Regulation 19 Rutland Local Plan

Ends on 2 December 2024 (25 days remaining)

Sustainable Travel

The Council's challenge is to take a co-ordinated approach across all modes of transport, whilst recognising the individual access requirements of specific development proposals. Better use of existing transport infrastructure and the provision of new safe, well designed infrastructure will be required for multiple transport modes. In some cases, this will need to be provided across the County boundary, which will require joint working with the surrounding local highway authorities, National Highways and the transport providers.

It is recognised that improving accessibility and providing realistic alternatives to car travel in a rural area like Rutland is particularly challenging. Residents without access to a private car can be isolated and have significant issues in accessing employment, education and training as well as other services and facilities. Therefore, the location of new development can have significant impact on achieving sustainable patterns of travel and accessibility.

Walking and cycling can have wide ranging benefits, from reducing congestion and pollution from exhaust emissions, to contributing to the improved health and physical fitness of the population. Walking and cycling can also play an important role in multimodal journeys in combination with other sustainable travel modes, such as bus and rail services. Rutland is an attractive place to walk and cycle and has a network of safe and accessible routes.

What will the policy do?

Policy INF2 provides the highways authorities requirements for achieving sustainable, safe and accessible development proposals and cover the full range of modes of travel and setting out where a Travel Plan, Transport Assessment or Transport Statement will be required. The policy also set out the requirements for parking, ensuring that the needs of future travel technologies can be met and promoting Active Travel choices through improvements to the cycling and walking network.

Policy INF2 – Securing sustainable transport Comment

New development which will have an impact upon the County's transport network will be expected to meet the following criteria:

  1. meet the requirements of Rutland's latest Local Transport Plan and its supporting documents;
  2. give priority to a range of transport choices including efficient public transport, for the movement of people and goods;
  3. minimise the distance people need to travel to shops, services and employment opportunities;
  4. include a range of appropriate mitigating transport measures, including travel plans, aimed at improving transport choice and encouraging travel to work and school safely by public transport, cycling, walking and other non-car based journeys;
  5. give priority to active travel solutions through the delivery of an integrated walking, cycling and horse-riding network, connecting new developments to essential services and neighbouring communities;
  6. make adequate provision (where appropriate) to put in place or improve bus routes, services and passenger facilities serving the County, and to put in place or improve rail facilities in Oakham including bus, pedestrian and cycle links to the rail station. Developers should refer to the County Council's Passenger Transport Strategy when considering such provisions;
  7. enable opportunities to respond to changing transport technology and usage, through the lifetime of the proposal;
  8. provide adequate levels of car parking in line with Council's published car parking standards at Appendix 5;
  9. proposals for all non-residential development will be required to submit a Travel Plan to show how the developer will minimise the impact of the development on the road network; and
  10. Commercial, mineral extraction and waste proposals will also be expected to demonstrate how they:                                                                                                               
    1. support opportunities for sustainable freight movement by rail where possible and other alternatives to road-based transport; and                                         
    2. support sustainable transport movements and minimise the potentially adverse impacts associated with heavy goods vehicle movements on the community, environment and road network including the need for significant minerals and waste development proposals to prepare a transport assessment and site transport plan.

Major development proposals and proposals for non-residential development must be supported by a Transport Assessment or Transport Statement, which includes a travel plan, setting out how the proposal addresses all of the criteria above.

Why is this policy needed?

The NPPF sets out the importance of sustainability in relation to transport, in particular the need to ensure developments that generate significant movements are located where the need for travel will be minimised and the use of sustainable travel can be maximised. It also requires that transport issues should be considered from the earliest stages of plan making, the planning system should actively manage patterns of growth in support of the transport objectives in the NPPF, and it sets out transport requirements to be taken into account in the development of planning policies.

The Council will use Government publication 'Manual for Streets'[1] and the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) which contain guidance on highway design and traffic management issues encouraging the shift away from motorists towards pedestrians, cyclists and public transport and controlling vehicle speeds through the layout of the development.

The Government's policy on car parking standards requires local authorities to set standards for their area, taking account of local circumstances. Policy INF2 Criterion h) sets out that new development should provide an adequate level of car parking in line with the Council's published car parking standards which are included at Appendix 5 of this Local Plan.

The Council's role as the highway and planning authority is central to meeting the Council's strategic objectives. This is primarily guided by the Council's Local Transport Plan (LTP4) and other strategies which will include a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) and a Sustainable Modes of Travel Strategy (SMOTS) which are expected to be approved later this year.

The Spatial Strategy is designed to reduce the need to travel by car through locating development proposals in the most accessible locations. This includes allocating sufficient land to meet the majority of the County's housing and economic development need in and around the towns.

A Rutland Traffic Model (2024) has been developed to prepare a Strategic Transport Assessment of proposal local plan growth. This model considers the likely cumulative impact of traffic arising from proposed development sites on traffic movement across the county and beyond. The model and Strategic Transport Assessment has helped to identify transport infrastructure needs, timescales and potential funding requirements for inclusion within the IDP.

Rutland's fourth Local Transport Plan (LTP4) 2019 runs through to 2036 and sets out the overall strategy and some of the delivery arrangements for transport across the County. The vision of LTP4 is to deliver a transport network and services that:

  • facilitate delivery of sustainable population and economic growth;
  • meet the needs of our most vulnerable residents; and
  • support a high level of health and wellbeing (including combating rural isolation).

To help deliver this vision and provide access to services, the County Council as local highway authority will utilise the contributions arising from new development and supplement, where possible, through other funds, improvements to:

  • the local highway network;
  • walking and cycling infrastructure (including those identified within the County Council's Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan – once developed);
  • public transport infrastructure and services; and
  • voluntary and community transport initiatives.

The Council will continue to work in partnership with Network Rail and the Department of Transport to improve passenger rail provisions and facilities serving Rutland.

The Council will work with industry to promote sustainable transport movements of minerals and waste and encourage alternatives to road-based transport in order to reduce adverse impacts on communities and the environment. Planning applications for mineral and waste development will be expected to show that alternatives to road-based options for transporting minerals and waste have been considered, for example rail, conveyor, pipeline and water.

However, it is acknowledged that the majority of mineral and waste produced in Rutland is transported over relatively short distances, with alternatives to road transport being limited apart from those relating to Ketton cement works. Potential adverse effects of traffic generated by mineral developments should be minimised, particularly in relation to effects on local communities, the environment and the local road network. The Council may also seek mitigation measures to control the impact of road haulage by controlling the operation of minerals sites through routing agreements, output limits, hours of operation, etc. as appropriate. All significant proposals will be expected to prepare a transport assessment and a site transport plan. The transport plan will act to supplement and underpin transport related conditions attached to the planning consent. Such a requirement would, however, only apply to new sites or extensions or where there is a proposal to increase lorry movements at existing sites.

Supporting Evidence

Rutland traffic Model 2024
Strategic Transport Assessment 2024
Local Transport Plan 4 (2019)
Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (2023)

[1] Government Guidance – Designing and modifying residential streets 'Manual for Streets'

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