South East Forum For Sustainability

Archive for the ‘Transport’ Category

Update to post 28/01/2011 (more updates will follow as information becomes available) – Please check the: LTP3 South East Update spreadsheet for details of consultations happening in your area. This has been updated to include a column to show whether Delivering a Sustainable Transport System (DaSTS) prinicple have been used in the LTP objectives. The Implementation Plan (IP) column shows whether an IP has been prepared, the other columns will be further updated when the LTPs have been reviewed to check if these issues (e.g. Big Society, Peak Oil, CO2 etc  have been considered. Further updates will be posted once SEFS Transport Group has completed this review.

A Friends of the Earth briefing on LTPs can be found here.
 
Extracts from four existing documents are presented in this LTP3 advice summary. For context it is recommended that you read the full versions using the web page references outlined in the document.
1.  Cycling: a local transport solution
2.  Promote public health: take action on active travel
3.  Local Transport Plan activist training days September 2009
4.  Oxfordshire Active Travel Strategy

You can also track the current progress of LTP3s in your area using this LTP3 South East December 2010 document.

You were stunned by Local Transport Plans I, amazed by Local Transport Plans II now be horrified by Local Transport Plans III!

But seriously folks, you may or may not be aware but your local council is currently working out how transport systems in your area will look beyond 2011.

So what is a Local Transport Plan (LTP): 

1. Supporting economic growth
2. Tackling climate change
3. Contributing to better safety, security and health
4. Promoting equality of opportunity
5. Improving quality of life and a healthy natural environment

There is obviously great scope in them (though it is not mandatory) to help in reducing carbon emissions and encouraging travel by foot, bike and public transport.

The process with in  local authorities is starting now (a spreadsheet of where councils are in the development of their plans will be coming to this article shortly but that information should be available on your local council website) but there is no need to wait for the consultations to comment. A group in Oxfordshire got together and  proactively drew up their thoughts in the Oxfordshire Active Travel Strategy on how their LTP should look. You could do the same.

More information on LTPs and how to influence them can be found on the CTC website and also in a detailed briefing from Friends of the Earth

 We’ll also be adding more on the SEFS website as and when it is available.

Article Courtesy of AirportWatch

Eureka ! Gatwick Airport has outlined its 10-year green plan, including a bid to cut its carbon emissions by 50% by 2020, compared to 2009 levels. (That of course ignores the airport’s intentions to grow from 32 – 40 million passengers per year … massively increasing carbon emissions). The airport has all sorts of good intentions like reducing waste sent to landfill, composting out-of-date products, coffee grounds and peelings, using less energy and less water: “For example, we are in the process of upgrading the lighting in both of our terminals with low voltage equivalents and we have installed passenger sensors on our travelators and escalators, allowing operation to cease when not in use”. Remarkably it is even being applauded by the Carbon Trust for doing this, as they don’t seem to have appreciated the increased emissions from the flights ….. heigh ho !

Campaigners have been calling for the decision to grant planning permission to Lydd airport to be taken to public inquiry. GOSE is currently considering this request but won’t now make a announcement until the end of June.  So watch this space.

You will probably have heard about the very welcome ruling by Lord Justice Carnwath at the High Court on Friday 26th March, on the Government’s plans to build a third runway at Heathrow.  Getting the Judicial Review was a tremendous achievement by all the organisations, and local authorities, involved.
The judgement means that the Climate Change Act 2008 must now be taken into account in consideration of projects that will cause the emission of large amounts of carbon.  It also means the Air Transport White Paper 2003 is out of date.
The ruling is very important, because of its implications beyond Heathrow.  Below is a summary of the key points arising from the Heathrow judgement.

Heathrow Victory in the High Court

- An Assessment by John Stewart, (Chairman of Hacan and of AirportWatch)

The Third Runway has not yet been dropped but the ruling in the High Court of Lord Justice Carnwath is hugely significant not just for Heathrow but for airport expansion across the country.

The ruling
He said that that the decision by the Government in January 2009 to give BAA the green light to draw up detailed plans for a third runway could not, in law, be regarded as a policy decision because it failed to take full account of policy developments in the areas of climate change and economics since the Air Transport White Paper was published in 2003.  The Government had admitted that it was the 2003 White Paper which framed the decision.  He also found that the Government had done insufficient work on how the increased number of passengers could be accommodated on the roads and railways to warrant the third terminal being given the green light.

