
17.11.2023
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Almost a year on from the release of the Department for Transport (DfT) Circular 01/2022, our transport planners provide their thoughts on applying the government’s new policy approach to development that impacts on the strategic road network (SRN).
Recent years have seen an increased emphasis on non-car and active travel modes, and the Covid-19 lockdown caused a shift to greater home-working and flexible working patterns. This has been accompanied by a changing approach to infrastructure planning for future traffic growth, from ‘predict and provide’ towards ‘vision and validate’ or ‘decide and provide’.
‘Predict and provide’ is simply forecasting future traffic growth and providing bigger roads and junctions to meet this growth. This not only raises environmental and social concerns, but as we face increasing uncertainty driven by climate change and global technology, it brings into question our ability to accurately forecast the future. This uncertainty has led to a need for stronger planning around a preferred ‘vision’ of the future that has the support of the community, with measures and solutions designed to achieve the vision.
Circular 1/2022 and the accompanying Guidance to working with National Highways (NH) on planning matters, expects development promoters to adopt this vision-led approach, setting out a place-based vision statement with associated outcomes and developing plausible future scenarios that take into account the uncertainties that may impact on the ability to deliver the vision. The next stage is to generate options that can achieve this vision, followed by a vision strategy for realising the vision that accounts for the identified uncertainty.
We expect NH to be requesting this level of information going forwards and our Clients have already seen these requests for small residential sites near the SRN. Local highway authorities such as Kent and Surrey County Councils are also making it clear they are looking to see how people could travel more sustainably from new development sites and are not now looking to amend the network to accommodate more cars.
NH are keen to work with development promoters and DHA are already talking with them to establish a sensible and appropriate level of response to meet the requirements. There is certainly merit in setting out a positive and sustainable transport vision for your site that you can present to the local community and this could also have the benefit of reduced Grampian conditions and major off-site highway works, which can delay the delivery and occupation of sites.
For more information, please contact Adam Huckstepp, Rob Smith or Paul Lulham.
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