Item 4

Cabinet

20 June 2013

Warwickshire Major Transport Schemes Ranking 2015-19

Recommendation

That Cabinet agrees the ranking for Major Transport Scheme investment for the period 2015-19 as set out in Appendix A of this report.

1.0 Background

1.1 At its meeting on 31st January 2013, Cabinet approved the outline principles and structure of the Coventry and Local Transport Body (LTB). Cabinet also agreed representation from the County Council on the LTB.

1.2 LTBs are a voluntary partnership between Local Authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships and other organisations. They have been formed to oversee the devolved funding from Government for local major transport schemes for the next Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) period (2015/16-2018/19).

1.3 The primary role of LTBs is to:

• Decide which local major schemes should be prioritised; • Review and approve individual business cases for those investments; and • Oversee the effective delivery of the programme.

1.4 The indicative level of devolved local major transport scheme funding for Coventry and Warwickshire over the four year CSR period is £21.5M, with a range of £13-27M based upon the Department for Transport (DfT) suggested one third above and below as a planning assumption. A firm allocation will be provided after the next CSR.

1.5 Although it will no longer have responsibility for selecting and approving individual schemes, DfT is required to ensure that the devolved system provides appropriate safeguards for the use of public funds and that value for money will be delivered. As such, each LTB has been required to prepare an Assurance Framework which sets out the proposed governance and working arrangements of the LTB, and the process by which a prioritised list of Major Scheme priorities will be prepared for submission to DfT.

1.6 This report provides an update on the establishment of the Coventry and Warwickshire LTB, explains the process which has been adopted to identify potential Major Schemes within Coventry and Warwickshire, and outlines the

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methodology that will be used to prepare a prioritised programme of schemes for the 2015-19 period within the context of the indicative budget. It had been the intention to also seek approval from Cabinet for the final version of the LTB Assurance Framework; however feedback from DfT in relation to Part 3 of the document is still awaited. This issue will therefore need to come to a future meeting of Cabinet.

1.7 The LTB is due to meet on 12th July 2013 to agree a provisional list of priority schemes within Coventry and Warwickshire for the period 2015-19. A decision by Cabinet on Warwickshire’s preferred priorities will provide a clear steer for the County Council’s representatives on the LTB.

2.0 Membership and Establishment of the LTB

2.1 The membership of the Coventry and Warwickshire LTB is based on a simple structure which combines ‘voting’ and ‘advisory’ roles. The voting element of the Coventry and Warwickshire LTB is as follows:

• Coventry City Council, as the Highway Authority for Coventry (Cllr Lynnette Kelly); • Centro, as the Integrated Transport Authority for Coventry (Cllr John McNicholas); • Warwickshire County Council, as both the Highway and Transport Authority for Warwickshire (Cllr Peter Butlin and Cllr Alan Cockburn); • Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (Paul Kehoe and Bruce Undy).

2.2 The advisory membership of the LTB will be non-voting and flexible, with representation as a minimum invited from DfT, , Highways Agency and key passenger and freight operators.

2.3 Following the meeting of Cabinet at the end of January 2013, the first meeting of the ‘shadow’ LTB was held on 8th February 2013. The purpose of the meeting was to elect a Chair and Vice-Chair, review the preparation of the draft LTB Assurance Framework and identify a timescale and process for its final approval. At the meeting, Cllr McNicholas was elected as Chair of the LTB until May 2014. Cllr Cockburn was elected as Vice Chair.

2.4 Following approval by all LTB members, the LTB Assurance Framework was submitted to DfT by the required deadline. The LTB has subsequently received some feedback in relation to Parts 1 and 2 of the document, none of which change it fundamentally. Comments on Part 3 are awaited. Once the Assurance Framework has been approved by DfT, it is proposed that the LTB will move from ‘shadow’ to fully established form.

3.0 Identification of Potential Future Major Schemes

3.1 As noted earlier, the principal responsibility of the Coventry and Warwickshire LTB in the short term is to identify a provisional programme of local major transport schemes for 2015-19 before considering the allocation of funding.

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Once this has been submitted to Government at the end of July 2013, the LTB will then become responsible for receiving detailed scheme business cases, before deciding whether or not to allocate funding.

3.2 Under the previous process, DfT set a minimum threshold of £5M for individual Major Schemes. In line with Government guidance, the Coventry and Warwickshire LTB has set a revised minimum threshold of £1M for each scheme.

