South East Forum For Sustainability

Local Transport Plans III

January 28th, 2011 |

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):

LTPs are the key documents in which authorities set out their transport strategies and implementation plans for the coming years. They also contain bids for funding for capital infrastructural investment, which is assessed as part of the Regional Funding Allocation process (RFA2).

This is actually the 3rd round of LTP production and will provide plans for councils beyond 2011. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t get involved. According to governement guidance LTPs must contribute to its 5 goals for transport namely:

Supporting economic growth
Tackling climate change
Contributing to better safety, security and health
Promoting equality of opportunity
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.