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Road Safety - By Accident or Design? GUIDELINES FOR IMPROVING ROAD SAFETY IN REGENERATION AREAS

4. Key aspects of good practice

Research

The key aspects of good practice for an inter-agency approach to road safety are drawn from research carried out by Colin Buchanan and Partners. A desk top review of Scottish regeneration projects and how road safety was factored into the design identified a number of areas to develop as case studies of good practice. This chapter draws on the recommendations for inter-agency working that were gained from these case studies.

It is imperative that the partners identified in these guidelines recognise the responsibility they have to contributing to the improvement of road safety and that in doing so they will move towards achieving many of their own objectives. It cannot be stressed enough that road safety is not a discrete problem restricted to the reduction of road accidents. It is multi-faceted, playing a part in many of the objectives set out by agencies working in regeneration including amongst others objectives of social inclusion, accessibility and community safety.

Identifying road safety issues

These guidelines are not intended solely for use when an area is being regenerated by demolition and re-build. They may also be used in whole or in part to identify and implement solutions to road safety problems on existing road networks in residential areas.

Identification of road safety issues of concern to people can be hindered by an over-reliance on road accident statistics. Road accident statistics can only identify where a road safety issue exists if a significant number of accidents have occurred. They may not be particularly useful in identifying the road safety issues that pose a threat to the unity of a community, a community's ability to access services or for children to play safely.

Identification of road safety issues that are not highlighted by significant road accident figures can only be achieved through a partnership approach. Many road safety issues are only apparent to those living within a community and just to specific groups within that community. For example a lack of play facilities for children, a busy road that feels threatening to the elderly, a lack of dropped pavements for safe and easy wheelchair access.

Identifying these problems requires community engagement. Community engagement necessitates the involvement of a variety of agencies working within an area.

Where an area has been designated for regeneration by demolition and re-build, road safety must be incorporated into the overall masterplan for the area.

A Community Safety Statement (CSS)

Without a robust mechanism in place it is difficult to ensure the guidelines will be appropriately used. To ensure the guidelines are fully utilised, a Community Safety Statement (CSS) should be prepared. This is a new concept and is considered to be a vital for the effective integration of good community safety design into the wider design of regeneration projects.

Community safety issues will be a key driver in determining the final shape and form of civic design. Many aspects of good design are shared in meeting the interests of, for example, reducing the fear of crime, promoting road safety and maintaining high levels of accessibility. To these ends, the early part of the design process should include the preparation of a CSS to set out the issues relating to community safety and how they will be managed as the design progresses.

The CSS will form a key document that lays out a commitment to addressing community safety issues, including road safety in a regeneration area. It also lays out a commitment to the process of inter-agency working.

Normally the CSS will be prepared during the masterplanning process. If no master plan exists, then the CSS should be written prior to the preparation of a design brief.

The CSS should contain:

• Identification of the committed agencies and stakeholders to be involved in the inter-agency approach to tackling community safety issues;
• Identification of the roles that committed agencies and stakeholders will play in addressing community safety issues;
• An administrative framework for the management of the project;
• Commitment to extensive community engagement and a clearly defined
• process through which this will be achieved; and
• Broad descriptions of the community safety issues pertinent to the area, including road safety, that need to be addressed (detailed information is not suitable at this stage as this can only be identified through subsequent community and stakeholder consultation).

The CSS should not be used exclusively for road safety. The CSS should provide a holistic commitment to addressing community safety issues, including road safety as one of several themes within community safety.

To ensure that community safety issues are given appropriate priority in the design process, these guidelines recommend that the CSS should form part of the required information to be provided by funding providers and by local authorities during the development design process. The quality and content of the CSS will have to meet certain standards acceptable to the recipients.

Masterplanning

Road safety must be included in the masterplanning of a regeneration area to ensure that the road safety issues are considered at the start of the design process. There are many competing interests at the start of a design process and it is important that all the major influences on the final design are considered at the start. Failure to do this could curtail the opportunity to optimise the potential for improving the road safety environment.

The masterplanning exercise is an ideal opportunity to rethink the entire layout of residential and service areas within a community. Reconsidering the location of services in relation to housing, and incorporating safe pedestrian and cycle routes that link up the different parts of a community will help address road safety, accessibility and social inclusion issues.

Masterplanning must be carried out with strong community participation. It can be very useful to use the Planning for Real technique ⁶. This technique uses simple models as a focus for people to put forward and prioritise ideas on how they would like their area to be improved. Using a 3-dimensional model of the neighbourhood members of the community are invited to place suggestion cards on the model to indicate what they want to see happen and where

e.g. a play area, location of shops, schools, GP surgeries etc. The community participants are then asked to discuss the ideas and prioritise them.

Identifying the appropriate agency to take forward a process of community participation will vary between different areas. Project managers should give consideration to agencies qualified to carry out community participation exercises, but where these do not exist the SIP or housing association may be the most appropriate agency. Community groups where in existence should engage fully in this process.

If no master plan exists at the start of the design process then it is essential that the project managers highlight road safety as an issue when they are preparing their design brief. It is also important at this stage to seek advice on road safety issues from the relevant agencies.

Project management

The affiliation of the project manager will vary according to the scale of the project itself. A discrete road safety project, where an area is not undergoing major physical regeneration is likely to necessitate a project manager with close links to the community in conjunction with project management and inter-agency working experience.

