Access Car Parking & Design - Blaenau Gwent County Borough ...

Access, Car Parking and Design
Design
3.9 This section gives some guidance on specific points, but Manual for Streets
(MfS), published in 2007 by the Department of Communities and Local
Government, the Department for Transport and the Welsh Assembly
Government, and Manual for Streets 2 (MfS2), published in 2010 by the
Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, give more in depth
guidance on design.
3.10 In the past, cars dominated layout designs. Today much greater emphasis is
placed on walking, cycling and the use of public transport and this needs to be
reflected in new designs. However, it must be appreciated that car ownership
is likely to remain high, premises need to be serviced, refuse needs to be
collected and access must be provided for emergency vehicles.
3.11 MfS demonstrates that benefits that can result from good design and
assigning a higher priority to pedestrians and cyclists. It sets out an approach
to streets that recognises their role in creating spaces that benefits those that
live or work there.
4.0 PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS & REQUIREMENTS
Transport Assessment
4.1 The following guidance defines the criteria governing when a TA is required
by the Council, the areas it should cover and the issues that should be
considered in any assessment that may subsequently be carried out. This
guidance determines whether an assessment is required and, if so, what the
level and scope of that assessment should be.
4.2 The coverage and detail of the TA should reflect the scale of development
and the extent of the transport implications of the proposal. Developers should
hold early discussions with the Council in order to clarify whether a Transport
Assessment is necessary and, if so, to ‘scope’ its requirements. The initial
scoping of the contents and coverage of the TA is particularly important. It
should cover the likely junctions and links to be considered, the timings (days
of the week, time of day) of any surveys, likely events that could influence
current travel patterns and identification of any existing data that would be
beneficial to the work. Time spent on scoping a TA is likely to result in a
submission that has addressed the relevant issues and avoids abortive work.
4.3 A Transport Assessment should include the following key features:
Description of land-use proposals;
Movements expected to be generated by the site;
Identification of times of peak demand and corresponding network peak
hours;
Forecast traffic flows 10-15 years beyond the projected opening year (15
years if the development impacts on a Trunk Road or Key Corridor);
Any special transport characteristics of the development;
Supplementary Planning Guidance 4
April 2012