’s Engineering Manager.

The key function of this post has been to substantially improve the process for coordination of the highway maintenance programme with other Council highway

122 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 works and with planned works by utility companies. The impact of the Integrated Transport capital programme that is developed in parallel each year is also taken into account. Considering these programmes together has reduced the need to carry out works on the same section of road within a relatively short period of time (a couple of years). Highway maintenance works can be brought forward if appropriate on roads where integrated transport schemes are proposed or they can be deferred until utility works are complete so that the utility companies will not be digging through newly completed highway maintenance works. All major and minor works are coordinated and subject to notification procedures in the same way. This ensures that all Council works are given equal consideration with works by any other organisations

The process for coordination with planned utility company works has been developed through the North of England Highway Authorities and Utility Companies Group (NEHAUC). Meetings are held at the beginning of each year to share proposed work programmes and identify where the companies and the Council are intending to work in the same vicinity. This enables the potential conflicts to be identified so that the implications can be properly managed. Consultation with the police, emergency services, public transport operators and school travel coordinators is undertaken every 6-weeks through the Redcar and Cleveland Traffic Management Liaison Group. This presents proposed Council and Utility work programmes and planned events in advance to allow the organisations to identify schemes that may create some issues. They are then presented with scheme details and working methods as appropriate at a later date so that they can influence the final design and methodology. If road closures are unavoidable due to the narrowness of the roads involved, diversion routes and bus routes can be planned in advance and steps can be taken to minimise the duration of the disruption. Pedestrian and cycle movements and local access continue to be accommodated wherever possible, having regard to safety considerations.

The rural nature of parts of the borough leads to these being particularly affected when roads are closed for repair or utility work as there is often a long diversion route via minor roads. This can cause severe local congestion in the small villages that can lie along the diversion routes. This has been recognised in the assessment of corporate risk as having a high impact on communities and businesses, thus works are programmed and coordinated to minimise the disruption that can be caused.

Making information available to the public is an important part of the process. Planned events, including roadworks, are published in a map and text based format on the Council’s website and are updated weekly. This information is also sent to the media, AA Roadwatch etc. who broadcast information to road users and on-site signs are erected in advance to allow road users to plan ahead. Unplanned events are dealt with in the same way with the information published as soon as it becomes known. There are formal arrangements in place to deal with all types of incidents, both during normal working hours and out of hours, from whatever source the information arises.

Arrangements are also in place with the Highways Agency in relation to diversion routes for incidents on the strategic road network. Agreement has been reached on the roads that traffic would be diverted to use in the event of the closure of particular

123 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 sections of the trunk roads. In the event of the Streetworks Coordinator being notified of the need for an emergency closure, this allows him to notify utility companies and other contractors to cease any works on the diversion routes in order to accommodate a temporarily increased traffic flow.

The application of all of these procedures has an important role to play in keeping traffic moving, minimising congestion and improving the reliability of journey times for all road users – freight movement, bus services and commuter journeys alike. Providing reliability will give businesses the confidence to invest in the area and residents the confidence to take up the available jobs, improving economic growth.

Highway Maintenance

The key action being undertaken by the Council to fulfil its duty is the improved coordination of highway maintenance and integrated transport works programmes. This minimises the number of occasions on which traffic disruption takes place and involves both the Council and its contracting partner. It is recognised that the duties and responsibilities under the Traffic Management Act go beyond the coordination of simply our own works, as described above.

The Council needs to enable people to move easily around the borough to use the wider range of services that they require. It is important therefore, that the infrastructure that enables movement is maintained to a level that enables this activity to take place safely and efficiently. Highway maintenance needs to contribute to accessibility within the borough by ensuring the footways, cycleways and highways are maintained to the most appropriate standard using the value for money approach to asset management. Capital and revenue maintenance programmes are developed primarily based on condition surveys, however, wider priorities also need to have an influence on the prioritisation of works. Routes to employment areas can be targeted for commuter and freight movements to maintain the economic viability of the area.

Rural areas of the borough can be heavily reliant on key local strategic routes. The consequences of works on these routes, and the impact on diversion routes, need to be carefully considered when planning the type of treatment to be implemented and the timing and duration of the works. Consideration also needs to be given to the specific impact on bus services and agreement reached with the bus operators regarding any alternative measures required.

Land Use Planning The Council uses planning and development control powers to optimise transport infrastructure associated with changes in land use, guided by the statutory plan, the Redcar and Cleveland Local Development Framework (LDF). The adopted Core Strategy of the LDF contains a range of policies to promote regeneration and sustainable development within the borough. Key objectives that are being addressed by the adopted policies are:

 Locate the majority of development within easy access to jobs, shops, local services and transport services for all sections of the community;  Focus the majority of development within the urban area, with a smaller 124 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

proportion of development in the rural area;  Recognise the importance of access and connectivity within and between communities;  Seek to improve transport choice and minimise the distance people need to travel;  Seek to improve accessibility within and beyond the borough through improving bus routes, passenger rail services, integration between the different modes of transport and the efficiency of freight access and existing freight interchanges;  Seek to support the development of pedestrian, cycling and equestrian networks.

Developers are required to prepare a Transport Assessment to ensure that their access arrangements offer sufficient capacity and to make adequate provisions for sustainable modes of transport such as buses, pedestrians and cyclists. Significant negotiations are undertaken with prospective developers and other organisations regarding the accommodation of the future impact of their developments. This seeks to avoid future traffic congestion while enabling important developments to proceed at the earliest opportunity. The Council also engages in negotiations with the Highways Agency and Network Rail to ensure that the transport needs of major developments can be accommodated on the highway and rail networks.

The Council has worked in partnership with the other Tees Valley authorities, the Tees Valley Joint Strategy Unit and the Highways Agency to have a study undertaken into the combined impact on the strategic road network of the full range of developments proposed across the Tees Valley. This study is improving the traffic modelling capabilities for the sub-region to enable medium and long-term views to be taken of potential congestion issues and solutions, including both private and public transport options.

A table of the details and transport implications of the proposed major development sites in the borough is given in Chapter 3.

Managing Freight Transport Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council is committed to managing freight transport in the borough in order to reduce the impact on the environment and to minimise the contribution to congestion.

There is currently a large amount of heavy industry that generates considerable volumes of freight in the borough, not least Teesport, now the second largest port in the UK in terms of tonnage handled. Despite this, the movement of freight causes relatively few problems in comparison with the volumes moved. The industrial heritage of the Tees Valley region means that the major industrial sites have good rail connections and continue to use them. The principal commodity handled by Teesport is bulk fuels including unrefined and refined petroleum products. Much of these goods are transported inland by pipeline rather than road or rail.

While the scale of problems relating to freight movement in Redcar & Cleveland are not as great as they could be, there are still issues related to freight movement that need to be tackled by both road and by rail. The Highways Agency has recently commenced works on junction improvements on the A174(T) and the A1053(T) to 125 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 accommodate freight movements associated with two new major retail distribution warehouse developments that have been constructed at Teesport during LTP2.

The Council produced a Freight Transport Map in conjunction with the freight industry, designed to assist drivers of commercial vehicles travelling within the Redcar & Cleveland area. In addition to identifying the recommended main through routes, the map also includes insets of the four major destinations in the borough. This map is available on the Council’s website.

One immediate rail objective is to improve the capabilities of rail freight serving Teesport, especially given the planned expansion of the Port. Route studies have been undertaken by Network Rail to assess rail gauge issues for the introduction of increased clearance for the carriage of larger containers by rail. Funding sources will need to be investigated to see how necessary improvements can be introduced.

STRATEGY

The Redcar & Cleveland policies for the Promotion of Economic Growth through LTP3 are:

 PEG1 - Supply the best possible integrated transport system for employees in the borough of Redcar & Cleveland. The package of measures will include implementing initiatives to improve facilities and services for Bus Use, Walking, Cycling and Passenger Rail Services.

 PEG2 - Manage the demand for travel, in particular during peak periods. The package of measures will include car parking restraint and enforcement; providing informed travel choices; considerate land use planning.

 PEG3 - Make best use of the existing highway network, using the powers of the Traffic Management Act, under the control of the Traffic Manager.

 PEG4 - Address localised congestion issues, in particular through the development of Workplace Travel Plans and through localised traffic management schemes.

 PEG5 - Manage freight transport in the borough to provide reliability of journey times and minimise adverse environmental impacts.

Promoting Alternative Modes of Travel Transport actions will predominantly contribute to the promotion of economic growth through improving journey time reliability and promoting the use of alternatives to the private car. Making improved facilities available and promoting the benefits of their use will encourage people to make use of the most appropriate modes of travel for their journeys. A description of the main actions to improve alternative modes of transport and the proposed Smarter Choices programme are given in Chapter 4, 126 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Reducing Carbon Emissions.

Land Use Planning The Core Strategy document of the Redcar & Cleveland Local Development Framework has the reduction of the need to travel and the location of new developments in existing conurbations as key policies. This will play a fundamental role in enabling the use of non-motorised modes of transport for shorter journeys, particularly for people who do not have access to a car. These principles will be carried through into the development of future Development Plan Documents and they need to be applied through the development control process.

Network Management The Council needs to continue to carry out the statutory Network Management Duty that has arisen from the Traffic Management Act 2004. The main aims of the duty are to minimise the impact and duration of works on the highway on road users and to plan ahead for the impacts of planned and unplanned events. This helps to build journey time reliability into the network. The Traffic Manager will continue to coordinate the highway maintenance programme with other Council highway works and with planned works by utility companies. Liaison will take place with the utility companies and key partners to maximise the effectiveness of the process. Regular information updates on the programme of works will be made available for the benefit of the travelling public along with emergency information on unplanned events.

Freight Management Opportunities for Freight Management in Redcar & Cleveland during the period of LTP3 are summarised below.

Freight Management in Redcar & Cleveland

. Provide HGV signing to encourage use of preferred routes and reduce reliance on SatNav systems that direct the use of unsuitable routes; . Work with industry and other key stakeholders to encourage greater use of rail for freight transport, in particular resolving the current capacity constraints serving Teesport; . Continue to work with delivery companies and retailers in town centres to influence logistics / delivery patterns; and . Provide signing and planning support for potential service providers to ensure there are adequate and conveniently located facilities for visiting lorry drivers.

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128 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

CHAPTER 6 :- EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY

INTRODUCTION Ensuring that our transport systems provide effective access for everyone, including disadvantaged groups and disabled people, to jobs, services and social networks is a core aim of national and local transport policy. People’s life-chances can vary hugely depending on birth and geography, with household incomes varying widely and there are pockets of deprivation in even the most affluent areas. This is why it will be important to promote greater Equality of Opportunity. We need to identify where transport improvements can help redress inequalities of this kind and we need to target effort to prevent poor accessibility from reinforcing wider social exclusion.

DaSTS recognises that in the drive for sustained GDP growth, CO2 reduction and an improvement in average quality of life, we must not lose sight of the needs of disadvantaged areas or the least mobile people. It indicates that average household income (adjusted for cost-of-living) varies from £18,800 in the North East to £26,100 in the South East and £29,200 in London. There are also wide divergences on unemployment and other measures so there needs to be a commitment to reducing the persistent gap in growth rates. There are individuals in all areas whose life- prospects are relatively poor and there are also specific transport issues for rural areas in general and for isolated communities in particular.

DaSTS indicates that tackling disadvantage in local areas is a Government priority, to be delivered primarily by local authorities who best understand the needs of neighbourhoods and of sections of their community. Transport can contribute to achieving wider aims, which need to be considered in local Sustainable Community Strategies, Local Area Agreements and Local Development Frameworks. The Department for Transport is committed to enhancing access to jobs, services and social networks, including for the most disadvantaged, and will provide advice and assistance to authorities as they plan how best to achieve their goals.

Accessibility is not simply a transport issue. It is about the range of opportunities and choices that people have in connecting with jobs, services and friends and families. Their level of access will depend on where people choose to live, where services are located, the availability of ‘home delivery’ of goods or services such as medical care, and the availability and affordability of transport. Improving accessibility can be achieved through one or a mixture of these. Different social groups have different transport needs and priorities. For example, good access to healthcare is particularly important for those with children and for older people. People with disabilities are less likely to drive and more likely to be dependant on public or community transport, or lifts from family and friends. In some rural areas access to a car can be crucial to maintaining accessibility. Table 6.1 summarises some of the key accessibility issues identified with stakeholders (it is important to stress that not all members of a ‘target group’ will have the transport issues mentioned).

The projected ageing of the population provides an additional challenge and incentive to focus harder on the needs of users with a range of mobility issues. At a national level, the number of people aged over 65 will increase from 8 million to 11 million by 2024, and the proportion of the population aged over 85 will more than 129 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 double. Transport providers need to be aware of the particular needs of disabled users.

Table 6.1: Groups most vulnerable to poor accessibility Target group Transport issues Low travel horizons, fear of crime on public transport, some Low-income require help with travel costs to work to support job retention and address in-work poverty. Require support with job search activities and to prevent transport Job-seekers being a barrier to employment. Some low- Access to social and cultural networks, healthcare and healthy income parents food shops for parents and families at risk of social exclusion. Transport-related exclusion in rural areas regarding access to Low-income employment, healthcare, healthy food shops, education and social rural households and cultural networks. Disabled Transport-related exclusion for disabled adults; current multiple working-age forms of transport assistance; to give additional help to job search adults activities for disabled people. Disabled Assistance needed for families to avoid transport-related exclusion children and for disabled children and young people. young people Older people Appropriate transport for older people with limited mobility and at with limited risk of social exclusion. mobility Some groups more likely to be low-income; socio-cultural barriers Black and sometimes a barrier to travelling and using public transport. Some minority ethnic groups likely to be fearful of using public transport because of groups personal security issues. Source: DfT

In March 2010, a consultation document on a proposed Child Poverty Act published by the former Department for Children, Schools and Families stated “Transport has been identified as one of the factors to directly influence families’ ability to enter and sustain well paid employment.”

Transport services can assist in creating jobs in regeneration areas but it is important not to exaggerate transport’s ability to stimulate job creation. Unless adequacy of skills and other issues are properly addressed, improved transport connections can just as easily suck employment from an area as create new jobs in it. Transport measures are most likely to help when they are part of a locally co-ordinated, wide ranging, package of initiatives.

Under equality of opportunity, there are some obvious challenges in terms of urban deprivation and rural accessibility, with the rural issues being particularly difficult. The disadvantage of not having access to a car is greater in rural areas than urban ones. However, public transport provision can both require high subsidy and be inefficient 130 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 in climate change terms because of the low passenger numbers per bus or train. Sustainable solutions will require a clearer consensus on what constitutes a reasonable level of access to services, an increased emphasis on ‘home delivery’ of services and innovative thinking (learning from best practice around Britain and abroad) on carbon-friendly ways of meeting rural transport needs.

The key source of information on local health is the 2009 Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) for Redcar & Cleveland, developed jointly by the National Health Service and the Council. This document draws together a wide range of health data, demographic data and customer survey data on needs and expectations to enable organisations to plan their service delivery effectively for the short, medium and longer term. Some key statistics and issues that can be addressed by improved transport and accessibility are given below.

Children and young people From what people say  Access to affordable transport (access to transport generally in the east of the borough)  More places to go and things to do  More safe places to cross the road  More safe places to play  Free/subsidised travel for all young people on public transport

Older People From available data or other ‘hard’ intelligence  The numbers of people aged over 55 will increase from 44200 in 2008 to 55600 in 2025  The greatest proportional rate of increase in numbers is for people aged 75+  Overall the population aged over 55 will increase by 26% between 2008 and 2025  Increasing healthy life expectancy of older people  There will be a reduction in number of working age people (as potential carers)  As at Nov 2008 there were 28975 people in R&C claiming state pension

THE DaSTS CHALLENGES Within the Goal of Promoting Equality of Opportunity, the specific challenges identified in the DaSTS framework are:

Cities and Regional Networks  Enhance social inclusion and the regeneration of deprived or remote areas by enabling disadvantaged people to connect with employment opportunities, key local services, social networks and goods through improving accessibility, availability, affordability and acceptability.  Contribute to the reduction in the gap between economic growth rates for different English regions.

Cross-Network (National Policy)  Enhance social inclusion by enabling disadvantaged people to connect with employment opportunities, key services, social networks and goods through

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improving accessibility, availability, affordability and acceptability.

BACKGROUND – THE EVIDENCE BASE

A wide range of sources of information exist on issues relating to the population of the borough. These range from formal statistics to the results of surveys with specific groups of people in society. A description of the key issues from these is given below.

Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) The IMD ranks Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) in England and is based on a standard set of indictors within 7 domains, Income, Employment, Education, Health, Crime, Living Environment and Housing. Typically, a LSOA will have a target total population of 1500, equating to approximately 400 households, but will have a minimum of 1000 residents. In Redcar and Cleveland we have 22 wards with 92 LSOAs.

The IMD 2007 ranks the borough as 50 out of 354 local authorities in the country (1 being worst). This shows continuous improvement, although not fast, on the 2000 and 2004 positions. It appears that in 2007 Redcar and Cleveland’s overall deprivation levels are less than in 2004. However, it seems the more deprived areas are becoming more deprived, whilst the less deprived areas are improving slightly. Based on IMD 2007 national rank, R&C has:

 Proportionally less deprivation than Tees - 34% of R&C LSOAs are in the most deprived quintile (Q5) compared to 40% in Tees.  Proportionally less affluence than Tees or the NE - 8% of R&C LSOAs are in the most affluent quintile (Q1) compared to 11% in Tees and 10% in the NE

Across the borough, 5289 children and young people who are on school roll, live within the 10% most deprived areas within the country. 53% of this total figure lives in the South Tees locality.

The Children and Young People’s Plan (CYPP) The vision of the CYPP 2009-12 is: “Redcar and Cleveland Children and Young People’s Trust believes that every child and young person should be able to live healthy, safe, happy and fulfilling lives, free from poverty and with opportunities to learn, expand their personal horizons and realise their ambitions and aspirations.”

The Council has listened to what a range of children, young people, parents, carers and staff working with children, young people and families across the borough have told us that they would like for themselves and each other. We have also taken account of the wide range of national consultation with children and young people such as ‘Time to Talk’ that presents a detailed picture of what life is like today for children and young people and how they would like to see it change.

Children and young people should be provided with services, support and opportunities that support achieving the Every Child Matters outcomes of: 132 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

• Be healthy • Stay safe • Enjoy and Achieve • Make a Positive Contribution • Achieve Economic well-being

A key objective is that “Children, young people and families have access to affordable transport”. Actions that are taking place to address this, with 2009 costs, are:

Home to School Transport £1,642,150 Subsidised School Bus Routes £97,050 Travel Plans Grant £24,465 Post 16 SEN Transport Grant £60,800

All schools are signed up to the Healthy Schools programme with 82% having achieved healthy schools status to date, above regional, national and statistical neighbour averages

Ageing Well in Redcar & Cleveland – Strategy for Services for Older People 2009-14 This document was prepared by the Adult and Children’s Services Department of the Council. The University of Teesside assisted in holding focus groups, face-to-face meetings and a questionnaire survey of older people. Key issues that arose, related to the priorities that arose, are:

Health and Well Being Discussions and returns around this issue focussed on issues of health and general well being. Transport was discussed as a factor in Loneliness, Isolation and Social Support.

Main themes: Of 79 responses, 29 (37%) related directly to transport where it was felt: • Transport improvement generally is needed. • Dial-A-Ride needs extending. It was frequently mentioned Dial-A-Ride did not extend to James Cook Hospital and it was felt the organisation of the service should be improved.

Quality of Life and Economic Well Being: Transport Issues Discussions and returns around this issue focussed on access to social, leisure and learning activities.

Main themes: • Negative experiences or feelings in relation to transport were the most frequently mentioned items with 18 responses (33%) from a total of 54. Concerns were raised over the timing, routing and availability of services.

Making a Positive Contribution Main themes:

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Transport issues underpinned all the themes discussed including: • The need for greater social inclusion; • Improvements in access to recreation and leisure opportunities; • Improvements in information, access to training and voluntary work

Exercise of Choice and Control: Transport Issues Main themes: • Transportation was raised as an issue in terms of the importance of retaining independence. The ability to travel to access other services was seen as a major factor. • Transportation was also a concern in discussion over control in accommodation issues.

General Views About Old Age: Transport Issues Discussions around this issue focussed on current and future living arrangements. These included what kind of social life and leisure activities were undertaken at the moment or would be likely to be undertaken in the future.

Main themes: • Provision of increased leisure facilities and the associated accessibility requirements. • Transport as a problem is an issue in regards to a continuing social life with 15 out of 52 responses (29%) mentioning this as a concern.

Summary of Findings: Transport Transport is a substantial issue that needs to be addressed. Transport was raised across nearly all the questionnaires interviews and focus groups. • Main concerns were over timetabling, routes and accessibility of bus services. • Dial-A-Ride was viewed positively but as a service in need of improvement. There was frustration it did not operate to James Cook Hospital.

Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) From what people say; Consultation with residents about services for older people (‘Real Voices and Real Choices’) revealed (the need for) the following:  Increased employment opportunities and improved income levels  Better transport arrangements to enable people to make more use of services  Lower levels of fear of crime and personal safety so people are less worried and enjoy a better quality of life  Improved sustainability of local communities and villages with local facilities and social opportunities  People want ready access to information about services that are available and about social activities that they could take part in.  There should be other means of accessing information as well as the internet Better access to universal services like leisure, adult education, and libraries  More opportunities for older people to make a positive contribution and feel valued by society (through employment and volunteering)

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Employment:  In line with National Trends, unemployment has increased by 2%  47% of those unemployed are under the age of 25  32% of those unemployed have been so for over 6 months, 18% of these for more than one year  Employment, including health at work initiatives, back to work pathways and courses to prepare for retirement for our older residents  Economic activity rates show a decline from 74.9 in 2007 to 73.5 in 2008

Social and Economic Well Being To ensure that communities are supported equally to access:  Affordable, modern and accessible transport  Public transport to a wider range of places, including health care facilities and services  A range of information and support to facilitate healthy choices and lifestyles  Adult learning/training and employment opportunities

To develop a wide range of services which provide or address:  The health and social needs of community groups, for example older people, but also those in the more deprived wards  Positively impact on the environmental health of residents (e.g. CO2 emissions)  Regenerate Redcar and Cleveland and increase employment opportunity and economic  sustainability for new business, the voluntary and community sectors and individuals through  modern apprenticeships and appropriate support/training  Support for those with health problems to maintain tenancy agreements, access to transport,  education and employment opportunities  Initiatives which overcome barriers of low income to living a healthy lifestyle

Housing / Transport / Environment / Crime Car Ownership - Households with no cars or vans R&C = 32.27%, England = 26.84%

Walk or cycle to school, 5 to 10-year-olds, 2007/08 Around two-thirds of primary school children walk or cycle to school in Redcar & Cleveland. This is above the England average. Walking or cycling to school is more common in Redcar & Cleveland than in similar authorities.