3.3 In order to begin identifying potential future Major Schemes within Coventry and Warwickshire for the period 2015-19, a Transport Conference was held at the Coventry Transport Museum on 28th September 2012. An initial call for schemes was announced at the Conference, whereby individual scheme promoters were encouraged to submit a scheme proforma detailing the outline of the scheme, along with its likely costs and benefits. This process was repeated in May 2013 to identify any further proposals and allow existing scheme promoters to submit further information. Consultation has also been carried out with all five District/Borough Councils within Warwickshire, along with adjoining Local Enterprise Partnerships and LTBs.

3.4 As a potential scheme promoter, the County Council has submitted the following schemes to the LTB for consideration in the prioritisation process:

• NUCKLE Phase 2 (Kenilworth Station) • Kingsbury Rail Station • Galley Common Rail Station • A426 Avon Mill/Hunters Lane Improvement • A428 Lawford Road/Addison Road Improvement

Four further schemes have been promoted by other parties which are relevant to Warwickshire:

• Water Orton Rail Capacity Enhancements – promoted by Centro • Snow Hill Line Rail Enhancements – promoted by Centro) • Avon Rail Link (Stratford-upon-Avon to Honeybourne rail line reopening) – promoted by the Shakespeare Line Promotion Group • Stratford Eastern Relief Road, including a third river crossing – promoted by Stratford District Council

Brief details and the recommended ranking for each of these schemes are provided in Appendix A.

3.5 Cabinet is asked to agree its scheme ranking. Recommended rankings are set out in Appendix A. Warwickshire’s ranking will feed into the identification of a provisional list of priority schemes to be agreed by the LTB before being submitted to Government at the end of July 2013.

3.6 Other funding sources become available from time to time which this Council can compete for. For example in recent weeks £5M funding has been secured for Kenilworth Station from the New Stations Fund. This has reduced the

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amount required from devolved major scheme funding. To ensure that there are sufficient schemes to fully utilise the available devolved funding by 2019 further schemes in Warwickshire will be identified over the next few months. It is expected that there will be opportunities to add to the list of priorities approved by the LTB in the next few months. The list in Appendix A should therefore be regarded as an interim list.

4.0 Major Scheme Prioritisation Process

4.1 The detailed methodology for the Major Scheme prioritisation process being undertaken by the LTB is set out within the LTB Assurance Framework. Essentially the assessment will be carried out over a two stage process:

(i) An initial sift of the long list of schemes received by the LTB, based on deliverability and strategic/local fit with objectives and policy; and (ii) A more detailed assessment of each scheme on the short list identified by the initial sifting process.

4.2 The prioritisation work is being undertaken by a Technical Officer Group on behalf of the LTB. The County Council is represented on this Group. An independent audit of this work will be carried out by a Transport Consultant before it is presented to the LTB on 12th July 2013. Three scenarios will be presented to the LTB in line with DfT requirements for a programme of Major Transport Schemes for the period 2015-19 based on:

• The advised planning assumption of £21.5M; • The advised planning assumption of £21.5M plus 30%; and • The advised planning assumption of £21.5M less 30%.

In each scenario a balanced programme of schemes will be proposed to demonstrate that investment will come forward throughout the four year plan. This reflects the fact that whilst some of the more advanced schemes could be deliverable early in the 2015-19 period, others will require substantially more work to be undertaken and are unlikely to come forward until later in the plan.

4.3 It is worth noting that the LTB is only required at this stage to prepare a provisional list of Major Transport Scheme priorities for DfT. This list will be subject to review in the future, which will allow the County Council to reconsider its priorities if circumstances have changed, or if other priorities have emerged. Officers are in the process of identifying what further schemes the Authority may wish to promote in the future, particularly in light of the emerging District/Borough Core Strategy/Local Plan growth proposals.

5.0 Timescales and Next Steps

5.1 The deadline for the LTB to submit its provisional programme of Major Transport Schemes for the period 2015-19 to DfT is 31st July 2013. Submission of this programme by the LTB will essentially provide individual

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scheme promoters with the confidence to develop their Major Scheme Business Case, prior to bringing them before the LTB for final approval from 2015 onwards.

