Purpose

A draft of the Kirklees
Transport Strategy was presented to Cabinet earlier this year and
received approval to proceed to public consultation. The public
consultation ran between March and April, and the strategy document
has since been redrafted to reflect feedback received from internal
and external stakeholders and Kirklees residents. The final
strategy document is now being presented to Cabinet, seeking
approval for its adoption by Kirklees Council.
 
A better approach to transport
in Kirklees will help to deliver against core Council priorities:
good transport is a core factor in the support of investment and
regeneration, it helps places to thrive and allows communities to
become more connected. A stronger focus on more sustainable forms
of transport, which supports mode shift, will help to deliver a
greener, healthier Kirklees and work in tandem with our Net Zero
ambitions. The adoption of a distinct Transport Strategy will
direct this approach and allow the Council to work to better
transport for Kirklees and its communities.  
 
The Strategy will provide
policy support for external funding bids and business cases, which
will help Kirklees secure further funding for transport investment
projects.
 
The Strategy will direct and
influence future work by the council, and as such has the potential
to impact all wards in the district.
 
 
Background papers
 

Issue details - Kirklees Draft Transport Strategy
Consultation | Kirklees Council
 

Issue - items at meetings - Kirklees Draft Transport
Strategy Consultation | Kirklees Council
 
 
Engagement
 
Considerable engagement
activity on the development of the draft strategy has been
undertaken, which has included  
 
·      
Two separate member engagement sessions,
where feedback on the draft strategy and discussion on the current
issues around transport that wards are facing were
encouraged.
·      
A workshop with technical colleagues from
various teams and services across the council, where they were able
to comment on the early vision and objectives of the draft
strategy.
·      
Further workshops with colleagues from
Highways, where they were able to comment on specific policies
included within the draft strategy and raise potential issues and
risks with the implementation of these.
·      
Presentation of the draft strategy to the
West Yorkshire Transport Committee, where they had the opportunity
to comment on the vision and objectives of the draft
strategy
·      
Presentation of the draft strategy to the
Kirklees Climate Commission, where they had the opportunity to
engage with an officer on the draft strategy and its
policies. 
·      
Presentation of the draft strategy to the
internal planning team, where its relevance post-adoption was
discussed, and how this may impact ways of working.
·      
A workshop with the Combined Authority
and districts, where the strategy vision, objectives and policy
themes were discussed and available to comment on.
·      
A workshop with boundary districts (Peak
District, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester) where
issues pertaining to cross-boundary transport and travel were
discussed.
·      
Presentation of the draft strategy to the
internal Healthy Placemaking Group, where feedback on the vision
and objectives was encouraged.
·      
Promotion of the draft strategy to all
internal council networks, where members were encouraged to speak
with an officer on the draft strategy if they wished to do
so.
·      
Communication on the draft strategy with
ward councillors from other districts.
·      
Regular bi-weekly meetings held with the
local plan team, to encourage comments on the draft strategy
throughout its development, and to ensure alignment.
·      
Promotion of the draft strategy at
various stakeholder meetings, such as the Kirklees Bus Partnership
and the Active Travel Network, to keep stakeholders abreast of
developments and give them opportunity to comment if they wished to
do so.

·      
The draft strategy is currently with
internal technical teams to allow them to comment for a final time
before the strategy redraft is complete.
The engagement process is
continuing and officers are set to hold interactive workshops with
relevant technical teams to discuss how the strategy will be used
to influence council work including future pipelines and action
plans.
 
Consultation

 
The consultation on the draft Kirklees
Transport Strategy ran for an eight-week period from
03/03/2025, to 28/04/2025.
 
A comms campaign promoted the consultation and
engagement activity, using funding from West Yorkshire Combined
Authority. Full details of the plan can be viewed on the submitted
comms plan, but included organic and paid for social media
campaigns, billboard advertisements across the district, bus backs,
bus interior advertisements, advertisements on Radio Sangam.
 
The consultation was further publicised via
press release and E-marketing.
 
The demographic response to the consultation
was monitored throughout, so that paid for media could be targeted
to areas and demographics where the response rate was less than
anticipated.
 
During this period, the team held 16 in-person
events across the district promoting the consultation and
discussing the issues Kirklees residents are currently facing with
transport, and what they would like the Kirklees Transport Strategy
to achieve for the district. During these sessions, officers also
spoke to businesses, health centres and other public-facing uses in
local and town centres, leaving posters and flyers to raise
awareness with customers and visitors.
 
During these in-person events, over 7,000
leaflets and posters were distributed, both to individuals and to
local businesses and organisations across the district. In addition
to this, 74 networks and organisations which support residents with
disabilities in Kirklees were contacted, details of the
consultation were circulated to all schools and colleges in the
district, and promotional material was shared with the University
of Huddersfield. Officers also contacted 291 Kirklees-based
businesses individually. 165 external organisations were
contacted regarding the consultation, and the Team held
engagement workshops with districts within West Yorkshire, as well
as our ‘boundary districts’. Parish Councils were
contacted regarding the consultation, and provided with promotional
material, and two Member Engagement Sessions took place, to brief
Councillors on the strategy, and to encourage promotion throughout
wards. 
 
Engagement levels with the consultation were
high, with over 2,112 responses to the survey. The survey
demonstrated a high majority of support for the Strategy’s
vision and objectives. Within the 2,112 survey responses, over
1,500 free text comments on the strategy were provided by
respondents. Each of these comments has been reviewed and analysed
and have been used to make amendments to the document. Most of
these comments were supportive to the positive change that the
strategy will bring.

Content

RESOLVED – That the Transport
Strategy, as attached at Appendix E, be endorsed and that the
Cabinet Member for Housing and Transport, in consultation with the
Executive Director for Place, be delegated authority to make any
necessary changes to the Strategy and formally adopt the
Strategy.