Agenda item

Hannah Joyce, Head of Transport Strategy & Funding, Planning, Growth and Sustainability, Buckinghamshire Council.

Hannah Joyce (Head of Transport Strategy & Funding, Planning, Growth and Sustainability), gave a presentation to the LAF giving an overview of the Local Transport Plan (LTP), which was a statutory requirement of the Transport Act (2000), setting out the long-term priorities for transport across Buckinghamshire. The slides from her presentation would be appended to the Minutes of the meeting.

The LTP was being developed in tandem with the Buckinghamshire Local Plan, which outlined where future housing, retail and commercial units would be located in Buckinghamshire. It was hoped that this approach would create a better LTP, with future developments in mind.

The LTP would be supported by both a 5-10 year implementation plan, outlining what would be delivered through the LTP, with estimated finish dates, and an evidence base informed by feedback from engagement with relevant highways, public transport, planning teams and members.

The Department for Transport (DfT) would provide guidance for the development of the new LTP, facilitating a move away from the 'predict and provide' approach in the current LTP (last updated in 2009) which necessitated forecasting of future traffic and transport requirements based on current usage, and towards a vision led approach, which enabled the LTP to outline what Buckinghamshire Council want Buckinghamshire’s transport to look like in the future and how this could be achieved. DfT had made clear that future government funding would be dependent on having an LTP in place, and it remained a key goal to quantifiably reduce carbon emissions as part of the new plan.

It was recognised that the rural nature of large parts of Buckinghamshire meant that car dependency remained high, and this would be accounted for in the LTP. Efforts would be made to mitigate the negative impacts of car travel on communities through targeted investment on congestion hotspots and key corridors, ensuring through-traffic was routed away from residential areas. It was also recognised that social isolation was worsening in rural areas, where those dependent on public transport were affected by underdeveloped links between key social spaces and towns. A lot of time had been spent lobbying to address this issue, and responsive transport systems were being trialled in the High Wycombe and Aylesbury areas, which could be adopted and expanded if they were shown to be effective.

A consultation had been launched to take feedback on the three key objectives for the new LTP, which were as follows:

Connecting Our Economy

·       Minimising congestion

·       Delivering faster connections into London/Midlands/Southeast

·       Sustainable travel options into town centres and high streets, visitor attractions and leisure facilities, Enterprise Zones and key employment centres.

·       Ensure developers forward fund and deliver transport infrastructure.

Decarbonising our Transport System

·       Ensuring that new developments are walkable and cyclable.

·       Reducing the need to travel through improved digital connections.

·       Improve buses, demand responsive services, taxis, e-scooters and e-bikes services.

·       Improve safety for walkers and cyclists over shorter journeys.

·       Promote alternative fuels.

·       Prepare highway network for climate change impacts.

·       Increase biodiversity within the highway network.

Building Places for People

·       Keeping traffic away from residential/community areas and high streets.

·       Improving traffic flow with optimised traffic signals.

·       Exploring policies such as emissions-based parking management.

·       Build walking and cycling-friendly neighbourhoods.

The LTP would be supplemented by 'modal specific' documents that would contain more information regarding specific aspects of the plan, such as the Buckinghamshire local cycling/walking plan and the Greenway scheme.

Councillor S Broadbent explained that the LTP had an earlier deadline than the Buckinghamshire Local Plan. Therefore, whilst there was intention to develop the two in tandem, there was forecast to be a point of departure depending on the progress made in finalising the Buckinghamshire Local Plan by the time the LTP was submitted to Government.

Hannah expressed hope that by-passes and link roads would be effective as part of the plan to reduce traffic congestion in town centres.

In response to a question about maintenance costs of footpaths, Councillor S Broadbent confirmed that the cost burden remained high, but was ultimately the responsibility of the highway authority in the case of built footways. £2 million had been budgeted for footpath repairs and an extra £5 million had been used for road resurfacing following last winter. Parish Councils would be able to help where footpaths had become overgrown, and further conversations would be held regarding the maintenance costs of footpaths when the new highway arrangement structure came into effect later in the summer.

Hannah confirmed that the response to the consultation had been good, though 75% of respondents were aged over 55, with the younger generation particularly difficult to reach. The respondents identified decarbonisation as the most important of the key priorities moving forward.

Members thanked Hannah for her time and presentation.