Issue - meetings

·      The Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 and Classic events for the period to 2017 be approved as the County’s legacy cycling events.

·      That, in order to achieve the above,  the Council will continue to collaborate with the Greater London Authority, Transport for London and other delivery partners to deliver the events

·      The Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 and Classic routes for 2014 be approved in principle and the final detail of the route be determined by either the Assistant Chief Executive or Strategic Director Environment and Infrastructure in consultation with the Leader of the Council, the Cabinet Member for Community Services and the Cabinet Member for Transport, Highways and the Environment.  

·      That a further decision will be taken regarding the proposed route for future events.

Reasons for Decisions:

The 2012 Olympic Games positioned Surrey as a centre for cycling and presented a once in a lifetime opportunity to realise the economic, health and environmental benefits from this. The Surrey Cycling Strategy sets out how these benefits will be realised.

An important aspect of this is the tourism and inspirational benefit derived from the profile of the Olympic road races.  To that end, following the successful operation of the 2013 PRLS events and the consultation feedback indicating widespread support for major cycling events, the PRLS events will be established as the county’s 2012 Olympic legacy cycling events. 

As part of the legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games, the Cabinet approved support for a cycling event, later named ‘Prudential RideLondon’. This is a two day festival that includes the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic and 100 based on the route of the Olympic Cycling Road Races. The festival took place on 3/4 August 2013. Over 16,000 people took part in the 100, including about 2,000 Surrey residents. Over £7m was raised for charity.

In August 2013, Surrey County Council approached the Mayor of London to secure local access to grants for money raised by the London Marathon Trust for Surrey based bids. The Trust amended its terms to make this possible and a number of Surrey based activities had received a total of £335k of funding. It was hoped that the number of organisations directly benefiting from the event would continue to grow next year.

The Chairman advised that the Olympics had been won on the basis of legacy and the commitment to hold legacy events had been part of this agreement. The Olympic and subsequent events had been held safely and successfully and the council had committed to learn lessons from each event. This included feedback about road closures and how this could be done better.

Mr Bill Barker asked a question relating to emergency access on the day of the event and advised that he had been made aware of a resident whose call for an ambulance had been delayed. The Chairman advised that, as set out in the Strategy, responses to emergency incidents were the top priority for each event. With Surrey County Council, local District and Borough Councils and the emergency services all signed up to a shared protocol, this type of shouldn’t happen. The importance of ensuring that marshals on the route were well trained in the correct procedures was also noted. Emergency response arrangements and plans should also be well communicated with local Members.

It was noted that, while the event itself had been a success with many positive and supportive comments, two main themes could be identified within the more negative feedback. These related to requests to consider using different routes and the potential loss to some local businesses. The Cabinet Member for Community Services advised that the establishment of a regular route had positive benefits, meaning that lessons could be learnt year on year, responding to experience and the comments received to make adjustments and open closed roads sooner. The Cabinet Member for Transport, Highways and Environment agreed that many roads closed for the event in 2013 would be opened earlier in future in the light of the experience gained. 

Cabinet Members noted the concerns raised about some businesses being affected by access issues without being well placed to directly share in the benefits of the event. Whilst some local businesses along the event route had benefited from crowds, increased trade and a carnival atmosphere, it was acknowledged that this was not the experience of all and it was a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 224

·      The Surrey Cycling Strategy be approved as set out in Annex 1 to the report submitted. 

·      The role of Local Committees in developing affordable Local Cycling Plans be approved.

·      The continued engagement with central government to press for further funding for investment in cycling provision be approved.

·      Active engagement with the police and other local authorities in a similar position to Surrey on key aspects of cycling safety and regulations, as the basis for dialogue with central government, be approved.

·      The Framework for Coordinating and Approving Events on Surrey’s Highway be approved as set out in Annex 3 to the report submitted.

·      The comments and recommendations of the Communities Select Committee be noted and the response agreed as attached at Appendix 3 to this decision sheet.

Reasons for Decisions:

The 2012 Olympic Games positioned Surrey as a centre for cycling and presented a once in a lifetime opportunity to realise the economic, health and environmental benefits from this.  Through a partnership approach, the Strategy seeks to ensure that the benefits of this legacy result in more Surrey residents cycling for transport and leisure and that all Surrey children have the opportunity to learn to ride a bike safely. 

The issues and challenges in relation to cycling differ considerably in different parts of the county.  For that reason, the Strategy proposes the development of Local Cycling Plans, overseen by the Local Committees, which can properly reflect local circumstances.

A successful legacy also requires that steps be taken to tackle the rising levels of cyclist casualties, to encourage respect and consideration amongst all road users and to ensure that cyclists who come to the Surrey countryside show respect and consideration for local communities.  It also requires that major events that showcase our beautiful county and bring benefits to Surrey continue to be supported, whilst also ensuring that they are properly managed so as to minimise disruption and ensure no individual communities are affected by multiple events.

The County Council had developed the Surrey Cycling Strategy to support the development of cycling as a means of transport and to secure economic, health and environmental benefits for Surrey.  The Strategy also sets out plans to address the increase in cycle casualty rates and the local impacts of the increase in sports cycling and cycling events.

The Strategy’s aim is to get more people in Surrey cycling, more safely and contained a series of objectives to support the achievement of this aim.

The Strategy forms part of the Surrey Transport Plan and is the basis for the development of a series of Local Cycling Plans for each of the Surrey boroughs and districts, under the guidance of the Local Committees. It sets out clear plans and priorities, supported by appropriate governance structures to ensure a partnership approach. It has been the subject of extensive public consultation which has informed the strategy.

The Strategy is supported by a new Framework for Coordinating and Approving Events on Surrey’s Highway, which puts in place robust and transparent mechanisms for processes and decision-making governing events.  

The Cabinet Member for Community Services advised of the work that had taken place to develop the Strategy, including the input from members of the Communities and Environment & Transport Select Committees and the valuable contribution from over 3,700 comments which had been received. Cycling remained an important aspect of the council’s transport strategy and each local committee would be invited to develop their own local cycling plans to further this. Getting more people cycling more safely could reduce congestion, benefit tourism and have positive impacts on health.

The increase in cycling had provided a lasting legacy of Surrey’s successful hosting of the Olympics and the Strategy sought to ensure that this would continue in a safe manner. One aspect of this legacy had been the increase in the number of people looking to visit Surrey to cycle on its highways. The Cycling Strategy set out a robust Framework for coordinating and providing cycling events on Surrey’s highways. This placed an emphasis on the event organiser to ensure adequate consultation. Surrey County Council would also lobby central government to require that, in future, both the police and local authorities be notified of requests to hold sportive events on public roads. This would enable better planning of these events, ensuring that they were held safely and reduced the risk of any potential disruption.

Cabinet Members discussed their own experience of cycling, local schemes to support cycling and their shared concern that it take place safely with shared understanding from all road users. Education and ensuring that cost was not a factor to children learning and riding safely on cycles were identified as key factors. The benefits of separating cycles from other road traffic where possible were discussed, although it was noted that this could have significant cost implications and could not be done everywhere. Members also noted the work that had taken place with the Equalities Impact Assessments to ensure  ...  view the full minutes text for item 224