Better Transport

Local plans and local development frameworks
The planning system has been reformed under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 so that local plans have been replaced by local development frameworks. This transition is happening now, and some areas still have old-style local plans, but all will have at least a draft of a local development framework. Your road scheme should feature in these local plans if it is to progress, although this is not essential. If the route is in the plan the route will be safeguarded from development.

If the local development framework is still in draft, get involved! Read what it says about new road schemes and find out if any local groups have responded to drafts of the local development framework – such as the parish or community council or the local group of Campaign for Better Transport, Friends of the Earth or Campaign to Protect Rural England.

The framework goes through an inquiry and people who responded to the draft are allowed to speak at the inquiry. If you get involved too late to respond to the draft and appear at the inquiry, support people who will be appearing.

A local development framework is drafted and consulted on in stages. Working to influence it is a bit more complicated than working to influence the old local plans. For example, you might find yourself wanting to comment on:

• The draft Statement of Community Involvement
• The evidence base
• Supplementary planning documents
• Specific transport policies
• Land use policies

Find your council’s website

If your scheme is in the draft framework, work to get it out. If it’s not, and it’s not in the old local plan, then it is regarded as a 'departure' from the local plan and the planning application will be referred to the Secretary of State.

Success story:  Dorset CPRE made representations about the Weymouth Relief Road to the West Dorset Local Plan inquiry. They used the government’s planning policy statements to back up their case. The inspector agreed with them that the road was not a justified intrusion into the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and that alternatives had not properly investigated.

In her report she recommended that the line of the road should not be included n the local plan. Unfortunately the local council overturned the Inspector’s recommendations, and the road was included in the local plan. However the recommendation of the Inspector has severely dented the case for the road.

Planning Policy Statements (PPSs)
Planning Policy Statements (PPSs) set out the Government’s planning policies. They have replaced most, but not all, Planning Policy Guidance Notes (PPGs).

Local authorities must take their contents into account when preparing road planning applications, and they are important for the decision on whether to approve the application or not. You should use them in your objections to planning applications.

More about PPSs

The key PPSs you could use:

Planning Policy Statement 1: Delivering Sustainable Development
PPS1 deals with sustainable development, especially climate change. PPS1 says that plans should address the causes of climate change through policies which reduce the need to travel and encourage accessible public transport provision to secure more sustainable patterns of transport development

Planning Policy Statement 7: Sustainable Development in Rural Areas
If your road scheme goes through rural areas, then PPS7 could be useful to you. It is especially strong if your road goes through an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Planning Policy Statement 9: Biodiversity and Geological Conservation
PPS9 sets out planning policies on protection of biodiversity and geological conservation. If your scheme damages the habitats of protected species there could be lots of useful stuff in here for you.

There are also PPGs which haven’t been updated to PPSs. The key one:

Planning Policy Guidance Note 13: Transport
PPG 13 deals with Transport, and there is a lot in here that can help you make the arguments for sustainable transport. PPG13’s objectives are to:

• Promote more sustainable transport choices for both people and for moving freight
• Promote accessibility to jobs, shopping, leisure facilities and services by public transport, walking and cycling
• Reduce the need to travel, especially by car

Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS)
Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS) provide a 30-year regional-level planning framework for the regions of England. They are produced by the nine regional assemblies, who act as regional planning bodies.

RSSs are a relatively new part of the planning system. They replaced Regional Planning Guidance under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. They are more significant than RPGs. They are statutory and proposals in local development frameworks need to be in line with what’s in the RSS.

The RSS will contain policies relating to sustainable development, reducing the need to travel, protecting landscapes and biodiversity. Use these policies to support your case against the road.

The regional assemblies

Regional Transport Strategy (RTS)
Regional assemblies produce a regional transport strategy as part of their regional spatial strategies, sometimes but not always as a separate document. The strategy is shaped by the programmes of the Highways Agency and Network Rail and in turn influences local transport plans.

You will find your RSS and RTS on your Regional Assembly website

The Local Transport Plan
The Transport Act 2000 requires every highways authority to submit five-year local transport plans to the Government, which it uses to allocate transport spending, depending on the quality of the plan and how well it fits with Government objectives.
The highways authority is your county council or unitary authority. If you live in an area with a passenger transport executive, then the passenger transport executive prepares the local transport plan.
There are eight passenger transport executives

You can find your local transport plan by doing a search on your local council’s website. The current plan is for 2006-11

The plan takes a long time to prepare and the next one should be consulted on around about 2009. It is essential you influence the content of the next local transport plan. Try to become involved in the next round of  consultation and persuade local councillors (who will vote on the plan's content) that there are cheaper and more sustainable solutions to local transport problems than building roads.

Road schemes are called 'major schemes' in the plan because they cost over £5 million. A road must be in the local transport plan to receive Government funding.

Regional Funding Allocations
Each English region except London is given a 10-year transport budget, called a regional funding allocation. The region must decide and advise the Government on which public transport and road schemes should get the funding. The Government usually accepts the regional funding allocation.

The latest regional funding allocations

It is therefore crucial to keep your scheme out of the RFA list if it is a regional Highways Agency scheme, or a local authority scheme (national Highways Agency schemes never go into the RFA.).

The next opportunity for the regions to provide new advice to DfT on its transport funding priorities will be in 2008. This time round, rail schemes will be included in the process.