LSTF Capital and non-major transport schemes business case Scheme Promoter Information Local transport authority name(s): Northumberland County Council If the project is a joint venture, please enter the names of all participating local transport authorities and specify the lead authority. Project Manager Name and position: Andy Chymera, Senior Public Transport Projects Officer Name and position of the official with day to day responsibility for delivering and reporting on the proposed project. Contact telephone number: 01670 620161 Email address: [email protected] Postal address: Economic & Social Inclusion Policy Team Economic, Planning & Housing Services Northumberland County Council County Hall Morpeth NE61 2EF Website address for public communications on the project: www.northumberland.gov.uk 1 SECTION A - Project description and funding profile A1. Project name: Morpeth Gateway A2. Headline description: Improved provision of information about onward travel choices for people arriving at Morpeth Railway Station. This includes installation of additional onward travel posters, new directional signposts and a new bus stop at the station and to facilitate real time information displays in the two nearest bus shelters. The aim is to support and promote the use of sustainable transport modes for onward travel and to improve the Railway Station as a gateway to Morpeth as a market town and visitor destination. Particularly as over the next 5 years the number of train departures daily is planned to increase very significantly. [100] Please provide a brief description of the project’s package of measures (maximum of 100 words) A3. Geographical area: Morpeth Railway Station and the two bus shelters on Shields Rd are to the south of Morpeth Town Centre and the Telford Bridge over the River Wansbeck. The Station is easily accessible from most of the residential areas of Morpeth and from a wide rural hinterland in central and coastal Northumberland. It is on the East Coast mainline and is served by inter-city trains daily between England (including London) and Scotland and by local trains providing a link to Newcastle. [80] Please provide details of the area covered by the bid (maximum of 100 words) A4. Total project cost (£000s): 14.9k A5. Total LSTF Capital funding (£000s): 14.9k This is to be capped at the identified funding dedicated to the project in the LSTF Capital North East Strategic Economic Plan submission (see attached). A6. Local contribution (£000s): 0.0k Please provide details of the source of any local contribution to the overall cost of the project package. Where a contribution is from external sources, a letter confirming their commitment to contribute to the cost of a specific package element(s) should be attached. A7. Equality Analysis Has any Equality Analysis been undertaken in line with the Equality Duty? ☐ Yes ☐ No 2 A8. Partnership bodies: Northern - the local Rail Franchise that is the Station Facility Operator for Morpeth Rail Station. Only the additional poster cases are to be located within the footprint of the Railway Station. Greater Morpeth Development Trust - have secured Lottery grant funding for the redevelopment of the station building to improve ticket office and waiting facilities as well as providing new cafe and offices within the building. None of the proposed measures affect these refurbishment proposals but the Trust is a consultee. Both the Northern Rail Franchise and the Greater Morpeth Development Trust support the Morpeth Gateway proposals Details of the partnership bodies (if any) you plan to work with in the design and construction of the proposed project This should include a description of the role and responsibilities of the partnership bodies such as Private Sector bodies and Transport Operators, with confirmatory evidence of their willingness to participate in delivering the project where possible. A9. Known LSTF Revenue project / initiative connections: There are no connections with LSTF revenue projects. However there are links with two LSTF capital projects - viz the Morpeth Cycle project and the Regional RTPI project. There is a delivery dependency between this project and the RTPI project at Morpeth Bus & Railway Station. A single application for Listed Building Consent will be submitted to cover the requirements of both projects as they related to their impacts on the Railway Station buildings and platforms. The construction of the Morpeth Cycle project will also involve interactions at the bus shelters on Shields Rd. Please list all LSTF Revenue-funded projects that have a direct relationship to the proposed Capital project and state any delivery dependencies. 3 SECTION B – The Business Case B1. The Scheme – Summary Please give a detailed description of the project, including its objectives, as aligned to those of LSTF and North East SEP (see Appended documents ###) This project will deliver a package of small measures to guide passengers toward use of sustainable onward travel facilities. These measures will include: ● Two new directional signs at access points to the Station. ● A new accessible bus stop. ● New poster cases on each platform. ● Electrical and data supplies for Real Time displays in two bus shelters. These measures will support the delivery of the Regional RTPI project at the Railway Station and encourage cycling to the Station by highlighting its proximity to the proposed Morpeth Cycleway scheme.· Together these will help to promote sustainable travel to work by: ● Further encouraging use of sustainable modes for travel to work. ● Extending job search horizons. ● Supporting local businesses and local economic development of the market town. They will also help to develop a low carbon travel culture by improving integration between, and increasing the use of walk, cycle, bus and train for travel to work and visits/tourism. In relation to the NESEP they will help improve access to employment by tackling some of the travel to work barriers faced by unemployed and low paid workers and by increasing access to areas of employment growth and opportunities by public transport. [198] Please use a maximum of 200 words. B2. The Strategic Case This section should set out the rationale for making the investment and evidence on the strategic fit of the project with a particular emphasis on Sustainable Economic Growth & Job creation, Access to Opportunity and Quality of Life, and to ensure the alignment of the project to:- • The Themes and Challenges in the North East Strategic Economic Plan; • The Objectives of the Local Sustainable Transport Fund set out in the Government’s White Paper (2011), Creating Growth, Cutting Carbon; • The Department for Transport’s Door-to-Door Strategy. 4 It is desirable that schemes will have an impact on a wide area however this does not preclude localised issues being addressed, given the knock-on improvements to the local economy in improving the regional economy. For LSTF Capital Package projects, the Strategic Case was largely demonstrated within the Strategic Economic Plan submission, therefore a light touch approach only is required for these projects, by answering the following six questions (in 900 words total) on how the project:- LSC1: Supports or facilitates access to sites of employment, training, education and health facilities in the North East area by providing greater travel choice and/or reducing peak period car demand on links serving these sites? Improving bus/rail integration will help increase the use of rail to access the; ● range of employment opportunities in Newcastle/Tyne & Wear and manufacturing and service employment in Cramlington. ● range of retail facilities in Cramlington and Newcastle. ● tertiary education and training facilities in Newcastle. ● Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington. ● Tourist and market town attractions of Morpeth ● Sustainable travel links from Morpeth to tourist destinations to the north (e.g. Northumberland Coast, Alnwick, Berwick and the Northumberland National Park). [80] LSC2: Provides sustainable and smarter access solutions to existing and growing development corridors, centres and sectors, and/or supports new housing? The integrated use of walking, cycling, bus and train is more sustainable and involves greater active participation by users than commuting by car. Morpeth is a thriving Market Town with exceptional historic features which provides service and retail support for a large rural catchment area. It is also an important tourist destination. Currently 71% of Morpeth’s housing and the Railway Station are south of the River Wansbeck. The majority of retail, education, employment facilities and the Bus Station are to the north. Existing planning policies envisage the development of at least 2,500 new dwellings by 2023 within the urban area to accommodate population growth of about 20%. 1,500 dwellings are already committed and over 600 are under construction to the south of the river. All the committed housing is within easy cycling distance for most commuters and the dwellings currently under construction are within walking distance for most residents. All the current and committed housing sites are within walking distance of a bus route into Morpeth. There is only limited employment land allocated in Morpeth. Access to employment in Newcastle/Tyne & Wear, Cramlington and Ashington is and will become vital for most of the economically active local residents. In addition bus and rail services provide sustainable access to retail,