Local transport plans, divided into full local transport plans (LTP) and local implementation plans for transport (LIP), are an important part of transport planning in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Strategic transport authorities (

county councils A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county council (New South Wales), co ...

unitary authorities A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

, passenger transport authorities and

London Borough The London boroughs are the current 32 districts of England, local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London, England; each is governed by a London borough council. The present ...

councils), are expected to prepare them as forward-looking plans covering a number of years (typically five years), and present them to the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...

(DfT). For instance,

Oxfordshire County Council Oxfordshire County Council is the county council (upper-tier local authority) for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire in the South East of England. Established in 1889, it is an elected body responsible for most strategic local government ...

developed its second LTP in April 2006, and the LTP was implemented until March 2011. Different arrangements apply to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

as transport is a

devolved Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories ...

matter. LTPs must: * Outline the current baseline with regard to transport, accessibility and pollution * Set out challenging but achievable objectives * Set out the programme for achieving these objectives * Outline 'bids' for funding from the DfT Once an LTP is prepared it is submitted to the

Secretary of State for Transport The secretary of state for transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Departm ...

(England only); in London, the related LIP is submitted to the

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

. The LTP is a statutory transport plan deriving from the

Transport Act 2000 The Transport Act 2000 (c. 38) is an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provided for a number of measures regarding transport in Great Britain; the first major change in the structure of the privatised railway sys ...

; its relative the LIP is much the same but derives from the

Greater London Authority Act 1999 The Greater London Authority Act 1999 (c. 29) is the Act of Parliament that established the Greater London Authority, the London Assembly and the Mayor of London. Background Before the creation of the Greater London Authority, there was no si ...

. Both pieces of legislation were passing through the House of Commons and Lords at about the same time and sought to establish a statutory requirement for local transport plans on the basis that had been set out in the Government's White Paper ''The Future of Transport''. The LTP and LIP is subject to a

strategic environmental assessment Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is a systematic decision support process aiming to ensure that environmental and possibly other sustainability aspects are considered effectively in policy, plan, and program making. In this context, followi ...

that is undertaken in accordance with UK regulations that are based on EU regulations. The plan is subject to public consultation, though not to an 'examination in public'. It provides the highway, local traffic, and transport authority with an opportunity to set out studies of, and make recommendations to improve, locations of trip attractors (trip destinations) and residential locations (trip origins), along with a range of demand management and public transport measures as well as supply measures, to provide for balanced use of road space, public transport integration and appropriate patterns and forms of development. Although many of the first round of LTPs (2001–2006) contained little analysis and planning, being little different from bidding documents that councils had previously grown used to writing to secure central government funds, it is anticipated that the second round (2006–2011) will establish the statutory transport plan as a significant and thoughtful process that makes a thorough contribution to urban and rural planning. The name of these documents is frequently abbreviated by the local authorities to LPT2. Used to their full potential, a Council is able to set out evidence-based policy and analysis and some complementary expenditure programmes, for transport and mobility matters, along with associated environmental and health considerations and targets, that will assist the wider aims of

land-use planning Land use planning or ''Land-use regulation'' is the process of regulating the use of land by a central authority. Usually, this is done to promote more desirable social and environmental outcomes as well as a more efficient use of resources. ...

for sustainable development. In the UK, a local transport plan can be used as a 'material consideration' when a local planning authority or the Secretary of State determines a planning application. Ideally, the plan should be prepared as advice to the local planning authority on highway and transport matters, in particular how these should be considered in the local context so as to meet national integrated transport targets and priorities within the context of sustainable development, such as balanced use of roadspace between public and private transport of all modes and forms. An LPA's decisions must normally be taken in accordance with its own land-use or spatial plan and official planning guidance; however, something clearly laid out in a good, well justified LTP, could provide an LPA or the Secretary of State with a sufficient material justification to decide otherwise, on a case-by-case basis.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Department for Transport

Local Transport Planning Network
Transportation planning Town and country planning in England Transport policy in the United Kingdom