Proposed Government Plan 2023-2026 (P.97/2022): sixth amendment Walking and Cycling routes

STATES OF JERSEY

PROPOSED GOVERNMENT PLAN 2023-

2026 (P.97/2022): SIXTH AMENDMENT

WALKING AND CYCLING ROUTES

Lodged au Greffe on 23rd November 2022 by the Connétable of St. Helier

Earliest date for debate: 12th December 2022

STATES GREFFE

PROPOSED GOVERNMENT PLAN 2023-2026 (P.97/2022): SIXTH AMENDMENT

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PAGE 2, PARAGRAPH (i) –

After the words "Appendix 3 to the Report" insert the words –

", except that in Table 47 on page 81, after the words "Carbon Neutral Initiatives" there should be inserted the words "including the design and implementation of walking and cycling routes, to be overseen by a political steering group which will report back to the States Assembly on progress at regular intervals"".

CONNÉTABLE OF ST. HELIER

Note:  After this amendment, the proposition would read as follows –

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

to receive the Government Plan 2023–2026 specified in Article 9(1) of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019 ("the Law") and specifically –

1. to approve the estimate of total States income to be paid into the Consolidated Fund in 2023 as set out in Appendix 2 – Summary Table 1 to the Report, which is inclusive of the proposed taxation and impôts duties changes outlined in the Government Plan, in line with Article 9(2)(a) of the Law;
2. to  approve  the  proposed  Changes  to  Approval  for financing/borrowing for 2023, as shown in Appendix 2 – Summary Table 2 to the Report, which may be obtained by the Minister for Treasury and Resources, as and when required, in line with Article 9 (2)(c) of the Law, of up to those revised approvals;
3. to approve the transfers from one States fund to another for 2023 of up to and including the amounts set in Appendix 2 – Summary Table 3 in line with Article 9(2)(b) of the Law;
4. to approve each major project that is to be started or continued in 2023 and the total cost of each such project and any amendments to the proposed total cost of a major project under a previously approved Government Plan, in line with Article 9(2)(d), (e) and (f) of the Law and as set out in Appendix 2 - Summary Table 4 to the Report;
5. to  approve  the  proposed  amount  to  be  appropriated  from  the Consolidated Fund for 2023, for each Head of Expenditure, being gross  expenditure  less estimated  income (if  any),  in  line  with Articles  9(2)(g),  10(1)  and  10(2)  of  the  Law,  and  set  out  in Appendix 2 – Summary Tables 5(i) and (ii) of the Report;

6. to approve the estimated income, being estimated gross income less expenditure, that each States trading operation will pay into its trading fund in 2023 in line with Article 9(2)(h) of the Law and set out in Appendix 2 – Summary Table 6 to the Report;
7. to approve the proposed amount to be appropriated from each States trading operation's trading fund for 2023 for each head of expenditure in line with Article 9(2)(i) of the Law and set out in Appendix 2 – Summary Table 7 to the Report;
8. to approve the estimated income and expenditure proposals for the Climate Emergency Fund for 2023 as set out in Appendix 2 – Summary Table 8 to the Report; and
9. to  approve,  in  accordance  with  Article  9(1)  of  the  Law,  the Government Plan 2023-2026, as set out at Appendix 3 to the Report, except that in Table 47 on page 81, after the words "Carbon Neutral Initiatives" insert the words "including the design andimplementation of walking and cycling routes, to be overseen by a political  steering  group  which  will  report  back  to  the  StatesAssembly on progress at regular intervals.

REPORT

Walking and cycling routes: design and implementation

For more than two decades I have been asking successive Ministers for Infrastructure to deliver the walking and cycling strategies and to implement safe routes for walking and cycling that are among the key components of environmentally sustainable transport system  and  which  play  an  essential  part  in  the  health  and  quality  of  life  of  the community. I have brought numerous propositions and amendments to States strategic documents, Island Plans and transport plans, seeking to achieve these measures, and have been disappointed that so little progress has been made.

While the new Minister and, indeed, the new Council of Ministers as a whole, appear more motivated to succeed in these areas than some of their predecessors, no specific resources appear to have been allocated to the design and implementation of walking and cycling routes in the Government Plan, although a general provision for funding a range of initiatives is included in Table 47 on page 81 of the plan. The accompanying text states that The delivery and resources plan within the (Carbon Neutral) roadmap apportions funds for all the policies around sustainable heating and transport, wider emissions and addressing the biodiversity crisis and protecting wildlife and habitats. Included in the resource plan is funding for the completion of multi-year early start projects that were awarded funding by the States Assembly in Government Plans between 2019 and 2021.' The relevant section of the plan goes on to admit that it is accepted that the (Climate Emergency) Fund is insufficient to fund all the necessary policies to achieve our carbon neutral targets'

This amendment seeks to ensure that in amongst the many projects vying for resources from  the  Climate  Emergency  Fund  the  implementation  of  pedestrian  and  cycling facilities will be given a high priority.

With the adoption of the Common Strategic Policy, and specifically, my amendment to P.98/2022, the Government has committed itself to working together with the Parishes, (to) provide safe, and where achievable segregated, routes for walkers and cyclists by reallocating road space around the Island and within the Town area to encourage active travel'  and  to  provide  safe  walking  and  other  transport  options  for  the elderly'. However, in the Report accompanying the Government's amendment to my own, it is stated that the creation of routes for walkers and cyclists to encourage active travel around town and across the island (are) established policy objectives in the Sustainable Transport Policy and specific proposals will be developed through the Island Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Strategy (Page - 6 P.98/2022 Amd.Amd. (re-issue)) Once again there is the promise of forthcoming strategy but no track record of delivery, nor any commitment to design and implementation; therefore, this must be considered jam tomorrow'. Given how under resourced the Department of Infrastructure is it is hardly surprising that there is a reluctance on the part of Government to acknowledge that the radical improvements in walking and cycling facilities in the Island simply will not happen unless more resources are allocated to their design and implementation.

This amendment also proposes that a political steering group be established to oversee this work with regular reports to the States Assembly on progress towards the objective of making Jersey a safer place in which to walk and cycle over the next four years.

Financial and manpower implications

This amendment will not change the budget allocated to Carbon Neutral Initiatives.