The Redcar & Cleveland Disabled People’s Partnership Over the years, the Council has supported a range of groups that represent the interests of disabled people, most recently, the Disabled Peoples Partnership (DPP). Transport personnel have played a leading role with these groups from the outset, attending their regular meetings. DPP is an independent group that predominantly consists of disabled people and their carers. It provides a forum for the sharing of experiences and liaison with the Council and other service providers to resolve problems. They have held a series of focus groups and wider meetings under the

135 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 banner of “Just the Ticket” to establish the needs and desires of disabled people in order to provide evidence for future actions. Key issues identified with a transport dimension are:

Transport & access  Need better access to local shops, towns, buildings & housing  More regular accessible public transport  More low line accessible buses  More regular / accessible buses within Eston & East Cleveland  More accessible taxis. Employment & Training  More disability awareness from employers  More accessible buildings & facilities  Wider choice of courses, training & job opportunities  Better access to employment & training  More flexible hours at training centres. Housing & feeling safe  More police / policing  Tackle crime & anti social behaviour  A safer community Health & wellbeing  More accessible / local health services / facilities  Flexible health service appointments for carers and disabled people  More exercise & keep fit opportunities  More accessible leisure & sports facilities  More activities for disabled people and their families

The focus group met in January 2011 specifically to discuss the draft LTP and how the Council should address disability issues in the future. The key general point that arose is that disabled people do not want to be seen as being set apart from the general public in terms of having “special” transport services provided for their use. They want to see much faster introduction of accessible buses and taxis in the borough so that they can make use of fully inclusive services that are available to everyone. Allied to this, there is a need to see transport companies taking a lead in training their staff in disability equality and awareness, and advertising the fact that they are doing this. Funding should be used more wisely and more equitably with money used more smartly to subsidise fares for disabled people who are making journeys, especially people with assessed social care needs, rather than providing specialised transport services.

Disabled Young People As part of the consultation in developing LTP3, young people with a mixture of physical and learning disabilities from the 25k centre in Redcar provided a wide range of comments. These provide a helpful insight to the wider range of concerns that are faced by disabled people that do not arise in many other consultations.

 Feeling anxious if the driver cannot understand them;  Worries about being in a taxi or on transport alone with a driver they do not know; 136 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

 Anxiety when drivers use different routes to those they are used to;  Anxiety when taxis/transport is either earlier or later than the booked time;  Costs of public transport and unreliability;  Issues around male/female drivers;  Public Transport Timetables are hard to read and often very small print;  Public transport being cancelled and individuals being stuck waiting for the next bus;  Taxi companies not sending the same driver for the return journey;  Fear of transport breaking down/not turning up;  Travelling alone on dark nights;  Anti-social behaviour at bus-stops/train stations;  Members of the public being able to do whatever they want on public transport (linking to anti-social behaviour, bullying, drunkenness etc);  Taxi drivers driving too fast.

Redcar & Cleveland Bus Network Consultation A major consultation exercise on Public Transport needs was undertaken during August to October 2009. Residents were given the opportunity to indicate journeys that they need to make that did not have a bus service available. The aim of this has been to provide evidence that can potentially be used to support funding bids for the provision of additional services to improve accessibility across the borough. They could also raise any other issues that could be addressed by the Council or the local bus operators to make improvements to existing services.

The main locations for new service requests were:  East Cleveland (Brotton, Liverton Mines, Loftus);  Ormesby Bank;  Lazenby Village;  Guisborough.

The main “other issues” raised were:  Unreliability of older buses;  Need for newer, accessible vehicles;  Cost of fares;  Lack of capacity at peak times to school and college locations;  Poor punctuality of services leading to people being in trouble at work or college for poor timekeeping;  Timetabling of non-frequent services across the hour.

STRATEGY OPTIONS The borough of Redcar & Cleveland is the largest of the five boroughs in the Tees Valley covering an area of 94 square miles, but has a population of only 140,000. The population is spread through a large number of settlements, with around one third of the population living in communities of under 10,000 people and with an ageing population as younger people move away to take advantage of better economic opportunities elsewhere.

Local economies are generally weak following the decline of the traditional industries, 137 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 with economic regeneration difficult to achieve. Transport links play an important part in maintaining accessibility to essential services and reducing community isolation. As such, improving access to jobs and services, particularly for those most in need, is one of the primary objectives of Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council. This helps to meet national and local objectives including promoting social inclusion, encouraging economic regeneration, increasing employment opportunities, reducing health inequalities, and improving participation and attendance in education.

Equality of Opportunity is about providing a decent standard of transport to everyone across the borough, be they elderly, young, disabled or have some other barrier to travel, some or all of the time. It is about improving the way people use public transport to get around the area and about improving the opportunities for safe cycling and walking for shorter journeys. A significant minority of people do not have access to a private car, have a disability, or prefer to leave their cars at home for a number of reasons including family commitments, an attempt to keep fit, or a desire to use more environmentally friendly modes of transport.

Given the rural nature of large parts of Redcar & Cleveland, those with access to a private car generally have little problem in accessing essential services. The emphasis is therefore to improve the availability and attractiveness of other modes of transport. For shorter journeys, walking and cycling is to be encouraged, whilst for longer trips it will be necessary to offer a range of attractive bus services targeted at key services, such as schools, hospital and places of work.

The development and promotion of Walking, Cycling and Bus Use and the proposed Smarter Choices programme are described in Chapter 4, Reducing Carbon Emissions.

Removing Physical Barriers A key way in which capital funding through the LTP can improve access for individuals is by removing physical barriers that are encountered by the mobility impaired. Where these cannot be totally removed, efforts will be made to lessen the difficulty of overcoming obstacles to movement. An important aspect of this is to ensure that all bus stops have raised kerb treatments to help those who currently have difficulties boarding and alighting at stops. Work on these has been undertaken throughout LTP1 and LTP2 and is proposed to continue in the future, both as part of the Major Bus Improvement Scheme and as part of the LTP3 programme. This complements the introduction of new, low-floor accessible vehicles by the bus operators to fulfil their Disability Discrimination Act obligations. The major bus operator in the borough, Arriva North East, introduced 32 new low floor buses into their Redcar Depot in Spring 2010 to address this requirement.

Difficulties can also occur nearer to the persons’ home than the bus stop. Walking audits need to be carried out on routes to bus stops and other destinations. Implementation is undertaken via a rolling programme, particularly concentrating on core routes that benefit the greatest number of people. We have worked on the provision of dropped kerbs and other footway improvements for many years, both as programmed works and in response to requests from individual residents who experience difficulties in their local area. The routes are assessed and a series of

138 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 minor improvements are undertaken that provide major benefits for those directly affected as well as general benefits for other pedestrians. We have implemented an average of 150 dropped crossings and 50 raised bus stops each year during LTP2.

Accessibility for Disabled People The Council has provided a Dial-a-Ride service for disabled people since the abolition of Cleveland County Council in 1996. This was contracted out to a couple of external operators over the years. The Disabled Peoples Partnership (DPP) has a particular interest in the operation of the service of which many of their members are users. Their related organisation, the Redcar and Cleveland Real Opportunities Centre (ROC), acted in partnership with the Council to support a major programme of consultation for the restructuring of the Dial-a-Ride service in 2008.

A new in-house Dial-a-Ride service commenced operation from April 2008, operated by the Council’s Integrated Transport Unit. As a result of the feedback received during the consultation, the service specification and eligibility for membership have been revised and changes to policy and practice are being phased in. Following comments from the deaf and hearing impaired community, the new booking centre is now capable of receiving bookings via a text facility to improve their level of independence. Council capital funding was used for the acquisition of new vehicles during the 2008/09 financial year to improve the operation of the service. Problems with the adequacy of the new service were raised as a key issue in the Council’s overall consultation on Older People’s Services so improvements need to continue to be introduced as soon as possible.

In order to respond to the national financial restraint programme that is affecting the Council, it has been necessary for changes to be made to the operation of the Dial-a- Ride service. From September 2010, the service has stopped making passenger pick-ups after 5.30pm, instead of 10.30pm as previously. It was found that only 2 wheelchair user passengers regularly made evening trips compared with 127 wheelchair users during daytimes. Other options are available for the majority of evening users while this period of operation accounted for 25% of the total costs for the operation of the service. This therefore did not represent good value for money so was discontinued, with an expected saving of £50,000 per annum.

It is recognized that the Dial-a-Ride service is becoming an outdated and expensive form of transport as more disabled people are being given control of their own lives and budgets and want to have options available to them. There is the potential for the introduction of more wheelchair accessible vehicles as taxis, as indicated in the Taxis section below. Also, the introduction of more low-floor vehicles by bus operators that are suitable for people on bus routes opens up another option. If the availability of these options improves to a satisfactory extent, it is proposed that the operation of the Dial-a-Ride service will be discontinued after April 2012. On-going discussions will be held with the service users and the Disabled Peoples Partnership to advise on the future of the service.

The Council is examining the possibility of offering independent travel training to young disabled people at a newly developed facility in Middlesbrough. This would help to provide disabled people with the skills and confidence that they need to use

139 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 regular transport, thus reducing the need for expensive specialist provision.

As well as providing a direct service for disabled people, the Council has used DPP, ROC and previous disability organisations as consultation forums on wide ranging transport issues. Discussion has taken place on:  The Dial-a-Ride service  Access to buses and the Disability Discrimination Act  Quality Bus Corridor bus boarders  Dropped kerb provision and standards  Pedestrian crossing standards  Car parking requirements  Traffic calming standards  Cycle routes, particularly where they impact on footways  Kissing gates and K barrier access controls

These disabled peoples groups have been consulted during the development of the Local Transport Plans and subsequent Annual Progress Reports and their comments have been included in those documents. They have always expressed appreciation for the Council’s attention to transport issues for disabled people. The Council also helped to establish the Redcar Shopmobility Project by paying the rent for premises on Redcar sea front and subsequently paying emergency funding to ensure the continuation of the project. This is seen as the final link in the transport chain for disabled people to have access around the town centre.

Social Inclusion Actions are taken to assist groups of people who could find themselves to be socially disadvantaged by transport systems. This includes children, older people and women.

The Council has directed a lot of work towards young people over the years, particularly through schools as described earlier in this document. Road Safety education and pedestrian and cycling training are provided extensively to complement the provision of walking and cycling facilities. These have improved independent mobility choices for short and medium distance journeys that young people want to make. Concessionary bus fares are provided for school age children and an extended scheme for all 16-18 year-olds has been introduced by the Council from September 2010.

Transport measures that have been directed towards women particularly assist young mothers. The Buggy Glow initiative has provided advice on the safe use of pushchairs and the Council stages regular Child Safety Seat events around the borough in places like supermarket car parks. These provide checks and fitting in places where parents and children are likely to be present and participate. Training on safety seat fitting has also been provided by road safety officers to Social Services staff so that they can provide the service for their clients. There has also been an uptake of adult cycle training by women who wish to improve their cycling skills and enable them to begin cycling again with more confidence.

Older people benefit from many of the initiatives undertaken for disabled people. 140 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Raised bus boarders make access to public transport easier for these groups and for people with pushchairs as do dropped kerbs on walking routes. Safe and Sound initiatives are run with community organisations for older people to help them to adjust to modern highway and traffic conditions. These have provided advice on defensive walking and “Be Safe Be Seen” awareness.

Taxis The Council’s policies and actions on taxi licensing are given in Chapter 4. Taxis, both hackney carriages and private hire cabs, provide an important public transport service. They improve accessibility by providing a door-to-door service and they are regularly used to provide an interchange service to and from rail and bus stations. In particular, they provide a service to locations that are poorly served by other forms of public transport and an after hours service when regular bus and train services are not operating. They are also used for Council transport contracts for the movement of small numbers of school pupils and Social Services clients as a cost effective alternative to larger public transport vehicles.

There are few wheelchair accessible taxis operating in the borough, either hackneys or private hire, as the Council does not specify the compulsory provision of wheelchair accessible vehicles. The introduction of a policy for this purpose was considered in the past but was discounted due to the likely impact that the cost of the vehicles would have on the level of service provision in the borough. Currently, our policy for hackney carriage vehicles stipulates that all new saloon vehicles must be fitted with an approved rotating seat to improve ease of access. Both the hackney carriage and private hire vehicle policies contain sections relating to the compulsory carriage of guide dogs and the carriage of wheelchair bound passengers in adapted vehicles.

It is recognised that this is an issue that is of great concern to our disability organisation partners and so a review of the current situation is currently being carried out (Sept 2010). It is proposed that wheelchair accessible vehicles being introduced as taxis can be up to six years old, as long as they meet the Exceptionally Well Maintained criteria, in order to reduce the potential cost of introducing these vehicles. It is also proposed that there will be a discounted cost for the licensing of the vehicles as taxis and that all drivers will be required to undertake mandatory disability awareness training. It is proposed that a consultation with the taxi trade will be undertaken from mid-September to November 2010, to seek Council approval in December and introduce the revised requirements in the New Year. The Disabled Peoples Partnership has requested that there should be a requirement for all wheelchair accessible vehicles to be side-loading, for safety, convenience and dignity purposes. This will be added to the consultation.

Part 12 of the Equalities Act 2010, commencing at Section 160, covers the provision of taxi services and allows the Secretary of State to make regulations governing the specification of vehicles used as taxis. If any regulations are made under these sections, the Council will obviously make the necessary amendments to our policies to achieve compliance. We are currently carrying out a survey of all proprietors relating to accessible vehicles which we will be collating into a public register which will comply with Section 167 of the Act.

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Improving Access to Core Services Outlined below are some of the measures that are being considered to help address some of the identified issues of access to services, sub-divided by themes: Education; Links to Employment & Regeneration; Health & Social Services; and Tourism and Rural Accessibility.

Access to Education Partly as a result of falling numbers of school pupils in the borough, there has been a series of amalgamations of schools in the borough. This process is likely to continue and can result in some schools being located further away from pupils’ homes than their original schools. Measures must be implemented to ensure pupils are not disadvantaged from accessing their schools and to maximise the opportunity to use modes of transport other than the private car.

The Education and Inspections Act 2006 extended eligibility for free school travel to encourage greater choice of schools among less well-off families. This opportunity has been taken up by around 225 pupils in the borough.

All schools in the borough now have approved School Travel Plans and these need to continue to be promoted over the years to maximise the benefits that can be achieved. Of particular importance is the need to consider the accessibility of locations identified for new schools. This will ensure that the most appropriate sites are taken forward for development.

Access to Employment and Regeneration Reducing peripherality to promote improved economic conditions and assist regeneration is a primary objective of the Council. Improving access to existing and proposed employment and regeneration sites throughout the Tees Valley has been identified as not solely an issue for residents in the more rural parts of the borough, but to ensure good quality access to key locations outside the borough.

The 2009 Bus Network Consultation and discussion with people in employment and regeneration services have assisted in the identification of where there are gaps in the bus service network and issues with existing services. Examples are distances, journey times and unreliability of services from East Cleveland to the main urban centres and the lack of services into the major South Tees and Teesport employment areas. This evidence will allow new and improved services to be considered and, where appropriate, implemented along with other physical improvements to public transport infrastructure to encourage people to use buses. Arriva North East has made changes to their service network in East Cleveland in response to the requests and have introduced new low-floor buses that will improve reliability. However, there are still some concerns about service capacity from Brotton in the peak hours as these services are heavily used by school and college students.

The Bus Network Improvement Scheme includes a series of proposed improvements at junctions and along the major bus routes to improve journey time reliability to enable people to depend on bus services for access to work. In certain cases, consideration will be given to increasing highway capacity, to reduce delays and

142 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 congestion to enable regeneration to proceed.

A local community organisation Future Regeneration of Grangetown (FROG) has engaged in an innovative transport to employment project with several housing associations. This involves unemployed people taking part in training to develop basic employment skills and voluntary work on public spaces around their areas and in return they are given free driving lessons leading to a driving test. Having a driving licence will then be an asset that greatly improves the flexibility of the individual to be able to take up employment.

Access to Health and Social Care One of the major driving forces behind health delivery is the need to improve patient access to services. The consolidation of GP practices and changes to the range of services available in hospitals in the area provides an opportunity to ensure that the appropriate form and level of transport provision is available to patients.

The health agenda is being driven by the need to reduce waiting times for treatment and to make health services more accessible. This is being addressed by NHS Redcar & Cleveland by the replacement of the hospital in Redcar and the development of new health centres around the borough. This has reduced the need to travel to James Cook University Hospital for some patients but has introduced the need to ensure a good level of access is provided at the new locations. Work was undertaken, at the planning stage, to identify and appraise the relative accessibility of potential new sites. A new bus service has been planned by a commercial bus operator to serve the new hospital site from a wide area of Redcar town without the need for interchange.

The introduction of the Children Act and the Personalisation Agenda have resulted in more journeys to a wider range of destinations in smaller vehicles and fewer in traditional social service buses. To address this issue, the Council has established an Integrated Transport Unit to provide the appropriate service in a cost effective manner. This unit also provides a wider role of supporting other health and education requirements and coordinating supported bus services in the borough.

The Council participates in the Tees Valley Community Transport Forum, led by the Tees Valley Rural Community Council (TVRCC), to examine ways to strengthen the viability and capability of Community Transport operators in the area. This can be an important method of catering for small numbers of journeys for people who need some extra attention, if the operators have the capacity to provide the quality and reliability of service. The community transport operation of FROG received assistance from the Council and from the Urban Bus Challenge to acquire and operate new vehicles and now operates a patient transport contract for the North East Ambulance Service. We will look to build on this success to assist the development of further community transport operators.

TVRCC has worked with community transport operators and community groups on a successful bid for LEADER funding for the East Cleveland Transport Brokerage Project. This will enable local groups to make best use of minibuses and drivers that are available in their communities to improve accessibility.

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Tourism and Rural Accessibility Many of the more rural communities in Redcar & Cleveland have accessibility problems, due to the distances from key services. Many of the measures identified above will improve accessibility for those without access to a car. The route improvement measures of the Bus Network Improvement Scheme and the introduction of new vehicles will improve the reliability and punctuality of the bus services to enable people to rely on them to travel to work, college, appointments etc.

Tourism is seen as an important aspect of regeneration, creating jobs in the tourist industry by encouraging more people to visit the area. These need to have good transport links to encourage visitors and to promote inward investment. As such, maintaining and enhancing access to the Coastal Arc and the North Yorkshire Moors is essential to maximise the potential regeneration benefits. During LTP2, the Council has developed a network of high quality long circular routes for walking, cycling and horse riding in order to encourage Activity Tourism. These now need to be actively promoted to take full advantage of the facilities. However, it will be necessary to ensure that encouraging the additional activity has a limited impact on the environment.

STRATEGY The Redcar & Cleveland policies for the Improvement of Equality of Opportunity through LTP3 are:

 IEO1 - Supply the best possible integrated transport system for residents in the borough of Redcar & Cleveland. The package of measures will include implementing initiatives to improve facilities and services for Bus Use, Walking, Cycling and Passenger Rail Services.

 IEO2 – Smarter Choices - Promote a package of sustainable Smarter Choices measures in partnership with the other Tees Valley local authorities.

 IEO3 – Remove Physical Barriers to accessibility for disabled and mobility impaired people.

 IEO4 – Promote Social Inclusion for all sections of society, in particular for women, older people and children and young people, who do not have access to private cars.

 IEO5 – Improve Access to Core Services in the borough for all residents.

Promoting Alternative Modes of Travel Many people are disadvantaged by not having access to a private car or the car within a household generally being available to only one person. Transport actions will assist in the promotion of equality of opportunity through improving the alternatives to the private car. Making improved facilities available and promoting the 144 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 benefits of their use will encourage people to make use of the most appropriate modes of travel for their journeys – walking and cycling for shorter journeys; bus use for medium length journeys; rail use for longer journeys – or a combination of these where necessary. A description of the main actions to improve alternative modes of transport and the proposed Smarter Choices programme are given in Chapter 4, Reducing Carbon Emissions.

Taxis Promoting Taxi Use

Drivers and Vehicles  Continue “Knowledge” test for all new licence applicants.  Continue enforcement actions as appropriate.  Continue vehicle testing to maintain standards.  Introduce new regulations for the introduction of wheelchair accessible vehicles.  Develop register of accessible vehicles, compliant with S167 of Equalities Act 2010.

Taxi Ranks  Monitor and review taxi rank provision as necessary.  Introduce new ranks at visitor attractions.  Investigate change to taxi rank enforcement regulations.

Physical Accessibility Measures to ensure that all sections of society can have access to transport facilities are now routinely designed and constructed in all new infrastructure projects. However, there is still a need to continue updating existing facilities to ensure that they are accessible by disabled and other mobility impaired people. This will involve raised bus boarder platforms, dropped kerbs and other accessibility improvements on walking routes. Dialogue and consultation with representative organisations will continue to take place throughout LTP3.

One of the highest priorities will be to ensure that public buses and taxis are fully accessible at the earliest opportunity. Bus operators will continue to introduce new low-floor accessible vehicles to meet their Disability Discrimination Act obligations by the 2015 deadline. Taxi licensing regulations are being changed to encourage and enable the easier introduction of accessible vehicles.

The Council will also need to undertake a review of specialised transport provision, both the provision of the Dial-a-Ride service and group transport to day centres, to identify whether these are an appropriate use of money. Disabled people have expressed a preference for the availability of inclusive public transport and taxis with support funding to assist disabled people to make use of these.

Improving Access to Core Services Transport is not an end in itself. People travel for a reason, to have access to services such as employment, education, health and leisure in order to live their lives. The main actions to improve accessibility to core services are given in the 145 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 boxes below.

Access to Education:  The use of accessibility modelling during the planning stages of school amalgamations to ensure appropriate sites are selected;  Implementation of approved School Travel Plans, with an emphasis on the identification of walking and cycling initiatives for shorter trips.  Review of bus services and facilities; and  Addressing parking problems associated with access to schools to improve road safety and reduce congestion.

Access to Employment & Regeneration  Improved commuter links to Middlesbrough town centre services and the rest of the Tees Valley;  Enhanced bus services and associated infrastructure to existing and future employment sites, such as South Tees, Teesport and Middlehaven;  Implementation of the Tees Valley Bus Network Improvement Scheme; and,  Removal of identified highway congestion locations, along the A66, A174 and the A1053.

Access to Health and Social Care  Strengthen the Tees Health and Transport Partnership, to determine priorities and identify what actions can practically be undertaken;  Work with the Community Transport Forum to increase capacity to provide transport services;  Encourage increased dual use of specialist public transport services (e.g. integration of social care, hospital patient transport and education services);  Improved bus links to meet needs identified by the public in the Redcar & Cleveland Bus Network Consultation; and  Integrated Transport Unit to coordinate the appropriate, cost effective delivery of transport for Social Care and Education.

Tourism and Rural Accessibility  The strengthening of the Rural Transport Partnership, to determine priorities and identify what actions can practically be undertaken;  Improvements to bus services, facilities at bus stops and passenger information, to improve reliability;  Access to the countryside, coast and the National Park needs to be improved;  Address car parking problems in the coastal towns, through the management and control of visitor car parks;  Maintain and promote the Activity Tourism routes for walking, cycling and horse riding in order to encourage tourism;  Address localised disabled access issues; and  Full account to be taken of the Rights of Way Improvement Plan for the borough.

