Local Authorities and Universities Partnership and Travel Solutions Mehmet Ahmet Transportation Officer

OUTLINE Travel Patterns Partnership Work Resident Permit Parking Green Travel Solutions What’s Next

The high level of traffic is a result of many interacting factors: l over 1 million residents spread amongst a dozen medium sized towns (more than 25,000 population) and many more smaller towns; l villages are generally no more than 5 to 10 miles from a range of towns creating complex journey patterns; l neighbouring London attracts large commuting flows; l rail services do not provide for east-west movements; l the county sits astride three of the most important national routes (M25, M1 and A1(M)); l car ownership is the sixth highest in the country; l 40% of households have 2 or more cars; l Access to key services, particularly healthcare, is difficult by passenger transport with only 13% of Hertfordshire’s residents being able to reach a hospital within 30 minutes by bus or train.

PARTNERSHIP WORK Main responsibilities Current projects Resident Permit Parking Green Travel Plan Car share Cycle network

RESIDENT PERMIT PARKING Minimising local community impact On Street Parking Management 2005 Parking around the University Consultation Park & Ride

GREEN TRAVEL PLAN Council Green Travel Plan Sustainability Nottingham Declaration Evidence shows that climate change is occurring. • Climate change will continue to have far reaching effects on the UK's people and places, economy, society and environment. The council welcomes and is trying to streamline this through all council departments: • Social, economic and environmental benefits which come from combating climate change. • Emissions targets agreed by central government and the programme for delivering change, as set out in the UK Climate Change Programme. • Opportunity for local government to lead the response at a local level, encouraging and helping local residents, local businesses and other organisations - to reduce their energy costs, to reduce congestion, to adapt to the impacts of climate change, to improve the local environment and to deal with fuel poverty in our communities. • Endorsement of this declaration by central government. We commit our Council from this date to • Work with central government to contribute, at a local level, to the delivery of the UK Climate Change Programme, the Kyoto Protocol and the target for carbon dioxide reduction by 2010. • Participate in local and regional networks for support. • Within the next two years develop plans with our partners and local communities to progressively address the causes and the impacts of climate change, according to our local priorities, securing maximum benefit for our communities. • Publicly declare, within appropriate plans and strategies, the commitment to achieve a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from our own authority's operations, especially energy sourcing and use, travel and transport, waste production and disposal and the purchasing of goods and services. • Assess the risk associated with climate change and the implications for our services and our communities of climate change impacts and adapt accordingly. • Encourage all sectors in our local community to take the opportunity to adapt to the impacts of climate change, to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions and to make public their commitment to action. • Monitor the progress of our plans against the actions needed and publish the result. The scale of the challenge presented by climate change means that all sectors of the community will have to be involved if we are to meet the targets set. The UK Climate Change Programme recognises the crucial role that local government can play in reducing emissions and adapting to climate change. By acting together Local Authorities can have a major impact on national Greenhouse Gas emissions. Action to cut energy use is also likely to lead to significant cost savings for your Council, while action to adapt to climate change can help protect your citizens against the risk of climate change, including that associated with extreme weather events, such as flooding. It should also be noted that some climate changes are likely to offer opportunities to your local community. In recognition of the significant part that Local Authorities can play, the Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change has been established. Through signing the Declaration Councils can show their commitment to this important issue and work with others to help cut emissions. Over 130 Local Authorities have already signed up to this process and it is hoped that over the coming years the great majority of UK Councils will commit themselves to the principles set out in the Nottingham Declaration. Councils can act in three main ways to reduce their emissions of GHGs and help their community adapt to the impacts of climate change. You can act: As an Estate Manager - Local Authorities are large employers and major consumers of energy and other resources. Through better management of transport and buildings, Councils can cut emissions and save money. You can also consider how their estate can be better adapted to the changing climate. As Service Providers - For all the services your Local Authority provides, from Emergency Planning to Social Care, Councils can ensure that the impacts of climate change are properly taken into account and emissions are cut as far as possible. As Community Leaders - through the Sustainable Community Strategy and Local Strategic Partnership, Local Authorities can work with other public and private agencies and the wider community to help cut the overall emissions of their area and develop an integrated response to climate change adaptation. Councils can also form direct partnerships with others in the community to address climate change At the outset of the process decide whether you wish initially to develop a community-wide strategy or to focus on your Council's estate, services, or just one or two important service areas. Also decide whether you wish to develop an integrated mitigation and adaptation strategy or to concentrate on one or the other in the first instance. The advantage of developing a Community-Wide Action Plan is that you can encourage other organisations and individual citizens to take action, maximising the impact of what you do and fulfilling the community leadership role that Government has set for Local Authorities. The advantage of focusing on your own estate and services is that your Council will have more direct control over all the actions that are agreed and outcomes can be easier to determine. With regard to whether you opt to include both adaptation and mitigation measures, there are many advantages to preparing an integrated Action Plan. By preparing a plan that addresses both adaptation and mitigation you will develop a coherent and integrated response to this agenda. However you choose to approach the preparation of the Action Plan, this pack can help guide you through the process. For each stage of the process guidance is provided for both adaptation and mitigation, and for the steps you will need to take to address climate change as an estate manager, service provider and community leader. It should be noted that there is a degree of repetition between some of the strands of the toolkit, to ensure that all advice is available whichever strand you are using as guidance. There are also differences between the guidance provided however and if you are seeking to develop a response to more than one strand (e.g. for Council Services and Estate) then you should refer to the guidance provided for each.

CAR SHARE Liftshare Town centre scheme Next steps Council is working with partners in Welwyn Garden City north of Hatfield to encourage car sharing in the town centre. John Lewis/Wairose, Howard Centre. Future plans is to bring this to the Hatfield Business Park and join this in with the University Scheme but also to encourage the other businesses on site.

CYCLING Existing cycle network Pedalpoint Work with University Different authorities are responsible for different parts of the cycle network. How frustrating if you wish to report a fault and don’t know who to contact. To combat this Welwyn Hatfield Council has set up a dedicated telephone number and email address called Pedal Point for all general enquiries related to cycling in Welwyn Hatfield. College Lane and Bishops Rise – link to existing cycle network, and overall strategy to increase accessibility and to endeavour to promote modal shift, part of the County Council LTP objectives

WAY FORWARD Partnership work key Green Travel Solutions What’s next

Transportation Officer Thank you Mehmet Ahmet Transportation Officer (01707) 357550