HILLINGDON UNITARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN - London Borough ...

14. ACCESSIBILITY AND MOVEMENT
Introduction
14.1 Hillingdon is located in an area characterised by a relatively buoyant economy, high car ownership
and traffic congestion. It contains the largest generator of road traffic in Europe, Heathrow Airport, and
one of the busiest road junctions in Europe, the M25/M4 intersection. The noise, fumes, visual intrusion
and danger of traffic are, therefore, a feature of Hillingdon's environment, and people's perception of that
environment. Against this background, the efficient management and reduction of traffic demand are
essential prerequisites for the successful implementation of the Guiding Principles of this Plan.
14.2 There are three kinds of policy set out in this chapter. Firstly, there are policies for the reduction
of the demand for travel. These control the location and scale of new development and impose restrictions
on new road building. Specific policies for controlling particular land uses for transport purposes and the
transport related environment are also contained elsewhere in this Plan. Secondly, there are policies which
aim to stabilise new vehicle trip generation by limiting the availability of parking in new development and
promoting greater use of buses, trains, cycling and walking. Thirdly, the immediate day-to-day problems
of traffic are dealt with through policies which manage the demand for travel. These comprise the
deployment of traffic management techniques.
Land Use and Accessibility
14.3 The trend in recent decades for small, local services to be replaced by a lesser number of larger
scale outlets allows the providers of services to benefit from economies of scale and so to reduce their own
direct costs of providing these services. Clients of these services and the community at large, however,
experience costs associated with the generally longer trips needed to reach these services. The trend is
exhibited throughout the whole range of commercial and community activities, typical examples being: the
replacement of small, local grocers shops first by supermarkets and latterly by large, out of town or edge of
town superstores; and the replacement of small local hospitals by large district hospitals.
14.4 The growth in car ownership and use has facilitated major retail, office and business development
in areas not well or easily served by public transport. Using the motorway and trunk and principal road
network, these developments are able to draw upon large catchment areas for their customers and
employees. Strategic Guidance for London Planning Authorities (RPG3) and Planning Policy Guidance on
Transport (PPG13) advocate policies to reverse this trend in order to improve efficiency in the use of
natural resources, lessen the impact of traffic congestion, reduce exhaust emissions, noise, vibration and
visual intrusion, and improve accessibility to jobs and services for all, not just those using private cars.
Policy Pt 1.31 accordingly encourages the provision of locally accessible services, and in assessing
proposals against the criteria laid down in other policies of this Plan (for example S1, R3, R5, LE1 and T3),
the Local Planning Authority will resist developments which threaten the viability or would prejudice the
provision of accessible local services or would be likely to attract traffic from wide catchment areas from
which it is not practicable to provide an adequate public transport service to the development site.
14.5 The Council recognises that people's choice of place of work cannot be restricted to the immediate
vicinity of their homes. Indeed many people are prepared to travel long distances to work and it is neither
possible nor desirable for the land use planning system to attempt to limit their choice of employment.
The planning system can be used to limit development likely to:
- contribute to road congestion through the presence of vehicles on the road network for
unnecessarily prolonged periods of time, either by reason of journey length or as a result of
using already congested streets and junctions, or
- exacerbate overcrowding on public transport systems.
London Borough of Hillingdon Unitary Development Plan