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CHAPTER 7 :- SAFETY SECURITY & HEALTH

INTRODUCTION Road safety has always been a high priority for the Council with our transport policies geared towards delivering a continued and lasting improvement in road safety problems across the borough. However, this is only one of a range of issues that impact upon road users and the travel decisions that they make. People travel daily and want a system that gets them from A to B safely, securely and without damaging the environment.

These issues are identified together in the DaSTS goal to protect people’s safety, security and health. The safety of transport users and workers remains of high importance and there will be continuous national and local efforts to achieve improvements. It is recognised that the public and transport workers are also concerned about crime, and there is an enduring terrorist threat to be addressed. Transport can have a negative impact on people’s health through air and water pollution and there is also a need to promote the health benefits of active sustainable modes of travel such as cycling and walking.

This range of issues needs to be tackled through the implementation of this Local Transport Plan. While there will be some discussion of each issue separately in the text, it needs to be remembered that the issues are intrinsically linked with each having a direct impact on the others. For example, for people to feel confident about switching to alternative modes of travel, they will need to feel sufficiently safe in terms of road safety and personal security and they will want to feel that they are not being unduly affected by air pollution.

POLICY BACKGROUND Road Casualty Reduction has been an important element of national and local transport strategy for a long period of time. Initially, Target 2000 set one-third casualty reduction targets to 2000 and these were subsequently followed by targets to 2010 set in the national road safety strategy document “Tomorrow’s Roads: Safer For Everyone”. The targets set, from a 1994-98 average base and to be achieved by 2010, are:  A 40% reduction in All Road User Killed or Seriously Injured Casualties (KSI)  A 50% target reduction in Child KSIs  A 10% reduction in the Slight Casualty Rate

The DaSTS Report identified that casualty reduction performance of all modes has been improving but it has been particularly difficult to reduce the number of fatal road accidents. Also, it noted that all forms of public transport are safer than private transport with deaths on the road (over 3,000 a year) far exceeding deaths on any other mode.

A consultation document “A Safer Way” was published by DfT in April 2009 that provides suggestions for a set of new casualty reduction targets to 2020. These are discussed further later in this chapter. Local Highway Authorities are expected to play a key role in achieving national casualty reduction targets. A wide range of partners will need to collaborate to address key problem areas of bad driver behaviour. 147 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

In terms of legislation, Section 39 of The Road Traffic Act 1988 places responsibilities on local authorities to:  Carry out a programme of measures designed to promote road safety on existing roads and in the construction of new roads;  Carry out studies of accidents arising in their areas;  Take measures to prevent such accidents; and  Provide road safety education, training and publicity for all ages and types of road user, from pre-school children to the elderly.

DaSTS also discusses security issues with a particular emphasis on terrorism. However, it recognises that this is much less of an issue on local transport networks where personal security is a greater concern. Crime and the fear of crime are issues for public transport, walking and cycling that can deter their use, particularly in the evenings. These need to be addressed by partnership action.

In recent years, national legislation has brought about a huge reduction in some of the negative impacts of transport on health and life expectancy. Changes to vehicle and fuel regulations have ensured the virtual elimination of emissions of carbon monoxide and lead. The priority challenges going forward are to improve air quality still further by reducing transport-related emissions of oxides of nitrogen and particulate matter. This also has important benefits for the climate change agenda.

There is also a positive side to the transport-health issue that needs to be promoted. The health benefits of cycling and walking are clear-cut and research suggests that public transport users have a longer life-expectancy than people who travel only by car. In addition, these forms of transport can contribute to reducing levels of air pollutant emissions, which are damaging to health. There is a clear local role in encouraging modal-shift and reducing people’s need to travel.

THE DASTS CHALLENGES

Within the Goal of Contributing to Better Safety, Security and Health, the specific challenges identified in the DaSTS framework are:

Cities and Regional Networks  Reduce the risk of death or injury due to transport accidents.  Improve the health of individuals by encouraging and enabling more physically active travel.  Reduce the social and economic costs of transport to public health, including air quality impacts in line with the UK’s European Obligations.  Reduce the vulnerability of city and regional transport networks to terrorist attack.  Reduce crime, fear of crime and anti-social behaviour on city and regional transport networks.

Cross-Network (National Policy)  Reduce the risk of death or injury due to transport accidents.  Reduce social and economic costs of transport to public health, including air quality impacts in line with the UK’s European obligations. 148 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

 Improve the health of individuals by encouraging and enabling more physically active travel.  Reduce the vulnerability of transport networks to terrorist attack.

PROBLEMS – THE EVIDENCE BASE

Road Safety Redcar & Cleveland’s road safety policy initiatives have gone some way to achieving reductions in road accident casualties. In summary, the national road casualty reduction targets and Redcar & Cleveland performance are given below.

 A 40% reduction in All Road User Killed or Seriously Injured Casualties (KSI) This level of reduction has not been achieved in Redcar & Cleveland. Trying to achieve a high percentage reduction from a small numbers base has proved to be extremely difficult. We have achieved a 15% reduction in the 3-year average results by 2009.

 A 50% target reduction in Child KSIs This target is on track to be achieved with a 48% reduction in the 3-year average by 2009.

 A 10% reduction in the Slight Casualty Rate This level of reduction was already being achieved in Redcar & Cleveland by the time that the targets were set in 2000 so the Council set a ‘stretch’ target to achieve a 30% reduction in the absolute numbers of slight casualties. This target has consistently been achieved, with a 38% reduction in the 3-year average results by 2009.

Based on the evidence collated during the period of LTP1, an additional road safety target for Redcar & Cleveland was adopted for LTP2, namely, to reduce the occurrence of Vulnerable Road User casualties (pedestrians, pedal cyclists and motor cyclists) by 20% from a 2001-2004 average baseline level. A 25% reduction in the 3-year average results has been achieved by 2009.

Killed & Seriously Injured (KSI): All Road Users Throughout the LTP1 and LTP2 periods to date, the absolute number of All Road User KSI casualties in Redcar & Cleveland has fluctuated year on year with no obvious downward trend, as shown in Table 7.1. It is considered that the numbers are so low (circa 1 per week) that they are affected to a greater extent by the random nature of road traffic collisions than they are by dangers at identifiable locations.

The Council will continue to seek to reduce these figures as we recognise that road accidents cause human misery and impose a cost on the community. In line with draft national targets for the period beyond 2010, Redcar & Cleveland will seek to achieve a one-third reduction in All Road User KSIs by 2020 against a 2004-08 baseline using a 3 year rolling average.

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Table 7.1: All Road User KSIs 2000- 2009 Graph 7.1 plots the absolute number Year KSI’s – All Fatalities of All Road User KSIs for the period Road Users 2000-2009 and projects the forward 2000 69 11 target trend line for the period 2010- 2020 using a 3 year rolling average. 2001 44 7 2002 55 2 Local Target: 2003 71 5 Achieve a 33% reduction in All Road User KSIs from 55 KSIs (based on 2004 54 6 2004-2008 average) to a target level of 2005 49 5 35 KSIs per annum by 2020 (based on 2006 72 7 a 3-year rolling average). 2007 44 3 2008 58 5

2009 46 2

TOTAL 562 53 AVE. 56 5 Source: Cleveland Police (March 2010)

Graph 7.1: All Road User KSIs Performance and Targets 2000-2020

80 Actuals Targets 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Number of Casualties per Year

8 0 06 0 16 18 2 2000 2002 2004 20 20 2010 2012 2014 20 20 20 Year

Children Killed & Seriously Injured (KSI) Table 7.2 shows that the absolute number of Child KSI’s in Redcar & Cleveland has also fluctuated year on year. There was no noticeable downward trend during LTP1 but there has been a more satisfactory improvement during the LTP2 period to date. As with All KSIs, the numbers are so low (circa 1 every couple of months) that they are random in nature with no identifiable pattern of causes or locations.

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Table 7.2: Child KSIs 2000-2009 The Council will continue to seek to Child Year Fatalities reduce these figures. In line with the KSI’s draft national targets for the period 2000 9 1 beyond 2010, Redcar & Cleveland will seek to achieve a 50% reduction in 2001 13 0 Child KSIs by 2020, against a 2004-08 2002 12 0 baseline, using a 3-year rolling 2003 16 1 average. 2004 14 1 Graph 7.2 plots the absolute number 2005 4 0 of Child KSIs for the period 2000-2009 2006 9 0 and projects the forward target trend line for the period 2010-2020 using a 2007 4 0 3-year rolling average. 2008 4 1

2009 8 0 Local Target: Achieve a 50% reduction in Child KSIs TOTAL 93 4 from 7 KSIs (based on 2004-2008 AVE. 9 0.4 average) to a target level of 3.5 KSIs Source: Cleveland Police (March 2010) per annum by 2020 (based on a 3-year rolling average).

Graph 7.2: Child KSIs Performance and Targets 2000-2020

18 Actuals Targets 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Number of Casualties per Year

02 06 08 14 18 0 2000 20 2004 2 20 2010 2012 20 2016 20 2020 Years

Slight Injury Casualties Throughout the LTP1 and LTP2 periods to date, the absolute number of Slight Casualties in Redcar & Cleveland has decreased significantly, as shown in Table 7.3. The three-year average has decreased by 20% since 2000 and by 40% from the original 1994-98 baseline

We recognise that road accidents cause human misery and impose a cost on the community so the Council will continue to seek to reduce these figures. Redcar & Cleveland will seek to achieve a fixed 10% reduction in Slight Casualties each year until 2020, against a 2004-08 baseline, using a 3 year rolling average.

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Table 7.3: Slight Injury Casualties 2000-2009 Graph 7.3 plots the absolute numbers ‘Slight’ Injury Year of Slight Casualties for the period Casualties 2000-2009 and projects the forward 2000 379 target trend line for the period 2010- 2020 using a 3 year rolling average. 2001 367 2002 328 Local Target: 2003 366 Achieve a constant 10% reduction in the level of slight injury casualties to 2004 374 300 per annum in the period 2010- 2005 350 2020 from the existing baseline rate of 2006 346 336 per annum. 2007 302 2008 308

2009 255

TOTAL 3375 AVERAGE 338 Source: Cleveland Police (March 2010)

Graph 7.3: All Road User Slight Injury Casualties Performance and Targets 2000-2020

600

500

400 Actuals 300 Targets 200

100

0 Number of Casualties per Year

4 6 8 0 2 8 0 0 00 00 01 01 01 02 2000 2002 2 2 20 2 2 2014 2016 2 2 Year

Vulnerable Road Users Throughout the LTP1 and LTP2 periods to date, the total numbers of casualties to Vulnerable Road Users in Redcar & Cleveland has decreased by 25%, as shown in Table 7.4. However, this disguises the reality that casualties to pedestrians and pedal cyclists have decreased by 35% while casualties to motorcyclists have increased by 50%.

In LTP2, the Council set a local target for a 20% decrease in casualties to vulnerable

152 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 road users, that has been achieved, while there was no national reduction target. A national target is now proposed for a 50% reduction in the rate of casualties to pedestrians and pedal cyclists, excluding motor cyclists. Analysis of casualty data shows that the severity of casualties to motorcyclists is significantly higher than to any other category of road users and that these should continue to be monitored in the vulnerable road user category.

Recognising that a significant level of decrease in pedestrian and pedal cyclist casualties has already been achieved, it is proposed to set a modest target for further casualty reduction to vulnerable road users.

Table 7.4: Vulnerable Road Users - Redcar & Cleveland will seek to All Casualties 2001-2009 Pedal Motor achieve a 10% reduction in casualties Year Ped Total to vulnerable road users by 2020 Cycle Cycle against a 2004-08 baseline, using a 3- 2001 69 41 23 133 year rolling average. 2002 68 30 22 120

Graph 7.4 plots the absolute numbers 2003 70 38 34 142 of Vulnerable Road User Casualties for 2004 67 29 29 125 the period 2001-2009 and projects the 2005 60 16 29 105 forward target trend line for the period 2010-2020 using a 3 year rolling 2006 64 21 32 117 average. 2007 42 24 23 89 2008 47 27 33 107 Local Target: Achieve a 10% reduction in Vulnerable 2009 40 20 39 99 Road User Casualties from 109 (based TOTAL 527 246 264 1037 on 2004-2008 average) to a target AVE 59 27 29 115 level of 99 per annum by 2020 (based on a 3 year rolling average). TOT AVE 115 Source: Cleveland Police (March 2010)

Graph 7.4: Vulnerable Road Users All Casualties Performance and Targets 2000-2020

160 140 120 100 Actuals 80 Targets 60 40 20 0 Number of casualties per Year

5 9 01 0 0 15 19 0 0 0 2 2003 20 2007 20 2011 2013 2 2017 2 Year

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Equestrians are also considered as vulnerable road users though casualties are very infrequent. Horse riding in the borough has increased as the Council has developed public rights of way and promoted the Activity Tourism Strategy during LTP2. If they happen, road casualties among horse riders will be included in the monitoring of vulnerable road users.

Location of PIAs During the period of LTP2, resources and funding have been allocated to addressing casualty issues along routes and some specific accident clusters. Accident data plots for Redcar & Cleveland indicate no obvious clusters, with accidents dispersed across the borough for each of the severity categories.

The location of accidents across the borough is to be closely monitored during the period of LTP3, with engineering remedial measures to be implemented as appropriate. Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council will work with relevant stakeholders to review and address any accident trends or operational issues that are identified, and seek to introduce remedial engineering measures at any other potentially dangerous locations as and when they become known

Accidents and Deprivation In recent years, DfT has identified deprivation as a factor for consideration when addressing road accidents. It has been claimed that members of poorer communities are more likely to become road accident casualties than their better-off counterparts. DfT formally laid this out in the paper ‘Tackling the Road Safety Implications of Disadvantage’ published in 2003. Consideration of deprivation in relation to road casualties has also been raised in “A Safer Way”, the consultation document on the national road safety strategy beyond 2020. Such consideration not only addresses issues of disadvantage but can also help to increase understanding and appreciation for issues such as community safety, regeneration and danger reduction.

Analysis of borough-wide casualty statistics shows no obvious correlation between accident rates and deprivation. In part, this is due to the variability of small numbers of casualties year on year that prevents meaningful conclusions being drawn. Following this analysis, whilst LTP3 may not specifically target issues of social deprivation, the matter will remain in focus with the Council continuing to work with partners on initiatives such as pedestrian and cycling training in disadvantaged areas. The Council will also continue to collect ward based casualty data, with particular attention on incidences of child casualties in deprived wards.

Health The key source of information on local health is the 2009 Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) for Redcar & Cleveland, developed jointly by the National Health Service and the Council. This document draws together a wide range of health data, demographic data and customer survey data on needs and expectations to enable organisations to plan their service delivery effectively for the short, medium and longer term. Some key statistics and issues that can be addressed by improved transport and accessibility are given below.

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Age Group Redcar & England Cleveland 5-year old children 9.8% 9.6% 11-year old children 18.7% 18.3% 16+ (GP recorded) 11.4% 8.1% Adults (modelled data) 25.3% 23.6%

Adults physically active for 30 minutes or more at least 3 times per week. Physical activity levels are higher than the England average for 2007/08. Adult activity levels are higher than those found in statistical neighbour areas. Less than one-quarter of adults in Redcar & Cleveland are physically active for 30 minutes, three times per week. Physical activity appears to have increased slightly from 2006/07 to 2007/08.

Summary • Child obesity rates in Redcar & Cleveland are similar to the England rate. • The proportion of children who walk or cycle to school is above the England average. • Adult obesity is estimated to be above the England rate, but not significantly so. • The proportion of adults who are physically active is above the England rate.

Car Ownership - Households with no cars R&C = 32.27%, England = 26.84%

Walk or cycle to school, 5 to 10-year-olds, 2007/08 Around two-thirds of primary school children walk or cycle to school in Redcar & Cleveland. This is above the England average. Walking or cycling to school is more common in Redcar & Cleveland than in similar authorities.

Key Issues arising from consultations: Opportunities for increasing physical activity was recognized as a necessary added- value component of weight management services and should be tailored to the needs and aspirations of individuals

Ensure that communities are supported equally to access:  Affordable, modern and accessible transport  Public transport to a wider range of places, including health care facilities and services  A range of information and support to facilitate healthy choices and lifestyles  Adult learning/training and employment opportunities

Develop a wide range of services which provide or address:  The health and social needs of community groups, for example older people, but also those in the more deprived wards  Positively impact on the environmental health of residents  Regenerate Redcar and Cleveland and increase employment opportunity  Support for those with health problems to maintain access to transport, education and employment opportunities  Initiatives which overcome barriers of low income to living a healthy lifestyle 155 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

STRATEGY OPTIONS

Road Safety The package of initiatives that can be used to achieve safer roads throughout the borough ranges from specific measures for vulnerable road users to embracing road safety in wider policy initiatives. These initiatives are summarised below, several of which overlap with other DaSTS Goals and contribute to addressing the local objectives identified in Chapter 3.

Casualty Reduction Strategy A Casualty Reduction Strategy for Redcar & Cleveland was prepared and consulted upon in 2005 based on 4 main components:  Education, Training & Publicity;  Encouragement;  Engineering; and  Enforcement.

This document includes a review of best practice from elsewhere in the UK, a detailed quantitative assessment of accident data in the borough, a review of monitoring mechanisms, and a summary of feedback from key stakeholders. Key actions identified in the Casualty Reduction Strategy are reflected in the implementation section in Chapter 10 and summarised below.

Addressing Child KSIs  Educating and engaging school children on road safety;  Child pedestrian training;  Child cycle training to national Bikeability standards;  School crossing patrol sites including warning road markings and road signs;  Partnership working with other Council disciplines, in particular with schools regarding the inclusion of road safety within school work; and  Traffic calming and controlled parking areas around schools entrances.

Addressing Vulnerable Road User KSIs, in particular Motorcyclists and Pedal Cyclists  Work with neighbouring authorities to promote rider training;  Work alongside motorcycle groups to promote safety;  Raise the awareness of motorcycle safety through publicity campaigns;  Implement improved pedestrian and cycling facilities, audited as appropriate; and  Traffic lights with pedestrian and cycle crossing phases and stand alone Toucan / Puffin controlled crossing facilities as appropriate.

Road Safety Initiatives for All Road Users  Undertake speed limit reviews and integrate with the established route hierarchy;  Maintain the driver improvement training programme in partnership with

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Cleveland Police and neighbouring authorities;  Update the Safer Streets pack to include up to date and innovative products;  Implement traffic calming schemes designed in accordance with IHT guidelines;  Audit existing signing and develop a programme for improving signing both locally and strategically;  Monitor the effects of publicity campaigns, both national and local;  Ensure transport infrastructure associated with new developments and changes in land use accord with design guidelines;  Continue to implement a prioritised programme of highway maintenance and street lighting improvements;  Investigate opportunities for embracing ITS solutions, in particular driver feedback signs and intelligent road studs; and  Undertake road safety audits on all new schemes.

Enforcement Overarching each of the above targeted initiatives is enforcement through:  Safety Cameras;  Police enforcement (speed, careless / dangerous driving, drink / drug driving); and  Decriminalised Parking Enforcement (introduced in 2003).

Speed Management Strategy The Speed Management Strategy is a sister document to the Casualty Reduction Strategy that was also prepared in 2005. This is also based on the core principles of Education, Training & Publicity; Encouragement; Engineering; and Enforcement. Defined actions were identified and have been implemented through LTP2, including:  the development of a speed limit hierarchy  positive publicity campaigns to promote the Safety Camera Partnership, and  an updated Safer Streets programme.

The funding regime for Safety Camera Partnerships (SCP) was changed from April 2007. Authorities have been paid additional capital and revenue grant funding for casualty reduction initiatives, by DfT in parallel with LTP allocations. Authorities have received the funding directly to allow them to work in partnership with the police and others to operate safety cameras and/or to fund any wider initiatives. The funding has again been reduced as part of the national financial austerity programme so decisions will need to be made on how Safety Camera Enforcement will continue in the future.

Partnership Working – External The Council works with many organisations to provide and improve transport provision and road safety and is involved in initiatives that include a transport element in pursuit of wider goals. Key local road safety forums include: 157 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

 Road Safety GB (formerly the Local Authority Road Safety Officers Association). National group with regional meetings attended by all local authorities in the region;  Cleveland Casualty Reduction Group;  Redcar & Cleveland Area Environment Committees (Council and Police Officers report to local councillors and residents); and  Safety Camera Partnership.

Cleveland Police, the police force that covers this borough council area, is responsible for highway and traffic law enforcement and provides the police input on measures and initiatives which are being undertaken. They have led the Cleveland Strategic Road Safety Partnership with the four local authorities and the Cleveland Casualty Reduction Group which co-ordinates the actions of a range of organisations with the aim of achieving a reduction in road accidents and casualties. Members include the police, other emergency services, the four local authorities, Government Office for the North East, the Highways Agency and Tees Health Authority.

The actions and objectives of Cleveland Police as one of our key partners are closely linked with the safety, security and health challenge for LTP3. This is demonstrated by the Roads Policing Objectives contained in the Cleveland Corporate Policing Strategy, which are:  We will deny criminals the use of the roads by enforcing the law with intelligence led policing.  We will reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads, by working with our partners in relation to education, engineering and enforcement by further developing road safety initiatives.  We will continue to carry out campaigns to tackle road safety issues such as drink and drug driving, wearing seat belts, tinted windows on vehicles and the use of mobile phones whilst driving, as they clearly have an impact in reducing casualties and educating the public.  We will target the anti-social use of the roads by motor vehicles including community cars and off-road motorcycles. Vehicles used in anti-social behaviour will be seized and disposed of.  We will continue to deploy the use of ANPR to gather intelligence on criminals using the road networks for illegal activity.

A key action that has taken place during LTP2 is the development and delivery of a National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS) as a partnership between Cleveland Police and the four Cleveland local authorities in the Local Authority Road Safety Partnership (LARSP). The scheme provides the Police with an alternative way of dealing with certain classes of motoring offenders, rather than resorting to prosecution in nearly every case. There are three distinct schemes under the overall umbrella of NDORS namely:  The Driver Improvement Scheme (DIS), 1 ½ days theory and practical;  The Rider Intervention Development Experience (RiDE), 1 day theory and practical; 158 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

 The Speed Awareness Course. (SAC), 4-hours

Driver and rider improvement schemes have been run in the Cleveland area for over 10 years. NDORS has formalised these courses and added speed awareness to create national standardised courses to be delivered by approved service providers. LARSP now delivers these training courses on behalf of Cleveland Police to those drivers who:-

 are caught exceeding the speed limit (within certain speed bands), or  are involved in road traffic collisions or incidents where poor driving behaviour has been involved.

The offer to attend such courses is solely at the discretion of Cleveland Police and LARSP is responsible for arranging and delivering the courses. This is a non profit making venture by the Partnership and, after recovering administrative costs, any surplus funds are returned to the Cleveland Strategic Road Safety Partnership to address the issue of casualty reduction on the roads in the Cleveland area.

On a more local level, three Area Committees operate in the borough with road safety issues as part of their remit. These hear reports from council officers and the police and they allow local residents to raise their concerns and receive feedback on the issues within their areas. This provides a forum for the provision of information on local safety problems and for consultation and input on proposed initiatives both locally and boroughwide where appropriate. These Committees meet every six weeks and provide a useful stream of information to officers on actual problems and local concerns on which action can be taken.

