Councillor Tudor Evans OBE (The Leader of the Council) delivered the following updates:

 

a)    There had been considerable misinformation within the Directly Elected Mayor Campaign however, under guidance, the Council was largely prevented from correcting misinformation;

 

b)    The ‘Yes’ campaign had suggested that there were over two dozen mayors in the country, implying that Directly Elected Mayors were commonplace. Of 370 councils nationwide, only 13 of those had Directly Elected Mayors;

 

c)    Combined Authority Mayors differed to Directly Elected Mayors, and held different powers and did not hold any greater powers than that of the current governance system;

 

d)    The existing mayors were located in:

 

                  i.        Bedford Borough Council

                 ii.        The London Borough of Croydon Council

                iii.        Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council

                iv.        Leicester City Council

                 v.        The London Borough of Hackney Council

                vi.        The London Borough of Lewisham Council

               vii.        The London Borough of Newham Council

              viii.        The London Borough of Tower Hamlets Council

                ix.        Mansfield District Council

                 x.        Middlesborough Borough Council

                xi.        North Townside Metropolitan Council

              xii.        Salford City Council

             xiii.        Watford Borough Council

 

e)    None of the ten largest cities in the country had a Directly Elected Mayor;

 

f)     All of the Directly Elected Mayors were affiliated to political parties, and it would not be true to say that these mayors were ‘unaligned’;

 

g)    This meeting would be Councillor Coker’s last meeting as a Cabinet Member. Councillor Coker had served as a councillor since 2012, during which time he secured record investment for the City, and attained many awards as the portfolio holder for transport;

 

h)    Cabinet passed on their tremendous thanks to Councillor Coker for his hard work and dedication to the Council and the residents of Plymouth;

 

i)     Councillor Coker’s accomplishments included:

 

                      i.        the relocation of Plymouth Coach Station, facilitating development of the Barcode

                     ii.        the Marjon Link Road Bus Priority scheme

                    iii.        the Derriford Hospital Bus Interchange

                    iv.        the Derriford Road Improvement scheme

                     v.        the Northern Corridor Junction Improvement scheme, tackling bottlenecks

                    vi.        the Charles Cross scheme, tackling the most congested junction in the city

                  vii.        the Plymouth Road scheme,

                 viii.        the Morlaix Drive Bus Priority scheme

                   ix.        the Forder Valley Link Road and Forder Valley Interchange schemes, which opened up great opportunities in the Northern Corridor

 

j)     Future schemes for delivery included the Woolwell to the George scheme, the Major Road Network Road Improvement scheme between Marshmills and Camels Head, and the Manadon Junction reconfiguration;

 

k)    81% of the funding for the improvement schemes came from outside sources, and success was due to the tireless work of Councillor Coker and Officers to attract funding;

 

l)     The Sustainable Transport program had seen £38.4 million of investment in walking and cycling measures, as well as bus infrastructure measures;

 

m)  Throughout May 2025, over 50 electric buses were introduced in the city;

 

n)    As part of the Transforming Cities Fund, over £149 million of investment had been undertaken in the City, including:

 

                  i.        the installation of 50 mobility hubs across the city

                 ii.        the provision of walking and cycling routes through local parks

                iii.        junction improvements at Plymouth Railway Station

                iv.        cycling improvements across the City

                 v.        grants to local businesses to help encourage sustainable transport

                vi.        installation of EV chargers in car parks

               vii.        the creation of an EV car hub.

              viii.        public transport improvements at Mayflower Street and St. Budeaux Square

                ix.        City Centre public realm improvements

                 x.        a brand state-of-the-art traffic control centre to improve management of the Highway network

                xi.        the Royal Parade and Armada Way schemes, which were still in progress

 

o)    Councillor Coker had secured £965,687 pounds of consolidated Active Travel funding, to deliver further walking and cycling projects;

 

p)    Councillor Coker had recently secured dedicated funding from the Bus Services improvement plan. The 2025/2026 bus grant would see £4.5 million of investment towards supporting local bus services and infrastructure, increasing the frequency and reliability of bus services;

 

q)    Councillor Coker had led the Plymouth and South Devon Joint Local Plan,  adopted in March 2019, which had helped drive the Council’s strategic growth agenda to deliver thousands of homes and new employment and retail provision;

 

r)    Since 2014, £717 million of infrastructure had been delivered within the City;

 

s)     Alongside his Cabinet role, Councillor Coker had served his local community with dedication, and would continue to do so after his departure from the Cabinet;

 

t)     The Transport Portfolio was a challenging role, but Councillor Coker had served with resilience and passion;

 

u)    Councillor Evans OBE praised Councillor Coker for his years of service, and passed on his tremendous gratitude on behalf of the residents of Plymouth.

 

Councillor Coker (Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport) added:

 

a)    He held a strong passion for serving the people of Devonport, and Plymouth;

 

b)    Successes within the city would not have been possible without the collaboration of partners, offices and members;

 

c)    The Plymouth Pan had played a key role in articulating the needs of the city in order to secure funding and attain cross-party cooperation;

 

d)    He had thoroughly enjoyed his work and was proud of his accomplishments, but felt that now was the right time for him to move on to other work;

 

e)    Councillor Coker paid tribute to Paul Barnard (Service Director for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure) Philip Robinson (Service Director for Street Services), and their teams for their hard work and support.