Planning Policy Wales - Brecon Beacons National Park

8.2 Promoting walking and cycling
8.2.1 Walking should be promoted for shorter trips. The impact of policies and development on
pedestrians should be considered. Planning authorities should promote specific measures to assist
pedestrians including the provision of safe, convenient and well-signed routes.
8.2.2 Cycling should also be encouraged for short trips and as a substitute for shorter car
journeys or, as part of a longer journey when combined with public transport. The ‘Walking and
Cycling Action Plan for Wales 2009-13’ adopts a target to triple both the percentage of children
cycling to school and the percentage of adults whose main mode of travel to work is cycling 10 .
Local authorities should encourage the implementation of specific measures to develop safe
cycling, including new or improved routes, and secure parking and changing facilities in major
developments and at transport interchanges. Where appropriate, planning authorities should also
seek to assist the completion of the national cycle network and of key links to and from the network.
8.3 Supporting public transport
8.3.1 Local authorities should promote public transport as a means to achieve environmental
objectives, to assist in relieving congestion and to encourage social inclusion. Collaborative working
by regional groups of local authorities and the establishment of cross-boundary transport consortia
are assisting this process. Appropriate public transport measures include improved facilities for
railway and bus passengers, park and ride schemes, and measures to encourage better services.
Local authorities may wish to explore the potential for new rail lines (including light rail), the reopening
of rail lines, the provision of new stations and enhanced passenger services on existing
lines. Rail services, with their fixed infrastructure, can provide a focus for regeneration and new
development, as can bus services, especially in urban areas where supporting facilities and priority
schemes, such as bus lanes, are provided.
8.3.2 The ease of interchange between transport modes and personal safety are
important determinants of public transport use. Local authorities should safeguard existing public
transport interchanges from development that would compromise their continued use. Near major
public transport interchanges in city, town and district centres, planning authorities should allocate
available sites for uses that maximise the accessibility potential of the site, including high density
residential development, employment, shopping and leisure uses. Local authorities should identify in
development plans and RTPs the need for additional interchange sites and improvements to existing
interchanges, including measures to promote personal safety. In rural areas, interchange sites should
be identified at nodes where the transfer between local and long distance public transport services
can take place.
8.3.3 Park-and-ride should normally be considered as one element of a comprehensive
planning and transport strategy designed to improve the relative attractiveness of public transport
and reduce the overall dependence on cars. Where the RTP has identified a requirement for parkand-ride
facilities, planning authorities should identify suitable sites in the development plan.
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Planning Policy Wales Edition 3 - July 2010 - Chapter 8 Transport