Partnership Working – Internal The development of safer roads in Redcar & Cleveland is not solely driven by engineering and the specific road safety forums mentioned above working in isolation. It is equally important to foster good working relationships with other sectors of the Council, all of which can contribute to this common safer roads goal through a range of direct and indirect initiatives. To this end, cross working is likely to be undertaken with the following sectors:  Education;  Health;  Asset Management, especially Highway Maintenance;  Street Lighting; and  The role of road safety in the Council Community Safety Partnership.

Education, Training & Publicity Education, Training & Publicity is an important element of the Council’s Road Safety strategy. A range of activities will need to be rolled out during LTP3 to influence and educate driver behaviour and to improve the skills of all age groups. In particular, we will seek to provide vulnerable road users such as children and motor cyclists with the necessary skills to make them safer throughout the borough’s network of roads, footways and cycle routes. Influencing behaviour is recognised by the Council to be particularly important as analysis of recent causation data shows that driver

159 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 behaviour is a contributing factor in 80% of accidents in Redcar & Cleveland.

Disadvantaged and Child Casualties The Council acknowledges the stringent casualty reduction target associated with child casualties and agrees that more action should be taken to allow children to walk and cycle in safety. To address this, an extensive programme of cycling training is currently being made available to schools.

Cycle training to the National Standards is delivered through a series of in-house instructors at eleven primary schools and one of our special schools. The remaining primary schools are offered cycle training to the National Standards through a provider called Cycle Experience using funding that has been provided by the Department for Transport through Cycling England. They have moulded their training programme around individual schools and are providing a first class service. Every child in year five can be given the opportunity to receive the cycling skills that have been set by national standards. The Council also has two pedestrian and cycle trainers offering advice and training to schools.

Road Safety at Work Whilst there is no local data available for Redcar & Cleveland, national research indicates that a significant number of accidents involve motorists on work related activities. Opportunities to address this issue include working with employers to promote road safety at work - including wider roll out of the Driver Improvement Programme - and recognition of road safety in employment regeneration initiatives. Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council are looking to take the lead on this by encouraging employees to participate in the Driver Improvement Programme.

Engineering Solutions - Road Safety Schemes In terms of highway schemes aimed at reducing casualties, there are four established approaches, namely: . Area Action Plans; . Route Action Plans; . High Risk Sites; and . Mass Action Sites

The Council has already addressed many of the key accident ‘hotspot’ sites during LTP1 and LTP2 where engineering measures make a difference. The main focus for future actions will need to be route based initiatives where incidents are happening at random locations but where there appear to be identifiable contributory factors such as vehicle speeds and driver behaviour. The introduction of Passive Safety measures on high speed main roads can reduce the severity of casualties in the event of road accidents occurring. Cost-benefit assessments of engineering remedial measures in terms of First Year Rate of Return will be employed in order to prioritise key action sites.

Road Safety Audits In order to ensure that its safety schemes do not result in secondary, perhaps unrelated accident risks developing, and to ensure that the safety schemes developed by the Council meet the objectives set, good practice requires the Council 160 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 to undertake formal road safety audits of every major scheme implemented in the borough. These audits are to be undertaken in full accordance with the latest Department for Transport and Institution of Highways & Transportation guidelines and are to include vulnerable road user audit, in particular child and cycle audits where required. They will also be required as part of the process for new road works associated with new developments.

Motorcyclist Initiatives There has been a significant increase in the number of motorcycle KSI’s in Redcar & Cleveland from the 1994-1998 average of 5 per annum to 14 per annum in 2006-09. This represents a 180% increase, whilst the national average has only increased by 4%. The Council needs to continue to take actions to address this casualty problem. Key actions that have been identified in the DfT Motorcycling Strategy are:  Encourage local authorities to introduce driver training;  Inform through middlemen - for example. giving information on different types of brakes to bikers from bike sellers; and  Usage of publicity to make motor cycling safer through education.  Enforcement.

The Council has undertaken extensive motorcycle safety promotion during LTP2 including participation in the annual Cleveland “Ride Well” partnership event. Engineering aspects to this problem also need to be addressed, covering issues from surface quality to prevent skidding, to the design and location of lighting columns.

Highway Maintenance Highway Maintenance has an important role to play in road safety improvement. It is necessary to maintain the surface quality of the running carriageway and the clarity of road signs and markings to an acceptable standard, particularly when these have been identified and implemented as road safety schemes. The implementation of these measures must take account of the future needs and cost of maintenance as known accident locations require increased sweeping, gully cleansing and improved surface standards in order to reduce the occurrence of incidents such as skidding and punctures.

Throughout the periods of the first and second round LTPs, the maintenance programme and the casualty reduction programme have been coordinated to maximise value for money and minimise disruption to the travelling public. Schemes from both streams have been enhanced to achieve added value. This has involved the implementation of additional safety features to condition based, prioritised maintenance schemes or amending maintenance priorities to improve the effectiveness and quality of casualty reduction led schemes.

Major maintenance schemes are subject to a safety audit so that any inherent deficiencies can be rectified at the same time as the planned maintenance works. This will particularly focus on vulnerable road users in the future, to reflect the emphasis placed on this category within the Casualty Reduction Strategy.

As the casualty numbers decrease, it is becoming increasingly difficult to engineer out contributory factors. A greater emphasis is to be placed on education, training 161 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 and publicity. The importance of well maintained and clearly understood road signs and markings is recognised. However, in the past, limited resources have been available to adequately maintain these important road safety features. Steps will be taken in this LTP period to improve the quality and effectiveness of these relatively cheap safety features.

Chapter 10, Implementation, provides information on the development of the Transport Asset Management Plan for Redcar & Cleveland. This considers the full range of activities to be undertaken by the Council during LTP3 in order to maintain and improve the road network across the borough.

In respect of the Council’s adopted Speed Management Strategy, the maintenance of highways can impact on resultant speeds. Care will be taken in the design of maintenance works to provide a solution that does not lead to increased speeds, through “improved” alignment. An important factor in speed management is ensuring that the road and its environment are in keeping with the expectations for the speed limit that is in force.

Winter maintenance also plays a key role in casualty reduction. At a time when driving conditions are difficult, timely winter maintenance intervention can reduce the number of accidents due to snow and ice. The current regime is working well, evidenced by the fact that between 2005 and 2009, there were no fatalities during periods of snow, ice or frost and only two serious injuries, less than 0.5% of the total.

Street Lighting Good lighting can help all road users to safely negotiate junctions and points of potential conflict. Improvements to street lighting through the PFI initiative will contribute to the overall casualty reduction programme and other DASTS challenge areas.

The Council has appointed a partner, David Webster Lighting, to maintain and improve street lighting in the borough through a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) from September 2007. 85% of the Council’s current street lighting stock of 18,540 columns had reached the end of its useful life and did not meet the appropriate structural condition or lighting design standards. A challenging three-year core investment programme for the PFI has commenced and will deliver:  the replacement of 15,000 street lighting columns;  the provision of a further 3,450 additional columns; and  the replacement of 2,500 illuminated signs and bollards.

High quality lighting will assist the Council in delivering key strategies in the areas of community safety, social inclusion, environmental management, regeneration and casualty reduction. Customer Satisfaction Surveys were undertaken in April 2008 with residents on streets where street lighting replacement had taken place. Views among those who expressed an opinion were:

 91% consider the new street lighting to be better that that which was previously in place;  65% consider that road safety has been improved by the new lighting; 162 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

 60% consider that the new lighting has reduced the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour.

These results demonstrate that the PFI is having a beneficial impact on the community.

New Residential Developments The Council closely adheres to Residential Design Guidelines to ensure a 20mph average speed for Secondary Access and Residential Roads, in areas immediately outside schools, and at any other points in the road layout where children may especially be at risk. This objective is to be achieved by a combination of suitable features designed to physically reduce speed and create a ‘calm’ driving style.

Intelligent Transport Solutions Increasingly, as technology develops, a range of intelligent transport solutions (ITS) is becoming available to assist local authorities with road safety initiatives. During LTP2, the Tees Valley authorities undertook a joint commission to prepare an ITS strategy for the area, that includes the use of technology to help deliver road safety improvements. The Council is keen to embrace such technologies during the period of LTP3. Examples include Intelligent Road Studs which help to emphasise the centre line of a road, in particular offering advance warning of sharp bends in rural roads and fog/ice warnings, and driver feedback signs - including vehicle actuated (interactive) signs - which warn drivers of the hazard ahead or to remind them of the speed limit in force.

Bus Network Review The alterations to bus routes and services proposed in the Bus Network Review should not have an impact on road safety. However, the Council will need to implement measures that increase the public perception of the safety of using buses in order to achieve the desired public transport objectives. The improvement of walking routes and crossing facilities is being addressed through the Quality Bus Corridor and Transport Hubs implementation programmes. CCTV cameras are being installed at bus stops and on buses by the bus operators and additional street lighting will be introduced through the PFI arrangement. It has been predicted that the overall combination of hard and soft bus improvement measures will provide an improved public transport service that will overcome some accessibility barriers and attract increased bus patronage.

Making People Feel Safer

Making people feel safer, both in terms of road safety and personal security, is an important requirement to help people to be confident about using public transport or more sustainable modes for their journeys. The perceived lack of safety can discourage people from travelling, particularly on dark evenings. Street lighting improvements on walking and cycling routes and around bus stops will discourage anti-social behaviour and will enable the public to feel safer.

CCTV systems have been installed in some bus shelters to increase public security. They also have the added benefit of reducing revenue costs incurred in repairs and

163 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 maintenance due to vandalism. Bus operators are also routinely installing CCTV systems on their vehicles, again to act as a deterrent to anti social behaviour. There are also occasions where Street Wardens will continue to ride on problem routes to further deter actions that make passengers or potential passengers feel insecure.

For those who opt to use the private car to access town and rural centres, it is also important to ensure their safety and that of their vehicles. Throughout LTP2, work has been undertaken on car park improvements to bring the majority of pay and display car parks up to Park Mark standards. Crime has been reduced significantly in those car parks that have already been treated. Again, the PFI Street Lighting project will assist in providing improved lighting on the main pedestrian routes to and from the car parks. This programme of works is linked directly to improving the economic prospects of the towns within the borough and as part of the wider plan to increase regeneration through tourism.

Health

Providing Viable Alternatives to the Private Car The key contribution that transport improvements can make to the improvement of people’s health is through promoting the use of alternatives to the private car. This will reduce the levels of road accidents and local exhaust emissions and, most importantly, it will encourage an increased level of physical activity. This will address many health problems, particularly those arising from high levels of obesity in society. Improving and promoting the alternative transport networks, particularly through public transport, cycling and walking initiatives, is an essential way to overcome the problems and enhance access to key services.

Given the rural nature of large parts of Redcar & Cleveland, those with access to a private car generally have little problem in accessing essential services. The emphasis should therefore be to improve the availability and attractiveness of other modes of transport. For shorter journeys, walking and cycling should be encouraged to be the principal mode whilst for longer trips it will be necessary to offer a range of attractive bus services targeted at key services, such as schools and colleges, hospitals and places of work.

Arising from the JSNA evidence is the Redcar & Cleveland Health Improvement Strategic Delivery Plan (HISDP) that was developed by the NHS, the Council and wider partners in 2009/10. This looks at a range of ten key health themes. Actions on transport improvement will contribute directly to three of these themes, Accident Prevention, Physical Activity and Obesity, and will contribute indirectly to others such as Mental and Emotional Wellbeing. Transportation personnel have been directly involved in identifying the linkages between the HISDP and the LTP and in identifying actions that address the wider goals of both documents.

Actions to improve facilities and services for walking, cycling and bus use and the proposed Smarter Choices initiative to promote their use are described in Chapter 4, Reducing Carbon Emissions.

School Travel

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Promoting the use of sustainable modes of travel needs to begin with children and young people so that they develop the habit and confidence for using these later in life. This particularly needs to be undertaken through schools to address issues of local congestion caused by the school run.

The Council has fully embraced the concept of School Travel Plans so that all of the borough’s primary and secondary schools now have an approved School Travel Plan. Although very much tailored to the particular needs of individual schools, the common objective of these School Travel Plans is to reduce the number of journeys to school by car. The greater challenge now, however, is to turn the planning into reality by reducing reliance on cars. The Council has made steady progress in this area throughout LTP2 with year on year reductions in the level of car use. A reward scheme in place to encourage schools to deliver the desired outcomes of the excellent plans they are producing. Capital funding has been allocated each year to assist schools to introduce physical measures that will encourage greater levels of walking and cycling to school. This complements the education, training and publicity activities that take place in this area.

Partly as a result of falling numbers of school pupils, there has been an amalgamation of pairs of schools in the borough. This process is likely to continue and can result in some schools being located further away from pupils’ homes than their original schools. Measures must be implemented to ensure that pupils are not disadvantaged from accessing their schools and to maximise the opportunity to use modes of transport other than the private car. Of particular importance is the need to consider the accessibility of locations identified for new schools. This will ensure that the most appropriate sites are taken forward for development.

STRATEGY

The Redcar & Cleveland policies for the improvement of Safety, Security and Health through LTP3 are:

 SSH1 – Improve Road Safety in the borough through a combination of Education, Encouragement, Engineering and Enforcement initiatives.

 SSH2 – Improve Security in the borough through the implementation of the Street Lighting PFI Scheme.

 SSH3 – Introduce CCTV systems at bus shelters to reduce anti-social behaviour.

 SSH4 - Supply the best possible integrated transport system for residents in the borough of Redcar & Cleveland. The package of measures will include implementing initiatives to improve facilities and services for Bus Use, Walking, Cycling and Passenger Rail Services.

 SSH5 – Smarter Choices - Promote a package of sustainable Smarter Choices

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measures in partnership with the other Tees Valley local authorities.

 SSH6 – Work with Schools to promote the use of active modes of travel.

Road Safety Using the evidence base of identified accident problems and the range of initiatives described above - in particular the Casualty Reduction Strategy and the Speed Management Strategy - the Road Safety strategy for Redcar & Cleveland is fourfold, namely:

1. Education, Training and Publicity 2. Encouragement 3. Engineering Measures 4. Enforcement

The key principles behind each of these are outlined below.

Education, Training and Publicity Education, Training & Publicity is an important element of the Council’s Road Safety strategy. A range of activities will need to be rolled out during LTP3 to influence and educate driver behaviour and to improve the skills of all age groups. In particular, we will seek to provide vulnerable road users such as children and motor cyclists with the necessary skills to make them safer throughout the borough’s network of roads, footways and cycle routes.

Encouragement The Council will play a pro-active role with partners throughout LTP3 to develop and promote road safety initiatives. This will involve working closely with established road safety forums and also with other Council disciplines. Specific attention is to be paid to working alongside motor cycle groups to promote safety and also to develop initiatives which reduce the likelihood of accidents involving children.

Engineering Measures Regarding engineering measures, the Council’s strategy is twofold: 1. to implement traffic management measures which ameliorate existing accident problems at specific locations; and 2. to implement traffic management measures that will avoid repetition of similar accident problems at other locations. This will include the implementation of a programme of Passive Safety measures on main roads.

The main focus for future actions will need to be route based initiatives where incidents are happening at random locations but where there appear to be identifiable contributory factors such as vehicle speeds and driver behaviour. Cost- benefit assessments of engineering remedial measures in terms of First Year Rate of Return will be employed in order to prioritise key action sites.

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The Council will also monitor accident trends and locations throughout LTP3, target highway maintenance at known problem areas and undertake road safety audits where appropriate.

Enforcement Enforcement during LTP3 will specifically include working with Cleveland Police in support of local and national campaigns and making best use of the Council’s powers through Decriminalised Parking Enforcement.

Security Initiatives that improve personal security will encourage people to consider making more use of alternatives to private cars. The PFI Street Lighting project will continue to be implemented to enable the public to feel safer. Street lighting improvements will concentrate on walking and cycling routes and around bus stops to discourage anti- social behaviour.

Further CCTV systems will be installed in appropriate bus shelters to increase public security. Work will also be undertaken on car park improvements to bring further pay and display car parks up to Park Mark standards. These will assist the wider strategic aims of promoting regeneration in town centres and tourism.

Health Transport actions will predominantly contribute to the improvement of people’s health through promoting the use of alternatives to the private car. Making improved facilities available and promoting the benefits of their use will encourage an increased level of physical activity. The development and promotion of Walking, Cycling and Bus Use and the proposed Smarter Choices programme are described in Chapter 4, Carbon Reduction.

School Travel Children and young people need to develop the habit and confidence for using sustainable modes of travel from an early age. This will encourage them to be more active later in life. This particularly needs to be undertaken through schools to address issues of local congestion caused by the school run and the positive benefits of the alternatives. Key actions by Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council and by Partners to increase the use of alternative modes for journeys to schools, primarily through School Transport Plans are summarised below.

Journeys to School

Key Actions by Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council  Work with schools to update and promote School Travel Plans.  Implement physical measures around schools to put School Travel Plans into effect.  Provide pedestrian and cycle training to school children to encourage mode shift.  Introduce and enforce parking restrictions around schools.  Liaise closely with partners during the planning stages of school amalgamations to ensure that appropriate sites are selected.

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Key Partner Actions  Schools to develop and actively promote School Travel Plans.  Other partners to assist with the promotion of the benefits of School Travel change to encourage mode shift.

5 YEAR IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAMME

Safety

The full range of capital and revenue initiatives for Road Safety is provided in Chapter 10, Implementation. The key actions are summarised below.

Safer Roads Implementation The implementation programme for Road Safety is a continuation of the implementation of the Casualty Reduction Strategy and the Speed Management Strategy for the borough that have been successful in directing casualty numbers downwards during LTP2.

It has been increasingly difficult for engineering solutions to provide effective casualty reduction at hot spots but there is still a place for capital expenditure on route and area wide schemes. There is also a need for an emphasis on Road Safety Education, Training and Publicity (ETP) as a means of influencing behaviour. This will seek to make all road users more aware that many casualties could be avoided through showing more care and attention when using the roads and footways.

The capital programme concentrates on a three-pronged attack: ETP; data led physical engineering works; and works to reduce inappropriate speeds.

Education, Training and Publicity The Council is already recognised regionally for its innovative and successful approaches in these areas. Using a combination of revenue and capital funding, it is proposed to boost the impact of the initiatives that are planned over the next five years. These include:

 The continuation of the successful child pedestrian and cycling training schemes;  The use of the Councils mobile Road Safety Trailer to deliver key messages and practical training locally;  Promote motorcycle training with partners.

Data Led Casualty Reduction Using accident analysis data, locations will be identified and studies carried out to develop schemes to reduce the number and severity of casualties, with an emphasis on vulnerable road users. Work to date has shown a high proportion of casualties occurring on the unrestricted single carriageway network so this will be an area to concentrate on in the future, including targeted ETP.

Speed Management Plan 168 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Speed is an important contributory factor in the severity and occurrence of accidents. Speed limit reviews will continue to be undertaken to determine if historical limits are still appropriate and what measures can be introduced to reduce the risks on these routes. Safety Camera enforcement through Cleveland Police will continue to play an important role in assisting with both speed related publicity and enforcement. We will also investigate including the use of technology to help deliver road safety improvements through the Intelligent Transport Solutions (ITS) strategy.

Security Actions to address personal security issues will mainly take place in three categories:

 Street lighting Improvements - The PFI Street Lighting project will continue to be implemented and improvements will concentrate on walking and cycling routes and around bus stops to discourage anti-social behaviour.

 Bus Shelter CCTV - Further systems will be installed in appropriate bus shelters.

 Car Parking - Work will also be undertaken on car park improvements to bring the few remaining eligible pay and display car parks up to Park Mark standards and on small-scale upgrading works in future years. These will assist the wider strategic aims of promoting regeneration in town centres and tourism.

Health Key actions for the improvement of health will concentrate on the improvement and promotion of facilities and services for alternative modes of travel. Beginning with the encouragement of walking and cycling for school travel, we will promote the development of active healthy lifestyles to young people that will hopefully encourage them to use these modes throughout their lives. This will also contribute to a wide range of other objectives including reducing carbon emissions and promoting equality of access to services.

ROAD SAFETY TARGETS AND TRAJECTORIES

As a prelude to the development of a National Road Casualty Reduction Strategy beyond 2010, DfT published a consultation document called “A Safer Way” in April 2009. The consultation document included four proposed national targets related to casualties associated with road collisions:

 Reduce the numbers of deaths by at least one third from the 2004 to 2008 average by 2020;  Reduce the numbers of serious injuries by at least one third over the same period;  Reduce the numbers of deaths and serious injuries to children and young people (0 to 17 inclusive) by at least 50% over the same period; and  Reduce the combined rate of death and serious injuries for pedestrians and cyclists per distance walked or cycled by 50% over the same period. 169 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

In March 2010, the Branch Head for Road User Safety at DfT provided advice on how local authorities could consider setting local targets in their LTP3s to contribute towards these national targets. He identified that:

 Authorities should use a combined target for the total number of deaths and serious injuries to reduce the volatility caused by low numbers of casualties in local areas.  It would be acceptable for authorities to use the national indicator framework definition of children and young people as aged 0 to 15 inclusive as an alternative to the 0-17 age range suggested in ‘A Safer Way’.  Local authorities are unlikely to have sufficiently accurate data to be able to calculate casualty rates for vulnerable road users at a local level.  Authorities should adopt local targets that are consistent with the proposed national targets, namely reducing road deaths and serious injuries by 33% and reducing deaths and serious injuries to children and young people by 50% by 2020.  When dealing with small casualty numbers, it is acceptable to report three-year rolling averages to reduce volatility.

These suggestions have been taken into consideration in setting targets for the Redcar & Cleveland LTP3 as given below.

 Killed and Seriously Injured Casualties (KSI) will be considered together with a target to reduce the 2004-08 average number by one third.  Child KSI will monitor the 0-15 age range and will seek to reduce the number of casualties by 50%  We will seek to reduce the Slight Casualty total by 10% from the baseline. A 40% reduction in slight casualties has been achieved between 2000 and 2009 that will restrict our ability to reduce the current level significantly further.  The target to reduce all casualties to Vulnerable Road Users has been set at 10%. This reflects the excellent performance that has been achieved between 2000 and 2009 to reduce these casualties that will limit the level of future reductions.  All targets and performance will be reported as three-year rolling averages to 2020 from 2004-08 average baseline figures.

The calculation of the baselines is shown in Table 7.5 and the targets and trajectories to 2020 are shown in Table 7.6.

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Table 7.5 – Calculation of Monitoring Baseline Figures Seriously Child Pedal Motor Year Killed Slight Pedestrian Injured KSI Cyclist Cyclist 2004 6 48 14 374 67 29 29 2005 5 44 4 350 60 16 29 2006 7 65 9 346 64 21 32 2007 3 41 4 302 42 24 23 2008 5 53 4 308 47 27 33 Total 277 35 1680 543 Average 55 7 336 109 2020 35 3.5 300 99 Target

Table 7.6 – Casualty Reduction Targets and Trajectories 2004-08 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Average All KSI 55 55 53 51 49 47 45 43 41 39 37 35 Child 7 7 6.7 6.3 6.0 5.6 5.3 4.9 4.6 4.2 3.9 3.5 KSI Slight 336 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 Vul Rd 109 109 108 107 106 105 104 103 102 101 100 99 Users

. Target SR1 - Achieve a 33% reduction in All Road User KSIs from 55 KSIs (based on 2004-2008 average) to a target level of 35 KSIs per annum by 2020 (based on a 3-year rolling average).

