Buckinghamshire County Council Survey on transport & travel of impact of new developments

Development Management Policy Consultation

With thanks to Jim Conway of the Chesham Society for directing us to this:

Re:  https://democracy.buckscc.gov.uk/mgConsultationDisplay.aspx?ID=3290 

Bucks County Council are holding a consultation around their draft ‘Development Management Policy: Managing the transport and travel impact of new developments'.  The aims of the Policy which confusingly appears to consist of 31 separate (sub)policies is to to make sure that growth happens in the right way. Its policies will inform new developments and ensure they meet Buckinghamshire’s needs. It provides developers with the information they need to prepare successful proposals in Buckinghamshire.  

As Jim describes on the Chesham Society website:  A checklist for developers to follow, to "ensure their residual cumulative (transport) impacts are not severe" - which seems a fairly modest objective.

The Policy states;  Transport Assessments and Statements can be used to establish whether the residual transport impacts of a proposed development are likely to be “severe”, which may be a reason for refusal, in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework. (p24)

I think this draft policy is good news for us as I cannot see what mitigation could reasonably be put in place that would positively impact Chesham's transport challenges should they decide to build 900 homes on Green Belt Preferred Option #1 to the North East of Chesham.  Any Transport Assessment and Statement saying otherwise should probably be seriously challenged.  

That said I would like to have seen a clause in the Policy that could take retrospective action against developers for empty promises or unforeseen negative traffic & parking impacts that were not forecasted in their Transport Statements and Assessments.  This may help reduce the cavalier approach displayed some of the larger developers who pay lip service to their Statements or make unrealistic assumptions like expecting residents to cycle or walk up Nashleigh Hill or White Hill.

It is worth taking the time to fill out the very short survey.  Not least to tell them how inadequate the survey is to provide feedback on a 31-policy document.  ​The consultation will be open until 25th September 2017 and your responses will contribute to the final draft of the policy which the Council will consider for adoption later in the year.