In-depth guidance for highways development

Guidance 1: Developments must meet their own transport needs. Development should be located to support sustainable transport choices and minimise negative impacts on existing transport networks.

Guidance 2: Developments must ensure their residual cumulative impacts1 are not severe, taking into account current and future network conditions, and any mitigation proposed.

Guidance 3: Developments should minimise their transport impact, which may be achieved by providing new or improved transport infrastructure, services, and information.

Guidance 4: Developments should reduce the need for single occupancy car travel by encouraging walking and cycling and public transport use.

Guidance 5: Developments must provide safe and suitable access for all modes of transport and all members of the community. Developers should protect the safe and convenient use of the highway.

Guidance 6: Developments should prioritise the use of environmentally, economically and socially sustainable design, materials and construction methods.

Guidance 7: Developments should be accessible to all members of the community.

Guidance 8: Developments should contribute to creating attractive areas, with a sense of place. This is an important part of encouraging walking, cycling and public transport use.

Guidance 9: Buckinghamshire Council will consider all proposals against the relevant policy and guidance.

Guidance 10: Developments should prioritise the access needs of all types of pedestrians, people on bikes and public transport users.

Guidance 11: Developments should be well connected to existing infrastructure, services and facilities – contributing to an open and interconnected network. They should protect or enhance strategic cycling, walking and public transport networks (and infrastructure) to, and where possible, through development sites. Developers should provide on-site facilities for cyclists in accordance with the Countywide Parking Standards.

Guidance 12: Developers should ensure their proposals safeguard the existing Public Rights of Way network.

Guidance 13: Designers may use existing alignments and should consider enhancements where possible to improve site accessibility.

Guidance 14: Developers should consider creating new Public Rights of Way to improve connections to and within their site, or to enhance the existing network. To help deliver Guidance 5 and provide safe and suitable access for all modes of transport:

Guidance 15: New or altered accesses must: meet all operational requirements; be designed and constructed in accordance with the relevant design guidance; and fulfil all standards contained in this document, as applicable.

Guidance 16: Developments should be accessible to all and permeable by all modes of transport, with priority given to people walking and on bikes.

Guidance 17: Developers should produce streets which result in appropriate traffic speeds.

Guidance 18: Developers should make suitable arrangements for access by large vehicles. This includes goods, emergency and waste collection vehicles for delivery, servicing and drop- off. Developers should show the swept path of vehicles on proposed new infrastructure. This should include the largest vehicles expected to access the area.

Guidance 19: Developments should prioritise Sustainable Drainage Systems wherever practicable. This includes within the new development, around new infrastructure and on alterations to the existing public highway.

Guidance 20: Developers must demonstrate that they provide appropriate parking, according to Buckinghamshire Council’s guidance set out in the Buckinghamshire Countywide Parking Guidance and local planning policy

Guidance 21: Planning applications including those for new homes, commercial and community uses, that require Travel Plans should develop and implement a proportionate, robust and effective Travel Plan. It should be in accordance with national guidance and Buckinghamshire Council’s ‘Sustainable Travel Plans: Guidelines for Developers’.

Guidance 22: Buckinghamshire Council requires developers to contribute to the cost of its work to assist development and support of sustainable travel promotions and travel plans. The fees charged are set out in our ‘Sustainable Travel Plans: Guidelines for Developers’ document and secured by Section 106 agreements. To help deliver Guidance 2 and ensure developments’ residual cumulative impacts are not severe, taking into account any mitigation:

Guidance 23: All planning applications for major developments (as defined in Table 2) should be accompanied by a Transport Assessment. Where appropriate, smaller developments should be accompanied by a Transport Statement. The impact of new development on the transport network should be assessed against other planning policies and transport standards.

Guidance 24: All planning applications for major developments must assess the cumulative impact of the new development taking into account committed and planned developments as agreed with the Highway Development Management team. Where appropriate, smaller developments will also be required to complete a similar assessment.

Guidance 25: Developers should provide appropriate mitigation to: - achieve safe and suitable access by all transport modes and - ensure the residual cumulative impact of the development is not severe.

Guidance 26: Proposed alterations to the highway must be shown to be safe, suitable and to meet operational requirements or appropriately augment existing transport infrastructure (e.g. existing bus stops to have a Real Time Passenger Information facility)

Guidance 27: Developments should minimise their highway impact during construction and accord with any Construction Management Plan. Major developments or those in the vicinity to sensitive routes should provide a Construction Management Plan, including details of how impacts on the highway will be kept to a minimum.

Guidance 28: Applications must carry out a Stage 1 Road Safety Audit for alterations that might:

• materially alter the existing highway
• affect road user behaviour, or
• worsen the outcome of a collision.

Where a Stage 1 Road Safety Audit has been undertaken developments will then be expected to complete further Stage 2 to 4 Audits at the appropriate points.

Guidance 29: Developments should minimise and repair any damage to the highway caused during construction in line with the provisions of existing legislation.

Guidance 30: Developments should provide routeing details and if required a routeing agreement where:

• they generate significant HGV movements, or
• do not access the network from Strategic Routes, or
• goods vehicle traffic needs to avoid identified traffic sensitive areas

Guidance 31: Developers must fund the maintenance of new assets related to their development in accordance with Buckinghamshire Council’s commuted sums guidance.