. Target SR2 - Achieve a 50% reduction in Child KSIs from 7 KSIs (based on 2004-2008 average) to a target level of 3.5 KSIs per annum by 2020 (based on a 3-year rolling average).

. Target SR3 – Achieve a 10% reduction in the level of slight accidents in the period 2010-2020 from the existing baseline rate of 336 slight accidents per annum.

. Target SR4 - Achieve a 10% reduction in Vulnerable Road User accidents from 109 (based on 2004-2008 average) to a target level of 99 per annum by 2020 (based on a 3-year rolling average).

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172 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

CHAPTER 8 :- QUALITY OF LIFE AND A HEALTHY NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

INTRODUCTION Transport can make a strong contribution to the quality of people’s lives. It brings great benefits by making it possible to see the world, buy a huge range of goods and services, enjoy leisure activities, spend time with friends and relatives and have access to the natural environment. These positive impacts tend to be taken for granted. They are activities that people clearly set a high value on, and which transport must continue to deliver for them. The carbon-reduction agenda, in particular, needs to take account of these aspirations.

However, there is sometimes a tension between the benefits that transport users enjoy and the costs that transport can impose, for example on people who live near roads and railways and on the natural environment, including biodiversity and landscape. The negative impacts are often obvious and can be very significant for the environment and people’s well-being. They include the noise and vibration of road, rail and air traffic, the loss of wildlife habitats and countryside, the visual intrusiveness of roads and railways, amongst others. These impacts undermine people’s well-being and must be reduced.

It is also clear that transport users have rising expectations. People are progressively demanding higher standards of comfort, convenience and customer service, as well as improvements in quality of information. Customer-focus is primarily a matter for transport providers, but there is also a need for the Government and local authorities to think about journeys in end-to-end terms. Local authorities need to invest in local measures to improve traffic-flow, promote buses, cycling and walking, enable effective road maintenance and enhance local travel networks. This will take account of national advice that small local schemes often represent excellent value for money. There is also the need to address inequality through the national concessionary bus travel arrangements for older and disabled people and the improvement of accessibility.

Local authorities need to plan ahead for the development of additional housing in their areas but this must have regard to the impact on the environment. In particular, areas that have been designated as important sites for nature conservation purposes, such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Special Protection Areas, need to be protected from development, pollution and noise. The likelihood is that, as society becomes more affluent, people will become less tolerant of adverse impacts on their quality of life.

The Council needs to act to balance the needs and desires of residents and businesses while protecting the natural environment from avoidable harm.

THE DaSTS CHALLENGES

Within the Goal of improving Quality of Life and a Healthy Natural Environment, the specific challenges identified in the DaSTS framework are:

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Cities and Regional Networks  Reduce the number of people and dwellings exposed to high levels of noise from road and rail networks consistent with implementation of Action Plans prepared under the Environmental Noise Directive.  Minimise the impacts of transport on the natural environment, heritage and landscape and seek solutions that deliver long-term environmental benefits.  Support urban and rural communities by improving the integration of transport into streetscapes and enabling better connections between neighbourhoods and better access to the natural environment.  Improve the journey experience of transport users of urban, regional and local networks, including at the interfaces with national networks and international networks.

Cross-Network (National Policy)  Manage transport-related noise in a way that is consistent with the emerging national noise strategy and other wider Government goals.  Minimise the impacts of transport on the natural environment, heritage and landscape and seek solutions that deliver long-term environmental benefits.  Improve the experience of end-to-end journeys for transport users.  Sustain and improve transport’s contribution to the quality of people’s lives by enabling them to enjoy access to a range of goods, services, people and places.

EVIDENCE

Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) 2009 - Redcar and Cleveland A range of relevant issues that were identified in the JSNA are given below.

Transport:   Car ownership is generally above the local average in rural wards. It is generally lower in more deprived urban wards where bus services are more readily available.  Access to appropriate public transport is poor.  Use of cars to school is high - Car use is around 23% which is higher than desirable but is comparable with other authorities. This has been the subject of the Council’s transport target in the Local Area Agreement.  Transport, including walking and cycling initiatives and facilities, air quality and road safety, is a priority in our Ageing Well Strategy.  There is a need for better awareness and understanding between transport ‘need’ and delivery.

There is a need to ensure that communities are supported equally to access:  Affordable, modern and accessible transport;  Public transport to a wider range of places, including health care facilities and services;  Safe, warm and dry housing;  A range of information and support to facilitate healthy choices and lifestyles;  Adult learning, training and employment opportunities. 174 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

There is a need to develop a wide range of services which provide or address:  The health and social needs of community groups, for example older people, but also those in the more deprived wards;  Positively impact on the environmental health of residents (e.g. CO2 emissions from industry and transport);  Regenerate Redcar and Cleveland and increase employment opportunity and economic sustainability for new business, the voluntary and community sectors and individuals through modern apprenticeships and appropriate support and training;  Support for those with health problems to maintain tenancy agreements, access to transport, education and employment opportunities;  Initiatives which overcome barriers of low income to living a healthy lifestyle.

Car ownership - Households with no cars or vans - 2001= 32.27%, 2007= 26.84%

School Travel  Around two-thirds of primary school children walk or cycle to school in Redcar & Cleveland. This is above the England average. Walking or cycling to school is more common in Redcar & Cleveland than in similar authorities.

Health Issues  Just over a third of the residents of Redcar and Cleveland live in the most deprived areas in England, while nearly a tenth of residents live in the least deprived areas. Early deaths from heart disease and stroke and early deaths from cancer are worse than the England average. Life expectancy for both males and females is worse than the average for England.

 Men from the least deprived areas of Redcar and Cleveland live eleven years longer than those from the most deprived areas, and the difference for women is just over six years.

 Over the last ten years, death rates from all causes have fallen for both men and women. Early deaths from heart disease and stroke have fallen markedly. Early deaths from cancer have fallen more slowly.

 The percentage of obese children in reception is not significantly different from the England average, but the percentage of physically active children is worse than the England average.

 Less than one-quarter of adults in Redcar & Cleveland are physically active for 30 minutes, three times per week.

STRATEGY OPTIONS

Consideration needs to be given to each of the strategic challenges identified within this Goal.

Noise 175 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Transport noise has not been raised as a significant issue in any areas of the borough. There are no zones identified under the Environmental Noise Directive requiring the identification and implementation of specific action plans. However, this is an issue that needs to be considered into the future in any new or revised transport schemes. This will ensure that existing sources of noise and the potential for new noise sources or increasing noise levels will be addressed.

For example, there are aspirations to double the frequency of passenger trains on the Darlington to Saltburn Heritage Line and to reintroduce passenger rail services to East Cleveland. These would have the potential to introduce increased levels of noise through the small towns and peaceful rural areas through which they would pass. Similarly, new residential and industrial developments will generate additional traffic that would have the potential to impact on existing communities. These issues will need to be carefully considered in future land use and infrastructure planning.

In terms of highways, this will impact on the design of new infrastructure, the use of different surfaces, and the design and implementation of traffic management tools and road safety infrastructure. For public transport, there will be an impact on the design of new bus services and the design and siting of facilities, particularly those that are used in the evening and at night. The nature of the wearing course of a road can also impact significantly on the level of noise produced, particularly by tyres. When opportunities arise, surface treatments or replacement of a wearing course will be undertaken during routine maintenance and the implementation of measures such as traffic calming.

The Natural Environment and Heritage Environmental quality is an important factor in improving quality of life and creating healthier, sustainable and prosperous communities. The north of the borough is dominated by large-scale steel and chemical industry complexes interspersed with areas of derelict and potentially contaminated land. In comparison, the south and the east of the borough is rural and of high scenic value, illustrated by the presence of a 12km stretch of Heritage Coast and the northern-most parts of the North York Moors National Park. It has two well-used Country Parks at Pinchinthorpe and Flatts Lane and has some high quality woodland and forest cover.

The boundary of the Tees Mouth and Cleveland Special Protection Area (SPA), designated under the Habitats Directive for the protection of birds that are of European Importance, and Ramsar Site (an internationally designated area of wetland and wildfowl importance), extends into the borough of Redcar and Cleveland. These internationally important sites cover a stretch of coastline that extends along the northeast boundary of the borough between Tees Mouth and Redcar. This stretch of designated coastline also comprises the South Gare and Coatham Sands Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and further south, the Redcar Rocks SSSI. There are also a number of non-coastal SSSIs scattered across the borough. In total the SSSIs cover approximately 2,500 hectares, which represents 40% of the total number of SSSIs in the Region. There are also a number of Wildlife Sites and Local Nature Reserves that are locally important nature conservation sites.

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Along with the borough’s natural environmental assets, there are also 80 Scheduled Monuments, 616 Listed Buildings, 1 Historic Park and Garden and 15 Conservation Areas within Redcar and Cleveland. It is important that land use and transport infrastructure developments recognise the presence of these assets and do not cause harm to them or their settings. In addition to physical impact, this also needs to apply to air and water pollution and to noise. In LTP3 implementation, it is proposed that the majority of physical works should be undertaken within existing adopted highway boundaries with no major highway schemes proposed in sensitive countryside areas. In response to the draft LTP5 document, a comment has been raised on the need to also consider the presence of protected species on previously used land and to take appropriate safeguarding actions.

Flooding The northern boundary of the borough of Redcar and Cleveland runs along the centre of the River Tees and a number of smaller becks comprise the other surface water features located within the borough, including Skelton Beck, Tocketts Beck, Skinningrove Beck and Waytail Beck. Actions have been taken to improve water quality over the years and measures had been put in place to reduce the risk of flooding.

However, on 3-6 July 2009, the borough was affected by heavy rain with 74 recorded flooding incidents and this was eclipsed by further torrential rain two weeks later on 17 July that led to 271 separate recorded incidents. These involved the flooding of roads, gardens, houses and garages caused by:  Inundation of roads with run-off from fields; leading to,  Over-whelming of highway drainage systems and culverts.

These events reflected the serious flooding incidents that had been seen in other parts of the country in recent years. The Council immediately began an investigation of the local causes of these incidents and the identification of proposed solutions to the problems. These involve a combination of flood defence provision, highway drainage repairs, gully replacements, improved cleansing and ditch maintenance by the Council along with drainage network upgrading by Northumbrian Water Ltd. The Council has approved an allocation of an additional £350,000 for the first year of a five-year programme to implement as many as possible of the identified solutions. LTP3 will need to support the implementation of this programme.

All new medium and large scale developments must prepare Surface Water Management Plans to control water discharge in compliance with Planning Policy Statement PPS25 “Development and Flood Risk”. Hard standings must be sustainably drained with water attenuation to prevent flooding of built-up areas and pollution of watercourses. This will reduce the risk of water run-off from roads and car parks polluting the natural environment. Wherever possible, opportunities will need to be taken to introduce these measures into existing facilities to reduce current impacts and improve environmental protection.

Quality of Public Spaces And Better Streetscapes Redcar & Cleveland is home to attractive countryside and coastline. However, due to the largely industrial nature of the economy, there are large areas of derelict and 177 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 contaminated land, often located close to areas of low housing demand. There are some areas of poor urban quality and green spaces that are not effectively managed or used beneficially. The quality of public spaces and streetscapes can have a major impact on quality of life, and transport, particularly in close association with planning, can be a major contributor to their improvement. The importance attached to the quality of public space and streetscapes in the borough is reflected in the use of the local Area Committees in a bid to involve local communities in making local areas ‘Clean, Green and Safe’.

All aspects of this LTP have a role to play in improving public spaces and streetscapes in the borough. Clearly the main contributors are the design, use, maintenance and management of highways and public transport infrastructure, and segregated routes for pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians. These transcend the DaSTS Goals and implementation plans for the borough. The Council’s Safer Streets Scheme process has been revised during LTP2 to include the provision of car parking lay-bys. These remove some of the negative impacts of on-street car parking in residential areas by reducing congestion and damage to grass verges and footways.

Two major streetscape improvement schemes for Greater Eston are included in the Redcar & Cleveland Regeneration Masterplan. These are the Grand Boulevard (A1085 Trunk Road) and The Great Street (Normanby Road). The aim of these is to transform the urban environment to reduce vehicle domination and encourage pedestrian circulation, promoting quality in building and public realm design to create the ‘place’ that will retain and attract people to live.

Initiatives already in place within Redcar & Cleveland that positively contribute to improvements in public spaces and streetscapes include close adherence to Residential Design Guidelines to ensure a 20mph average speed for secondary access and residential roads and in areas immediately outside schools. An Urban Design Guidance Supplementary Planning Document has been approved by the Council, which will be adhered to during the LTP3 period and beyond. Closer working between transportation and planning officers in terms of scheme design standards and maintenance regimes will facilitate this. There is a balance to be made between enhancing the quality of urban and rural environments and ensuring that expenditure is targeted to achieve the transport objectives. Wherever possible, design standards will be enhanced, particularly for schemes in key locations.

The list below illustrates a number of transport measures that can positively impact on the quality of public spaces and streetscapes:  Design and maintenance of streets and highways;  Design and use of traffic management measures;  Sympathetic use and maintenance of street furniture, lighting and signage;  Balance between ensuring safety and minimising street clutter;  High quality infrastructure design and maintenance particularly in historic environments and areas of high landscape value;  Pedestrianisation;  Home Zones; 178 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

 Quiet Lanes;  Better walking and cycling facilities;  Better design standards in new development (e.g. new residential designed to 20mph limits); and  Promotion of walking, riding and cycling.

Tourism And Leisure Promotion of tourism and leisure during the period of LTP3 will be critical to the delivery of healthier, sustainable and prosperous communities. Transport will play a key role in enabling expansions in the tourism sector in the borough and providing greater opportunity for leisure for residents and visitors.

The Council has developed an Equestrian Strategy and an Activity Tourism Strategy and LTP2 supported the implementation of these strategies through the development of safe off-road multi-user routes. Further promotional work needs to be undertaken to achieve the greatest benefit from these. These will provide strong links to the promotion of tourism and healthy activity and contribute to road safety and accessibility for vulnerable road users.

The Rights of Way Improvement Plan The enactment of Section 60 of the Countryside & Rights of Way Act 2000 introduced a duty for all local highway authorities to prepare a Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) by November 2007. The ROWIP for the borough of Redcar & Cleveland (including that part of the borough within the North York Moors National Park) was completed during 2007 and was formally adopted by the borough council in September 2007.

In line with the objectives of the LTP, it needs to be recognised that actions need to be taken to address the objectives of the key priorities, not simply to make improvements to public rights of way (PROW) or any other form of transport for their own sake. The Council’s ROWIP sets the framework within which the local rights of way network will be managed and improved. This is intended to meet the national and local aims of better provision for walkers, cyclists and horse riders, improving health and quality of life and supporting rural economies and tourism. It will also contribute to local transport and road safety objectives and address issues relating to the social exclusion of the partially sighted, less mobile, young people and ethnic minorities.

The principles and issues for the Council’s ROWIP were integrated into the LTP2 document and are carried through into LTP3. The contribution of the PROW network to the former shared priority objectives and the DaSTS Goals has been recognised and schemes for improvements have been programmed and implemented. This update provides a brief summary of the principles of the ROWIP and progress made so far in delivery.

Council Vision The Council’s vision for the ROWIP is:

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The Council will maintain a Rights of Way Improvement Plan that seeks to develop the rights of way network in ways that will:

 Protect and improve the network of urban rights of way for local journeys.

 Provide a safe and enjoyable recreational and educational resource that is accessible to both residents and visitors to the area.

 Facilitate and encourage access to the countryside to deliver quality of life and health benefits to all sectors of the community.

 Contribute to the economy of the area by supporting tourism and other business opportunities related to access to the countryside.

To achieve the above objectives, the ROWIP includes an assessment of:

 the extent to which local rights of way meet the present and likely future needs of the public.  the opportunities provided by local rights of way for exercise and other forms of open-air recreation and enjoyment of the area.  the accessibility of local rights of way to blind and partially sighted persons and others with mobility problems.

Summary of Progress An “Assessment of Needs” for the development of the ROWIP was undertaken in 2004/05. Information and advice was gathered and collated from a wide range of sources including rights of way user questionnaires, public “focus group” meetings and stakeholder consultations. The assessment identified ten key issues that are considered to be particularly relevant to the improvement of rights of way in the borough. These issues are set out below:

1. Threats to Continuity of Access - the possible loss of existing permissive or “de facto” access. 2. Direct Access to the Countryside - improving access whether directly from home or by public transport. 3. Lack of Bridleway Network and Possible Unrecorded Bridleways - concerned with the provision of sufficient routes of adequate length to satisfy growing demand. 4. Safety - of both road crossings and where the need to use roads arises because the network is disjointed in some way. 5. Integrated Management - important to the delivery of sustainable improvements. 6. Maintenance and Enforcement Standards For All - but with particular regard to the needs of the less mobile. 7. Access to the Coast - improving access to a highly valued recreational resource. 8. User Co-operation - understanding the rights and needs of different categories of user. 9. Information - raising the confidence of all users (or potential users) especially those who feel excluded from access to the countryside in some way. 10. Illegal Motor Vehicle Access - current provision for legitimate recreation as well as education and enforcement. 180 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Discussions with the LAF and the ROWIP Steering Group led to issues 3, 4 and 6 above, gradually emerging as being the most important in this area. Investigation of all of the issues has been undertaken and will continue throughout the LTP2 period, and beyond, to identify and implement specific measures. In turn, the Key Issues have determined the basis of the ROWIP “Statement of Action”. For each of the Key Issues there are a number of specific “Actions”. Many of these are not limited to one particular Key Issue but support and complement one another across the Statement of Action.

Public Rights of Way performance is measured through the former Best Value Indicator 178. This indicator is now included in a Local Area Agreement (LAA) and performance is well ahead of the originally predicted LTP2 targets. Stretched targets have been set within the LAA to achieve 90% of public rights of way easy to use by 2009/10. A 100% network condition survey has been undertaken for the first time in seven years. This has helped the Council to plan and budget for required maintenance works and has assisted in formulating long-term management plans.

By 2007/08, performance against performance indicator BVPI 178, the percentage of total length of paths and other rights of way that are easy to use by members of the public, had reached 84.4%.

Local Baseline Actual and Trajectory Data End Indicator Data Target LTI3 2003/04 2005/ 06 2006/ 07 2007/08 2008/09 2010/11 Percentage 62.6% Actual 81% 79.1% 84.4% 87.6% of total Figure length of Trajectory 67% 69% 71% 73% 77% PROW easy to use

The sample actions below have been undertaken during the LTP2 period. Similar actions will continue through LTP3 to introduce multi-user routes and improve and maintain the condition of the PROW network.

ROWIP Action 1.3 - The application and instruction pack for making an application to modify the definitive map has been revised, making it clearer and easier to follow. Information describing the definitive map and how to make an application for it to be modified has been added to the Public Rights of Way & Countryside Access pages of the Council’s website.

ROWIP Action 2.5 - The Council has dedicated approximately 1km of public footpath over land at Spencerbeck in Eston. This provides a link from urban residential areas into the neighbouring countryside and offers the potential for further development of a route connecting Middlesbrough to the Council’s Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park.

ROWIP Action 3.2 - Negotiations are continuing between Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, Middlesbrough Borough Council, Network Rail, SUSTRANS and local landowners to create an extension of the Guisborough Walkway. This will provide a strategic walking, cycling and horse-riding route between Middlesbrough and East Cleveland. 181 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

ROWIP Action 3.6 - Research has identified a useful 424 metre bridleway link at Cemetery Corner near Guisborough and a 747 metre footpath link between Lazenby and Lackenby that would otherwise not have appeared on the definitive map for the area.

ROWIP Action 4.2 - Co-operation between the landowner, the North York Moors National Park and Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council has resulted in the closure of a little used path through a farmyard in favour of a new 700 metre footpath link. The new path connects other rights of way in the area to the public car park at Newton-under-Roseberry, thereby removing the need for walkers to return to the car park along the busy A173.

ROWIP Action 7.2 - Negotiations between the borough council and the landowner have resulted in the purchase of a strip of coastal land. This will prevent the loss of an existing path between Marske and Saltburn to coastal erosion.

ROWIP Action 9.1 - Work is progressing with the investigation and resolution of definitive map anomalies. It is envisaged that the target of publishing a revised definitive map for the borough (outside the National Park) within two years of the publication of ROWIP will be met.

ROWIP Action 9.3 - External contractors completed a full survey of public rights of way in the borough (outside the National Park) during August 2007. The information provided by the survey is now being actively used to inform on-going maintenance and improvement.

ROWIP Action 10.1 - Since the adoption of ROWIP the Council has made one Prohibition of Driving Order in Green Lane, a Byway Open to All Traffic, in Redcar. This was at the request and with the support of local residents who felt that the amenity value and enjoyment of the Lane was being spoiled by its unnecessary and excessive use by motor vehicles.

ROWIP Action 10.2 - Support is being given to a scheme at the Council’s South Bank Motor Sports Park that is aimed at involving young people in the area in legitimate motor sports where they might otherwise be tempted into the illegal use of rights of way and open spaces.

LTP capital funding has been used to provide 50% support for the implementation of the ROWIP, predominantly for cycle routes and multi-user “Activity Tourism” routes. These have been undertaken to improve accessibility to the countryside and promote healthy exercise. Seven fixed people counters have been installed on key routes to measure levels of usage and one mobile counter is available to provide data in support of funding bids. The rest of the funding came from a range of sources following successful bids:

 Local Area Agreement  Neighbourhood Renewal  Natural England 182 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

 BIFFA  NRF Community Chest

We need to continue to make use of these opportunities for funding to address the DaSTS Goals during LTP3.

The Journey Experience of Transport Users The main aim of local transport policy is to encourage people to think more carefully about their choice of modes in their transport decision making. We have been developing facilities and promoting the alternatives to private car use so that people will have a choice available for the journey that they need to make. For a wide range of reasons such as carbon reduction, health promotion and protection of the environment, we want people to make use of the most appropriate modes of travel for their journeys – walking and cycling for shorter journeys; bus use for medium length journeys; rail use for longer journeys – or a combination of these where necessary. Many people are disadvantaged by not having access to a private car or the car within a household generally being available to only one person. A description of the main actions to improve alternative modes of transport and the proposed Smarter Choices programme are given in Chapter 4, Reducing Carbon Emissions.

The Council needs to examine the full range of interactions that the public have with transport networks and the environment in making their end-to-end journeys in order to achieve this aim. It is through many of the smaller details of journey making that people can become more comfortable with the idea of using alternatives to the private car. We can assist through improvements to information, safety and security and journey quality.

