HIGHWAYS AGENCY

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HIGHWAYS AGENCY

• David Nock
• Regional Manager
• Network Strategy

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The Planning System under the 2004 Act
Government Planning Policy (PPSs)
Government Office
Regional Planning Body
Regional Spatial Strategy (including Regional
Transport Strategy)
Multi Modal Studies
Sub-Regional Strategies
Regional Economic Strategy
Regional Sustainable Development Framework
Community Strategy
Development Plan Documents (Core Strategy,
Allocations, Proposals Map, Area Action Plans, DC
Policy)
Local Development Scheme
Local Development Framework
Statement of Community Involvement
Supplementary Planning Documents
(Development Briefs, Design Guides, Policy
Advice, Best Practice Guides)
Sustainability Appraisal
Strategic Environmental Appraisal
Development Control
The Development Plan
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Spatial Planning Policy Context

• 2004 Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act
• Delivering sustainable development in sustainable
  locations
• Predict Provide approach is not compatible with
  this aim
• Iterative approach to finding transport solutions

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Circular 2/2007 - Policy in Practice

• Proactive engagement with Planning bodies to
  determine the content of the Development Plan
• Adopting a spatial planning approach to placing
  appropriate developments in sustainable
  locations.
• Applying an iterative approach to identify
• Sustainable location
• Impact avoidance / minimisation
• Access Management
• Capacity enhancement as last resort and only
  where compatible with sustainable principles

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Network Capacity

• Developers can no longer expect that all the
  traffic they might produce will be allowed
  without restraint
• General presumption against capacity enhancements
  purely for development purposes
• Capacity enhancements identified in Regional
  Spatial Strategy not normally at Planning
  Application stage

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HA support for development

• Engaging with the HA at the earliest opportunity
  can save on time, money and give more certainty
  to delivering development at the appropriate
  time.

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HA - what we can bring to the table!

• traffic data
• National Network Report
• Information to inform the scope of a Transport
  Assessment
• Experience from other regions
• Share best practice

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Guidance on Transport Assessment (GTA)

• Sets out
• Identifying Need for Assessment
• Pre-Application Consultation
• Better Guidance on Thresholds
• Transport Statements
• Travel Plans
• New Development Plan Process

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Iterative approach
Have all impacts been considered?
No
Yes
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GTA Travel Plans

• Securing sustainable transport measures to ensure
  they are in place prior to travel patterns being
  established.
• Invites developers to be more innovative on how
  to reduce and manage transport from development.

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Benefits of alternative transport solutions

• Improvements in the environment
• Less reliance on the car improvements in
  peoples health
• Getting it in place at the right time will seek
  to inform travel decisions rather than seek to
  change travel patterns!

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Environmental issues

• Early identification of environmental issues to
  consider suitability and sustainability of
  proposed location
• Air Quality
• Location of development
• Type of development
• Mitigation measures
• Monitoring
• Water
• Flooding
• Drainage
• Noise
• Management
• Mitigation
• Bio-diversity -
• Protection
• enhancements

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Barker Review

• Impact on HAs planning role
• Demand management approach most effectively
  applied in town centre
• Difficulty in achieving sustainability
  objectives.
• IPC decisions will be binding
• Engagement with the IPC may mean that additional
  information will have be provided by the HA (as
  opposed to the developer) to assist in the
  decision making process

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Eddington Transport Study 2006

• Recognises the longer-term links between
  transport and the UKs productivity , growth and
  stability highlighting the pivotal role transport
  with the economy.

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Sir Nicholas Sterns Report 2006

• The Economics of Climate Change sets out a
  powerful argument for urgent international action
  to tackle climate change.

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Benefits for

• Highways Agency
• Early involvement in the Regional / Local plans
• Reduction in traffic impact of development
• Approach supports Public Service Agreement
  targets
• Developers
• Early advice from the Agency on development
  proposals saves developers time and money!
• Agency unlikely to oppose development of
  allocated sites discussions should be confined
  to detailed access arrangements.

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Example of HA in practice

• South Derbyshire District Council Public Inquiry
• Background
• Five competing housing sites
• SRN impact from individual sites and cumulative
  site scenarios
• No clear indication of housing need no Local
  Plan emerging RSS
• Requirement to assess most likely future
  scenario - additional developments in the area
  needed to be considered

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• South Derbyshire District Council Public Inquiry

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Example of HA in practice

• South Derbyshire District Council Public Inquiry
• Issues
• How determine infrastructure on unknown future
  scenario?
• Potential combinations and permutations of five
  sites BIG implications
• Approach
• SIMPLE PRAGMATIC
• Assess all sites combined and determine
  infrastructure requirements

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• South Derbyshire District Council Public Inquiry
• How
• Use of Circular 05/ 2005 Planning Obligations
  POOLED CONTRIBUTIONS
• Spare capacity should not be credited to
  earlier developers
• Need for infrastructure should be set out in
  advance and justified
• Pooled Contributions deemed FAIR and EQUITABLE
• In theorygreat!!!! But how apply in practice?
• Issues
• Who is responsible for delivery? What if all
  contributions not collected in timeframe allowing
  delivery?
• Market changes developments may not all happen
  new ones come forward
• Risk that improvements not delivered and
  contributions lost
• HA cannot subject SoS to RISK
• i.e. being unable to deliver the mitigation when
  required due to insufficient contributions
  collected

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• South Derbyshire District Council Public Inquiry

Potential Scenario Combination of three (1, 2
3) sites reach trigger level MITIGATION
required
Alternative Scenario Combination of two sites (4
5) reach trigger level MITIGATION required
Alternative Scenario Combination of three sites
(2, 3 5) reach trigger level MITIGATION
required
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• South Derbyshire District Council Public Inquiry
• Problems
• Many different scenarios could trigger mitigation
• Cannot predict development delivery phasing or
  timing
• How protect SRN to ensure that mitigation IS
  delivered when REQUIRED?
• Solution
• Ensure mitigation is delivered when triggered and
  mechanism in place for claw back
• Mitigation delivered by developer in this case

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• South Derbyshire District Council Public Inquiry
• Approach adopted
• Private sector responsible for delivering
  infrastructure
• Where developments do not trigger mitigation then
  s106 contributions collected for future delivery
  by private sector
• The developer delivering mitigation uses claw
  back mechanism to obtain s106 contributions from
  other developers i.e. HA not left with risk of
  scheme delivery
• Subsequent developers required to contribute
  after implementation of scheme
• Pay back mechanism enables contribution to be
  apportioned to earlier developers

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• South Derbyshire District Council Public Inquiry

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• South Derbyshire District Council Public Inquiry
• Sites 1, 2 3 in this scenario provide
  sufficient level of funding to provide the whole
  improvement

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• South Derbyshire District Council Public Inquiry

• Claw back mechanism enables overpayment to be
  refunded as and when other sites come forward

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• South Derbyshire District Council Public Inquiry
• Outcome
• POOLED CONTRIBUTIONS deemed FAIR and EQUITABLE
• Limits risk for infrastructure delivery
• Private sector driven
• Enables developers who fund improvement schemes
  to obtain refunded money from s106 contributions
  at later date
• Series of conditions and s106 agreements used to
  secure improvements

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Summary

• The HA are willing to engage in the planning
  process at the earliest stage
• Reorganising the HA to improve the customer
  service
• The STN seen as an enabler supporting
  regeneration and contributing towards improving
  the economy

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• Thank you
• David Nock
• david.nock_at_highways.gsi.gov.uk