Section 7 - Sustainable Transport Management

Policy DM16 – Sustainable Transport Management

(1) 7.1 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. Sustainable transport management will provide a number of benefits that contribute towards to sustainable development such as:

• Reducing emissions to air, improving local air quality and contribution to climate change;
• Improving health through better air quality and making walking and cycling an attractive option;
• Helping equitable access to services for all, not putting those who cannot or do not own a car at a disadvantage; and
• Reducing congestion on the road from car travel can have benefits for the economy.

Transport Choices

7.2 The Southend-on-Sea Local Transport Plan (LTP) in line with national transport policy seeks to reduce the need to travel and to broaden the number travel options available. Consequently development should be located in areas which are accessible by non-car modes and which reduce the overall need to travel.

7.3 Development provides opportunities to make significant improvements to the road network as well as providing suitable alternatives to car based travel. The availability of safe, coherent and easy to use footpaths and cycle routes can have a significant impact on people’s choice of transport mode. Developments should also facilitate opportunities for people to use public transport both for local journeys and to access the wider public transport network.

Smarter Choice Measures

7.4 The Southend-on-Sea LTP seeks to tackle congestion through placing greater emphasis on travel plans and incorporation of 'smarter choice' measures. ‘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. Applicants will need to agree appropriate ‘smarter choice’ measures with the Council prior to a planning application submission. A Travel Plan and arrangements for its monitoring will be required for any proposal where the Council considers it necessary, based on the potential individual or cumulative impact of the proposal in the area.

Parking

7.5 The demand for travel in Southend-on-Sea is expected to continually increase as result of the regeneration proposals programmed within the town and as a result of changing lifestyle choices. Managing car parking space provision can actively encourage more sustainable choices to be made in respect to the need to travel and the choice of mode.

7.6 The Parking Review 2011 highlights that although maximum parking standards in residential areas has restricted the amount of parking available, the ownership of cars has not reduced and consequently developments have a number of parking pressures. In addition, due to the interrelationship between Southend and its neighbouring districts both in terms of travel to work patterns and shopping and leisure trips it is considered important that a consistent approach to vehicle parking standards is adopted across the sub region. The EPOA Parking Standards 2009 set out a mix of standards for all development. Applying the EPOA Parking Standards, where appropriate, would enable the Borough Council to provide clarity and certainly for developers and residents within the Borough. The Design and Townscape Guide 2009 provides further guidance on the technical specifications in respect to the design and layout of parking areas.

7.7 In town centres the maximum level of provision for residential car parking is more appropriate. This recognises that town centres are better provided with public transport options and have services and facilities within walking distance making sustainable travel choices a realistic alternative for many people.

7.8 Garages are often an important feature of a residential development and are multi-functional in that they are used for both car parking and general storage. As cited in Policy DM8 appropriate storage space is an important component of modern living and sustainable development. Garages therefore need to be large enough to accommodate a modern, family sized car and some storage. Garages that have an internal dimension below 7.0m x 3.0m will not be considered or counted as a parking space as this level is considered the minimum to accommodate an average sized family car and bikes.