For public transport, the Tees Valley Bus Network Review has addressed a range of issues that will improve quality of life for the residents of the borough. The key aim is to enable a stable bus network that will ensure that bus services are readily available for the majority of journeys that people wish to undertake. Information has been provided in Chapter 4 “Reducing Carbon Emissions” on the overall aims and the details of the Tees Valley Major Bus Scheme. Encouraging the use of public transport rather than cars, will help to reduce congestion and vehicle emissions that damage the environment. Initiatives include:

 Improvements to Real Time Public Transport Information through bus stop displays and mobile phone systems;  Smartcard Ticketing through the North East Smart Ticketing Initiative will make services easier to use;  CCTV on buses and at bus stops will make people feel more secure about the use of buses;  The National Concessionary Fare Scheme provides free transport for pensioners  The Redcar & Cleveland Roaming & Travelling Concessionary Fare Scheme provides cheaper travel for young people to a wider range of services and opportunities for social interaction that reduce social exclusion.

Promoting additional walking and cycling will contribute to the healthy activity required by individuals. Surface and lighting improvements and general 183 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 improvements to maintenance and cleanliness reduce antisocial behaviour and perceptions of poor safety and security. A borough Cycle Map has been created and on-line cycle journey planning is being pursued with Sustrans and Cycling England.

STRATEGY

The Redcar & Cleveland policies for the Improvement of Quality of Life and a Healthy Natural Environment through LTP3 are:

 QOL1 - Supply the best possible integrated transport system for residents in the borough of Redcar & Cleveland. The package of measures will include implementing initiatives to improve facilities and services for Bus Use, Walking, Cycling and Passenger Rail Services.

 QOL2 – Smarter Choices - Promote a package of sustainable Smarter Choices measures in partnership with the other Tees Valley local authorities.

 QOL3 – The Noise Impact of transport proposals will be taken into consideration during scheme planning.

 QOL4 – Reduce Flood Risk through the improvement and maintenance of existing drainage systems.

 QOL5 – Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems will be incorporated into new developments through the land-use planning system, wherever practicable.

 QOL6 – The Quality of Public Spaces and Streetscapes will be enhanced through all new transport schemes and maintenance works.

 QOL7 – Tourism and Leisure will be promoted in the borough through the provision of sustainable transport routes and facilities.

 QOL8 – The Rights of Way Improvement Plan will be implemented to improve the public rights of way network.

Promoting Alternative Modes of Travel Many people are disadvantaged by not having access to a private car or the car within a household generally being available to only one person. Transport actions will assist in the promotion of equality of opportunity through improving the alternatives to the private car. Making improved facilities available and promoting the benefits of their use will encourage people to make use of the most appropriate modes of travel for their journeys – walking and cycling for shorter journeys; bus use for medium length journeys; rail use for longer journeys – or a combination of these where necessary. A description of the main actions to improve alternative modes of transport and the proposed Smarter Choices programme are given in Chapter 4, Reducing Carbon Emissions. 184 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

The Journey Experience of Transport Users Encouraging the use of public transport, walking and cycling rather than private cars, helps to reduce congestion and vehicle emissions that damage the environment. In addition to the provision of infrastructure for the development of these modes, the Council and our partners will need to address the smaller details of journey making to make them more attractive to transport users. These will involve issues of information, ticketing, security, cleanliness and journey quality that will encourage travellers to see them as viable alternatives to car use.

A range of these measures is included in the Tees Valley Bus Network Improvement Scheme as a package of “softer” measures to be implemented by the authorities in parallel with the major infrastructure works. It will also be necessary for the Council to continue the promotion of cycling, including the updating of the borough cycle map.

The main aim of local transport policy is to encourage people to think more carefully about their choice of modes in their transport decision making. We have been developing facilities and promoting the alternatives to private car use so that people will have a choice available for the journey that they need to make. For a wide range of reasons such as carbon reduction, health promotion and protection of the environment, we want people to make use of the most appropriate modes of travel for their journeys – walking and cycling for shorter journeys; bus use for medium length journeys; rail use for longer journeys – or a combination of these where necessary. Many people are disadvantaged by not having access to a private car or the car within a household generally being available to only one person. A description of the main actions to improve alternative modes of transport and the proposed Smarter Choices programme are given in Chapter 4, Reducing Carbon Emissions.

The Council needs to examine the full range of interactions that the public have with transport networks and the environment in making their end-to-end journeys in order to achieve this aim. It is through many of the smaller details of journey making that people can become more comfortable with the idea of using alternatives to the private car. We can assist through improvements to information, safety and security and journey quality.

For public transport, the Tees Valley Bus Network Review has addressed a range of issues that will improve quality of life for the residents of the borough. The key aim is to enable a stable bus network that will ensure that bus services are readily available for the majority of journeys that people wish to undertake. Information has been provided in Chapter 4 “Reducing Carbon Emissions” on the overall aims and the details of the Tees Valley Major Bus Scheme. Encouraging the use of public transport rather than cars helps to reduce congestion and vehicle emissions that damage the environment. Initiatives include:

 Improvements to Real Time Public Transport Information through bus stop displays and mobile phone systems;  Smartcard Ticketing through the North East Smart Ticketing Initiative will make services easier to use;  CCTV on buses and at bus stops will make people feel more secure about the 185 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

use of buses;  The National Concessionary Fare Scheme provides free transport for pensioners  The Redcar & Cleveland Roaming & Travelling Concessionary Fare Scheme provides cheaper travel for young people to a wider range of services and opportunities for social interaction that reduce social exclusion.

Promoting additional walking and cycling will contribute to the healthy activity required by individuals. Surface and lighting improvements and general improvements to maintenance and cleanliness reduce antisocial behaviour and perceptions of poor safety and security. A borough Cycle Map has been created and on-line cycle journey planning is being pursued with Sustrans and Cycling England.

Noise Impact Limited specific action will need to be taken to address noise issues. There will mainly be a requirement for the consideration of noise issues in relation to new development proposals and transport schemes to ensure that they do not have an unacceptable level of impact on existing properties and landscape settings. These will need to consider a range of measures such as the use of materials for road surfaces to reduce the generation of noise and the use of noise attenuation features to reduce the spread of noise.

Environmental Impact Actions need to continue to be taken to reduce the threat of water borne pollution in the environment through the control of flooding. Improvements need to be made to existing drainage systems to reduce the risk of flood damage to properties and landscapes. LTP3 needs to support the Council’s approved five-year drainage improvement programme to achieve this aim. This needs to include an improved programme of maintenance for pipes, gullies, ditches and culverts to ensure that they remain in a serviceable condition. New Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) need to be built into new developments, as appropriate, to reduce the rate of surface water run off in wet conditions.

Tourism and Leisure Promotion of tourism and leisure will support a range of objectives relating to mode choice, economic regeneration and health improvement. Measures relating to tourism and leisure that will be implemented during LTP3 include:  Addition to the National Cycle Route Network;  Development and promotion of the Activity Tourism Routes; and,  Development of local area networks for pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians.

Public Rights of Way The PROW network contributes to accessibility across the borough. Rural off-road routes are particularly important to reduce the dangers of people walking on country roads without footways. The Council will need to continue its’ statutory duty to ensure that paths remain available for use and will seek to implement the vision and proposals for the development and promotion of the rights of way network as identified through the Rights of Way Improvement Plan.

186 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

CHAPTER 9 :- LTP PERFORMANCE MONITORING

An important element of the LTP process is the provision of evidence that the expenditure and implementation involved is proving beneficial. Objectives are being set for the delivery of the DaSTS Goals in the borough, together with a set of performance indicators with targets to monitor progress throughout the ten-year LTP period.

The previous government had established the National Indicator Set to be reported by all local authorities, including ten transport indicators. The new government has decided not to continue with these indicators but has identified a draft list of information called the Single Data List (SDL) that they want authorities to make available to central government and to the general public. This will provide general monitoring information that will mainly allow the public to understand how money is being spent. The SDL contains three of the former National Indicator (NI) topics: bus punctuality; road condition and school travel. Local authorities are required to provide data on the first two of these while DfT will provide data for the third from the Annual School Census. DfT has identified that the remaining former NI topics are also useful information so they have determined that they will continue to provide the data results for these as they did in the past. These will continue to be used as LTP indicators. Two indicators for road accident casualty categories and one for rail patronage are also included as LTP local indicators.

Targets have been established for the indicators, with an indication provided of how these have been determined and the works to be undertaken to achieve them. We have examined the past trends of performance data for these indicators to identify what future trends would be likely in a do-minimum scenario. This has then been used as the basis for identifying targets for the levels of impact that actions during LTP3 will have. The targets have been set to be challenging while being realistic about how much change can be achieved.

FORMER NATIONAL TRANSPORT INDICATORS

NI 47 - All Killed and Seriously Injured Casualties NI 48 - Child Killed and Seriously Injured Casualties 1 Targets – NI 47- 33 /3% reduction in all KSI casualties from a 2004-08 average base by 2020, measured as a three year rolling average. NI 48 - 50% reduction in child KSI casualties from a 2004-08 average base by 2020, measured as a three year rolling average.

Reasoning – The Council has taken the suggested national casualty reduction targets from the DfT publication “A Safer Way” and has adapted these to suit local circumstances. The proposed percentage reductions remain unchanged, however, fatalities and serious casualties will be reported together rather than as separate indicators. This is appropriate as the number of fatal casualties in the borough is already so low that meaningful reductions could not be specified. The numbers occurring each year are affected to a greater degree by the level of variation in random events rather than by the actions of the Council. Even considering fatalities 187 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 and slight casualties together, the high percentage reductions proposed from small numbers will be challenging to achieve. However, the safety of people in the borough is an important subject that needs to be addressed. DfT will provide the data as received directly from the Police.

Key Local Government Actions  Implementation of a Road Safety Education and Encouragement programme for children and adults.  Implementation of pedestrian and cycling training schemes for residents.  Participation in local, regional and national campaigns and initiatives to promote road safety.  Implementation of speed management measures throughout the borough.  Implementation of engineering remedial measures at identified accident locations.

Key Partner Actions  Continuation of speed enforcement through Cleveland Police.  Continuation of education and training initiatives with partners.  Continuation of driver remedial training through Cleveland Driver Improvement Scheme.  Participation in local, regional and national campaigns and initiatives to promote road safety, particularly drink drive awareness and enforcement.

Risks to Achievement - The major risk to achievement is that road users will fail to modify their behaviour to reduce the chance of accidents taking place and of themselves becoming road accident casualties. The Council will continue to work with partners on the wide range of initiatives indicated above to bring about improvement. A lesser risk is media and pressure group hostility to some casualty reduction measures, particularly speed enforcement and traffic calming, which may lead to changes in national or local support for implementation. The Council will continue to promote the benefits of these initiatives to limit the possibility of their deletion or the dilution of their effectiveness.

NI 167 – Average Journey Time (Congestion) Target – Maintain average journey time per mile below 1.7 minutes.

Reasoning – The data for this indicator is being provided by DfT as the average journey time per mile on “A” roads in the morning peak. The figure provided for 2009/10 is 1.62 minutes or 37.1 miles per hour. This is the fifth lowest journey time out of 125 authorities outside of London, confirming that the Council does not have a significant congestion problem. (The list ranges from 1.47mins in Rutland to 4.08mins in Reading)

For road safety reasons, it is not desirable to increase the speed of traffic when the traffic is already generally free flowing. It is more important to ensure that buses are not subject to significant delays within the general traffic and this is being addressed by actions in the Tees Valley Bus Network Improvement Project. The target is therefore set to ensure that traffic remains relatively free flowing and within the upper quartile of the monitored local authorities. 188 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Key Local Government Actions  Identify any congestion hotspot locations and implement improvements where appropriate.  Use the land use planning system to identify potential problems that would be caused by new developments and recommend solutions.  Implement and enforce parking controls where necessary to aid the flow of traffic.

Key Partner Actions  Highways Agency to identify congestion hotspot locations on the trunk road network and implement improvements where appropriate, particularly at interfaces with the local road network.  Developers to implement highway improvements where necessary to mitigate the traffic impact of their proposals.

Risks to Achievement – The main risks are the increasing level of car ownership in the borough and increased regeneration leading to an increased level of car use on the roads. The Council will need to apply appropriate education and enforcement measures to encourage the use of alternative modes of transport. There is also a risk that some of the measures in the Tees Valley Bus Network Improvement Project may cause delays to cars while giving travel benefits for buses. These conflicting aims will need to be balanced to provide the most appropriate results for the travelling public.

NI 168 Condition of Principal Roads NI 169 Condition of Non-Principal Roads Targets – NI 168 - To maintain the proportion of the principal road network where maintenance should be considered below 2%. NI 169 - To maintain the proportion of the non-principal road network where maintenance should be considered below 4%.

Reasoning - Significant improvements in highway condition have been achieved during LTP2, resulting in scores of 1% and 2% respectively for the last three years. The condition of principal and classified roads is now measured by SCANNER type surveys. The performance results for these have improved significantly, through a combination of targeting works at roads that are in need of repair and changes in the process for measurement. In the current financial climate, it is unlikely that the same levels of funding will be available to maintain these levels in the future. It is therefore proposed to relax these standards slightly to 2% and 4% respectively. These indicators are included in the Single Data List and the Council is still required to collect this data.

Key Local Government Actions  Implement maintenance improvements on the worst condition road sections to bring them up to a satisfactory standard.  Implement early surface maintenance schemes to limit the decline in condition and provide overall value for money.

Key Partner Actions 189 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

 Monitoring contractor to implement reliable monitoring regimes to provide evidence for decision-making on future actions.  Works contractor to implement works to high standards to maximise value for money.

Risks to Achievement - The major risk is that, having established the condition of the network, the level of funding available for highway maintenance will be insufficient to prevent a decline in the overall network standard. This could lead to significant future repair costs and an increase in insurance claims against the Council. The current proportions requiring maintenance are very low so there is a little room for relaxation. However, the level of work undertaken each year will generally need to raise a greater proportion of the network above standard than falls below standard through wear and tear. The situation will need to be closely monitored over a few years to see how this balance is developing and ensure that adequate resources are being allocated to maintenance.

NI 175 – Accessibility of Services NI 176 – Access to Employment Target – To maintain accessibility at 2008/09 levels.

Reasoning – The Department for Transport uses ACCESSION modelling to identify levels of accessibility for residents of the borough to a range of important lifestyle services. These are Employment, Schools, Further Education, GPs, Hospitals and Foodstores. The latest results for these were provided in June 2009 for the year 2008/09. For employment, the results show that around 80% of people have access to jobs within a “reasonable time”. For the other services they show that around 85%+ of residents can access these within 20-30 minutes and 100% can access them within 40-60 minutes. The official definitions of the indicators include access by public transport, walking and cycling.

The Council only has a limited influence on the bus service network or on the locations of the various services that determine these results. We provide revenue support for some essential bus services, the Boroughbus network, though this is increasingly difficult in the current financial climate. Most of the lifestyle services are major developments in fixed locations with few changes taking place. It is therefore considered reasonable that we should seek to maintain the current range of results.

Key Local Government Actions  Work with bus operators to maintain a reasonable level of public transport accessibility for the majority of residents.  Work in partnership with service providers to maintain lifestyle services in locations that are easily accessible by public transport.  Use the land use planning process to ensure that proposed new developments are adequately accessible by public transport with accessibility improvements made if required.

Key Partner Actions  Bus operators to promote the use of bus services to maintain the viability and 190 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

extent of the bus service network.  Key service providers to seek to provide their services in accessible locations.

Risks to Achievement – The first key risk to maintaining levels of accessibility is the risk of changes to the bus service network. Bus operators have been under pressure from rising costs and falling bus patronage that seriously threaten service viability and it has been necessary for them to make changes to their networks to react to these. The Council and operators will need to continue to work closely together to maintain adequate networks for the benefit of residents of the borough.

The other major threat is that the service providers are generally under various pressures to reduce costs and improve the level of service that they provide. These are undertaken through actions such as the amalgamation of schools or the relocation of GPs and some hospital services into expanded health centre facilities. The Council needs to ensure that these wider services remain adequately accessible for non-car owners.

NI 177 - Public Transport Patronage Target - To increase bus patronage (Arriva North East) by 0.5% per annum from a 2009/10 base level to 2020/21.

Reasoning – The Department for Transport will begin providing this information to local authorities. Arriva North East is the major commercial bus operator operating within Redcar & Cleveland. For many years, they have provided their aggregated bus patronage results monthly via the Tees Valley Joint Strategy Unit (now Tees Valley Unlimited). The level of bus patronage in Redcar and Cleveland has been variable since 2000. Early declines in bus patronage appear to be stabilising due to the introduction of the national “free” concessionary fares scheme in April 2008. It has also been necessary for Arriva to streamline their service provision on occasions to cope with commercial pressures.

The Council has found the availability of the patronage results for smaller operators in the borough to be unreliable making it difficult to include this data in the forecast targets or the monitoring for this indicator. The inclusion or exclusion of a single operator because of the availability or unavailability of the data masks the overall level of increase or decrease in patronage in the borough. There should therefore be greater reliability for the total figures year-on-year if these are provided by DfT. Route improvement actions taken by the Council and general promotion activities will provide benefits for all operators who use those routes.

The Council will be implementing our elements of the Tees Valley Bus Network Improvement Project from 2010/11 that predicts significant growth on the Supercore and Core routes within the Tees Valley. Arriva support this view and believe that they can generate some growth on the core routes in the borough. However, many of the routes identified within Redcar and Cleveland are either secondary or tertiary routes with less growth potential, so it is necessary to balance the overall level of predicted growth across the borough. A growth rate of 0.5% each year is therefore predicted and the opportunity will be taken to revise the target in the future if it proves to be

191 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 insufficiently challenging.

Key Local Government Actions  Implement the Tees Valley Bus Network Improvement Project in the borough to create Quality Bus Corridors on core routes.  Implement bus stop and accessibility improvements on secondary bus routes across the borough.  Maintain the availability of bus timetable information at bus stops.  Roll out the introduction of Real Time bus information displays.  Participate in local and regional promotion of bus use.  Work with Tees Valley partners to maintain the National Concessionary Fares Scheme.  Introduce CCTV at bus stops to improve public confidence in the bus system.

Key Partner Actions  Operators to promote the bus service network in support of the implementation of the Tees Valley Bus Network Review.  Continue the introduction of new buses to meet Disability Discrimination Act requirements.  Introduce CCTV on to buses to improve public confidence in the bus system.  Produce bus service timetables and participate in promotion.  Improve vehicle maintenance and driver training to improve the profile of public transport.  Developers to make provision for bus services in major developments.

Risk to Achievement – Over many years, there has been an increasing level of car ownership and use in the borough with a corresponding decline in bus patronage and the loss of commercial bus services. It is difficult to maintain patronage levels against this background but the Council is committed to seeking to maintain and promote accessibility by public transport.

NI 178 - Bus Punctuality Target - To achieve 90% punctuality for non-frequent bus services and a 1.25 minute excess waiting time for frequent services by 2014/15.

Reasoning - This indicator consists of two elements for reporting purposes. For non- frequent services, less than six per hour, the proportion “on-time”, between one minute early and five minutes and fifty nine seconds late, is reported for the start of journeys. For frequent services, the combined excess waiting time needs to be reported in minutes. There are only two bus services in the borough that are classed as frequent, Route 63 Redcar to Middlesbrough and the section of Route 64 from Middlesbrough to Eston.

Guidance on targets indicates that authorities should aim for 90% punctuality for non- frequent services by 2014/15 and for an excess waiting time of 1.25 minutes for frequent services over the same period. The targets set in LTP2 in 2005 are seeking to achieve around 50% of the improvement required by 2010/11. By 2009/10, the target for non-frequent services is on track to be achieved. For frequent services, 192 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 the level of delay to frequent services has not been reduced, arising from delay issues in both of the authorities through which the services pass. The key aim of the route improvement schemes included in the Tees Valley Bus Network Improvement Project is to remove congestion points that affect bus services so it is expected that improvements to the punctuality of these services can be achieved in the coming years. This indicator is included in the Single Data List and the Council is still required to collect this data.

Key Local Government Actions  Work with partners through the Punctuality Improvement Partnership to identify problem locations for bus services.  Implement the bus route improvement measures of the Tees Valley Bus Network Improvement Project.  Manage Council and utility roadworks to minimise traffic disruption in accordance with the Traffic Management Act.  Implement demand management measures to reduce traffic congestion.

Key Partner Actions  Work with partners through the Punctuality Improvement Partnership to identify issues that cause delay to bus services.  Identify realistic timetables for bus service operation.  Implement improved ticketing measures to reduce boarding delays.

Risks to Achievement - The main risk to this target is the increasing level of car ownership and use within the borough. Increasing congestion on the road network would impact on the punctuality of bus services. The Council will introduce appropriate parking restraint and junction improvement measures, particularly in our town centres, to limit the impact of car traffic on buses. The other major risk relates to the impact of congestion in Middlesbrough on cross-boundary bus services, particularly Route 63 on Marton Road, Middlesbrough. The Council will work with Middlesbrough Borough Council to address these issues.

NI 198 - Mode Share of Journeys to School Target – To reduce the level of car use for journeys to schools by 0.5% each year from a 2009/10 base level until 2020/21.

Reasoning – The Council has been making excellent progress on this indicator during LTP2 while additional funding has been available from the national School Travel Initiative to assist with promotion and the implementation of physical measures. Following these early successes and in the current period of financial restraint, the Council will continue to seek a reduction in the level of car use but at a reduced rate than previously. This should bring the Council towards achieving the original School Travel Advisory Group targets of 20% car use for primary schools and 10% car use for secondary schools (circa 15% overall) by a revised end date of 2021.

Without action, the benefits that have been achieved so far could be lost with more people reverting to the use of cars for school journeys. The Council has adopted a School Travel Plan led approach that relies on each school to take an active 193 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 leadership role in addressing the impact of school travel, supported by School Travel Plan Advisers. This is also now a legal obligation for the Council arising from the Education and Inspections Act 2006. This approach will need to continue in order to achieve further improvement. This indicator is included in the Single Data List and DfT will provide the data from the Annual School Census.

Key Local Government Actions  Work with schools to update and promote their School Travel Plans.  Implement physical measures around schools to put School Travel Plans into effect.  Provide pedestrian and cycle training to schoolchildren to encourage mode shift.  Implement and enforce parking restrictions around schools.  Monitor and revise speed limits around schools as appropriate to promote road safety.

Key Partner Actions  Schools to update and actively promote School Travel Plans.  Other partners to assist with the promotion of the benefits of School Travel change to encourage mode shift.

Risks to Achievement - The main risk to this target is that children and their parents will not be encouraged to change their travel habits away from car use. This was a problem for several years in spite of the level of work undertaken by the Council. The Council and its partners will continue to promote the benefits of a reduction in car use for school travel. Another risk is the falling rolls in schools that are leading to some school amalgamations, which for some children will mean longer journeys.

LOCAL INDICATORS

LTP1 - The Total Number of Slight Casualties Target - 10% reduction in Slight casualties from a 2004-08 average base from 2011 to 2020, measured as a three-year rolling average.

Reasoning - The Council previously set a stretched target to achieve a 30% reduction in the number of slight casualties from a 1994-98 base by 2010. An excellent performance of 40% reduction has actually been achieved. No new national target is suggested for slight casualty reduction. However, locally, it is considered desirable to maintain and build upon our current level of success. It is therefore proposed that we should seek to achieve a fixed 10% reduction from the new baseline from the start of the new target period in 2011 until 2020.

