Planning Policy Wales - Brecon Beacons National Park

are most suitable for use by road freight and encourage the location or relocation of distribution
and operating centres to sites which have good access to these routes. The same applies to other
developments generating frequent road freight movements. Wherever possible, new facilities should
be located adjacent to railways and/or ports to promote modal transfer.
8.5.4 Local authorities should consider the potential for promoting the use of railways
for additional passenger and freight traffic. They should identify new infrastructure
(including park and ride sites), multi-modal transfer facilities and, where appropriate, major
employment sites with access to railways. Disused railways and disused or unused rail sidings
should be safeguarded from development where there is a realistic prospect for their use for
transport purposes in the future. As an interim measure it may be appropriate to use disused rail
alignments as open space corridors (greenways) for example for walking and cycling.
8.5.5 Developments at airports may provide improved facilities and bring economic benefits,
but they may also give rise to environmental and other concerns that need to be taken into account.
Airports can be major generators of movement. Any development proposal therefore needs careful
consideration as to the extent to which it is related to the operation of the airport and is sustainable,
given the existing and planned levels of public transport and the need to prevent urban sprawl.
Related issues of noise, pollution and community safety also need to be taken into account.
8.5.6 Planning authorities should seek to promote the use of ports and inland waterways
by the protection or provision of access to them and by the retention or provision of appropriate
wharf, dock, harbour and rail transfer facilities. The provision of these facilities needs to be
weighed against environmental considerations, such as the loss or erosion of estuarine habitats.
Inland waterways in Wales are principally used for recreation purposes 14 15 .
8.5.7 Great care must be taken to minimise the adverse impacts of new transport infrastructure,
or improvements to existing infrastructure, on the natural, historic and built environment and on local
communities, where neighbourhood severance should especially be avoided. Routes should make
the best use of existing landforms and other landscape features to reduce noise and visual effects,
subject to safety and other environmental considerations. 16 17 Where no other alternative routes
or options are practicable, transport infrastructure schemes should provide mitigation measures to
minimise the impacts caused by their construction and operation.
8.6 Development plans and transport
8.6.1 Development plans provide the main means for achieving integration between land use and
transport. They must provide an explanation of the authority’s transport aims and the way in which
the transport policies support the other objectives of the plan. Development plans should provide the
means for:
• examining the relationship between transport and land use planning;
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Planning Policy Wales Edition 3 - July 2010 - Chapter 8 Transport