At the start of the year the Council, together with public participation charity Involve, held a Citizens Forum on the Future of Travel in Blaenau Gwent.
The forum, funded by Innovate UK, the UK Government’s innovation agency, brought together 19 residents selected a random to be representative of Blaenau Gwent to hear evidence, discuss the issues and produce 10 recommendations about the future of travel in Blaenau Gwent.
They did this by considering the question:
How can Blaenau Gwent come together to make local travel fairer, greener and better for everyone?
A summary report into the Forum and their findings can be read below.
The recommendations will require support and action from the council and a range of partner organisations, and a workshop has been held to develop this response. Following this, a report together with an action plan will be presented to our Economic Development and Environmental Management Scrutiny Committee in December, before going in front of all councillors for discussion in the New Year. The action plan will reflect the focus of the Forum is on actions which can be delivered locally in Blaenau Gwent in the next five years.
The 10 recommendations are:
Reduce car use for commutes
Always have wheelchair ramps available on trains
Improve public engagement in transport planning
Explore taking buses back into public ownership
Improve taxi services
Increase Fflecsi bus publicity, capacity and funding
Promote and expand community transport schemes
Increase transport options in the evening
Provide better options for school journeys
Encourage people to walk, cycle or wheel
The Council and partners are keen that the future of travel is shaped by residents and any changes that are made support the needs of the community and have wider benefits.
The Council worked with the Sortition Foundation to select residents by lottery, in a way that is representative of the wider Blaenau Gwent population. The Forum was comprised of 19 members who were chosen after 6,600 letters were sent out (selected by lottery from Royal Mail database), and took place over three, in-person, full day sessions. The members got to hear from expert speakers to learn about the issues and discuss them in small groups, with facilitation from the public involvement charity Involve.
The Forum was given the brief that the focus of their recommendations should be on actions:
Where significant progress can be made within the next five years and,
That can be mainly delivered at the local Blaenau Gwent level, rather than requiring significant regional or national action.
The intention is that these more immediate and detailed recommendations would build on the two longer-term travel related recommendations produced by the Blaenau Gwent Climate Assembly held in 2021:
- Integrated Transport. Establish an affordable, integrated road & rail transport system accessible throughout Blaenau Gwent. A one ticket system that links to bus, rail & cycle schemes - inclusivity for purchasing of tickets (digital or paper). Accessible all hours with safety via lighting, CCTV and to keep maintained.
- Walking & Cycling. Establish & improve a safe, easily maintainable infrastructure for walkers & cyclist, for either recreational or work purposes, with access to the public transport network. Including lighting and CCTV and storage for bikes.
The Council’s Corporate Plan priorities include responding to the nature and climate crisis and enabling connected communities Blaenau Gwent Council, together with reducing carbon emissions, and supporting communities to be independent and resilient.
As a Marmot Council, we want to create and develop sustainable places and communities.
The Future of Travel in Blaenau Gwent Summary Report