Key Local Government Actions These actions are the same as those given for KSI casualties.

Key Partner Actions These actions are the same as those given for KSI casualties.

Risks to Achievement 194 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

The risks are the same as those given for KSI casualties.

LTP2 - Casualties to Vulnerable Road Users Target - To reduce the number of road accident casualties to vulnerable road users, (pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and equestrians) by 10% from a 2004-08 average base by 2020, measured as a three year rolling average.

Reasoning - In addition to the national casualty reduction categories, the Council has placed additional emphasis on reducing the number of casualties to vulnerable road users that make up 29% of all casualties. Promoting road safety is a key element of encouraging the use of the alternative transport modes. A reduction of 25% has been achieved since 2001 and it is considered appropriate that the end target should be set at the same level as the target for slight casualties, a 10% reduction over ten years from a 2004-08 baseline. There have been no equestrian casualties for many years, however, they will be included in this category for completeness as the Council is seeking to promote horse riding as part of the Activity Tourism Strategy. The statistics will be obtained from the road casualty database provided by Cleveland Police.

Key Local Government Actions  Implementation of a Road Safety Education and Encouragement programme for children and adults.  Implementation of pedestrian and cycling training schemes for residents.  Participation in local, regional and national campaigns and initiatives to promote road safety.  Implementation of speed management measures throughout the borough.  Implementation of engineering remedial measures at identified accident cluster sites.

Key Partner Actions  Continuation of speed enforcement through Cleveland Police.  Continuation of education and training initiatives.  Continuation of driver remedial training through Cleveland Driver Improvement Scheme.  Participation in local, regional and national campaigns and initiatives to promote road safety, particularly drink drive awareness and enforcement.

Risks to Achievement - The major risk to achievement is that road users will fail to modify their behaviour to reduce the chance of accidents taking place and of themselves becoming road accident casualties. The Council will continue to work with partners on the wide range of initiatives indicated above to bring about improvement. A lesser risk is media and pressure group hostility to some casualty reduction measures, particularly speed enforcement and traffic calming, which may lead to changes in national or local support for implementation. The Council will continue to promote the benefits of these initiatives to limit the possibility of their deletion or the dilution of their effectiveness.

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LTP3 – Increase Local Passenger Rail Use in Redcar and Cleveland Target - To increase local passenger rail use by 1% per annum from a 2009/10 base.

Reasoning - The Council wishes to assist the rail authorities in promoting an increase in rail use to limit road traffic growth. Local rail use has increased by 23% between 2003/04 and 2009/10 and is continuing to increase in 2010/11. A modest target for an annual 1% increase has been set for LTP3 to reflect the current financial climate. This should be achievable subject to no national rail disasters that dent public confidence or major regulatory changes that move the rail provision goal posts. The level of long-stay car parking is being reduced in local town centres and the use of rail services will be an attractive alternative for people who are convenient to rail stations. Also, there will be an increase in travel on local railway lines to complement the expected increase on intercity routes. The statistics for this indicator are provided by the Office for Rail Regulation (ORR) and Northern Rail to Tees Valley Unlimited during each year.

Key Local Government Actions - Improve access and signage to railway stations. Assist rail companies in promoting passenger rail use.

Key Partner Actions - Work to improve the quality and reliability of passenger rail services. Promote the benefits of passenger rail use to the public.

Risks to Achievement - The main risks would be the impact of a national rail disaster and changes to the funding and regulatory regimes within the rail industry. The restrictions imposed on the national rail network following the Hatfield crash had a serious impact on local rail patronage that took some time to recover. Changes to funding could reduce the number of trains in operation and lead to a similar decline in patronage. Both of these issues are outside of local authority control. The Council will continue to work with rail companies within the existing regimes to promote rail use.

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Table 9.1 :- LTP3 Indicators and Targets Description Units Actual and Trajectory Data NATIONAL INDICATORS Base 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Notes NI 47 – All Killed and Actual Figures 2004-08 Actuals to be Casualties Seriously Injured Casualties ave. 55 reported as 3-year Trajectory 53 51 49 47 45 43 41 39 37 35 averages

Base 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 NI 48 – Child Killed and Actual Figures 2004-08 Actuals to be Seriously Injured Casualties Casualties ave. 7 reported as 3-year Trajectory 6.7 6.3 6.0 5.6 5.3 4.9 4.6 4.2 3.9 3.5 averages

Base 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 NI 167 – Average Journey Actual Figures 2009/10 Data provided by Time per Mile (Congestion) Minutes 1.62 DfT. Trajectory 1.70 1.70 1.70 1.70 1.70 1.70 1.70 1.70 1.70 1.70

NI 168 – Percentage of Base 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 Principal Road Network Actual Figures 2009/10 Annual Surveys where maintenance should be Percentage 1% considered Trajectory 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2%

NI 169 – Percentage of Non- Base 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 Principal Road Network Actual Figures 2009/10 Annual Surveys where maintenance should be Percentage 2% considered Trajectory 4% 4% 4% 4% 4% 4% 4% 4% 4% 4%

Percentage within Time Base 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 NI 175 – Access to Services from Service 2008/09 15 minutes from Primary Actual Figures 99% Data provided by Percentage Schools Trajectory 99% 99% 99% 99% 99% 99% 99% 99% 99% 99% DfT. 30 minutes from Primary Actual Figures 100% Data provided by Percentage Schools Trajectory 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% DfT. 20 minutes from Secondary Actual Figures 89% Data provided by Percentage Schools Trajectory 89% 89% 89% 89% 89% 89% 89% 89% 89% 89% DfT. 40 minutes from Secondary Actual Figures 100% Data provided by Percentage Schools Trajectory 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% DfT. 30 minutes from Further Actual Figures 85% Data provided by Percentage Education Trajectory 85% 85% 85% 85% 85% 85% 85% 85% 85% 85% DfT. 60 minutes from Further Actual Figures 100% Data provided by Percentage Education Trajectory 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% DfT. 15 minutes from GPs Actual Figures 90% Data provided by Percentage Surgeries Trajectory 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% DfT. 30 minutes from GPs Actual Figures 100% Data provided by Percentage Surgeries Trajectory 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% DfT. Actual Figures 80% Data provided by 15 minutes from Hospital Percentage Trajectory 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% DfT. 197 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Description Units Actual and Trajectory Data Actual Figures 100% Data provided by 30 minutes from Hospital Percentage Trajectory 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% DfT. Actual Figures 98% Data provided by 15 minutes from Foodstores Percentage Trajectory 98% 98% 98% 98% 98% 98% 98% 98% 98% 98% DfT. Actual Figures 100% Data provided by 30 minutes from Foodstores Percentage Trajectory 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% DfT.

Base 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 NI 176 – Access to Actual Figures 2008/09 Data provided by Employment within a Percentage 79.6% DfT. reasonable time Trajectory 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80%

Base 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 Actual Figures 2009/10 To be revised when NI 177 – Bus Patronage Thousands 4872 DfT data becomes Trajectory 4920 4944 4968 4992 5016 5040 5064 5088 5112 5136 available.

NI 178 – Bus Punctuality Base 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 Actual Figures 2009/10 Annual Surveys Percentage of Buses Starting Percentage 81.4% Route on Time Trajectory 84.8% 86.5% 88.2% 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% Actual Figures 2009/10 Annual Surveys Average Excess Waiting Time Minutes 1.95 on Frequent Services Trajectory 1.67 1.53 1.39 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25

Base 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 NI 198 – Mode of Travel to Actual Figures 2009/10 Annual School School – Percentage of Car Percentage 19.3% Census Data Use Trajectory 19% 18.5% 18% 17.5% 17% 16.5% 16% 15.5% 15% 15%

LOCAL INDICATORS Base 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 LTP1 – All Slight Injury Actual Figures 2004-08 Actuals to be Casualties Casualties ave. 336 reported as 3-year Trajectory 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 averages

Base 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 LTP2 – All Casualties to Actual Figures 2004-08 Actuals to be Vulnerable Road Users Casualties ave. 109 reported as 3-year Trajectory 108 107 106 105 104 103 102 101 100 99 averages

Base 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 LTP3 – Local Passenger Rail Actual Figures 2009-10 Data provided by Use Passengers 936,381 ORR and Northern Trajectory 955,110 964,475 973,840 983,205 992,560 1001925 1011280 1020645 1030010 1039375 Rail

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CHAPTER 10 :- LTP IMPLEMENTATION

INTRODUCTION To ensure that this Local Transport Plan is realistic, prioritised, and broadly deliverable, we have drawn up our plan in a way that is informed by the availability of funding. At this time of national financial restraint, we are aware that the levels of funding available in, at least, the earlier years of LTP3 will be significantly lower than those that were available during LTP2.

In June 2010, the Council was informed that the block grant for smaller scale integrated transport measures for 2010/11 had been reduced in-year by 25%. In December 2010, DfT indicated the levels of funding that will be available for each of the first four years of LTP3 as given in Table 10.1 below. The overall 47% cut to the Integrated Transport Block capital funding in 2011/12 and continuing reduced levels in the following years will limit our ability to implement infrastructure improvements in the early years of LTP3. The capital block for major maintenance works has decreased by 8%, recognising that it is more important to maintain the highways and structures infrastructure that we already have.

Table 10.1 - Funding Allocations Table 2010-2015 (£’000s) 2010/11 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15

Original Revised Final Final Indicative Indicative Integrated Transport 1,421 1,065 751 801 801 1,126 Block Highways Maintenance 1,657 1,657 1,530 1,542 1,565 1,474 Block TOTAL 3,078 2,722 2,281 2,343 2,366 2,600

It is likely that the level of available funding will change throughout the 10-year LTP3 period so it is unrealistic to try to predict the funding so far ahead. The delivery programme is therefore indicated for a five-year period 2011-16 to provide a level of reliability. A new programme will then be developed in 2015/16 for the second half of the LTP3 period when a better indication of the likely Government funding is available.

The programme set out in the LTP does not therefore represent a bid for integrated transport and highway maintenance capital funds, but is a prioritised programme to deliver the best possible value for the indicated capital funding levels. Revenue funding levels are also under pressure so we are indicating the measures that we would like to undertake if revenue funds remain available at the appropriate levels. We will use any opportunities to raise additional funds for the improvement of transport through partners and financial bids.

Achieving value for money is the key principle that has been taken into consideration in developing the implementation programme. The revenue impact of capital schemes is taken into account when developing measures for implementation. The current LTP period has given the Council the opportunity to develop its processes 199 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 for identifying and implementing suitable measures. It has also learnt from the experiences of other authorities about the benefits that can be achieved from different courses of action.

MECHANISMS FOR DELIVERY Important steps have been taken to ensure that the Council is appropriately resourced to deliver programmes that make use of the available funding. From the beginning of 2010/11, the council has reorganised local delivery of works to an integrated Neighbourhood Management form of working. This has involved appointing specific Neighbourhood Managers and Neighbourhood Officers to work in each ward in the borough and to have responsibility for a wide range of maintenance, cleanliness, improvement and safety issues. They will act as frontline representatives to liaise with the public and implement a range of initiatives within their localities. This will assist with providing value for money through reducing duplication of effort and being more responsive to the needs of local communities.

For example, officers can record a range of highway maintenance, cleansing, grass cutting, fencing and graffiti issues on local roads and adjacent public spaces in one visit. They can then arrange for the works to be undertaken in a coordinated manner to improve the appearance of the area. They can also call on a publicity team to assist with information campaigns and consultation exercises on specific issues.

The neighbourhood staff will assist in identifying schemes for the capital programme and in gaining local approval. They are backed up by the Engineering Team in the Operations Division that will carry out the design and delivery of the LTP programme. The Council also has a framework arrangement with consultants to ensure that the expertise is available to deal with peaks in workload for feasibility investigations and design.

Delivery of the Council’s programme is undertaken through outsourced a long-term partnering contract with Carillion plc (formerly Alfred McAlpine Government Services). The highways maintenance contract covers all aspects of scheduled and unscheduled highway and footway maintenance works and they also implement the majority of Integrated Transport works. Several levels of partnership performance monitoring groups have been put in place to ensure satisfactory programme delivery and that the intended benefits are achieved.

Scheme Management - The end-to-end programming of works is managed through the Symology Management Information System. The system allows key dates to be identified for each stage in each project so that the workload can be distributed evenly throughout the year. This allows schemes to be matched to available resources and ensures that the complete integrated transport and highway maintenance programmes are scheduled for completion within the financial year. The system is a powerful project management tool as, from the very start of the year, a close check can be made on the progress of every scheme and any delays can be quickly identified and addressed. This has improved value for money as there is no longer a lean period for work in the early part of the year followed by a rush to have schemes completed in the last few months. It also assists the recording and reporting of highways inspection and asset management data. 200 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

The Council has made significant improvements to the ways in which measures are identified and developed. This has been done in order to have the greatest level of public support for, and the best level of effectiveness from, the schemes that are implemented. Some of the methods are:

Promotions and Marketing – A dedicated team has been established in the Area Management Directorate to undertake publicity and consultations on issues that affect residents. Neighbourhood officers can identify issues that require a campaign in their local areas or they can organise campaigns on wider issues across the borough.

Safer Streets Projects - Residents who request traffic calming measures in their neighbourhoods are provided with details of the options for measures that are available and they are invited to put their preferred proposal together. They must demonstrate that they have majority support for their ideas in the area, ensuring that the proposals are locally driven and avoiding abortive work by the Council for ideas that have limited local support.

This process has been expanded during LTP2 to include wider local concerns, particularly about local car parking. This issue has been raised by the major social landlord in the borough, Coast & Country Housing, as the major transport concern of their tenants. Undertaking parking schemes will help to stem the decline of older housing estates and will assist in their regeneration.

School Travel - It was found that the original engineering led approach to promoting sustainable school travel was less successful than had been expected. Procedures were changed and funding from the National School Travel Initiative has been used so that all schools in the borough now have approved School Travel Plans. These need to continue to be developed and promoted in order to maintain the impetus on the reduction of car use and to justify any physical route improvements that are undertaken. This will ensure that value for money is achieved for the substantial investments that are made.

Joint Working - The Council is involved in significant levels of working with the other Tees Valley local authorities, Tees Valley Unlimited (formerly the Tees Valley Joint Strategy Unit), the bus operators and Sustrans to address issues that are of cross- boundary or sub-regional significance. These have included bus network and Real Time Information improvement, rail issues, strategic cycle route development and sustainable transport promotion. These will continue throughout LTP3.

Highway Maintenance - Increased co-ordination has taken place to integrate maintenance with all other aspects of transport delivery. Proposed highway maintenance and integrated transport schemes are investigated to see how works can be combined to give the least disruption and best improvements to streetscapes and to increase the added value of the expenditure.

ADDITIONAL FUNDING CONTRIBUTIONS Numerous funding sources have been used to pay for transport implementation over 201 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 the years, in addition to LTP capital funding. Opportunities will continue to be taken to pursue and make use of funding from these sources in the future. Some examples are:

 Revenue and capital funding from the Department for Children, Schools and Families and DfT to promote School Travel Plans;  New Opportunities lottery funding from Sustrans and landfill tax funding for cycling facilities;  DfT Challenge funds for transport services for disabled people;  Neighbourhood Renewal Funding for the Redcar and Cleveland Transport Access Consultation Project.

The new Local Sustainable Transport Fund also provides an opportunity as a future funding source.

SCHEMES AND MEASURES The implementation programme consists of a wide range of measures designed to achieve the key objectives of the DaSTS Goals. Types of measures have been identified at this stage and the identification of specific schemes will take place over time as further information is gathered and consultation takes place, for example, for road safety schemes and for bus and cycle route improvement schemes. Key to determining how expenditure takes place is the need to demonstrate value for money, achieving the best outcomes for the level of spending proposed. It will be necessary to demonstrate which measures have the best chance of success based on past experience in Redcar and Cleveland and other authorities. The programme shows the level of work that will be undertaken within the expected capital funding limits. Additional funding sources will be pursued to provide additional measures where opportunities arise.

CHOICE OF MEASURES As far as possible, the Council is seeking to carry out the majority of transport improvement works within existing highway boundaries and on public rights of way. This should give the best value for money and the least environmental impact, that are important aims of LTP3.

A key feature of the programme will be the introduction of improvements on bus corridors. Funding approval has been received for the Tees Valley Bus Network Improvement Scheme (TVBNI) that will be implemented from 2010 to 2014. This scheme includes a range of junction and route improvement measures on the main bus corridors in order to reduce journey times and improve punctuality and journey time reliability of the major bus services. LTP funding will be used to support the implementation of this scheme and to deliver other improvements on the secondary and tertiary bus network. This will ensure that the benefits of the scheme will reach across the whole of the network. We will also work on the related issues of CCTV systems at bus stops, public transport information, ticketing systems and promotion of bus use to make bus services as easy to use as possible.

We will also continue to investigate opportunities to improve the bus network through the provision of additional bus services. Funding for supported bus services will be 202 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 restricted in the current economic climate so we will need to work closely with bus operators to identify options for the provision of commercial services. These public transport improvements will address all of the DaSTS Goals, particularly economic growth and equality of opportunity through enabling residents to have easier access to employment.

We will also seek to implement the Tees Valley Metro Project for passenger rail improvements as funding allows. The funding for the first phase of this had been approved but has now been withdrawn by DfT. An initial action will be to look at improving access to and the profile of Redcar Central Station. We will then look at the options to make further improvements to the rail network in partnership with the other Tees Valley authorities and the rail authorities later in the LTP3 programme.

Walking routes are generally being improved along existing roads and desire lines, in the open where there is a greater sense of personal security, rather than quieter off- road routes. We will continue the provision of dropped kerbs to assist the mobility impaired and improve equality of opportunity for residents and visitors in the borough.

Cycling is being promoted by the development of a mixture of on and off-road routes. In urban areas, on-road routes are more appropriate for experienced cyclists as they follow desire lines and speed reduction features can be introduced to improve safety. However, these are not favoured by new cyclists so off-road paths also need to be considered. In rural areas, off-road multi-user routes will often be more appropriate, to implement the wider strategies for Activity Tourism and Healthy Activity. The Council needs to be careful to accommodate and consider the concerns of pedestrians, cyclists, disabled people and equestrians to achieve the best value for money from the routes being created. Walking and cycling routes will be provided where they assist access to employment, schools and local services and to assist the promotion of tourism. These improvements will address all of the DaSTS Goals, particularly the reduction of carbon emissions, the improvement of safety and the promotion of better health.

The problem of illegal use of motorcycles on PROWs is now being addressed through the use of K barriers. We have introduced them on several sections of the National Cycle Route and the Guisborough cycle network and they have been fairly well received by path users and local residents. They do create problems for some wheelchair users and we will need to try to address this, but, on balance, they are a satisfactory measure that we will continue to use during LTP3. We will implement the Rights of Way Improvement Plan to promote local accessibility and tourism and to protect the natural environment.

All works at schools now need to have been identified through the development or updating of a School Travel Plan to ensure local support for the proposed measures. This replaced the previous system in which engineering measures alone were used to try to influence school travel decisions. This system didn’t work. The additional capital funding available to schools through the National School Travel Initiative also allowed works to be undertaken on school grounds. Lesson plans for use in schools have been obtained from and provided to other authorities to share best practice and a School Travel Awards scheme has been established to reward continued progress

203 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 in addressing school travel issues. The Council has found that there has been resistance to full-time 20 mph zones around schools. We have therefore been introducing advisory 20 mph zones using Variable Message Signs as an alternative, where appropriate. We will continue to implement School Travel Plan measures to address local health, safety and environmental concerns and to encourage young people to use more sustainable travel modes in the longer term.

Safer Streets Schemes and Local Safety Schemes will continue to be implemented in areas where there is public support for action. The scope of this process has been extended to addressing local car parking issues. We have provided a copy of our Safer Streets pack to several other authorities over the years as they have been attracted by the process of gaining local support for measures to be undertaken. Local Safety Schemes will also be implemented at locations where accidents have occurred though there are now fewer locations with accident clusters that can be easily addressed. Route improvement measures are likely to be more important in the future. Smaller scale traffic management measures will also be appropriate to address local safety and congestion concerns. Greater priority will be given to education and enforcement through working with schools and Cleveland Police and the use of road safety campaigns.

As a new initiative, we will undertake the implementation of a network of electric vehicle recharging points across the borough. The first phase of these will be undertaken in 2010/11 with match funding from the Plugged in Places programme led by One North East (ONE). This programme will then be extended to other towns in the borough in 2011/12.

LTP Guidance emphasises the role that a Smarter Choices programme can have to promote a change in people’s transport decision making to increase the use of public transport, walking and cycling. We will need to develop and implement an integrated programme in partnership with the other Tees Valley authorities to achieve the maximum benefit from our improvements to transport facilities. This will require revenue funding with some support from the capital programme.

The Highway Maintenance programme will continue to be based on addressing the results of condition surveys and coordination with the Integrated Transport Programme. Considering both programmes together will reduce the need to carry out works on the same section of road within a relatively short period of time (a couple of years). Highway maintenance works can be brought forward if appropriate on roads where integrated transport schemes are proposed and examined to see where integrated transport improvement measures can be incorporated. To reduce flood risks, we will also need to examine highway maintenance schemes to see where cost effective drainage improvement measures can be implemented These will produce coordinated schemes that limit disruption in local communities and make improvements to local streetscapes. The performance management systems that have been established as part of the contract arrangements with Carillion ensure that there is better liaison with the public and coordination with statutory undertakers. This improves the quality of information available to the Traffic Manager to fulfil the Council’s statutory Network Management duties.

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The initial implementation phase for the replacement of most of the street lighting columns in the borough under the Private Finance Initiative agreement that commenced in 2007 will be completed in 2010/11. This will then lead into the continuing maintenance period to 2032, covering all of the LTP3 period. Opportunities will be taken to improve lighting standards at appropriate locations where they will help to address safety and security concerns.

Highway maintenance funding will be used to support the key objectives of the LTP through the implementation of a Transport Asset Management Plan. Value for money principles will be used to determine appropriate condition standards and frequency of maintenance while seeking to integrate maintenance more closely with wider transport scheme delivery. Account will be taken of the need for revenue expenditure throughout the LTP period both for revenue support and promotion of integrated transport measures and for the maintenance of new facilities.

In addition to the capital programme, a range of revenue funded measures is also required. Funding for routine highway maintenance, bus services and school travel will need to continue. The specific activities on which this funding is spent and the processes for delivery will be kept under review to take account of changing circumstances in future years. Ensuring that sustainable transport plays an increasing role in land-use planning decisions will need to continue through the development of existing processes to ensure that adequate new facilities and promotional efforts are put in place by developers.

HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE As indicated throughout this LTP3 document, highway maintenance plays an important role in the delivery of transport services and the achievement of wider objectives. A safe and serviceable highway network is essential for people to travel and access services to lead their daily lives. It has been a priority of the Council to conduct this service efficiently and economically to achieve the best results from the resources involved.

