LCR Consultation Strategy for Active Travel Fund Tranche 2

Purpose of this strategy

This strategy outlines the approach to engagement and consultation with stakeholders and the public to support the Active Travel Tranche 2 schemes. This strategy will provide a framework for clear, consistent and purposeful communications with those who have an interest in the schemes across the Liverpool City Region, to ensure that the schemes developed appropriately considers wider views and inputs.

This strategy sets out at a high level the stakeholder groups who will be engaged as part of the process, key tools to support stakeholder management and the approach to engaging with these stakeholders at a local level.

Objectives of engagement and consultation

Early and effective stakeholder engagement will be central to securing key stakeholder buy-in and generating advocacy for the project. Ensuring two-way dialogue and generating widespread stakeholder understanding around the project will reduce the risk of potential challenges which can impact on programme, costs and designs.

The objectives for engagement and consultation for the Active Travel Fund Tranche 2 schemes are to:

• Create schemes that are of benefit to local communities in LCR, by understanding their concerns and interests
• Establish meaningful stakeholder relationships with regulatory, advisory and decision-making bodies to support the ongoing design development of the schemes and to support decision-making processes;
• Create purposeful opportunities for public and community engagement in the schemes through a non-statutory options consultation which provides opportunity for comment, at an early enough stage in the process for views to be integrated into the designs, and making clear where and how views can influence the scheme recognising that not all comments can be accommodated,
• Maintain clear evidence of how engagement and consultation has fed into the design process to support and de-risk any future decision-making processes

Key messages

Key messages will provide a framework for consistent communications to stakeholders and the community. These messages provide a narrative to describe the schemes and communicate the benefits of the schemes to different audiences.

The overarching message is that the Active Travel Tranche 2 schemes are proposed schemes to better connect communities to areas of destinations i.e. schools, shops, places of work etc. with the aim of encouraging people to walk and cycle more. both as an alternative to the short private car journeys and to public transport. They are also aligned with the  CA’s Re Think Travel campaign,  designed to give people information and advice about public transport during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Key messages encouraging people to walk and cycle more include:

• Help relieve the pressure on public transport services which currently have capacity constraints due to social distancing
• Help keep everyone safe
• Stay fit and healthy
• Help keep our air clean

Stakeholder Management Plan

Stakeholder Engagement Approach

The schemes are located across the LCR, and therefore there are a wide variety of stakeholder and communities with a potential interest in the schemes. Alongside this strategy, each local authority within the LCR will be undertaking the detailed engagement at a local level relating to schemes being implemented in each local authority area.

On this basis the detail of individual processes to be undertaken in each local authority are is included in the following appendices

Reporting / Feedback

Following the close of the non-statutory consultation and the stakeholder engagement activities, we will follow the recent guidance from DfT to report back to our communities before proceeding to implementation.

We will use this guidance to provide a summary of the key issues, concerns and comments coming out of the consultation from all stakeholder groups. We will use this information to feed into the emerging preferred option recommendation on a local authority area basis with an overarching summary for the LCR.

Monitoring & Evaluation

The LCR will use the DfT Active Travel Fund Monitoring Guidance when scoping and delivering M&E activities for all our schemes and programmes funded via either Tranche 1 or Tranche 2.

Appendix A

Halton BC Consultation Plan

Active Travel Fund Tranche 2 – Individual Consultation Plans Phase 1 (Pre- Implementation)

LCR District:  Halton

Appendix B

Knowsley MBC Engagement Plan

Active Travel Fund Tranche 2 – Individual Consultation Plans Phase 1 (Pre- Implementation)

LCR District:           KNOWSLEY MBC                                                                                      Document ATFT2 M57 J3 Dated 10/12/20

Active Travel Fund Tranche 2 – Individual Consultation Plans Phase 1 (Pre- Implementation)

LCR District:           KNOWSLEY MBC                                                                          Document ATFT2 Kirkby Row Dated 10/12/20

Appendix C Liverpool City Council Communications Plan

Consultation and communication Strategy

This plan sets out how LCC pop-up delivery will undertake effective consultation and communications with all stakeholders who may be affected by the planned installation of pop-up interventions across the city.

We will adopt the following approach:

1. Internal consultation in the iterative development of the scheme – Senior Officers, Traffic Management and Road Safety, Urban Traffic Control and Highways Major Projects, Parking Services, Parks and Community Liaison, Comms- internal/external as necessary
2. Consult with Cabinet Member and review planned route and/or intervention
3. City wide Ward Member seminar to outline full programme, aspirations, and programme including key milestones for consultation.
4. For each route/intervention – All affected Ward Members meeting to review proposals (to be presented at differing levels of development depending on current status of the route)
5. Information email and invite to discuss with MPs
6. Identify other likely stakeholders and communicate route and typical interventions: Active Travel Forum, Corporate Access Forum, Merseytravel, Emergency Services
7. Assess the likely impact of the scheme on each stakeholder
8. Decide on appropriate means of communication/feedback
9. Direct mail to frontage /occupiers, including letter explaining the scheme and plans to show detail, with invite to respond by email
10. Design, cross sections and typical layout and supplementary information on the website with social media dissemination
11. Monitor and review the feedback, and provide feedback to Ward Members and members of the public where necessary through further letter drops and updates on the website.