Background papers

1. Local Frameworks for Funding Major Transport Schemes: Guidance for Local Transport Bodies (Department for Transport, November 2012)

Name Contact Information Report Author Adrian Hart [email protected] Tel: 01926 412111 Head of Service Graeme Fitton [email protected] Tel: 01926 412046 Strategic Director Monica Fogarty [email protected] Tel: 01926 412514 Portfolio Holder Cllr Peter Butlin [email protected]

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Appendix A – Potential Major Transport Schemes 2015-19

Name and Scheme Promoter Outline Scheme Description Principal Scheme Scheme Requested recommended Benefits Cost (£M) LTB priority Contribution (£M) NUCKLE Warwickshire County The second phase of the NUCKLE project • Provision of direct 11.4 3.49 Phase 2 Council includes the construction of a new rail station for rail access to/from (Kenilworth the town of Kenilworth, and new rail infrastructure Kenilworth Station) at Leamington Spa to enable the introduction of • Improved access to new train services between Coventry and public transport for High Priority Leamington Spa that will serve Kenilworth those without a car station. This includes: • Improved public The scheme is - Signalling and track modification works on transport deliverable in the Kenilworth loop to enable an increase in connectivity in the the 2015-2019 service frequencies between Coventry and North-South period, it has Leamington; Corridor strong public - Track and signalling alternations outside • Improved access to support and Leamington station to enable trains to depart housing and delivers good from Platform 4 at Leamington towards employment growth economic and Kenilworth, Coventry and New areas transport Street; • Improved access benefits - Construction of a new railway station for the for tourism town of Kenilworth; and - Introduction of new passenger train services (i) in the short term a shuttle service between Coventry and Leamington Spa, and (ii) in the longer term a new electric service between Birmingham New Street and Leamington Spa via Coventry and calling at Kenilworth.

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A426 Avon Warwickshire County The proposed scheme comprises major • Reduced 6 3.94 Mill/Hunters Council improvements to the existing A426 Avon Mill congestion and Lane Roundabout and Newbold Road/Hunters Lane increased capacity Improvement ghost-island priority junction in Rugby. This on a key arterial would see the existing Avon Mill roundabout corridor High Priority replaced with either a new signalised junction or • Facilitates major an enhanced roundabout, and new roundabout development The scheme is provided at the junction of Newbold Road and proposals deliverable in Hunters Lane. These improvements will • Improved facilities the 2015-2019 complement the significant growth proposals for pedestrians and period and will within the town, all of which will put this important cyclists support corridor under further pressure. The improvement • Improved safety for economic at Newbold Road/Hunters Lane will become all road users growth in increasingly important following the scheme to Rugby open up Hunters Lane as part of the St Modwen development on the former Alstom/GEC site. A428 Lawford Warwickshire County The intersection of Lawford Road and Addison • Improved safety for 1 0.9 Road/Addison Council Road currently takes the form of a mini all road users Road roundabout, with designated bypass left turn • Improved access to Improvement arrangements from Lawford Road into and out of Rugby town centre Addison Road to accommodate larger vehicle • Improved access to High Priority turning manoeuvres. There is a history of local employment personal injury collisions at this location, areas (e.g. Rugby The scheme is predominantly in association with the mini Cement, Paynes deliverable in roundabout, due to a failure to comply with the Lane and Addison the 2015-2019 roundabout. In addition to these accidents there Road Industrial period. It will have been several recorded injury accidents with Estates) support pedestrians crossing the main A428 Lawford • Improved access to economic Road at this location. It is proposed to deliver a local education growth in significant junction improvement either in the facilities Rugby and form of traffic signals or amendments to the deliver safety existing layout to provide a more suitable benefits. roundabout configuration.

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Kingsbury Rail Warwickshire County The proposed scheme is the construction of a • Provision of direct 10 9 Station Council new rail station at Kingsbury (along with enabling rail access to/from track and signalling modifications), which would Kingsbury Medium be served by a new hourly local train service • Improved access to priority between Birmingham and Tamworth. The new public transport for local services are proposed to relieve those without a car It is unknown overcrowding on some longer distance Cross • Reduction in whether the Country inter-city services using this line, and overcrowding on scheme can be would link with the existing Birmingham New existing Cross delivered by Street to Worcester services, thus providing Country services 2019. better cross-Birmingham journey opportunities. between The scheme would be facilitated by the proposed Nottingham and Water Orton Rail Capacity Enhancements (see Cardiff below). Galley Warwickshire County The proposed scheme is the construction of a • Provision of direct 8 7.2 Common Rail Council new station at Galley Common in west Nuneaton, rail access to/from Station which would be served by a new hourly local Galley Common train service between Birmingham and • Improved access to Medium Nuneaton. The new local services are proposed public transport for priority to relieve overcrowding on some longer distance those without a car Cross Country inter-city services using this line, • Reduction in It is unknown and would link with the existing Birmingham New overcrowding on whether the Street to Worcester services, thus providing existing Cross scheme can be better cross-Birmingham journey opportunities. Country services delivered by The scheme would be facilitated by the proposed between 2019. Water Orton Rail Capacity Enhancements (see Birmingham and below). Stansted Airport

