ATF4 Funding Will Be Released ‘Soon to Very Soon’

The Active Travel Fund 4 (ATF4) will open ‘soon to very soon’.

That’s what the DfT Minister with responsibility for active travel, Jesse Norman, told the All Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling & Walking (APPGCW) yesterday. Mr Norman was accompanied by Active Travel England (ATE) CEO Danny Williams.

The relatively informal and cheerful one-hour session was chaired by Selaine Saxby MP, who is co-Chair of the APPGCW together with Ruth Cadbury MP. It was streamed on Youtube. (Some of the questions were difficult to hear).

Pavement Parking

Mr Norman was asked about pavement parking. It has been 2 years since a DfT consultation on pavement parking took place, but the results have not been published.

The Minister’s answer was not very clear.

‘There have been different options. The view that I’ve taken has been that we should have a clear route forward legislatively before we publish the results of the consultation, so I expect that we’ll have some guidance on that fairly shortly.’

jesse norman

It seems an odd way of proceeding.

New Housing Developments

Ruth Cadbury asked a question about the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which is being revised by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

The current draft doesn’t have anything in it about transport, but so much planned development is on the edge of towns and villages.

‘Once new developments get built, or get planning permission even, you can’t go backwards to address the transport deficit, and almost by definition if you don’t, all new development tends to be car-dependent.’

ruth cadbury

Ruth Cadbury wanted to know if the DfT will ask DLUHC to include transport in the NPPF.

Mr Norman rather dodged the question. He said that ATE is to become a statutory consultee in the planning process.

Danny Williams added that ATE will become a statutory consultee later this year. ATE’s Director of Planning is now in place. They are starting to talk to developers first, and ATE will be doing a roadshow around all the local authorities starting in a couple of weeks’ time.

ATE are starting at the top of the tree with investors, then come planners and local authorities.

Another questioner followed up on the point about housing developments.

‘I never ever want to see again in this country a large housing development that does not have cycle routes to the local primary school, the local secondary school, the shops and the employment area, and if we are remotely serious about [diseases stemming from inactivity] we’ve got to design this in. It’s just terrible that it hasn’t [been resolved].’

‘Statutory consultee sounds great, but it’s got to have some teeth. It’s actually a selling point for developers [happy families cycling]. It should be an open door.’

question from the floor

Danny Williams said that ATE is resourcing-up quite fast in planning, and they need to have conversations with developers. So far developers are very open to talking to ATE. ‘I think they’re finding it quite interesting that that conversation is happening.’

Propensity to Walk or Cycle to School

Mr Williams also said that ATE has developed a Propensity to Walk or Cycle to School tool, and it will be launched together with the Department for Education soon.

Highway Code Changes

Ben Bradshaw asked if the government would do more to publicise the positive changes to the Highway Code.

Another person also raised the point that driver behaviour and lack of awareness of the positive changes to the Highway Code is still a barrier to walking and cycling.

Jesse Norman said he needs to look at the formal levels of uptake and recognition of the Highway Code changes, but ‘clearly we need to do that.’

Another question highlighted the fact that there is virtually no road traffic policing anywhere in the country, and without it the Highway Code changes and other road safety measures won’t work.

People with Disabilities

There was a question about people with disabiliities and access to walking, wheeling and cycling.

Danny Williams said that ATE is very definitely about walking and wheeling as well as cycling. There will be a shift in focus, with an emphasis on disabled users and inclusivity in general.

When Will Local Authorities’ Levels Be Published?

There wasn’t a direct answer to the question.

The Minister and Danny Williams said that worse local authorities will get less money, but they will get support so they can improve and move up to higher levels.

Historic Rail Estate

A question was asked about disused railways.

The answer from Mr Norman covered:

• LCWIPS, which can identify old railway lines as priority routes
• money available from Sustrans to support re-purposing these lines as active travel routes
• local authorities can apply through the ATF for money for old railways

Danny Williams said that previous ATF rounds did not include old railways, but future ATF rounds will.

Reducing Car Use

Jesse Norman said the government wants to give people cheaper and greener alternatives to the car.

Selaine Saxby asked if, in the light of its commitments to decarbonising transport, the government would set a target for reducing the number of car journeys as London has done. If not, do we have a plan to make sure we get there in time?

Jesse Norman gave a non-answer to the question, instead waffling on about electric cars and the Climate Change Committee. This suggests the government doesn’t have the courage to tell people that we need to reduce car use.

We Haven’t Dealt Seriously with Active Travel for 50 Years

Danny Williams made this comment in relation to a question about cycleways, and particular the Leeds-Bradford Cycle Superhighway, where the problems highlighted were:

• it is poorly-designed [in parts] – the need for a national design standard
• there is no enforcement against parking in the cycleway
• there is not enough maintenance, so debris in it causes punctures

Mr Williams said:

‘This country hasn’t really dealt with cycling or walking seriously for 50 years. It has started doing that a few years ago. We’ve got an awful long way to go for active travel to become a mature part of the transport system.’

‘ATE is going to be 98 people. There’s going to be some stuff we can do, but there’s going to be an awful lot of stuff we cannot do. What we definitely want to do is start influencing the discussion and the debate more as a serious stakeholder within the DfT and with our Parliamentary colleagues.’

danny williams