ADD2626 City Hall – Engagement of Post Occupancy Travel Plan Consultant

1.1.    Under previous authorisation provided by MD 2705 (Relocation of City Hall to the Royal Docks) a Workplace Travel Plan (prepared by Buro Happold) was submitted to the London Borough of Newham (LBN) in October 2020, as part of the planning application for the refurbishment and repurposing of the Crystal into the new City Hall. The application was approved in December of 2020, subject to various planning conditions and s106 obligations. Condition 7 attached to the permission sets out the obligation to submit an updated version of the Travel Plan submitted for planning, as follows: 
“Prior to the occupation of the development, an updated Travel Plan shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The submitted Travel Plan shall include the appointment of a Travel Plan Co-ordinator with responsibility for implementing the Travel Plan, set targets on the use of sustainable travel and reducing the reliance on private cars, provide appropriate management strategies and measures to support these targets and shall include monitoring and review arrangements.”

1.2.    The Travel Plan was updated by Buro Happold in May 2021 and approved by LBN on 1 July of that year, thereby discharging the pre-occupation requirements of Condition 7. The post-occupancy requirements of the approved Travel Plan included the provision of a post-occupancy travel survey and monitoring reporting at periods of six months and one year post-occupation of the City Hall building. 

1.3.    The GLA’s internal Travel Plan Coordination Working Group is currently fulfilling the role of Travel Plan Coordinator, as detailed in the approved Travel Plan, and working to complete the 6-month post-occupancy travel survey and monitoring report as required by planning conditions. Although this work was due earlier it was agreed that a later start would be more optimal. In order to complete the required 6-month monitoring report, the Travel Planning Coordination (TPC) Working Group requires technical assistance of a travel consultant. Buro Happold were approached directly for a quotation on the works required, having prepared the initial Travel Plan for City Hall, and have provided the attached fee proposal.

1.4.    A total cost of £12,320 is requested in the fee submission by Buro Happold. It is proposed that unspent funds of £3,050 remaining from the original agreed scope of works undertaken by Buro Happold on previous Travel Plan stages, superseded by this proposal, are netted off from the total scope of works. Therefore, if authorised, net expenditure for this appointment would be £9,270. Previous expenditure was approved under the £17.5m project budget for the Relocation of City Hall to the Royal Docks authorised in MD2705. 
 

2.1.    The scope of works undertaken by Buro Happold will be limited to technical support of the GLA’s internal travel plan coordination working group, and include the following specific works:

•    assistance in preparation of a suitable ‘Travel Information Pack’
•    baseline travel plan surveys  - iTrace Travel Survey Data
•    preparation of a post-occupancy monitoring report.
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the Mayor of London must have ‘due regard’ of the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; as well as to advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations, between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not. This involves having due regard to the need to remove or minimise any disadvantage suffered by those who share a relevant protected characteristic; taking steps to meet the different needs of such people; and encouraging them to participate in public life or in any other activity where their participation is disproportionately low.

3.2.    There are no direct implications relating to the GLA’s public sector equality duty anticipated from a decision to appoint of Buro Happold as Travel Plan Consultants for the scope of works proposed.

3.3.    On a wider level, implementation and monitoring of the Travel Plan at City Hall is expected to provide data which supports the continuous improvement of transport accessibility at City Hall. In this respect, the scope of works being engaged may highlight existing issues and inform future improvements related to the physical accessibility of City Hall by various user groups, including those with protected characteristics.
 

4.1.    The key risks and issues are set out in Table 1.0 below:

4.2.    Ongoing monitoring of the Travel Plan for City Hall supports a range of Mayoral policies and strategies including; Good Growth objectives, The Mayor’s Transport Strategy, The London Plan 2021, the Royal Docks Enterprise Zone Delivery Plan, and the Royal Docks and Beckton Riverside Opportunity Area Planning Framework.

4.3.    GLA Officers involved in the drafting or clearance of this form do not have any conflicts of interest with regard to the appointment of Buro Happold for the scope of works proposed.
 

5.1.    The net costs of £9,270 will be funded from the 2023-24 GLA contingency.