Proposed Low Traffic Environment (LTE) - Downalong Residents

From: XXXXX XXXXXXX

Sent: 15 January 2024 10:24

To: Aurore Parkin <Aurore.Parkin@cornwall.gov.uk>

Subject: Proposed Low Traffic Environment (LTE) - Downalong Residents

Dear Aurore

I am contacting you in my capacity as the representative of the residents of Downalong, in which I include all those whose main residence is in the streets affected by the proposed LTE.

Further to my discussions with several councillors now, & as per the commitment to Councillor Rachael Gaunt by the project manager / lead consultant, appointed by the Town Deal board, we know there will now be both a tailored mailshot and a number of drop in sessions in 2024 specifically for residents of the proposed LTE so that a two way dialogue with the team can be established.

It has been some 10 days* now since the visitors’ questionnaire was due to close & I would welcome an indication of when this dialogue will start.

I will be sending one of our periodic updates to residents shortly & this will be an ideal opportunity to outline the timescale from here on so that we can ensure maximum engagement.

Given the poor communication of the process so far, and the particularly bad timing both at the worst time of year to launch such a scheme and given most consultation was conducted at very short notice during working hours, disadvantaging many, we are very keen to assist the project to make a much better fist of things through 2024. We have many residents very keen to engage, but also many who are as yet unaware of the full implications of the proposed LTE on their lives and livelihoods.

* Many residents, when they eventually found out about the questionnaire & allocated time to complete it on Friday 5th January, found that the online version had closed – we now know that this was 24 hours early! There would no doubt have been more than the 440 responses (as at 12th January 2024) we are told have been received. This was yet another setback since many people have a busy working week, particularly the first week back to work or school after the Christmas & New Year break, & the final Friday evening was their first opportunity to have given the matter due thought & composed a response. Some residents have told me that they have been asked to send in a paper version, attached to an email as a Word Document (not .pdf!) as much as a week later, yet this relies on them having access to a printer.

I look forward to hearing from you & to working much more closely through 2024 so that all the residents of Downalong can benefit from the opportunity this project presents.

Regards

XXXXX

From: Aurore Parkin <Aurore.Parkin@cornwall.gov.uk> 

Sent: Monday, January 22, 2024 10:16 AM

To:  XXXXX XXXXXXX

Subject: RE: Proposed Low Traffic Environment (LTE) - Downalong Residents

Information Classification: PUBLIC

Dear XXXXX XXXXXXX

Thank you for your email and telephone message, apologies for the delay in getting back to you. I have been working on another public event for the Town Deal programme which has taken a lot of my time last week and impacted on my ability to respond to emails.

With regards to the St Ives Town Deal Low Carbon strategy proposals, several hundred replies were received to the initial public engagement. The Transport team which is leading on several transport  and public realm schemes in Cornwall as part of Town Deal programme is currently reviewing the feedback received for St Ives. Once fully analysed the results will be included in a report which will highlight the benefits and challenges of the initial proposals. These will be reviewed in the first instance by the Town Deal Board and the local transport strategy working group next month, before a list of options are approved to be carried forward. We anticipate the report with the result of the engagement to be made public at the end of March/ early April.

On behalf of the Transport team and the Town Deal Board, I would like to emphasize that the engagement event which took place last month is not a formal and final consultation on the designs; this will take place later this year once the prioritisation of the proposals have taken place and detailed designs produced. Prior to reaching the formal consultation stage, the revised and detailed designs of the low carbon strategy will be presented to the public in the spring before they can be progressed further. Once the final designs have been produced, the project plans will follow the formal consultation process and be uploaded here for people to feedback on https://www.engagespace.co.uk/cornwall/default.aspx

My understanding is that residents from St Ives, including the ones from Downalong, will be invited to feedback this spring on the detailed designs of the proposals that will be funded by the Town Deal, once these have been produced by the Transport Team and approved by the local transport strategy working group.

As you may be aware the engagement period to comment on the  proposals opened on 27th November 2023 for over 5 weeks and was publicised via online paid advertising, posters displayed in key locations in the town and also published via paid advertisement in two weekly issues of  the local Times and Echo newspaper. Following the event, the Town Council coordinated 4 additional face to face events the Parish in December. Paper copies of the questionnaire with prepaid enveloped were available at the library as well for the duration of the engagement. Although a lot of efforts have been made to promote this initial engagement as widely as possible, it remains a challenge to inform every single resident. As mentioned above, this was an opportunity to gather initial views on the proposals and more opportunities will present themselves in the coming months to collect further feedback on the designs. 

It’s unfortunate that due a technical error the automated closure of the online questionnaire was scheduled earlier on the 5th January and we can only apologise for this mistake and the inconvenience caused.  Residents who have contacted us via Stivestowndeal@cornwall.gov.uk  to explain they were not able to access the questionnaire on the 5th January were sent a Word document ( see attached) with the questionnaire which could be send it via email to the address forementioned. All copies of the questionnaire received have been forwarded to the Transport team for review, a process which is still on-going due to the large volume of responses and level of information received.

As expected a number of queries and concerns were raised during the engagement and included in the comments. Prior the release of the feedback report in March/ April, we are looking to produce a list of most the frequent questions and appropriate answers in the next week. Once these are published would be most grateful if you could include a link to them in the Downalong newsletter. Please encourage anyone who is interested in receiving updates on the St Ives Town Deal projects to subscribe to the newsletter which is being sent every two to three months and include updates on the progress of the Low carbon Transport Strategy. To subscribe just email: Stivestowndeal@cornwall.gov.uk  or visit the website: www.stivestowndeal.org.uk

Kind Regards,

Aurore

Aurore Parkin (she/her) | Town Deal Communications and Engagement Lead
Economy and Skills Service | Sustainable Growth and Development | Cornwall Council
Gonis Erbysek ha Sleyneth | Tevyans ha Displegyans Sostenadow | Konsel Kernow

Tel / Pell (a-ves): 07483427153 | aurore.parkin@cornwall.gov.uk | www.cornwall.gov.uk | ‘Onen hag oll’

Please note I work part time. My usual working hours are 9am-3pm Monday to Friday.