Following these steps officers will ensure that all relevant stakeholders are consulted and informed in an effective and efficient manner with feedback being recorded and dealt with in a professional and inclusive manner.

Through this approach it is intended that the reputation of Liverpool City Council is not affected adversely by bad publicity or poor communication.

Impact of the scheme

Each scheme will be fully assessed in terms of traffic management and impact on the network during construction. TM plans and permits to be managed by contractors.

Frontage communication to inform occupants of the upcoming installation.

Review of impact of the scheme post installation through feedback and monitoring

Stakeholders and Methods of Engagement

Methods of Communication and Stakeholder Groups

The Proposed Methods of Communication and associated Stakeholder Groups consulted are:

• Virtual meeting with Cabinet Member and senior officers
• Virtual meetings with specific Ward Councillors
• Presentation of plans to ATF
• Sharing/presentation of plans to CAF/Access Officer
• Sharing of plans with EMS and Merseytravel
• Postal delivery of letters outlining interventions to frontages
• Where relevant, site-based notices setting out key proposals and timescales and feedback mechanisms
• Websites and Social Media dissemination: setting out key proposals and principles with feedback mechanisms on the LCC and LCRCA websites and digital platforms.
• Further consideration following receipt of any objections / petitions against scheme proposals

Formal Consultation

General Consultation Process

• Letter drops to all frontages
• Continuous web-based consultation space – updated
• Local newspaper notice (if statutory obligation – e.g TTRO/ETRO)
• Notices on site (if statutory obligation – e.g TTRO/ETRO)

Via direct consultation:

Cabinet Member – Cllr Sharon Connor

Cabinet – via approval processes

All Ward Councillors – overview of proposals seminar

Ward Councillors – Proposals overview meeting for each route as relevant

MPs – email and meetings as relevant:

Garston and Halewood Constituency – Maria Eagle MP, Labour Party – Unit House, Speke Boulevard, Liverpool, L24 9HZ. Tel: 0151 448 1167.

Riverside Constituency – Kim Johnson, Labour Party – [email protected]

Walton Constituency – Dan Carden, Labour Party – 66 Priory Road, Anfield, Liverpool, L4 2RZ. Tel: 0151 284 1160 – [email protected]

Wavertree Constituency – Paula Barker, Labour Party – [email protected]

West Derby Constituency – Ian Byrne, Labour Party – [email protected]

Appendix D Sefton Communications Plan

Southport Walking and Cycling Route – Summary of Engagement

Our Engagement Mandate

We, Strategic Transport Planning and Investment Team need to understand the view of people living, studying, visiting, working and travelling along the Southport Walking and Cycling Route so that we can seek approval for the scheme to establish a safe walking and cycling route in line with our 2030 vision of a confident connected borough where people can enjoy the many cycle and walking friendly routes.

Our Target Audience

The target audience for this engagement are as follows;

• Property owners
• Residents
• Businesses
• Traveling public
• Interest groups including, walking and cycling groups, environmental campaign groups, accessibility & diversity support groups
• Local schools and places of education
• Emergency Services
• Attractors along the route such as sporting clubs, places of worship and community facilities 

Our Engagement Methodology

The information will be shared in the following ways;

• Press release via My Sefton
• Information on sefton.gov.uk/SouthportWalkCycle
• Leaflet distributed to all properties along the route via GPS tracked delivery
• Engagement sessions/direct mail out with specific seldom heard groups such as young people and interest groups

Engagement Plan

Our Key Messages

The Government recently published Gear Change which sets out the vision for walking and cycling.  The Department of Transport via the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has allocated money to Sefton to improve walking and cycling routes and to work with Schools.

Sefton Council have adopted their Climate Change Emergency Plan, which sets out how we will take steps to reduce our carbon emissions.  Transforming the way we live and work is a big part of this plan.  One thing we can do is to keep on walking and cycling.  We will be supporting this by creating safe walking and cycling routes to Southport as part of this funding.

Our vision for Sefton is a confident and connected borough where people can enjoy the use of many cycle and walking friendly routes and we all work together to keep Sefton clean and green with a commitment to low pollution and better air quality.  This investment from Government will help us to make a big improvement for local people so they can walk and cycle safely.

We have asked the people of Sefton through Sefton Liveable Streets, what problems they face when walking and cycling.   You have told us the behavior of road users, speeding and volumes of traffic are problems and that you feel that the routes are dangerous not cycle or walking friendly.  You have also told us you would like to slow down traffic, have more enforcement and that you would like more walking and cycling routes.

