Agenda item

1.        That the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 and Classic routes for 2015, 2016 and 2017 be approved and that the final detail of the route be determined by the Assistant Chief Executive or Strategic Director for Environment and Infrastructure, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, the Cabinet Member for Community Services and the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding.

2.       That a further decision be brought back to the Cabinet for cycling events from 2018 onwards.

Reasons for Decisions:

The Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 and Classic have become recognised as world class events. They are organised by the London & Surrey Cycling Partnership, a joint venture between London Marathon Limited and SweetSpot Group. The events are delivered on a not for profit basis with a charitable trust overseeing the allocation of grants to sporting and recreational charities in Surrey and London.

The continuation of the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 and Classic events supports the Surrey Cycling Strategy, maintains Surrey’s position as a centre for cycling and provides significant benefits in terms of worldwide exposure to potential tourists. It also presents residents with the opportunity to take part in a world class event and to watch world class cycling teams racing in the County.  

The event is structured to ensure that all event costs are borne by the event organiser. Surrey County Council and other Surrey partners are not required to provide financial support to the event, with input limited to officer time in reviewing event arrangements to ensure that they meet regulatory and safety requirements.

Extensive work has already been undertaken to reduce the impact of road closures on local communities and liaison with them will continue to ensure this is kept to the minimum possible for events of this size and scale. Some work has already been undertaken to help local businesses to see a positive impact from the events but this can and will be increased in 2015.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Communities Select Committee]

The Cabinet Member for Community Services referred to the Cabinet meeting in December 2013, where the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 and Classic Cycling Events as the County’s 2012 Olympic Legacy cycling events until 2017 had been approved. At that meeting, the Cabinet further approved the route for the 2014 Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 and Classic, which were held successfully on 10 August 2014, with 20,000 riders taking part and also agreed to take a further decision in respect of future events.

This report was now seeking approval to agree the route for the 2015 event (Annex 1 to the submitted report) and also to agree the routes for the 2016 and 2017 events.

She said that Ride London-Surrey was an important event for the County, which had raised millions of pounds for good causes nationally and had led to community groups being given more than £620,000. She also said that, despite the bad weather on 10 August 2014, thousands of visitors had turned out to watch the race. However, she acknowledged the concerns of some Surrey residents and businesses and confirmed that she would ask the event organisers to look at the objections – in particular, she referred to a letter circulated to all Members of the Cabinet from the clerk to Abinger Parish Council concerning the impact of the event on their local businesses, which was agreed that she would respond to.

She confirmed that the Equalities Impact Assessment, appended to the submitted report had been thorough and had considered the issues and outcomes from these cycle events.

The Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding informed Members that extensive consultation had been undertaken following the first event and lessons learnt, which meant that this year, organisers had introduced rolling road closures and better access for residents to limit the impact of the event. He also expressed his support for using the same route each year.

Finally, the Deputy Leader referred to paragraph 11 and 12 of the report, citing that businesses did have good awareness of this event and he considered that overall it had a beneficial long term impact on tourism and was good for the economy of Surrey.

RESOLVED:

1.        That the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 and Classic routes for 2015, 2016 and 2017 be approved and that the final detail of the route be determined by the Assistant Chief Executive or Strategic Director for Environment and Infrastructure, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, the Cabinet Member for Community Services and the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding.

2.       That a further decision be brought back to the Cabinet for cycling events from 2018 onwards.

Reasons for Decisions:

The Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 and Classic have become recognised as world class events. They are organised by the London & Surrey Cycling Partnership, a joint venture between London Marathon Limited and SweetSpot Group. The events are delivered on a not for profit basis with a charitable trust overseeing the allocation of grants to sporting and recreational charities in Surrey and London.

The continuation of the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 and Classic events supports the Surrey Cycling Strategy, maintains Surrey’s position as a centre for cycling and provides significant benefits in terms of worldwide exposure to potential tourists. It also presents residents with the opportunity to take part in a world class event and to watch world class cycling teams racing in the County.  

The event is structured to ensure that all event costs are borne by the event organiser. Surrey County Council and other Surrey partners are not required to provide financial support to the event, with input limited to officer time in reviewing event arrangements to ensure that they meet regulatory and safety requirements.

Extensive work has already been undertaken to reduce the impact of road closures on local communities and liaison with them will continue to ensure this is kept to the minimum possible for events of this size and scale. Some work has already been undertaken to help local businesses to see a positive impact from the events but this can and will be increased in 2015.