Chapter 15
Accessible Development

AD1	Location of Development
AD2	Ensuring Choice of Travel
AD3	Transport Assessments
AD4	Green Travel Plans
AD5	Access onto the Primary Route Network

Introduction

15.1 In the past, the need to travel caused by development has been met simply by providing for car use. Often this has:

 

• made it more difficult for those without access to a car (37% of households in Sefton) to get to jobs, facilities and services;

   

• contributed to increasing emissions from motor vehicles, making local air quality worse and adding to global warming;

   

• made congestion worse, journey times longer and costs higher for local businesses. This has made out-of-town development more attractive and so helped to undermine the vitality of existing town, district and local centres.

   

15.2 This approach is no longer acceptable. There is evidence linking global warming with a rise in sea-levels. As a low-lying coastal borough, Sefton has a long-term interest in promoting sustainable forms of transport. The aims of policies in this chapter are to ensure that there is a choice of means of travel to and from development sites, and to encourage use of more sustainable means of transport. For people the most sustainable means are, in order, walking, cycling, public transport and cars. For movement of freight, rail or water transport is more sustainable than movement by road.

 

15.3 The policies in this chapter achieve these aims in two ways. The first way is to make sure that significant development is located close to public transport services and that development which generates freight movements is located close to the freight distribution network.

 

15.4 The second way, which is helped by the first, is to make sure that the greatest possible choice of means of travel is provided to and from development sites. This means that development proposals must cater for people with limited mobility, pedestrians, cyclists and those who travel by public transport as well as, or sometimes instead of, car parking.

 

15.5 This helps to reduce the need to travel and the length of journeys. It makes it safer and easier for people to get to jobs, local facilities and services by public transport, walking and cycling as well as by car.

 

Explanation

15.6 The location of development determines both the number of journeys which are generated and what the transport choices are.

 

15.7 Development which is likely to generate a significant number of journeys should be located on sites which are accessible by public transport, in order to provide realistic alternatives to the car.

 

15.8 Development which generates a significant number of journeys is that which falls within the floorspace thresholds set out for Transport Assessments and Green Travel Plans in figure 15.2 below.

 

15.9 The most accessible locations are generally those where:

 

• there is a good choice of bus or rail services within convenient walking distance (up to 200m for buses and up to 400m for rail services, depending on local factors), and

   

• the services are of an average frequency of at least every 15 minutes from early morning to early evening, Monday to Saturday.

   

15.10 The locations on the high-frequency transport networks include Southport and Bootle Central Areas, the majority of Sefton's District Centres and some Local Centres¹. The most accessible locations in relation to the high-frequency passenger rail and bus networks are shown in Figure 15.1 and in greater detail in the Supplementary Planning Guidance Note 'Ensuring Choice of Travel'.

 

15.11 Not all locations within 200m of the bus or 400m of the passenger rail networks are suitable for development which generates a significant number of journeys. Examples include:
     - Green Belt;
     - urban green space; and
     - primarily residential areas.

 

15.12 The locations with good access to existing or potential rail freight infrastructure are sites with access to the Freight Distribution Network as defined in Policy T6, and described in more detail in the Supplementary Planning Guidance Note 'Ensuring Choice of Travel'.

 

Implementation

15.13 This policy will be implemented through the development control process and in particular through the Supplementary Planning Guidance outlined above.

 

Sustainability Appraisal

Policy not changed. Explanation amended to refer to rail station as well as the Core Bus Network.

 

Policy Links

T6 Freight Distribution Network;
DQ1 Design;
GBC2 Development in the Green Belt;
H12 Residential Density;
G1 Protection of Urban Greenspace.

 

Background Documents

Planning Policy Guidance Note 3 'Housing', 2000; Planning Policy Guidance Note 6 'Town Centres and Retail Developments', 1996; Planning Policy Guidance Note 13 'Transport', 2001; 'Merseyside Freight Strategy'; 'Merseyside Bus Strategy'; 'Merseyside Local Transport Plan', 2006.