Wider implications for other airport campaigns
It is, however, the finding around the White Paper that has most significance for both Heathrow and for expansion proposals at other airports.  The White Paper is Government policy.  As such all the expansion proposals at airports in the UK are based on it.  Until now the White Paper has not been able to be challenged at public enquiries because it was Government policy.

The Aviation White Paper killed off
This ruling changes all that.  The judge has ruled that the White Paper is out-of-date because it does not take account of crucial developments in policy in the fields of climate change and economics.  The White Paper is no longer ‘the bible’ campaigners cannot challenge.

Government reaction
The Government says that it will take account of new policy developments when drawing up its National Policy Statement in aviation, expected in 2009.  If Labour is still in power, we wait to see what will emerge.  But until then all expansion proposals based in the White Paper can be challenged.

A very significant judgment
The respected environment journalist, Geoffrey Lean, writing in the Daily Telegraph, has said that the judgment may be even more significant than that.  He is arguing that the effect of the ruling is that the Government is required to take into account the latest policy developments on climate change with regard to any new carbon-emitting development.

The future of a third runway
The future of the third runway?  The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have pledged to scrap it if they are in power after the forthcoming General Election.  This ruling makes it a lot more difficult for a Labour Government to proceed with it.

Click here for the full High Court ruling and for Sunday Times coverage of the High Court Decision

DEADLINE FOR ACTION 24th MARCH

Earlier this  month, against officer recommendation, councillors in Shepway decided to approve the expansion of Lydd Airport.

SEFS members have long campaigned against these proposals which were orgininally put forward in 2006. Apart from the concerns related to the impact of expanding aviation not just here but across the whole of the region there is concer that an increased number of flights will add to the already wide- ranging damaging effects on the local, as well as the global environment.

Added to this the area is a unquie wildlife treasure and international designated site.

Councillors weren’t just advised by officers to reject the proposal the decision also flies in the face of recommendations from Natural England as well as legal and policy requirements.

There is still time to take action and ask for the proposal to be considered at public inquiry. You can write or email Jennie Gilks at Government Office for the South East with the request including the point outlined below.
email – Please ask for the Lydd Aiport proposals agreed by Shepway District Council on 3rd March to be called in for a Public Inquiry as the decision:

Email: Jennie.gilks,
address: Sustainable Communities Directorate
Planning Casework Manager (Surrey and Kent)
Government Office for the South East
Bridge House, 1 Walnut Tree Close
Guildford, GU1 4GA

• Conflicts with UK and EU law – When councillors decided to approve the airport expansion plans, they did not fulfil their legal requirement to properly consult Natural England.
• Is a regional, national and international controversy – An expanded airport at Lydd risks adversely affecting internationally protected wildlife sites.  Therefore, approving the plans to expand Lydd Airport would clearly be controversial regionally, nationally and in a European context.
• Has wider impacts – By its nature, the airport’s expansion is bound to have impacts outside the immediate locality.  These will include the likely damage to both the SPA and SAC, increases in road traffic and noise, and the impact that the increased emission of greenhouse gases will have on climate change.

More information about Lydd can be found on the RSPB website and about SEFS position on aviation expansion in our special airport expansion position paper

Over the last 5 years the transport choices of inhabitants in three english towns have been under intense scrutiny. In 2004 Peterborough, Darlington and Worchester were chosen to be Transport Demonstration Towns. The aim of the TDTs was to develop ways of changing people’s mode of travel persuading them out of the car and on to public transport, bicycle and foot.

5 years later as a result of implementing things like work place, school and personal travel planning, promoting public tansport, walking and cycling and running travel awareness campaign, all three towns have reduced car trips by between 7-9%. Cycling trips have increased by between 26-30% and walking trips by 10-13%. 

In addition to reducing the number of cars on the road, there have been both actual and percieved benefits in relation to economic growth, carbon dioxide emissions, air quality, health, equality of opportunity and general quality of live. The schemes have also delivered value for money.

As a result consultants analysing the success of the TDTs  have concluded – in the recent report Effects of Smarter Choice Programes in Sustainable Transport Towns  ”that the experience in the three Sustainable Travel Towns (and elsewhere) is now sufficient to justify widespread development and delivery of town-based Smarter Choice Programmes. There would also be great merit in piloting of new initiatives, to apply the principles of travel behaviour change to medium and long-distance journeys and to travel in rural areas, and to focus more intensively on travel for work.’

Following on from this the Government has just published it’s Active Travel Strategy which aims to put walking and cycling at the heart of local transport and  health strategies over the next decade.

