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APPENDIX C - MECHANISMS FOR
IMPLEMENTATION
C. implementation aspects
C.1 The key to implementation is to make sure that those
actions and measures which are described as being part of
the proposed development are properly specified when
planning permission is granted. The measures should be
identified in the Transport Assessment and Implementation
document. On-site infrastructure proposals should be
clearly shown on the plans and drawings accompanying the
planning application. The requirements, including
infrastructure changes expected of developers, should be
secured through planning conditions or a planning or other
legal agreement. A Travel Plan can help secure maximum
change in travel behaviour in accessing the site by
specifying appropriate targets.
Local Authority Policies
C.2 Planning authorities must set out sufficient detail
in up to date Development Plans and Local Transport
Strategies (
LTSs) to indicate what they require in
development proposals and the general approach to the
transport assessment process. This will provide a
transparent basis for planning decisions including the use
of planning conditions or Section 75 agreements. It will
also enable easier negotiations with developers on the use
of planning or other legal agreements, and will give
developers more certainty in these discussions.
Planning Conditions and Planning or Other Legal
Agreements
C.3 As part of the planning process it may be preferable
to use planning conditions to secure certain measures,
particularly where these can be clearly defined and for
implementing measures in relation to small schemes.
Although Section 75 agreements can be difficult to enforce
for Travel Plans, they are available within the legislation
alongside planning conditions and are therefore to be
used.
C.4 In many cases planning or other legal agreements may
be necessary since developers will be expected to provide
financial contributions towards a package of measures
associated with their development. Improvements to public
transport provision are an area of potential financial
support. Outcome measures resulting from the interventions
introduced, such as Modal Share Targets, can be included in
planning obligations. Input measures that form part of the
design, for example infrastructure improvements, or output
measures of travel behaviour, such as the numbers accessing
the site on foot, may also be useful in some cases.
Transport Assessment and
Implementation
C.5 Transport Assessment and Implementation provides the
framework to ensure that development travel patterns
reflect policies in
SPP17 and development plans and the
intention of the planning approvals and legal agreements.
They provide a mechanism for measuring the appropriate
outcomes. Transport Assessment and Implementation consists
of four stages, the key documents for which will be held
collectively in order that the process can be followed from
concept, through scoping and analysis, to delivery and
monitoring.
Travel Plans
C.6 Travel Plans can provide considerable benefits to
companies and organisations: reduced costs and increased
efficiency will benefit the company while reducing local
road congestion can benefit the whole community. A travel
plan is a means of promoting sustainable development and of
securing the requirements of the Transport Assessment. A
Travel Plan is only required if the development is a major
travel generating use. Unless a travel plan is submitted
alongside the application delays in decision-making could
result.
C.7 A Travel Plan will incorporate a package of the
various measures developed during the Transport Assessment
stage of the process. These will be tailored to the
particular circumstances of the development proposal.
Travel Plans provide an effective way of co-ordinating the
whole range of transport-related measures associated with a
particular development or site. Such a package of
co-ordinated measures will be more effective in changing
travel patterns than individual initiatives. In addition,
the information on travel patterns gained through
monitoring as part of a Travel Plan can also provide very
useful data for designing the details of additional
measures to ensure effective enforcement. Whilst Travel
Plans are separate from the infrastructure provision etc,
in practice the plans are often linked to the physical
layout of the site and of course the intended land uses, in
support of wider transport and planning policy.
C.8
SPP17 explains that a travel plan
associated with a planning permission should be specified
through a planning agreement in order to be implemented and
enforced and to demonstrate ways the developer expects to
meet Mode Share Targets and mitigate transport impacts
rather than be submitted as part of the planning
application. In the case of a speculative development where
the developer does not have an end user identified, it may
be appropriate that a developer still produces a Travel
Plan (which would be amended by the occupier) and would
agree the basic provisions.
Targets
C.9 Implementing Travel Plans through the planning
system requires clear targets which are easy to measure and
relate directly to the planning permission. Various targets
can be used for monitoring, including:
- number of vehicles entering a site;
- the modal share (walking, cycling, public
transport, car) of those visiting the development;
- the maximum level of parking to be provided (by
comparison with similar developments);
- parking usage (e.g. proportion of available parking
used);
- on-street parking on surrounding roads;
- the maximum number or proportion of single
occupancy vehicles entering the site;
- the level of car-sharing; and/or
- the provision of travel (e.g. public transport)
information to staff and customers.
C.10 Some targets will be easily measurable while others
require a degree of interpretation. The modal share, for
example, can be measured annually but the provision of
travel information requires a qualitative judgement. If
there is an agreed overall target, e.g. modal share, the
local authority may not need to be involved with monitoring
all the individual components of the plan.
