The report was presented by Mat Kiely and Richard Latham.

The Chair arrived at 7.12pm.

The Chair commented that it was good to see the vision for river transport as there were too many cars on the road and not enough buses. She stated that the Lower Thames Crossing (LTC) was not beneficial for Thurrock and would add to the road issues. She pointed out that not enough people cycled in Thurrock and that it was not an ideal transport method to use for shopping purposes. She added that there needed to be more shops particularly in new developments. Mat Kiely explained that the Thurrock Transport Strategy (TTS) looked at a package of options to explore to help identify what could help Thurrock’s transport. He said that the cycling and walking pathways would be improved and enhanced and safe as these were important features in the vision. This would be considered and encouraged in new developments.

The Vice-Chair highlighted the importance of rail connectivity and understood that this would help with the economic growth of Thurrock. In regards to London Road, he pointed out that the vision of better walking and cycling routes would take around 30 years due to the current infrastructure. He said that the vision needed to include better travel links within Thurrock and not just going in and out of Thurrock. Mat Kiely explained that travel within Thurrock was within the longer term vision which would enable people to travel differently. He said that there was the opportunity to enhance and better integrate services.

The Task Force brought up issues of school catchment areas which was not mentioned in the vision as it would help to take cars off the road; moving the LTC route over to Canvey Island to take traffic pressures off the M25; building reservoirs to contain the water issues around the borough; the flexibility of the TTS if people’s behaviours in regards to walking and cycling did not change; and the importance of building new developments with the right infrastructure. The Task Force also questioned why the vision was set out until 2050. Officers explained that the presentation highlighted the vision of the TTS and that the strategy would be over the next 15 – 20 years. There were some areas which did not have the capacity to add in a cycling or walking route so the approach was not to take away existing pathways but to add to it. The focus was to add infrastructure in new places.

The Task Force highlighted the importance of using the river for transport quickly as more people moved into Thurrock so the infrastructure had to be ready. Councillor Thandi highlighted the issue of the affordability of electric cars but pointed out that cars would still be needed. He said that the younger generation needed to go to different areas and that it was not safe for people to walk to certain areas and there was not enough places in Thurrock to go to. The Vice-Chair asked that an update on the TTS be brought back to the Task Force in 6 months’ time. Members asked to see a report on the use of the river for transport and it was agreed that this item should fall within the parent committee of Planning, Transport, Regeneration O&S Committee.