File: PO 06 03 01
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Bob Alkema (Transfund New Zealand) – Chair
Gareth Williams (Transfund New Zealand)
David Cope (Transfund New Zealand)
Andrew Macbeth (Cycling Advocates’ Network)
Axil Wilke (Cycling Advocates’ Network)
John Bradbury (Ministry of Transport)
Glenda Spackman (Ministry of Transport)
Dallas Aston (Ministry of Transport)
Matt Grant (Land Transport Safety Authority)
Margaret Evison (Land Transport Safety Authority)
Jane Mitchell (Land Transport Safety Authority)
Ian Clark (Transit New Zealand)
Lesley McConnell (Greater Wellington Regional Council)
Celia Wade-Brown (Living Streets Aotearoa)
Faust Bovenlander (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority)
Stephen Knight (Bike New Zealand)
Julie Chambers (Safe Kids)
Jane Dawson (Cycling Advocates’ Network)
Brent Efford (Living Streets Aotearoa)
Richard Lindsay (SPARC)
1 Welcome and confirmation of the agenda
Bob Alkema welcomed members to the meeting and thanked everyone for attending.
The minutes of the last meeting were confirmed.
John Bradbury informed the group that the National Walking and Cycling Strategy would be put before Cabinet on 15 December 2004 and would remain largely unchanged from the draft released in October 2003. John also advised the group that MoT would be developing an implementation plan once Cabinet has approved the strategy.
Bob Alkema and Matt Grant told the group that Land Transport New Zealand is expected to take over the functions of Transfund and LTSA (minus strategic policy, which is going to MoT) on 1 December 2004. Bob suggested that from a stakeholder perspective, it would be business as usual and that outputs delivered by both organisations would continue largely as before. The group was also informed that approximately 40 LTSA policy staff would transfer to MoT.
John Bradbury advised that MoT is being restructured and this process is well underway. He clarified that the resources joining the Ministry from LTSA would also be focused on strategic work in their approach to the safety policy aspects of walking and cycling issues. He also suggested that the extra resources available to the Ministry would provide additional opportunities to address walking and cycling issues.
The group agreed that CAG and PAG should continue as a combined advisory group.
There was a significant amount of debate on membership of the group. Andrew Macbeth suggested the group should consider including representatives from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education. Other suggested representations were the Police, ACC, SPARC, and the Ministry for the Environment. Ian Clark felt CAG/PAG should be confined to agencies with a core interest in walking and cycling. Faust Bovenlander supported inclusion of the Ministry of Health in the group. Transfund will give thought to these suggestions when updating the terms of reference for the group.
Andrew Macbeth requested that the CAG/PAG secretary contact Tim Davin to ensure local government representation at the next meeting.
There was a general consensus that PAG/CAG meetings should be held more regularly. By increasing the frequency of the meetings government agencies would be able to use PAG/CAG as a sounding board for policy development and implementation. The group agreed that three meetings a year would be sufficient. Celia Wade-Brown suggested the meetings be held in February, July and October. It was also suggested that draft meeting dates be included in the minutes for forward planning.
Further discussion was held on whether the meeting should be hosted by MoT or Land Transport New Zealand. Transfund and MoT agreed to give it some thought before the next meeting.
Celia Wade-Brown reminded the group of the walking conference on 25 November 2004 in Wellington. Ian Clark handed out information on the Sustainable Land Transport Conference being held in Wellington from 21 to 24 November 2004. Andrew Macbeth encouraged the group to ensure their respective organisations made submissions on the draft Urban Design Protocol developed by the Ministry for the Environment, as it had significant implications for urban walking and cycling.
Andrew Macbeth updated the group on the Transfund research project he is undertaking at MWH New Zealand on best practice for walking and cycling strategies. Andrew said the work is progressing and he expects it to be released by January 2005.
Bob Alkema and Gareth Williams updated the group on recent amendments to Transfund’s Programme and Funding Manual (P&FM). This created the liveliest discussion of the day with many comments and questions of clarification.
CAN representatives expressed dissatisfaction with the process for amending the P&FM and felt that walking and cycling policy should have been consulted on. The changes were considered to be revision or establishment of policy, rather than clarification of policy, thus requiring consultation under Transfund’s rules. Andrew Macbeth and Celia Wade-Brown wanted walking and cycling maps and information signing to be eligible for funding. Andrew also felt that government should consider advertising campaigns similar to those for drink driving, smoking and seat belt wearing, to encourage mode shifts to more sustainable transport like walking and cycling. Transfund acknowledged the points raised at the meeting and will take them into account in future decision-making.