Many of our residents in North Sefton do not have access to a car and we want to help people to continue to walk and cycle to get out and about to places.  We plan to help people by creating safe walking and cycling routes in Southport.

We have seen a dramatic increase in people walking and cycling in our Borough during lockdown, as our roads and streets get busier with traffic, we want to give people the opportunity to keep up with their healthy habits.  We plan to do this by extending the walking and cycling route in Southport.

Bikelife, a report which looked at people’s attitudes to bike use carried out in 2019, found out that nearly half of people interviewed are concerned about cycling safety and 63% of people think more cycling would make their area a better place to live and work.

In our Highways Annual Survey we ask people who regularly cycle how satisfied are you with the number of cycle route and lanes provided, 71% stated they were fairly or very dissatisfied.  We also asked all respondents about the number of cycle routes and lanes provided, only 10% said there were far too many and a little too many and 56% said there were a little too and far too few.

In summary we will;

• Deliver a leaflet to properties along the route which tells people about the walking and cycling route in simple language. The leaflet will tell people how they can tell us their views and opinions
• We will offer the leaflet in alternative formats so everyone can understand what it means for them
• We will issue a press release so that people who are not on line or do not live directly along the route will get to know about the walking and cycling route and know how to tell us their views and opinions
• We will have a place where people can go on-line and tell us their thoughts, we will also have a telephone number people can call to tell us their thoughts too
• We will engage with business owners and big attractors and find out their thoughts
• We will engage with the Emergency Services on our plans before the statutory process
• We will engage with people who are not often represented in our consultations, via user groups and interest groups
• We will write a report which summarises the results and this will be available for all to see on our website once approved

Where to find out more;

When we have started our engagement you will find all the information here; www.sefton.gov.uk/Southportwalkcycle, you will also be able to email us on [email protected].  We will use the following twitter accounts – @SeftonCouncil and @ActiveTravelSefton

Public Engagement and Consultation Panel

The Southport Walking and Cycling Route – Summary of Engagement document will be presented to the Public Engagement and Consultation Panel on 15^th January 2020 and is subject to change based on the outcome of this panel meeting.

Appendix E St Helens Borough Council Communications Plan

St Helens Consultation Plan

The Project Delivery Team will establish and maintain effective communications with all stakeholders who may be affected in some way by the construction of new cycling and walking schemes funded by the Active Travel Fund, by:

• Internal consultation of each scheme element with relevant officers covering Traffic Management, Road Safety, Urban Traffic Control, Parking Services, Parks and Area Landscape
• Identify the key point of contact for each scheme element
• Consult with Portfolio Holders and ward councillors
• Inform MPs by email and invite discussion
• Identify key stakeholders and the potential impact of the scheme to each
• Establish appropriate forms of communication
• Implement communications at the appropriate time – social media, direct mail to frontages, press
• Provision of design layouts which are understandable to our residents, together with any additional information such as examples of proposals – on Council consultation webpage with paper copies available on request
• Monitor and review the effectiveness of the communications through feedback to our residents and ward councillors – on the council website and by letter
• Amend the method of communication where necessary

By adopting these steps, we will meet the requirements set out in the Council’s Consultation Code (www.sthelens.gov.uk/media/8655/consultation-code.pdf)

This describes how we engage with our residents and communities. It reflects the importance of actively involving the whole community to ensure that our services meet the needs of our customers.

Stakeholder Management Plan

Stakeholder Matrix

Methods of Communication and Stakeholder Groups (subject to Covid restrictions)

• Press releases in local print and digital media
• Site meetings with local residents and businesses
• Interest group meetings and communication channels
• Online public consultation:
• Websites and digital media: setting out key proposals and key messages on the Council and CA websites and digital platforms

Methods of Formal Consultation

• Letter drop to all frontages and additional adjacent properties considered to be potentially directly affected by the scheme proposals
• Public consultation / exhibition / display of plans – at local venues (subject to Covid restrictions)
• Local newspaper notice (if statutory obligation – e.g TRO)
• Notices on site (if statutory obligation – e.g TRO)

Via email / meetings

• Portfolio Holder(s) and Council Leader
• Ward Councillors
• Merseyside Police
• N W Ambulance Service
• Merseyside Fire Service
• Merseytravel
• Road Haulage Association
• Freight Transport Association
• Voluntary and Interest Group Forums

Via email / team meetings

• Assistant Director of Highways and Planning
• Highway Manager
• Contracts Manager
• UTC Signals Manager
• Highway Team Officers
• Transport Policy Officers

Appendix F Wirral Council Communications Plan

Active Travel Fund Tranche 2 – Individual Consultation Plans Phase 1 (Pre- Implementation)

LCR District:    WIRRAL COUNCIL