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Policy DM17: Transport and Access in New Developments
This policy deals with promoting sustainable growth and sets outs measures to reduce the impact of traffic congestion from new development. As well as requiring new developments not to result in a significant impact on air quality or an Air Quality Management Area, incorporating electric vehicle charging points where appropriate and ensuring that they provide cycle storage and promote pedestrian and cycle sustainability, the policy also requires that new developments have safe and convenient access to public transport within 400m, and facilitate its use through the provision of services, infrastructure and/or tickets where required.
Gladman has concerns that the current wording of this requirement takes too narrow an approach to sustainability, one based on simple distances to services, in this case public transport. Gladman believe that this is an outdated approach to understanding sustainability and does not take into account changes in people's lifestyles, the increase in levels of homeworking and the availability of an increasing range of services online and via home delivery, which are all serving to change people's travel patterns.
Gladman believes the wording of this policy should be amended to introduce an element of flexibility to make clear that whilst the distance specified should be a consideration, it should be weighted in the planning balance against the positive benefits of a particular scheme when determining the acceptability of development proposals.
The policy also requires that new development not result in a significant impact on the highway network. Gladman would draw attention to paragraph 32 of the Framework which states that "Development should only be prevented or refused on transport grounds where the residual cumulative impacts of development are severe" (my emphasis) rather than 'significant'. This part of the policy should be amended to ensure it is in line with the Framework.