Section 9: Transport and Accessibility

Issue DM26: Sustainable Transport Management

Issue
Transport in Southend-on-Sea plays a key role in supporting economic growth, reducing carbon emissions, promoting equality of opportunity and improving the quality of life and health. Better safety and security and the quality of public spaces have been strongly promoted in Southend-on-Sea, particularly as part of key regeneration schemes. Mobility management policies supporting ‘smarter choices’ reduce the reliance upon the car and encourage more sustainable modes of transport including cycling, walking and public transport. Reducing congestion and ensuring better accessibility to employment and housing developments follows on from this and at the same time new development should be located in areas which are accessible by non-car modes and which reduce the overall need to travel.

Context
The Southend-on-Sea Local Transport Plan 2 (2006 – 2011) (LTP2) seeks to secure a 'step change' in transport provision and service to deliver quality integrated facilities, improved accessibility and the long term sustainability of Southend-on-Sea necessary to achieving the town's potential for regeneration and growth to provide for a vibrant and prosperous coastal town and a regional centre of cultural and intellectual excellence.

LTP2 is currently being updated and an Issues and Options consultation on LTP3 (2011 – 2016) is scheduled for 2010. The Development Management DPD preparation will be updated to take account of the emerging issues and options in LTP3 as they are developed.

The LTP2 objectives seek to tackle congestion by: the more efficient use of road capacity; providing for quality public transport; placing greater emphasis on travel plans and 'smarter choices' of travel; and improving conditions for cyclists, pedestrians and motorists with the aim of reducing the need to travel.

LTP2’s vision for accessibility draws on the need to contribute to the Council’s wider vision and objectives set by the Community Plan. The focus is to maximise accessibility to employment, healthcare, education, leisure and shopping for all and particularly the most socially-excluded sections of the population. A series of ‘environmental rooms’ and distributors were identified by the Integrated Transport Partnership during the development of LTP1 and these were continued through to LTP2. Distributors are the main roads in the town whose principal function is to distribute traffic. Accessibility is a priority on these routes and the aim is to keep obstructions on these routes to a minimum. Environmental rooms are the areas bounded by these distributor roads, within which the quality of the local environment has priority.

Southend-on-Sea is a designated ‘cycle town’ with secured funding from Cycling England. A new network of cycle routes are in place and under construction. Linking with the Thames Gateway South Essex Green Grid (Parklands), the cycle network, walking corridors and greenways all take advantage of quiet areas created by the ‘environmental rooms’ to provide safe and enhanced routes. New and improved cycle and pedestrian crossing facilities are and will be developed on busier corridors to ensure that safe links are provided between residential, employment, tourism and educational areas. Improvements to the quality of life by creating a better environment that encourages greater levels of safety, public transport usage, walking and cycling, now has greater significance in terms of regeneration and streetscene. All LTP2 seeks schemes link the walking and cycling network and public transport facilities across the borough to make non-car modes safe and more attractive alternatives.

The Council seeks to deliver improvements to the borough’s air quality through measures which: encourage use of sustainable modes; reduce the need to travel, especially by car; and reduce the amount of queuing traffic thereby reducing the emission rates associated with idling vehicles.

‘Smarter choices’ will be encouraged in developments. ‘Smarter choices’ are techniques for influencing people's travel behaviour towards more sustainable options such as encouraging school, workplace and individualised travel planning. They also seek to improve public transport and marketing services such as travel awareness campaigns, supporting car clubs and encouraging flexible working.

Development Plan Policy Linkage

Relevant Southend-on-Sea Borough Local Plan Saved Policies

Policy T8: Traffic Management and Highway Safety
Policy T13: Cycling and walking
Policy T14: Public Transport

Issue DM27: Vehicle Parking Standards

Issue
Core Strategy Development Plan Document Policy CP3 states that all development will need to reduce sole reliance on the car for accessibility. Parking over-provision will reverse the aim to switch from using a car to more sustainable modes. Under-provision may induce a beneficial mode switch but could also introduce operational difficulties, amenity and safety impacts resulting from additional parking in inappropriate locations. The availability of parking has a major influence on the choice of transport.

Context
The East of England Plan makes provision for 13,000 new jobs and 6,000 additional dwellings in Southend-on-Sea by 2021. This is likely to generate a need for circa 8,000 private non-residential parking spaces and 9,500 new private off street spaces.

In order to meet the future parking need in the borough a number of modifications to the current (EPOA) parking standards are proposed. These proposed changes take account of the standards applied across the region, the scale of growth being forecast, the different transport characteristics that apply across the area and the need to attract developer contributions. The concept of having no minimum parking standards should be maintained, provided that a clear mechanism is established to attract developer contributions. The aim to encourage shared use of space within mixed use development should be maintained as should the adoption of ‘composite’ parking standards to accommodate staff, visitor and non-HGV operational needs. It is considered that some flexibility in the application of standards with larger, staged developments would be appropriate, particularly in cases of economic regeneration. In summary, the justification for the proposed modifications are as follows:

• The use classes chosen for parking standards modification make up the significant majority of all likely development activity;
• The scale of development envisaged in the borough is substantial and if achieved would add significant traffic flows to an already congested road network;
• Applying tighter standards to some non-residential developments should reduce the rate of traffic growth;
• Differential parking standards would apply across the area which recognise the different parking and public transport characteristics of the inner (town centre) and outer areas;
• Increasing the flexibility in the application of residential parking standards recognises the highly varied site constraints, commercial and marketing realities and the importance of influencing car use rather than car ownership; and
• It provides an opportunity to clarify the position with respect to developer contributions.

These standards will be kept under review during the Development Management DPD production process and will take account of any recommendations set out in the forthcoming LTP3.

Development Plan Policy Linkage

Relevant Southend-on-Sea Borough Local Plan Saved Policies

Policy T10: Town Centre Parking (on-street)
Policy T11: Parking Standards
Policy T16: Commuter Car Parking