National policy
For the Local Transport Plan, the most important national polices relate to transport and planning, although other strategies, for example for health, need to be taken into account and are described below. European and International policy is also relevant, for example on freight harmonisation and climate change, but their influence is picked up through national policy.
Transport Policy
The Ten Year Plan
The Government set out a clear policy context for transport in the 1998 White Paper A New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone. The aims of the strategy were implemented through the Transport Act (2000) and policy has recently been further developed through the 2004 White Paper, The Future of Transport: A Network for 2030.
To an extent, the transport issues facing Bedfordshire over the LTP period and towards 2021 are similar to those which the Government is tackling in terms of increasing demand and extending mobility. Our three themes for this LTP reflect the White Paper’s three central themes of sustained investment over the long term, improvements in transport management and planning ahead.
Underlying these themes is the requirement to balance the need to travel with the need to improve the quality of life. This means seeking transport solutions which meet long term economic, social and environmental aims. This is of particular relevance to Bedfordshire as it enters a period of prolonged and sustained growth.
The Local Transport Plan
The Transport Act (2000) requires each Transport Authority to prepare a Local Transport Plan. The Government has made available guidance on the preparation of LTPs and continues to provide updates. The guidance outlines that a good local transport plan:
- Sets transport in its wider context – taking a realistic view of transport investment, working in partnership with key stakeholders, and taking account of other strategies;
- Contains locally relevant targets – focusing on results rather than processes, setting challenging targets, and supporting other relevant targets (for example on housing provision); and
- Demonstrates good value for money – by proposing solutions that are proven, aiming to make the best use of infrastructure and looking for innovative solutions to problems.
The guidance then outlines the four ‘Shared Priorities’ that Local Transport Plans must cover:
- Congestion – journey times and delays are increasing as a result of increasing volumes of traffic on overstretched transport networks and this must be tackled through investment, making the network more efficient and addressing the growing demand for transport and mobility.
- Accessibility – this means ensuring that people can get the services they need that affect their quality of life - either by being able to travel to the service or by the service being available where they are.
- Safer Roads – an unacceptable number of people continue to be killed and injured on the country’s roads and there are clear issues of equity in terms of exposure to this risk.
- Air Quality – there is mounting evidence of the impact of poor air quality on health and the significant contribution transport makes to this. In a scenario of growing traffic volumes the decline in air quality standards must be arrested and reversed.
All these areas are key national concerns, and consultation for LTP2 shows that in Bedfordshire this is no different. All the Shared Priorities are therefore reflected in our local objectives, strategies and targets.
Under European and national legislation Local Transport Plans must be subjected to a Strategic Environmental Assessment. This is discussed in more detail in Chapter 4.
Traffic Management Act (2005)
We now have a statutory duty to manage the transport networks we are responsible for to improve reliability and reduce congestion. We have new powers to support this and a Traffic Manager has been appointed to lead on this new duty. How we perform this duty is described in our Network Management Strategy in Chapter 5.
Road Traffic Reduction Act (1997)
This Act enables Government to direct production of a report that includes an assessment of the levels of local road traffic in our area and a forecast of the growth in those levels expected. Whilst a specific report under these powers has not been sought, this LTP does include this information.
Planning policy
Within the realms of national planning policy (generally within the remit of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister), there are three key documents that will have significant impacts on Bedfordshire.
Sustainable Communities Plan
The first, and perhaps most important, document is the Sustainable Communities Plan. This outlines the government's vision for what constitutes a sustainable community:
- Active, inclusive and safe;
- Well run;
- Environmentally sensitive;
- Well designed and built;
- Well connected;
- Thriving;
- Well served; and
- Fair for everyone.
A key function of the Sustainable Communities Plan is to map out where growth in housing and employment should occur up to 2021. Of particular relevance to Bedfordshire is the Milton Keynes and South Midlands (MKSM) Sub-Region, with significant growth planned for the area. The implications of this for transport in Bedfordshire are discussed later in this chapter.
Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (2004)
The second document is the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. This Act introduced a new way of controlling and planning future development through a revised Development Plan mechanism.
Structure Plans prepared by County Councils have been abolished and are to be replaced by Regional Spatial Strategies produced for each Government region. The Regional Spatial Strategies that will affect Bedfordshire are outlined below in the ‘Regional Policy’ section. Each of these strategies will also incorporate a Regional Transport Strategy outlining transport policy for the regions. However, not all the spatial strategies have been formally adopted. Until they are, the Bedfordshire and Luton Structure Plan 2011 remains the legal planning document and must therefore be taken into account when developing LTP2.