 

 

Explanation

15.14 The policy aims to make sure that there is a realistic choice of means of travel to all development schemes, including access for people with limited mobility. This means that developers must demonstrate that this minimum level of accessibility^G will be achieved for all development, for each of the choices listed in the policy. If a conflict occurs in the provision of facilities for the different means of travel, priority should be given in accordance with the mode hierarchy adopted within the Local Transport Plan, i.e (1) walking; (2) cycling; (3) public transport; (4) essential motor vehicles; (5) non-essential motor vehicles.

 

15.15 Supplementary Planning Guidance Note (SPG) 'Ensuring Choice of Travel' sets out how the policy will be applied to individual development proposals of different types and sizes. The policy may not apply to some very minor forms of development. Otherwise, all development will be expected to comply with the requirement for safe vehicular access (criterion 1c) and with the Council's adopted parking standards for new development (criteria 1d and 1e). For larger developments, above the thresholds set out in SPG, all the criteria will apply.

 

15.16 The Council's car parking standards are set out in Appendix 6. The standards are based on those in Regional Spatial Strategy and Planning Policy Guidance Note 13. They have been endorsed in the Local Transport Plan for application across Merseyside.

 

15.17 The appropriate amount of parking for a particular development will not rest on the parking standards alone, but will take into account all the accessibility criteria. In particular, in line with the strategy in the Local Transport Plan, within the main centres of Bootle and Southport there will be a greater emphasis on restricting the amount of car parking, so that there is no overall increase. This is supported by Policy T5.

 

15.18 The minimum level of accessibility required for each means of transport listed in the policy will vary depending on the type of development and where it is. For example, a small-scale housing development 100 metres from a bus stop will have a different requirement to a major office development in Bootle Central Area.

 

15.19 Where this minimum level of accessibility cannot be achieved within the development proposal the developer will be expected to achieve it off-site through a financial contribution. This will be achieved through a legal agreement.

 

15.20 In some cases, the travel demands generated by the development being proposed will be met by contributions to the transport networks and pedestrian improvements identified in policies in Chapter 8 'Transport Infrastructure' and Policy G7 'Strategic Paths for Countryside Recreation'. The Council may also seek contributions for the maintenance of new facilities provided for an agreed period.

 

15.21 Supplementary Planning Guidance Note 'Ensuring Choice of Travel' sets out more detail about how the minimum level of accessibility can be achieved. It also provides guidance on:

 

• accessibility of different areas by public transport;

   

• areas and/or routes for cycling and pedestrian and access improvements. Other initiatives which will be taken into consideration in the assessment of a proposal (e.g. Safe Routes to School, area traffic calming, Controlled Parking Zones);

   

• Green Travel Plans.

   

Implementation

15.22 This policy will be implemented through the development control process and through the Supplementary Planning Guidance outlined above.

 

Sustainability Appraisal

No change to policy as design standards for new or improved provision will be covered in Supplementary Planning Guidance Notes.

 

Policy Links

AD4 Green Travel Plans.

 

Background Documents

Planning Policy Guidance Note 13 'Transport', 2001; 'Merseyside Local Transport Plan', 2000.

 

Explanation

15.23 Transport Assessments are necessary for large development proposals in order to demonstrate that travel demand is met in a manner which:

 

• gives access by all means of transport following the order of priority set out in Policy AD2 above;

   

• limits the harm from traffic on safety, noise and air pollution and on the environment or local amenity; and

   

• ensures safe and easy access for all users.

   

15.24 How significant the harmful effect on road safety and any increase in pollution or noise are, depends on the combination of the size of the impact and the importance of the issue affected. Road safety will be very important next to a primary school for example.

 

15.25 Development above the thresholds outlined in Figure 15.2 and/or which impact on the Trunk Road Network, for which the Highways Agency is the Highway Authority, will be required to consult the Highways Agency about the Transport Assessment at the earliest opportunity. This is in line with the Memorandum of Understanding agreed between the Highways Agency, the Merseyside Local Authorities and Merseytravel (the ‘Partners’) which seeks to reduce the delay in assessing applications in the Strategic Investment Areas (SIAs), including the Atlantic Gateway SIA, which affect the trunk road network.