Andrew felt that footpaths (both on State Highways and local authority roads) should in future be considered for Transfund (LTNZ) funding support (both for construction and maintenance). He suggested that it may be necessary to phase this in over several years, because of the significant financial implications for government. He emphasised that this opinion was not expressed to create space for cyclists on footpaths, but as a pedestrian issue in its own right.
Ian Clark updated the group on walking and cycling initiatives being undertaken by Transit. Ian advised that the cycling policy framework has gone to the Transit Board and had taken into account CAN’s comments on an earlier draft. It is expected that a revised framework will go to the Board in November. Celia requested that a parallel walking policy framework be developed, in light of the amount of land Transit owns alongside highways.
Ian said the design guide supplement to Austroads 14 should be presented to the October 2004 Board meeting. Andrew Macbeth requested the supplement be made public as soon as possible, as there were many other potential users of the information besides Transit staff. Axel Wilke queried what Road Controlling Authorities input has been had, as the guide has been developed by Transit on behalf of the RCA forum. Ian undertook to provide this information.
Ian also updated the group on the cycle counting programme that has recently been completed in Christchurch. He said that Transit and Christchurch City Council would be holding discussions about how the data will be analysed and felt the project so far has been a good success.
Matt Grant and Jane Mitchell provided a summary to the group of the various work streams being undertaken by LTSA.
Matt told the group that due to the MoT's intention of finalizing the National Walking and Cycling Strategy by December 2004, the LTSA is in the process of completing a final draft of the Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety Framework. Matt also told the group that the Cycle Network and Route Planning Guide has been completed and is currently being distributed throughout New Zealand. The Pedestrian Network Planning and Facilities Guide is going out for consultation in October with the final publication being released after that.
Matt also told the group about the guidelines for facilities for blind and vision-impaired pedestrians was produced in September 2003 with workshops around the country in early 2004. LTSA has received very favourable feedback about this document.
Jane Mitchell advised that Safer Routes has already undertaken four pilot projects and LTSA plans to commission four more each year until 2010. Jane also advised the group that Pinnacle Research had nearly completed a study on the safety impacts of travel plans and this will be published shortly. Easy and consolidated Internet access was suggested for the wealth of new walking and cycling information available through the various government agencies.
Andrew told the group that Christchurch City Council is considering an extensive 30 km/h zone in the city centre, which will be beneficial for both pedestrians and cyclists.
Andrew welcomed the addition of Stephen Knight (advocacy manager of BikeNZ) to the group.
Celia raised the issue of who can become an approved organisation for receiving funding for Transfund projects. Bob advised that it would be difficult for any organisation to receive approved organisation status, and that any projects should be carried out in conjunction with their local or regional council. For more information please refer to the LTMA (section 23 and Section 5 – definition of public organisation).
Andrew said it was disappointing to see BikeWise being discontinued and CAN wishes to discuss this further with the government agencies. Inclusion of the Ministry of Health on the new walking and cycling advisory group might help ensure a “whole of government” approach to walking and cycling issues.
Andrew also asked about the status on the New Zealand travel survey. Lesley McConnell advised that a new survey is underway and the results can be expected shortly. The last travel survey was in 1998.
Andrew requested that Transfund look at whether there are any government guidelines on paying advocates for their time at meetings like CAG/PAG. Dallas Aston advised there were Treasury guidelines on this.
Stephen Knight questioned how moves towards sustainable transport would be monitored and subsequently checked against goals. It was suggested that it remained unclear what role the Ministry of Transport had in such an auditing process, and how, therefore, an integrated whole-of-government approach would be pursued. This had implications for monitoring whether and how cycling and walking issues raised via CAG/PAG would be addressed across government.
Stephen also queried the extent to which any regional cycling strategies bound territorial authorities when preparing and/or implementing district or city cycling strategies. It was confirmed that there is no legal obligation to comply with such strategies.
The meeting closed at 1pm.
As discussed in the email sent by Gareth Williams on 29 September the tentative dates for the next meeting are:
· Tuesday 15 February
· Wednesday 16 February
· Thursday 17 February.