Agenda item

To consider a report of the Principal Transport Planner.

At the request of the committee, a report of the Principal Transport Planner was received to provide a review of the adopted Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset Local Transport Plan (LTP3).  The report provided statistical evidence for the performance indicators in the LTP covering the period from 2017 and highlighted the main transport interventions that had been implemented and provided a financial overview.  The committee was invited to review the achievements of LTP3 and provide comments which would be considered during planning for LTP4.

Councillors provided comments on LTP3 in the following areas:

·       Funding issues were considered and a request made for comparisons to be made with other local authorities in the south west region.  Information provided in the report would also be checked

·       A request was made to the Portfolio for Highways, Travel and Environment to ask Government to provide incremental funding year on year in order to improve the amount of funding received overall by Dorset Council

·       Links between highways and planning - constraints on spatial and strategic planning and connecting the road infrastructure.  A comment was made that it was cost prohibitive to the Council and developer contributions and that there was a need for Government funding in order to achieve the housing numbers demanded by Government.  There also needed to be consideration of connectivity between dormitory villages and towns and the locations for development

·       Road safety issues were noted and a point raised as to how improvements with new technology in car safety were being taken into consideration in planning for the future LTP and potential highways improvements.  The Council was engaging with the Department for Transport on these issues.  Lessons could be learnt from LTP3 moving forwards

·       Use of data on incidents on roads and a request that the Police be asked to share additional information on near misses and non-injury data with the Council so that officers could undertake analysis and gain learning in respect of how the road system was designed and signed

·       An additional request for the Police to be asked to provide information to the Council to allow analysis to be undertaken by officers to compare levels of visitor versus residents’ incidents

·       Information to be provided in the report to the Place and Resources Overview Committee in July with regard to the link between increased numbers of 20mph zones, how this could affect levels of carbon emissions and the impact on LTP4

·       Bus services - points noted around difficulties with getting accurate bus use figures, the implications of the £2 bus fare cap and levels of satisfaction being lower in Dorset, were recognised as challenges, particularly in rural parts of Dorset

·       The implications for LTP4 of lost funding from the European Union needed to be understood and information to be provided as part of the process for planning for LTP4

·       A request to investigate opportunities for facilitating the night-time movement of exceptional convoys as part of planning for LTP4

·       A point was noted as to whether former rail networks could be utilised to improve rail connectivity as part of LTP4.

The above points would be taken into consideration by officers and the Portfolio Holder during planning for LTP4 and information provided as relevant to the Place and Resources Overview Committee for the meeting on 27 July 2023.

Other points were raised as follows:

·       There was a need to consider the level of highways related information provided with planning applications.  The Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment noted that he would provide an update to the committee at an appropriate time.

·       There were links to the Grid Capacity review to be undertaken by the committee.