C.11 Transport Assessments are concerned with mode split
to the site, with the aim that this should be influenced
towards encouraging non-car modes. The issue of how far the
traffic will travel is not usually considered. The emphasis
is on local congestion rather than wider environmental
impacts or sustainability issues. If catchments are used as
part of the travel predictions for the site there is the
option to predict total travel generated. The Scottish
Executive would support such a wider view especially for
larger developments.
Validation
C.12 Lengthy discussion often occurs to agree the
various technical parameters on which the analysis set out
in any Transport Assessment is based. Further discussion is
also required in respect of Travel Plans to ensure that
these are compatible with the delivery outcomes used in the
Transport Assessment. In all aspects of the process,
professionals use their judgment to reach a view on their
estimate of likely outcome.
C.13 To date, it has rarely been the case that any form
of follow-up activity has been undertaken to validate the
assumptions used and the predicted outcomes. The strong
emphasis on monitoring within this guidance should result
in additional follow-up activity but it is important that
any data collected is then re-applied and used to validate
earlier assumptions. This issue will be crucial in areas
where there may be an ongoing development programme over
many years and where the assessment process can evolve as
data is collected during each phase of development.
Monitoring
C.14 Arrangements for monitoring must be agreed at the
outset and included in the Transport Assessment and
Implementation document and planning agreement. This may
involve estimates of modal share, counts of trips on
foot/bicycle/bus etc. over a period of time. Measurement
may take place monthly, quarterly or annually, depending
upon the local circumstances. Provision should be made for
possible future changes to be implemented in view of the
outcomes of the monitoring process. This may be in the form
of revisions to the Travel Plan or changes to bus services
and local infrastructure, for example.
C.15 The developer, occupier, local authority, or less
frequently, a third party (such as the Scottish Executive)
can undertake monitoring. However, it is probably best for
the occupier of the building to carry out the monitoring.
Monitoring could involve the building occupier submitting
an annual or bi-annual report to the local authority
presenting the outcome of perhaps monthly or quarterly
monitoring exercises. Small companies or organisations
might be affiliated to a wider organisation responsible for
monitoring targets on behalf of all member organisations.
The occupier of the development should pay for
monitoring.
C.16 An occupier monitored Travel Plan must be audited,
perhaps by the local authority or Scottish Executive where
issues related to trunk roads are involved.
C.17 If the relevant target relates to parking, the
monitoring would comprise periodic surveys of parking
levels as well as possibly monitoring complaints from
residents in relation to parking problems in the
surrounding area. If the target relates to single occupancy
vehicles the monitoring could comprise periodic surveys at
the site entrance.
Enforcing Obligations
C.18 Transport Assessment and Implementation is an
ongoing part of the land-use planning process which
includes monitoring as an integral part. This is important,
since the issue of enforcing obligations agreed by the
developer (particularly of predictions of travel
implications or parking usage) is a difficult issue.
Without monitoring, the benefits to be derived from the
implementation phase could be undermined.
C.19 If planning or other legal agreements have been
secured, the arrangements for the enforcement of
obligations need to be set out in the agreement. A Section
75 agreement can be used to set Mode Share Targets.
C.20 In the event that targets are not met this might
involve requiring the developer/occupier to provide extra
resources to specific measures such as improved public
transport, or the provision of funds towards implementing
on-street parking controls in the surrounding area. The
agreement might set out that, in the event of a failed
target, a revised Travel Plan incorporating extra measures,
such as charging for parking, will be submitted to the
local authority for approval.
C.21 Where a development is in more than one phase, the
planning authority might give permission for the first
phase only, and indicate that failure to meet the relevant
targets in the first phase could result in further phases
being refused, or less floor-space or parking being
considered acceptable in applications for subsequent
phases.
C.22 If targets have not been achieved the authority
might make clear the action required in the event of the
target not being met, such as further improvement (or
increased priority being given) to pedestrian or cycle
access to the development.
C.23 For some developments the planning authority may
limit the scale of operations at the site. This might mean
that a part of the development may have to be smaller than
desired, e.g. a floor-space limit might be fixed. In some
cases the planning authority may require that parts of the
development remain unoccupied for all or part of the time
(i.e. some of the seats in a stadium remain unused) or that
some or all of the activities on the site might have to
cease at certain times.
C.24 Some Travel Plans can be self-reinforcing. For
example if parking is physically limited, and alternative
parking is not available in the vicinity, there is less
need to enforce an obligation relating to traffic using the
site. However, the planning authority might want to ensure
that on-street parking controls on the surrounding roads
are effectively policed.
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