Larger scale projects incorporated into a major physical regeneration scheme may be more appropriately managed by the overall regeneration project manager. The project manager is in a position to oversee strategically the entirety of the regeneration, ensuring the regeneration objectives include those of road safety.

Although the affiliation of the project manager may vary according to the scale of the project, their responsibilities must remain the same. Project managers are principally responsible for ensuring the project is completed on time and within budget. They are also responsible for ensuring that a wide range of objectives specific to the project are achieved and this should include road safety.

Monitoring framework

There are a number of mechanisms that can be put in place to ensure the project manager carries out this responsibility efficiently. These mechanisms relate to securing appropriate funding and ensuring best value, monitoring the distribution of the budget, and reporting activity to the funding provider. The following provides detail on the appropriate mechanisms:

Funding qualification

Funding applications should include evidence that a CSS has been prepared by the project manager. The funding should be granted with the condition that evidence in the form of a short report is presented periodically to demonstrate that the objectives set out in the CSS have been fully addressed and incorporated into the design process. It is recognised that the fund provider will not require to scrutinise the details of the design and that the progress report will only have to provide evidence that the CSS has been inherited by the design team and incorporated into the design.

Planning Consent Qualification

Local authorities should monitor that the objectives set out in the CSS are cascaded down through the design process during the development control process.

Planning Advice Note 68 focuses on design statements and it recommends that applicants use a design statement to clearly explain the design principles on which the development is based and to illustrate the design solution.

The CSS should be incorporated into the design statement and presented as part of the planning application. This will allow the local authority to satisfy itself that community safety has been fully considered by the design team and that all the appropriate key stakeholder and agencies have been properly consulted during the design's preparation.

External validation

An integral part of the monitoring framework should be a mechanism for providing external validation. This will be provided by an external body undertaking a Community Safety Audit (CSA).

The purpose of the CSA would be to ensure the project fully addressed the projects objectives set out in the CSS and as a check on the design features to make sure they were not compromising community safety.

• A CSA should be undertaken at four specific stages during the project:
• Conceptual design
• Preliminary design
• Detail design
• Post construction

The CSA would need to be undertaken by a team of professionals who are equated with all the issues effecting a community's safety; this team would include a qualified road safety auditor who will carry out a full RSA.

The outcome of CSA could be used to inform the progress report to the funding provider and form part of the design statement.

The stakeholders

All the key stakeholders and their roles should be identified at the start of the project. It may be appropriate to create sub-groups focusing on particular road safety issues. This should ensure all partners can be actively involved in the project and avoid unnecessary meetings or partners attending meetings to which they feel they are not in a position to contribute to.

All the agencies engaged in regeneration should be able to easily access information on road safety issues relevant to regeneration areas, the sustainable solutions available and the agencies that can help to identify. It is vital local authorities should be aware of opportunities to promote road safety initiatives as part of regeneration schemes and that their expertise is fully utilised by the project manager.

The local authority should be prepared to take part in the partnership approach whether it be as advisors, contractors, and the lead partner or simply as the statutory authority. This may require the local authority to act within the management system set out by the nominated project manager.

Involving the community

Community participation is key to ensuring the success of any initiative; ensuring initiatives meet the needs of the community and promoting a sense of community ownership. Community consultation in regeneration areas invariably highlights concerns regarding road safety that may not necessarily be reflected in road accidents. For example there may be a perception by the community that road safety is poor because an area includes a busy main road lacking in safe pedestrian crossings. Accident figures may not highlight such roads as an issue, but a perception within the community that the road is unsafe can contribute to problems of social exclusion and poor accessibility. If the perceived road safety issues are properly addressed then the community's accessibility and social inclusion will also be improved.

Identifying perceived road safety problems cannot be achieved without the community being involved in the process of identifying problems and being consulted on possible solutions. Extensive community consultation during the design process will ensure the measures match the community's needs and enhance their effectiveness.

Community consultation at the master planning stage or preparation of the design brief stage will ensure that the community concerns relating to road safety and the barriers these create are identified.

Existing community groups should be engaged in a process of consultation and participation. However efforts should be made towards engaging as wide a cross section of the community as possible to avoid the consultation becoming "tokenistic".

It may be appropriate to consider creating a management board entirely composed of members of the community. Delegating powers to a community management board is an effective means of promoting a sense of community ownership that will in turn ensure that the project can meet the needs of the community.

Design proposals for a project should be consulted on with the necessary road authority and other related agencies, prior to presenting proposals for community consultation. This avoids creating a false sense of hope in the community which can result from project developers presenting proposals that would not meet planning legislation requirements.

Linkages between community safety and regeneration

Strong links must be in place to ensure that road safety is an integral part of the community safety agenda. Community Safety Partnerships (CSP) offer an ideal forum for this and it is vital that road safety is identified as a key objective for the CSP.

Roads and Transportation Departments need to be kept informed of activities within regeneration areas to ensure they are aware of opportunities to promote road safety initiatives as part of regeneration schemes. This should be two-way process with both the Roads and Transportation Department and agencies working within the regeneration area taking equal responsibility for information sharing.

Recommended framework

A process based on the indicative framework (Figure 4.1) for good practice in developing an inter-agency approach to road safety is recommended. It ensures that all the key stakeholder interests are addressed, that the community get the opportunity to give their input at the appropriate time and that road safety issues are properly addressed.

Figure 4.1 - Framework for good practice in developing an inter-agency approach to road safety:

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