Work is undertaken at locations that have been identified by highway condition surveys as being in need of attention. These surveys are now undertaken using a mechanical “SCANNER” (Surface Condition Assessment for the National Network of Roads) methodology that makes the year-on-year comparisons more reliable. This provides data for the Council’s UKPMS system that can then be interrogated to identify the sections of road that are most in need of repair. An indicative 5-year programme is developed that forms the basis for further investigation. The information for the first year is supplemented by detailed visual inspections, highway inspection reports, Griptester surveys and concerns raised by residents and elected members to check reliability and develop a provisional annual highway maintenance programme.

The next important step in finalising the highway maintenance programme is coordination with other Council highway works and with planned works by utility companies. The impact of the Integrated Transport programme that is developed in parallel each year is also taken into account. Considering both programmes together reduces the need to carry out works on the same section of road within a relatively 205 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21 short period of time (a couple of years). Highway maintenance works can be brought forward if appropriate on roads where integrated transport schemes are proposed. Also, highway maintenance schemes will continue to be examined to see where integrated transport measures can be incorporated. These produce coordinated schemes that limit disruption in local communities.

The aim is to minimise the impact of works on residents and the disruption to traffic. A good example of coordination in 2010/11 is on Normanby Road in South Bank. A section of the road has been identified for highway maintenance work while there is also a proposed scheme from the Bus Network Improvement project. The maintenance scheme has been delayed by a year to complete a comprehensive scheme in one go without a need to interfere with any recently completed works. This will ensure that there is only a single period of disruption caused by the Council on an important road through the area.

Coordination with planned utility company works is undertaken through the North East Highway Authorities and Utility Companies Group (NEHAUC). A meeting is held at the beginning of each year to share proposed work programmes and identify where the companies and the Council may be intending to work in the same vicinity. Further meetings are then held quarterly for updates and re-programming. This enables the potential conflicts to be identified so that the implications can be properly managed. It is always preferable for the highway maintenance works to be delayed until shortly after the utility company works are complete rather than having the utility companies digging through newly completed highway maintenance works. An example of this coordination is currently happening in Loftus where Northumbrian Water will soon begin the implementation of major drainage works for the Kilton Beck Flood Alleviation Scheme and a highway maintenance scheme is being coordinated to take place in the same period of road closures. Similar coordination is also taking place for Transco gas pipe works in Nunthorpe where the utility works proposed on part of a diversion route will be delayed until the highway maintenance works are complete. This coordination allows planned programmes with timescales agreed by all parties.

As indicated above, all of the current works are undertaken in locations where the surveys have shown that the highway has fallen below the appropriate intervention levels. As a result, all of the works are seeking to reduce a maintenance backlog rather than betterment to make good roads even better. Highway maintenance budgets are always limited so sharing Best Practice with others and achieving value for money are extremely important.

The Council liaises and works closely with many other authorities and companies to share Best Practice. This is undertaken through organised groups so that we can learn from each other about the technical and management processes involved. Key among these are:

 NEHAUC – Highway authorities and utility companies working to integrate programmes and act as a networking group to facilitate best practice;  Tees Valley Engineers Group – Local authorities and Middlesbrough laboratories are overseeing the development of asset management plans and have developed

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the Highway Maintenance Specification;  UKPMS Owners Group – Use of data for understanding network condition and programme  development; and  Association of Public Service Excellence (APSE) – Benchmarking organisation to share best practice.

Importantly for achieving value for money, all schemes are implemented only when the highway condition surveys have determined that they are necessary. The UKPMS system then uses the data to identify the most appropriate form of intervention namely surface treatment, resurfacing or major reconstruction so that excess levels of work are not undertaken. Schemes requiring similar forms of treatments are programmed in succession wherever possible so that advantage can be taken of having mobilised the workforce and the machinery for the particular task.

Highway maintenance has a leading role to play in delivering the DaSTS Goals and the wider priorities of the Council. The network needs to be easily useable in order to promote accessibility to jobs and services that will benefit growth and equality of opportunity. It also needs to be safe to use so that it does not contribute to road accident problems. Roadworks need to continue to be coordinated to minimise traffic congestion and to fulfil the Council’s network management duties under the Traffic Management Act 2004.

The Transport Asset Management Plan (TAMP) that is being developed by the Council will improve the understanding of the value and condition of highway assets and the resulting programming of maintenance works. This will build upon the existing coordination and programming of work that is undertaken and enable a longer term, 10-15 year, strategic view to be taken on the level of maintenance resources required. The main framework of the TAMP was completed and approved by the Council in 2008. Further development of this needs to take place with regards to the valuation and desirable standards for highway assets.

CAPITAL FUNDING ALLOCATIONS The proposed initiatives in the capital programme are presented as an integrated package of measures. It is demonstrated how the initiatives in each category of works, such as bus, walking and cycling improvements, contribute towards several of the DaSTS goals. As budgets are reduced to address the national financial deficit, it will be important to prioritise initiatives that each address several of the DaSTS goals in order to achieve the best value for money.

The Highway Maintenance allocations have been provisionally assigned to cover the three main types of remedial works; strengthening and reconstruction, resurfacing and surface treatment. The latest network assessment has been used to provide a guide to where the most efficient use of capital resources can be applied. Each annual survey will refine this indicative programme. The schemes primarily contribute to the Safety, Security and Health goal, to ensure the safety of the highway network, and also contribute to promoting the Economy and Quality of Life, more particularly in the rural parts of the borough. The annual block of funding is shown in Table 10.2 separated into the three main treatment types. 207 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

The Council’s policy for efficient highway maintenance includes strategies to prolong the life of a road by use of cost effective treatments applied before serious deterioration occurs. Structural and resurfacing schemes are prioritized on a needs basis determined by condition assessments.

Table 10.2 - 5-Year Highway Maintenance Capital Programme 2011/2012 2012/2013 2013/2014 2014/2015 2015/2016 Reconstruct £430k £150k £200k £150k £150k Resurfacing £1,000k £1042k £1015k £1024k £950k Surface £0k £250k £250k £200k £200k Treatment Structures £100k £100k £100k £100k £100k Total £1.530m £1.542m £1.565m £1.474m £1.400m

REVENUE CONTRIBUTIONS A high level of Council revenue spending supports progress towards the achievement of transport objectives. The major areas of expenditure are Highways Maintenance and Public Transport, including bus service support and concessionary fares schemes. Revenue funding has always been under great pressure with a constant need to seek efficiency savings and this will continue to be the case in the current financial climate. There will be a particular need to develop a Smarter Choices programme during LTP3 to promote the use of alternatives to cars and the Council will need to see how a funding package can be put together to achieve this.

Redcar & Cleveland Key Objectives

For reference in Table 10.3, the Council’s Key Objectives are:

1. Improve educational achievement among young people. 2. Increase the number of young people in education, employment or training through improved engagement. 3. Safeguard our children and young people 4. Reduce health inequality. 5. Transform services for adults and older people 6. Tackle anti-social behaviour and reduce criminal damage. 7. Re-design our services to improve neighbourhood delivery in disadvantaged communities. 8. Tackle worklessness and poverty. 9. Deliver improvements in our towns and villages. 10. Create a regeneration blue print for the whole borough. 11. Reduce our carbon footprint. 12. Grow our tourism potential to deliver economic and cultural opportunities. 13. Promote an integrated, efficient public transport system. 14. Deliver our top 10 business improvement projects.

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TABLE 10.3 - OVERALL DELIVERY PROGRAMME

Planned Spend Per Annum (£000s) During LTP3 Key Initiatives DaSTS Goal Redcar & Funding 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 Cleveland Source (£’000) (£’000) (£’000) (£’000) (£’000) Objective

Buses Capital Measures Implement the Tees Valley Bus Reduce Carbon 1, 2, 4, 5, DfT Grant 700 749 2080 Economic Growth 8, 9, 10, Network Improvement Scheme Equality of Opportunity (TVBNI) Quality of Life & Healthy 11, 12, 13 Natural Environment Improve bus stop environment on core Reduce Carbon 1, 2, 4, 5, IT Block 60 60 60 60 50 Economic Growth 8, 9, 10, bus routes in support of local Equality of Opportunity implementation of TVBNI Quality of Life & Healthy 11, 12, 13 Natural Environment Implement complementary measures in Reduce Carbon 1, 2, 4, 5, IT Block 178 178 178 178 50 Economic Growth 8, 9, 10, support of local implementation of Equality of Opportunity TVBNI including Real Time Information Quality of Life & Healthy 11, 12, 13 Natural Environment System, static information systems, CCTV systems, Marketing and Smarter Choices Measures. Improve bus stop environment on Reduce Carbon 2, 4, 5, 6, IT Block 75 100 Economic Growth 7, 8, 9, 10, secondary bus network (raised stops, Equality of Opportunity improved shelters, access routes, Quality of Life & Healthy 11, 12, 13 Natural Environment timetable information) Introduce new low floor vehicles into Reduce Carbon 2, 4, 5, 6, Bus operators Economic Growth 8, 10, 11, the local bus fleet with on-board CCTV Equality of Opportunity and Smart Ticketing systems. Quality of Life & Healthy 12, 13 Natural Environment

IT Block Sub-Total 238 238 238 313 200

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Revenue Measures Partnership working with bus operators Reduce Carbon 2, 4, 5, 6, Council Economic Growth 8, 10, 11, revenue Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health 12, 13 Bus operators Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment Maintain bus service information Reduce Carbon 2, 4, 5, 7, Revenue Economic Growth 8, 9, 10, (TVU) provision at bus stops Equality of Opportunity 11, 12, 13 Improve bus ticketing through North Economic Growth 2, 5, 8, 10, Revenue Equality of Opportunity 11, 12, 13 East Smart Ticketing Initiative Quality of Life

Maintain National Concessionary Fares Reduce Carbon 4, 5, 10, DfT Revenue Economic Growth 11, 12, 13 Grant Scheme Equality of Opportunity Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment Maintain Redcar & Cleveland 16-18 Reduce Carbon 1, 2, 3, 8, Council Economic Growth 11, 12, 13 Revenue Concessionary Fares Scheme Equality of Opportunity Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment Support for socially necessary public Reduce Carbon 2, 4, 5, 8, Council Economic Growth 10, 11, 12, Revenue transport Equality of Opportunity Quality of Life & Healthy 13 Natural Environment Provision of Dial-a-Ride Service for Reduce Carbon 4, 5, 8, 11, Council Equality of Opportunity 13 Revenue disabled people, at least to March 2012 Safety, Security & Health Quality of Life Improve accessibility to James Cook Reduce Carbon 4, 5, 11, 13 Council Equality of Opportunity Revenue University Hospital Safety, Security & Health Quality of Life M’bro Council NHS Strengthen Rural Transport Partnership Reduce Carbon 4, 5, 7, 8, Revenue Economic Growth 10, 11, 12, funding and Community Transport Forum Equality of Opportunity Quality of Life & Healthy 13 Natural Environment

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Review school bus service provision to Reduce Carbon 1, 2, 3, 11, Council Equality of Opportunity 13 Revenue maintain efficiency Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment

Rail Capital Measures Support the implementation of the Tees Reduce Carbon 2, 5, 8, 10, DfT Grant Availability Economic Growth 11, 12, 13 to be Valley Metro Project Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health determined Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment Work with the rail industry to tackle Reduce Carbon 8, 10, 11, Network Rail Economic Growth 12 Developer network constraints for freight Safety, Security & Health movements, particularly for Teesport Healthy Natural Contributions Environment expansion plans

Taxis Revenue Measures Implement revised regulations to Equality of Opportunity 4, 5, 7, 8, Taxi Safety, Security & Health 11, 13 Operators promote the introduction of more Quality of Life & Healthy wheelchair accessible vehicles. Natural Environment Monitor the introduction of wheelchair Equality of Opportunity 4, 5, 7, 8, Safety, Security & Health 11, 13 accessible vehicles to ensure the Quality of Life & Healthy improvement of accessibility for Natural Environment disabled people.

Walking Capital Measures

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Address local disabled access issues Reduce Carbon 4, 5, 7, 8, IT Block 60 60 60 80 80 Equality of Opportunity 9, 11, 12, Requests from individual residents for Safety, Security & Health footway amendments to allow Quality of Life & Healthy 13 Natural Environment wheelchair access and route improvements for access to bus stops

Improve access to the countryside, Reduce Carbon 4, 5, 7, 9, IT Block 60 60 60 100 120 Economic Growth 10, 11, 12 Natural coast and National Park and address Equality of Opportunity actions from the Rights of Way Safety, Security & Health England Quality of Life & Healthy Improvement Plan – Multi-modal Natural Environment Routes Implement improved pedestrian Reduce Carbon 2, 3, 4, 5, IT Block 10 10 30 30 Economic Growth 6, 7, 8, 9, Highway networks audited as appropriate Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health 10, 11, 12 Maintenance Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment IT Block Sub-Total 120 130 130 210 230

Cycling Capital Measures Links from National Cycle Routes to Reduce Carbon 1, 2, 3, 4, IT Block 20 20 50 90 Economic Growth 6, 7, 8, 9, Sustrans schools, town centres and residential Equality of Opportunity areas including provision of cycle Safety, Security & Health 11, 12 DfT Grants Quality of Life & Healthy parking. Schemes to be developed with Natural Environment schools and Sustrans

Improve multi modal links to Reduce Carbon 2, 4, 5, 7, IT Block 30 60 Economic Growth 8, 9, 10, 11 Developer regeneration sites Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health contributions Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment

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Implement improved local area cycling Reduce Carbon 2, 3, 4, 5, IT Block 20 40 Economic Growth 6, 7, 8, 9, networks, audited as appropriate Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health 10, 11, 12 Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment IT Block Sub-Total 20 20 100 190

Revenue Measures Provide child cycle training scheme to Reduce Carbon 1, 3, 4, 11 Council Equality of Opportunity Revenue national Bikeability standards. Safety, Security & Health Quality of Life Cycling England Provide adult and family cycle training Reduce Carbon 2, 4, 11, 12 Council Economic Growth Revenue and events Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health IT Block Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment Promote networks for pedestrians Reduce Carbon 2, 4, 6, 9, Council Economic Growth 10, 11, 12 Revenue cyclists and equestrians Equality of Opportunity (Promotion of Activity Tourism) Safety, Security & Health Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment

Road Travel (Cars, HGVs etc) Capital Measures Improve security and quality of visitor Economic Growth 5, 6, 7, 9, IT Block 40 50 50 60 70 Equality of Opportunity 10, 11, 12 car parks in coastal and rural towns Safety, Security & Health Quality of Life Work with the Highways Agency to Reduce Carbon 8, 10, 11 Highways Economic Growth Agency tackle congestion on the Trunk Road Healthy Natural Environment Developer network Contributions Implement programme of small scale Reduce Carbon 2, 5, 6, 7, 9 IT Block 50 50 50 60 70 Economic Growth Traffic Management measures Safety, Security & Health Quality of Life

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Implement electric vehicle recharging Reduce Carbon 4, 9, 11, 12 IT Block 20 20 20 30 30 Economic Growth ONE Grant points in Council car parks. Healthy Natural Environment Investigate opportunities for use of Reduce Carbon 2, 8, 9, 10, IT Block 15 Economic Growth 11, 12 intelligent transport solutions Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment Investigate local hot spots including Reduce Carbon 7, 9, 10, 11 IT Block 10 10 10 20 25 Equality of Opportunity street level access problems caused by Quality of Life & Healthy parking congestion Natural Environment Investigate strategic congestion hot Reduce Carbon 8, 9, 10, 11 IT Block 10 Economic Growth spots with neighbouring authorities and Quality of Life & Healthy the Highways Agency Natural Environment IT Block Sub-Total 120 130 130 170 220

Revenue Measures Manage car parking availability and Reduce Carbon 5, 6, 8, 9, Council Economic Growth 10, 11, 12, Revenue cost Equality of Opportunity 13 Internal procurement and maintenance Reduce Carbon 4, 5, 11, Council Quality of Life & Healthy 13, 14 Capital and of Council fleet vehicles to improve Natural Environment vehicle performance Revenue Licensing of taxis to maintain safety Reduce Carbon 3, 5, 6, 11, Council Economic Growth 12 Revenue and improve vehicle performance Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health Taxi operators Working with freight partners to Reduce Carbon 4, 8, 10, 11 Freight Economic Growth Operators address HGV emissions Healthy Natural Environment Undertake local streetscape and public Equality of Opportunity 5, 6, 7, 9, IT Block Quality of Life & Healthy 12 realm quality enhancements in Natural Environment schemes wherever possible.

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School Travel Capital Measures Continue implementation of School Reduce Carbon 1, 2, 3, 4, IT Block 25 25 25 25 35 Equality of Opportunity 7, 9, 11, 13 Travel Plans Safety, Security & Health Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment IT Block Sub-Total 25 25 25 25 35

Revenue Measures Continue work with schools to update Reduce Carbon 1, 2, 3, 4, Council Equality of Opportunity 7, 9, 11, 13 Revenue School Travel Plans Safety, Security & Health Quality of Life & Healthy DCSF Grant Natural Environment Child pedestrian training scheme Reduce Carbon 1, 2, 3, 4, Council Equality of Opportunity 11 Revenue Safety, Security & Health

Provision of school crossing patrol Reduce Carbon 1, 2, 3, 4, Council Equality of Opportunity 7, 11 Revenue service Safety, Security & Health

Walk to School Week promotion Reduce Carbon 1, 2, 3, 4, Council Equality of Opportunity 7, 11 Revenue Safety, Security & Health Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment

Road Safety Capital Measures Establish and implement a prioritised Safety, Security & Health 2, 4, 5, 9 IT Block 73 73 73 93 100 programme of casualty reduction schemes using data analysis Implement the Safer Streets Safety, Security & Health 5, 6, 7, 9 IT Block 150 150 150 150 150 Quality of Life programme

215 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Factor Road Safety into the Safety, Security & Health 4, 5, 6, 7, IT Block prioritisation of the programme of 8, 9, 10, Council 11, 12 Revenue highway maintenance and street lighting improvements Review existing speed limits within the Reduce Carbon 2, 3, 4, 5, IT Block 10 10 20 25 Safety, Security & Health 9, 10, 11, speed limit hierarchy Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment 12 Undertake road safety audits on all new Safety, Security & Health 4, 5, 6, 9 IT Block schemes as appropriate (within scheme budgets) Analyse ward based casualty data to Equality of Opportunity 2, 3, 4, 5, IT Block Safety, Security & Health 6, 7, 9 target resources – scheme selection Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment Audit existing signing and develop a Economic Growth 7, 8, 9, 10, IT Block 20 25 Safety, Security & Health 11, 12 Council programme for improving signing both Quality of Life & Healthy locally and strategically Natural Environment Revenue IT Block Sub-Total 223 233 233 283 300

Revenue Measures Assist the Police with enforcement Safety, Security & Health 3, 4, 6, 13, Council through data gathering (Speed Survey) 14 Revenue

Raise awareness of motorcycle safety Safety, Security & Health 2, 4, 6, 11, Council through publicity campaigns 12 Revenue Continue to target parking enforcement Safety, Security & Health 6, 7, 9 Council at locations where restrictions are in Revenue place for road safety reasons Continue to work with northern Road Reduce Carbon 2, 4, 5, 6 Council Economic Growth Revenue Safety GB group Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment

216 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Ensure transport infrastructure Reduce Carbon 4, 9 Revenue Economic Growth Section 38 associated with new developments Equality of Opportunity accord with safety aspects of design Safety, Security & Health income Quality of Life & Healthy guide Natural Environment

Smarter Choices Capital Measures Contribution to capital scheme in Reduce Carbon 1, 2, 3, 4, IT Block 25 25 25 25 Economic Growth 6, 7, 8, 10, support of implementation of Local Equality of Opportunity Sustainable Transport Fund Package Safety, Security & Health 11, 12 Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment Capital elements in support of Smarter Reduce Carbon 1, 2, 3, 4, IT Block 25 Economic Growth 6, 7, 8, 10, Choices programme Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health 11, 12 Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment IT Block Sub-Total 25 25 25 25 25

Revenue Measures Promotion of public transport use Reduce Carbon 1, 2, 4, 5, Council Economic Growth 8, 10, 11, Revenue Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health 12, 13 Sustainable Quality of Life & Healthy Transport Natural Environment Fund Promotion of walking and cycling Reduce Carbon 1, 2, 3, 4, Council Economic Growth 6, 7, 8, 10, Revenue Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health 11, 12 Sustainable Quality of Life & Healthy Transport Natural Environment Fund Travel planning Reduce Carbon 1, 2, 3, 4, Council Economic Growth 8, 10, 11, Revenue Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health 13 Sustainable Quality of Life & Healthy Transport Natural Environment Fund

217 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Work with the rail industry to promote Reduce Carbon 1, 2, 4, 5, Council Economic Growth 8, 10, 11, Revenue passenger journeys Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health 12, 13 Sustainable Quality of Life & Healthy Transport Natural Environment Fund Promote car sharing (2+ travel) Reduce Carbon 1, 2, 4, 8, Council Economic Growth 10, 11, 12 Revenue Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health Sustainable Quality of Life & Healthy Transport Natural Environment Fund Investigate homeworking and Reduce Carbon 8, 10, 11, Council Economic Growth 14 Revenue teleconferencing practicalities for Equality of Opportunity Council employees Safety, Security & Health Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment Work with businesses to develop Reduce Carbon 4, 8, 10, Council Economic Growth 11, 13 Revenue business travel plans Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health Sustainable Quality of Life & Healthy Transport Natural Environment Fund Provide more information on travel Reduce Carbon 2, 4, 5, 8, Council Economic Growth 10, 11, 13 Revenue choices on the Web Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment Investigate personal travel planning Reduce Carbon 2, 4, 5, 8, Council Economic Growth 10, 11, 13 Revenue service Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health Sustainable Quality of Life & Healthy Transport Natural Environment Fund Promote informed travel choice through Reduce Carbon 2, 4, 5, 8, Council Economic Growth 10, 11, 12, Revenue awareness campaigns and events Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health 13 Sustainable Quality of Life & Healthy Transport Natural Environment Fund

218 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

Education, training and publicity Reduce Carbon 4, 8, 9, 10, Council Economic Growth 11, 13 Revenue campaigns aimed at raising awareness Equality of Opportunity of vehicle emissions, reducing the need Safety, Security & Health Sustainable Quality of Life & Healthy Transport to travel and encouraging the use of Natural Environment Fund non-car modes Encourage the use of low carbon Reduce Carbon 4, 9, 11, 13 Council Economic Growth Revenue vehicles, specifically buses, taxis and Equality of Opportunity fleet vehicles Safety, Security & Health Sustainable Quality of Life & Healthy Transport Natural Environment Fund Introduce measures to promote Reduce Carbon 2, 4, 5, 8, Council Economic Growth 9, 10, 11, Revenue sustainable transport choice Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health 13 Sustainable Quality of Life & Healthy Transport Natural Environment Fund Influence travel planning through Reduce Carbon 2, 4, 8, 10, Developer Economic Growth 11, 12, 13 contributions development control process Equality of Opportunity Safety, Security & Health Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment Continue to support PD Ports in plans Reduce Carbon 8, 10, 11 Economic Growth to expand operations to reduce national Equality of Opportunity congestion levels Safety, Security & Health Quality of Life & Healthy Natural Environment

IT Block Total 751 801 801 1,126 1,200

219 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21

220 this is The Redcar & Cleveland Local Transport Plan 2011-21