Local Development Frameworks (LDFs) replace Local Plans as the way development is planned and managed, the local environment protected and enhanced and the local economy developed. Such Frameworks comprise a series of Local Development Documents. These must be prepared with a view to contributing towards the achievement of sustainable development. All aspects of sustainable development: social, economic and environmental need to be addressed. The emerging LDFs in Bedfordshire are discussed later in this Chapter.
Planning Policy Guidance Note 13
The third key national planning document is Planning Policy Guidance Note 13: Transport (PPG13), which sets out specific guidance on transport policy in a land use context. A number of key measures are included in PPG13 that through the planning process will have an impact on the transport system in Bedfordshire, notably:
- Focusing major developments in city, town and district centres or near major public transport interchanges, although out of town interchanges should not be the focus of major travel-generating land uses;
- Manage the pattern of urban growth to ensure the best use is made of public transport (for example, phasing development to reflect public transport growth);
- Take into account the potential for overall changes in travel patterns; and
- Locate day to day facilities near to their clients, and adopt measures to ensure safe and easy access to these facilities by walking, cycling and public transport.
In developing the LTP, we have taken account of the guidance contained in PPG13. Particular issues affecting Bedfordshire include the implications of the proposed levels of growth and the proposed regeneration of Bedford town centre, which are referred to later in this chapter and in chapter 3. The main action during LTP2 will be to ensure that the Local Development Frameworks and the Local Transport Plan provide clear and consistent guidance on managing the transport impacts of new development.
Other national policies
A number of other policies and strategies for Sustainable Development, the Environment, Education and Health will have implications for the Local Transport Plan.
Sustainable Development
The UK’s sustainable development strategy is the responsibility of the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the current strategy is contained in 'Securing the Future'. The strategy focuses on five guiding principles:
- Living within Environmental Limits;
- Ensuring a strong, healthy and just society;
- Achieving a sustainable economy;
- Promoting good governance; and
- Using sound science responsibly.
DEFRA has identified four areas for action:
- Sustainable Consumption and Production – Improving efficiency and achieving more with less.
- Climate Change and Energy – Change the activities that produce greenhouse gases and plan for the impacts of Global Warming.
- Natural Resource Protection and Environmental Enhancement – Need to understand better environmental limits and enhance environments already degraded.
- Sustainable Communities – Create sustainable communities that embody sustainability at the local level.
Environment
At the national level DEFRA is responsible for policy on the environment. The issue of climate change is paramount although covered by the Sustainable Development Strategy and a policy review is currently being conducted by DEFRA in the light of uncertainty in relation to meeting national targets on emissions. Planning Policy Statement 1: 'Delivering Sustainable Development' requires Development Plans to take account of environmental issues such as climate change by mitigation or adaptation measures. A specific Planning Policy Statement on climate change is an option that the Government are considering.
The transport sector accounts for a considerable and most importantly, growing proportion of the UK’s total emissions. This trend has helped inform national transport policy described earlier.
Besides climate change there are other aspects of maintaining environmental quality and integrity where transport can have significant impacts. These include air quality and biodiversity.
Improving air quality is one of the Government’s shared priorities for transport and has been addressed through the National Air Quality Strategy. This Strategy recommends ways of reducing air pollution and introduces the designation of Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs), of which there are four in Bedfordshire which are related to traffic emissions. One of our objectives is to improve the environment, including addressing the air quality issues in the AQMAs. Our actions to improve air quality are included in Chapter 5 of this LTP and targets for air quality in the AQMAs are included in Chapter 7.
Health
Under the National Health Service Plan 2000 the Department of Health outlined many reforms to improve and expand the health service and to “put patients first”. Such major improvements can have transport impacts, particularly in terms of trip generation and accessibility planning for healthcare facilities. Clearly, we need to take into account capacity expansion of health facilities in Bedfordshire in developing LTP2.
The Government has prepared advice for its agencies on how to incorporate accessibility thinking into the design of service delivery and the location of new estate. It is also seen as an opportunity for better co-operation between the local ‘health community’ and local transport authorities.
The increasing emphasis on improving public health, as well as treating illness and the significant role that transport and movement could play in improving physical and mental well-being, has led to several strategies and action plans. Of particular relevance is the increasing use of the term ‘active travel’ and the realisation of the potential of regular, local journeys by walking and cycling to help meet public health goals. This background has had a significant impact on our strategies for Accessibility and Smarter Choices, discussed in Chapter 5.
Education
In terms of education policy, school transport is an obvious issue for the LTP. Government policy is to try to reduce the numbers of school children being driven to and from school and is contained in the Education Act 1996, sections 509 and 444. This work includes encouraging schools to adopt school travel plans, implementing safer routes to schools and encouraging walking, cycling and public transport, as described in Chapter 5.
Overall then, the influence of all these wider national policy areas on this LTP can mainly be seen through their impact on the Shared Priorities for Air Quality (and wider quality of life concerns) and for Accessibility.