Agenda item

Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have given notice to Stephen Loach of Democratic Services by midday on Wednesday 11 September 2024, three working days before the day of the meeting.  Each speaker should limit themselves to 3 minutes on any item.  Members of the public who have given notice will be invited to speak:-

·         at this point in the meeting if their questions/statements relate to matters which are not otherwise on the Agenda (subject to an overall time limit of 30 minutes);

·         when the relevant Agenda item is being considered if they wish to speak on a matter which is on the Agenda for this meeting.

If you are exercising your right to speak at this meeting, but do not wish to be recorded, please inform the Chair who will instruct anyone who may be taking a recording to cease while you speak.

The Democratic Services Officer read out two statements/questions regarding public transport, details of which are set out below:

Northallerton Town Council

Bus Provision to Serve New Residential Developments to the North of Northallerton.

In 2016 planning consent was granted by Hambleton District Council for some 900 houses forming part of the North Northallerton Development Area. Much of the residential element has now been constructed and is occupied. The signed Section 106 Agreement (dated 2nd December 2016) clearly includes the requirement to fully implement the incorporated Framework Travel Plan, which contains the statement that an hourly bus service would be funded for a five-year period by the applicant, along with associated infrastructure.

Whilst bus stops have been implemented no bus service has been provided to date

Given the large size of the development and its distance from the town centre, the Town Council would like to ask why no bus service has been provided to date, as referenced in the Section 106 Agreement, and what measures are now proposed to ensure that residents are able to access key town centre services by public transport?

Furthermore, the Town Council would like to understand how NYC can provide assurances that any future major planning applications, specifically relating to land to the east of Stokesley Road, will be serviced by public transport?

It should be noted that NYC’s Let’s Talk Transport consultation demonstrated that bus services in the Hambleton area was the main transport related issue for residents.  This was confirmed and reinforced by a well-attended Transport Consultation Event held by the three Parish Councils in Northallerton on Saturday 10th February 2024.

Northallerton Area Over Fifties Forum

Why does NYC Passenger Transport not give adequate time for consulting members of the public, in particular bus passengers, prior to making changes to all bus services?

A recent example of this is the Northallerton Town Bus Service 74a & 74b bus services which are suddenly being adapted to incorporate a 74c service, totally to the detriment of the 74a & 74b services.

Whilst it is recognised that the North Moor Road development requires a bus service, it should not be to the major detriment of existing bus services, which is what has happened before with this bus service.

We did request that the introduction of the 74c service be PAUSED until a suitable alternative & acceptable proposal can be made available, a request which has been ignored.

Response from North Yorkshire Passenger Transport Services – Andy Clarke

When the Highway authority was initially consulted on planning application 15/01083/HYB, the North Northallerton development site, it was recommended a number of payments were sought, including money to help fund additional bus services. However, as detailed in the planning officers report for the application eventually considered by the planning committee at Hambleton DC, it was noted that some of the funding originally requested (not just the bus contribution but also some other payments) were not to be included due to the impact this would have on the viability of the whole development.  The S106 that was eventually signed, dated 2/12/2016, did not detail a payment from the developer to the highway authority for bus services. With no specific funding being provided we have been unable to introduce a new service to the North Northallerton to date. However, we do recognise the need that the development gets serviced by buses and are now proposing to extend the North Yorkshire Council town service to include some new off peak 74C journeys to the development. These will start on 17th June.

With regard to future applications the highway authority would review the proposals in due course but accessibility by all means of transport and all users will be a key requirement.  On bus provision specifically should it be deemed the existing services do not adequately serve a proposed development the developer may put forward their own proposals or be requested to contribute towards or fund new services. However, there can be competing financial demands and viability assessments for an application that have to be taken into account and it would be for members of the planning committee to assess the benefits of any development coming forward and what if any financial contributions can and should be sought for public transport.

The changes made to the Northallerton town bus timetable earlier in 2024 were in response to requests from members of the public and councillors for a bus service to North Northallerton.

Proposals were shared with councillors in April and then more widely in mid-May with the changes due to take effect on 10^th June.

Feedback was then received which resulted in some timetable amendments and the start date was then delayed until 17^th June to allow time for these to be communicated.

A Member referred to planning application15/01083/HYB, the North Northallerton development site, and stated that this was a complex issue going back to the initial S.106 agreement and he was struggling to find an audit train back to the former Hambleton District Council. He requested that the Town Council, the Executive Member and North Yorkshire Council’s legal officers be asked to investigate the position of the S.106 obligations and audit trail.

The Chair noted that a lot of houses would need to be built and the Committee ought to be vigilant about the future provision of transport services.