Your pedal power needed for new Local Plan
As Hull City Council begins consulting on its Local Plan for how Hull should develop, CycHull member Kevin P urges active travel supporters to make sure our voice gets heard. Here, he explains how you can make your mark in a new Community Plan for transport.
Can you help to create a community plan for a more cycle-friendly city?
The new Local Plan is a one-off opportunity to guide the development of Hull until 2032. It is vital that CycHull members get involved to ensure that Hull City Council’s pledges on active travel match national guidelines as well as its own 2030 carbon neutral commitment.
The Council has a legal responsibility to engage in meaningful consultation, and you can respond to the official consultation here until April 28. However, the council consultation does not give enough emphasis to the views of local communities. That’s why I'm working with #WeAreHereHull to ensure the people of Hull have a loud voice in drafting the new plan.
We have developed two interactive websites to collect comments and ideas, and to organise resources: the Hull People’s Map allows people to annotate a map of Hull with comments and data, and the People's Plan Hull collects comments and suggestions.
Members of #WeAreHereHull are also looking at chapters of the existing plan, seeing how it can be improved. I am looking at the chapter on transport, to make sure that active travel, particularly cycling, are central to the new plan. I’m basing it on the Watford Local Plan which is recognised as one of the best in England. I have copied the transport section and have started editing it into the Hull equivalent but could do with your help to finish it.
The more people that get involved, the more power it will have in the consultation. Can you help?
I have produced a draft chapter as a Google document that anyone can edit. I have started checking each paragraph and editing it to be directly relevant to Hull, rather than Watford. I am up to page 15 but I could do with some help with the rest of it.
If you can help make any of the text after page 15 (on shorter lines) more relevant to Hull, feel free to edit the Google document. (After you’ve made your changes, please delete the carriage returns at the end of the lines, so I can keep track.) If you have any questions, please email me.
But please remember - time is of the essence. The consultation runs until April 28, 2025. Please get involved.