Both these documents will prove while your Local Transport Plan is being developed to see where your council is in the LTP3 process read the more detailed article here.

Friends of the Earth, Campaign for Better Transport, CPRE, CTC and Living Streets have this week published a manifesto asking the future government to commit to a better more cost effective transport system.

The manifesto sets out recommendations which ensure that our transport system:

Provides sustainable jobs
Tackles climate change
Increases opportunities
Improves people’s health and quality of life
Connects communities

Stephen Joseph  (executive director of the Campaign for Better Transport)  said: “This manifesto is about practical and affordable changes that can be made to improve everyday transport, giving people more choice in how they get about and making alternatives to cars easier and cheaper to use.”

ABP's site for Dibden Bay Port

Back in 2004 (after a 7 year campaign), Didben Bay was saved from the clutches of ABP. The then Secretary of State commented that “Overall, the Secretary of State agrees with the Inspector that the disbenefits of the scheme, as borne out by its impact on internationally and nationally environmentally sensitive sites, outweigh the potential benefits.”

Alas the nature of big business is to pursue it’s plans and ABP want to set out Southampton Port as a contender for the forecast growth in marine trade. So once more the site is under threat.

To this end ABP has launched a new consultation on the future of the Port. The consultation will run until 13th November. There will be two public exhibitions held at the Southampton Civic Centre on 11 September and in Hythe on 15 September.

Aware that development was on the cards the original Residents Against Dibden Bay Port campaign group has been revived to keep a watching brief. In their view nothing has changed in the new plans make a future proposal by ABP acceptable. RADBP’s objections, which are the same as they were to the original proposal, are summarised as follows:

- Substantial environmental damage would be caused, not only to wildlife habitat, but also to the residents’ quality of life in the New Forest side of Southampton Water.
- Other port proposals such as at Thamesport, Felixstowe and Harwich present more acceptablealternatives. The cost of such proposals, and the environmental impact, would be much less than for Dibden Bay.
- Larger ships could not access Dibden Bay port without major dredging and other works
- Transport links – road and rail are inadequate. They are already overstretched without massive new traffic.

From this to Wharves and Port Facilities?

During the original campaign most of the local authorities around Dibden Bay were against the proposal and many local residents were deeply alarmed. RADBP joined SEFS and became a consortium of local interests including residents associations, parish councils in the Waterside area and organisations such as RSPB, CPRE, the Wildlife Trusts and Friends of the Earth. There was also strong support from Dr Julian Lewis MP. Together the group objected on a wide range of issues, including unacceptable increases in traffic on the already overcrowded A326 (”one of Hampshire’s deadliest roads*”); a big increase from a few freight trains per day in the area to two every hour; and the effects of noise, light and visual intrusion on local residents. The campaign was successful. After a lengthy public inquiry, government decided to refuse ABP’s application.

Opposition to the new proposals is already mounting and The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds for one has voiced its concerns about ABP’s intentions.
In June a Forest District Council spokesman was quoted as saying “If another application is ever submitted, all the hurdles ABP had to climb before – and failed – will have to be climbed again”. South Daily Echo 12th June 2009

We can all help reduce the region’s Eclogical Footprint (and move to One Planet Living) by changing our travelling arrangements.

According to DEFRA research a combination of smart driving, a shift to walking and cycling for shorter journeys and choosing public transport for medium and longer journeys could produce a CO2 saving of around 750kg/per household/per annum (kg/hh/pa).

Read the rest of this entry »

SEFS members including , Residents Against Dibden Bay Port, RSPB, Friends of the Earth and Hampshire Wildlife Trust have been campaigning since 1997 against the ABP proposals to develop Dibden Bay. Their hard work and dedication paid off this week when Tony MacNaulty (Transport Minister) announced that he was turning down the proposal.
The full decision letter and the Inspectors report can be found by following the link below but in conclusion the letter states: “Overall, the Secretary of State agrees with the Inspector that the disbenefits of the scheme, as borne out by its impact on internationally and nationally environmentally sensitive sites, outweigh the potential benefits.”
Paul Vickers chairman of Residents Against Dibden Bay who’s motto for the campaign is ” He who cares, wins”. is now looking forward to retiring as chair “knowing that Dibden Bay is secure and that our quality of life and the environment are safe once again.”
Brenda Pollack from Friends of the Earth South East said she was “thrilled ministers are sticking to their principles instead of bolstering big business”