Issue - items at meetings - The future of the extended city centre footstreets

The Corporate Director of Economy and Place to present a report which reviews the temporary extension of the city centre footstreets in response to Covid-19, the mitigations in place for those who have been affected by the revised footstreets, and whether any of the temporary measures should be made permanent, in view of the feedback received and future strategic priorities.

Resolved: (i) That the temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) for the phase 1 footstreet extensions be extended until the end of September 2021 in response to Covid-19, with a staffing cost of £20k.

Reason: To allow social distancing and the use of pavement café licences on major footfall routes through the city centre during the ongoing pandemic, in response to the government’s Safer Public Places guidance.

(ii) That the temporary TRO for Castlegate and Fossgate be continued until the end of September 2021 in response to Covid-19, with a staffing cost of £80k for Fossgate.

Reason: To allow the continued operation of the 22 pavement café licences that the temporary footstreets have facilitated, enabling businesses to operate under the social distancing measures required by Covid-19.

(iii) That approval be given to fund the costs of these measures from Transport Recovery budgets in 2020/21, including ‘Re-opening the High Street’ funding.

(iv) That the need to identify the £60k ongoing costs relating to 2021/22 as a one-off cost pressure in the 2021/22 budget be accepted.

Reason: To ensure that cost proposals are funded within council budgets.

(v) That the TRO from Monk Bar through to College Green and Deansgate be ended, as from 26 November 2020.

Reason: To remove temporary access restrictions and re-instate parking capacity for Blue Badge holders on double yellow lines and loading at the very edge of the footstreet area.

(vi) That the temporary extension of the footstreet hours to 8:00 pm be continued until September 2021, except when hospitality venues are required to close due to Covid-19 restrictions, when the hours will revert to 10:30 am – 5:00 pm.

Reason: To allow pavement café licences to operate in the early evening when hospitality venues are open, and to facilitate the increased demand for food and takeaways when they are required to close.

(vii) That the mitigation measures set out in paragraph 41 for Blue Badge holders and businesses affected by the temporary footstreet extensions be approved.

Reason: To reduce the impact on those groups that have been affected by the temporary footstreet extensions.

(viii) That the process to make Castlegate and the phase one footstreets permanent be initiated, and authority delegated to the Executive Member for Transport to make decisions on the final proposals, mitigations and process.

Reason: To reduce the vehicle / pedestrian conflict on the high footfall phase one streets, ensure that the permanent footstreet areas correspond with the full extent of the City Centre Access project to allow hostile vehicle attack measures to be brought forward in a single stage, and make permanent the temporary measures on Castlegate in accordance with the Castle Gateway masterplan.

(ix) That a full strategic review be undertaken of the city centre’s parking and disabled offer, as set out in the report, to be completed by Summer 2021 at a cost of up to £40k from the existing footstreet engagement and Local Transport Plan 4 budgets.

Reason: To ensure that the permanent footstreet extensions set out above ... view the full decision text for item 59

The Assistant Director of Transport, Highways & Environment presented a report which reviewed the temporary extension of the city centre footstreets introduced in response to Covid-19 and considered whether any of the temporary measures should be made permanent, in the light of feedback received and future strategic priorities.

The report set out the benefits of the revised footstreets, the negative impact of the revisions on some, initial mitigations of that impact and the in-depth engagement carried out with those affected. This had identified that the principle of extending the footstreets was supported by a majority of respondents, including those residents who identified as disabled. It was proposed to continue most of the temporary footstreet extensions until the end of September 2021, corresponding with the end of temporary government measures to support businesses. However, restrictions would be removed from the Monk Bar to College Green and Deangate area, enabling Blue Badge holders to park closer to the city centre.

Members welcomed the proposals, while acknowledging the issues raised at the meeting under Public Participation. In response to these, attention was drawn to the measures set out in paragraphs 44 and 56 of the report, and it was confirmed that the engagement process would continue and the Equality Impact Assessment be kept under review.