 

15.26 Supplementary Planning Guidance Note 'Ensuring Choice of Travel' sets out more detailed guidance about the content, process and other requirements of Transport Assessments.

 

Implementation

15.27 This policy will be implemented through the development control process and the Supplementary Planning Guidance outlined above.

 

Sustainability Appraisal

Policy not changed as explanation and links now state the purpose of the policy.

 

Policy Links

AD2 Ensuring Choice of Travel;
AD4 Green Travel Plans.

 

 

Explanation

15.28 Green Travel Plans aim to reduce the numbers of journeys needed where possible, and to encourage choice and use of sustainable means of transport to development sites. This includes, for example, car sharing, working from home, awareness raising campaigns or subsidised public transport season tickets for employees.

 

15.29 This is particularly important for the types of development listed in the policy, and where a development proposal does not initially achieve the minimum level of accessibility required under policy AD2 'Ensuring Choice of Travel'.

 

15.30 Green Travel Plans may be submitted before the planning application is considered, or at a later stage. Implementation is likely to be phased over a number of years, and this should be agreed with the Council before building works start (or, for changes of use, before the development is occupied).

 

15.31 Green Travel Plans must include targets, monitoring methods and timescales. Where these targets are not achieved the developer will be required to fund previously agreed alternatives which achieve the minimum level of accessibility^G. This too may form part of the planning conditions or legal agreement.

 

15.32 Major non-residential developments are defined by the thresholds for Transport Assessments set out in figure 15.2. Local initiatives may include 'Safer Routes to School'³ or traffic management in residential areas for example. Local traffic problems are usually identified through survey or investigation where a problem has been noted.

 

15.33 The Supplementary Planning Guidance Note ‘Ensuring Choice of Travel' sets out more information about Green Travel Plans.

 

Implementation

15.34 This policy will be implemented through the development control process and the above Supplementary Planning Guidance.

 

Sustainability Appraisal

Policy not changed as information on content of Green Travel Plans will be set out in the Supplementary Planning Guidance Note ‘Ensuring Choice of Travel'.

 

Policy Links

AD2 Ensuring Choice of Travel,
AD3 Transport Assessments

 

15.35 The Primary Route Network consists of:

 

• the Highways Agency’s motorways and strategic core trunk roads (M57, M58 and A5036)

   

• the remainder of the Highways Agency’s trunk road network (A570; and A59 between Switch Island and the boundary with West Lancashire DC);

   

• ‘A’ roads managed and maintained by Sefton Council (A565; A5058; A5207 and A59 Switch Island to the boundary with Liverpool City Council)

   

15.36 An assessment of the development’s impact on the trunk road network and the remainder of the primary route network will need to be undertaken in the transport assessment which is required to be submitted for development which may affect these routes (see Policy AD3 ‘Transport Assessments’). Contributions sought for mitigation measures necessary to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the trunk road network will be assessed against:

 

• the development’s impact on the trunk road network from 15 years of the occupation of the development; and

   

• the proposed improvement measures for the trunk road network identified via the Memorandum of Understanding between the Highways Agency and the Merseyside Local Authorities (see paragraph 15.25)

   

Implementation

This policy will be implemented through the development control process.

 

Sustainability Appraisal

No changes needed.

 

Policy Links

AD3 ‘Transport Assessments’;
EDT3 ‘Strategic Employment Sites in the Dunnings Bridge Corridor’;
AD2 ‘Ensuring Choice of Travel’;
T4 ‘Safeguarding the Public Transport Network’;
T6 ‘Freight Distribution Network’.

 

Background Documents

‘A New Deal for Trunk Roads in England’ DETR 1998

 

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¹ Southport and Bootle Central Areas and all District and Local Centres are shown on the Proposals Map

 

² As defined by the Town and Country Planning Use Classes (Amendments) Order 2005

 

³ Safer routes to Schools schemes is a package of educational and/or physical measures to promote travel to school by walking and cycling. In particular it addresses road safety and personal security concerns

 

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