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Water Orton Centro The scheme comprises a package of measures • Facilitate the 30 3 Rail Capacity which will improve capacity on the Birmingham to introduction of new Enhancements Tamworth/Nuneaton main line, in order to local rail services accommodate passenger and freight growth and • Address known Medium facilitate the introduction of local passenger capacity Priority services. The principal infrastructure works constraints, include installation of improved signalling particularly in the It is unknown between Water Orton and Wichnor Junction, Kingsbury area whether the installation of a crossover at Kingsbury to • Accommodate scheme can be improve access to the freight terminals passenger growth delivered by (Warwickshire Oil, European Metal Recycling projections and 2019. and Birch Coppice Intermodal Terminal), and relieve on-train installation of additional infrastructure at crowding on long Tamworth and Nuneaton to provide turnback distance services facility for new local passenger services between • Improved access to Tamworth, Wilncote / Nuneaton, Coleshill public transport for Parkway, Water Orton and Birmingham. A those without a car contribution from the Greater Birmingham & Solihull LTB towards this proposal is also being sought by the scheme promoter. Snow Hill Line Centro The scheme will deliver additional capacity on • Increased on-train 20 2.25 Rail the network which will enable faster and more capacity and Enhancements frequent services on the between improved service Worcester, Stourbridge and Leamington Spa. frequencies on Medium The principal infrastructure works to facilitate this parts of the West Priority is reinstatement of the fourth platform at Midlands rail Birmingham Snow Hill (following completion of network It is unknown the Midland Metro Birmingham City Centre route) • Improved access to whether the and provision of a turn back at Rowley Regis. existing and new scheme can be Contributions from the Black Country and housing and delivered by Greater Birmingham & Solihull LTBs towards this employment sites 2019. proposal are also being sought by the scheme • Improved access to promoter. public transport for those without a car

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Avon Rail Link Shakespeare Line Proposed reinstatement of a six mile section of • Improved rail 61.7 Figure Promotion Group track between Stratford-upon-Avon and access to Stratford- awaited from Low Priority Honeybourne, providing a through rail link from upon-Avon, scheme the North Warwickshire Line (Birmingham to particularly for promoter The scheme is Stratford-upon-Avon) to the tourist and not deliverable (Worcester to Oxford). The scheme is not employment related in the 2015- currently being developed by the rail industry, trips 2019 period. and would not therefore be in a position to come • Provides forward until after 2019. opportunities for a number of new/faster rail journeys (e.g. Worcester to Stratford) • Line could be used by freight services and act as a diversionary route • Improved access to public transport for those without a car

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Stratford Stratford-on-Avon The District Council is currently considering a • Unlocks capacity on 44 12-15 Eastern Relief District Council number of broad location options for allocating the transport Road future housing and employment growth in the network within the area for inclusion in its forthcoming Local south east quadrant Low Priority Development Framework (LDF) Submission Core of the town Strategy 2008-2028. One option to deliver part of • Facilitates large The scheme is these growth proposals is for a Sustainable scale development not deliverable Urban Extension of the town to the south east of • Potentially allows in the 2015- the existing urban area. As part of these improvements for 2019 period. proposals, an Eastern Relief Road (ERR) would sustainable modes be provided linking the A422 Banbury Road with to come forward in the A439 Warwick Road. A significant section of the town centre the road from the Banbury Road to the (this is subject to Tiddington Road would be built as part of the further assessment) development. The northern section of the ERR from Tiddington Road to Warwick Road, which includes a new river crossing, is the subject of the bid to the LTB. The scheme is subject to this spatial option being chosen by the District Council in its Core Strategy Preferred Option, and would be unlikely to come forward before 2019.

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