Active Travel Consultation Summary Report Isle of Anglesey County Council January 2016 Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 3 2. Purpose of the Consultation ................................................................................. 3 3. Delivery Activities ................................................................................................ 3 4. Supporting Documentation .................................................................................. 4 5. Note ..................................................................................................................... 4 6. Consultation Responses ....................................................................................... 7 7. Stakeholders ...................................................................................................... 15 8. Public Exhibition ................................................................................................ 17 2 1. Introduction Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013 The Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013 (the Act) requires Local Authorities to consult with various groups of people with regard to a set of Existing Route Maps prepared for the local authority area. This has been undertaken over a 12 week period as stated in the Delivery Guidance for the Act. This report provides a summary of the findings from the recent public consultation period that was part of preparing the Existing Active Travel Maps for Anglesey. The consultation period ran from 11th August to 30th October 2015. 2. Purpose of the Consultation Isle of Anglesey County Council (IACC) is required by Welsh Government to consult on its existing Active Travel Maps. This process promotes the proposed active travel maps to the public as well as gaining opinion on the routes mapped and where routes are wanted / needed by the public. It helps Isle of Anglesey County Council to be more aware of how it is performing in terms of public expectation for walking and cycling on the island. The existing maps consultation also provides a basis on which to build for the Integrated Network Mapping process due to be complete in 2017. • Raising awareness and understanding of the Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013 • Understanding community and stakeholder views on the proposals 3. Delivery Activities The following list sets out the activities that were delivered for the Existing Routes Map consultation. Overall, the activities were designed to: • Engage different stakeholder groups, including those that are harder to reach; • Engage IACC staff and Council Members • Document consultation responses and provide feedback. Delivery Activities: Make details of the draft Existing Active Travel Routes available on the IACC website throughout the consultation period 3 Send letter/email notifying consultees that documents are available on-line Issue a press release about the consultation IACC Facebook and Twitter feed throughout consultation period IACC staff and Council Members were targeted by e-mail on 9th September. Undertake a staffedpublic exhibition at the Anglesey Show which took place on the 11th and 12th August 2015. Consult with local community groups through Medrwn Môn’s project - Llais Ni. Consult with community groups through Police Diversity Unit. Consult directly with those who had asked to be consulted. 4. Supporting Documentation The following documentation was published on the IACC website during the consultation period: Information on the purpose of the consultation and a definition of Active Travel. A draft map of Active Travel Routes in Llangefni A draft map of Active Travel Routes in Holyhead and Valley Route audits for the routes audited in Llangefni and Holyhead / Valley A map showing the locations of the designated settlements on Anglesey A link to the electronic survey The above documentation was made available in both English and Welsh. 5. Note The process of both auditing existing routes and then consulting on them was carried out at a scale that reflected the level of funding that WG made available to undertake this work. There was insufficient funding to enable this authority to procure the work externally and limited staff resources to undertake the work internally. The number of routes audited which could then be consulted on was therefore a smaller number than would normally be considered desirable, and not all designated settlements have had routes audited at the time of preparing this report. Funding remaining from undertaking the process internally will be used to allow Sustrans to undertake further route audits in all settlements which will then feed into the Integrated Network Mapping process. 4 5 6 6. Consultation Responses Consultation responses were received from a range of stakeholders throughout the consultation period from a number of differing sources. These are: • Public Exhibition at the Anglesey Show on 11th and 12th August 2015 in the main Council pavilion. The Anglesey Show attracts around 60,000 visitors over the two day period. • Isle of Anglesey County Council Website • Link on Sustrans website • Facebook / Twitter It was possible for stakeholders to respond to the consultation through the use of a prepared and structured consultation feedback form, these were made available at the public exhibition and also as a response mechanism on the Council website. Assessment of Responses The Active Travel survey pages on the IACC Website received 728 unique visitors. 29 forms were completed through the Anglesey Council website. 4 forms were completed at the Anglesey Show, and 1 form and 1 other set of comments received by email. (Total of 34 responses by form.) No comments were received on Facebook. There was a twitter trail where the Council’s notice was retweeted several times. Feedback form responses: Question 1 : Do you agree that the routes identified are suitable to be promoted for Active Travel Journeys? Yes No Comments Yes 50% No 41% Comments were made as follows: they are mostly leisure routes. for active travel to be meaningful the routes need to provide people with genuine ways to get to places they need to go but without having to drive. Everything in Holyhead is easier for people on only the Morawelon side of town They are not accurate and some are merely lines marked on narrow footpaths. None of the maps cover the Amlwch or Rhosybol areas. No. As the auditing so far makes clear, and as anyone who knows what good facilities looks like can tell you, neither these routes nor any other on the island meet minimum 7 requirements for mass active travel. When these routes do allow good and safe door-to-door active travel, they will promote themselves. These routes do not yet reach the acceptable standard for active travel journeys. Also there should be some safe active travel routes in the Menai Bridge / Beaumaris / Llanfairpwll / Bangor / Caernarfon area, particularly given the large number of potential commuters and other users travelling to and from the University (including the School of Ocean Sciences in Menai Bridge) and Ysbyty Gwynedd. Why are there so few routes on Anglesey? Gaerwen requires Safe Active Travel Journeys, areas include: Chapel Street Lon Groes From Groeslon Junction down Station Road Enterprise -Zone to A5 for staff at Business Park Suitable from Valley to Holyhead, however not Valley to RAF Valley. Footpath stops at Caergeiliog, then I have to walk in road, sometimes traffic can be heavy on very windy remote road. Question 2 : Are there any problems along any of these routes that would stop you from using them? Yes The surface is in poor condition Too many barriers cause obstruction Not enough lowered (dropped kerbs) on the route to where I want to go There is not enough space for me The route is run-down and untidy It takes me a long time to cross the busy road There are not enough / benches / shelters / rest areas for me to use it often I do not feel safe No Problems Comments Yes 41% No problems 21% Responses to specific issues: The surface is in poor condition 18% Too many barriers cause obstruction 15% Not enough lowered (dropped kerbs) on the route to where I want to go 9% There is not enough space for me 9% The route is run-down and untidy 12% It takes me a long time to cross the busy road 21% There are not enough / benches / shelters / rest areas for me to use it often 9% I do not feel safe 24% Comments were made as follows: Dylsai perchnogion cwn gadw ei cwn ar dennyn ar Lon Las Cefni, a phwysicach fyth, glanhau baw ci ar ei holau. 8 Other / additional comments I'm an experienced cyclist, typically averaging 20 mph. There are v few cycle paths that are designed for use at >10 mph, let alone 15 or 20 (most are great for family rides I go on). In particular, entrances and exits are poorly signed and perpendicular to the road. They'd be great if set like a slip road geometry. Equally, the side road splay rules don't seem to apply when these paths are built. Given the lack of priority to bikes on side road junctions, poor splay really does make some of the paths an unattractive choice. Valley to HH Tesco best path on Anglesey (except for side roads and the Tesco end). Thanks for that one! i would only use them for leisure but they are not useful for getting anywhere Llangefni - It is very difficult to cross the road opposite the leisure centre due to the level of traffic an road configuration. This is further compounded by the bus stop as you may not