Draft Freight Strategy Consultation

9.0 The impact of growth on freight movements

A minimum of 39,350 homes, and approximately 24,000 new jobs are planned for Central Bedfordshire over the current Local Plan period (2015-2035). Planned growth in Central Bedfordshire will impact on the movement of freight in the following ways:

• Construction traffic (the haulage of aggregates and other building materials) will be generated.
• New residential and employment areas will create additional freight activities.
• Population growth in Central Bedfordshire and the greater southeast and east of England regions will lead to an increase in road and rail traffic.

9.1 Managing development related freight movement

The Council supports sustainable growth within the authority. Larger development proposals are likely to generate significant HGV movements during construction and (in the case of industrial sites) during operation. The negative impacts of these must be managed and mitigated as far as possible. The Council through its role as the local planning authority will require developers to detail, and where necessary mitigate, the impact of HGV traffic arising from new developments on the local highway network. More information on the expectations of developers and their contractors during the construction phase of a development can be found in the Construction Code of Practice.

9.1.1 Freight movement during construction

During construction of a new development, the Council may use planning conditions to manage deliveries to a site. This could include:

• Limiting deliveries to within certain time periods.
• Limiting the location and number of accesses into the development site.
• Using no left turn or no right turn restrictions to manage access in and out of a development site and the direction of onward travel.
• Using temporary signs to sign the most appropriate route for HGVs to use, when travelling to and from the development site to the Designated Freight Route Network.

In addition, an informative condition could be used to specify the most appropriate route that HGVs are encouraged to use when travelling to and from a development site to the Designated Freight Route Network. Whilst not an enforceable condition, the aim is to limit the impact freight movements may have on existing communities and encourage developers to be good neighbours.

9.1.2 Freight movement post construction

Ideally, proposed developments that will generate significant freight movements once constructed should be located as close to the Designated Freight Route Network (DFRN) as possible, to minimise the potential negative impact that frequent freight movements can have on existing communities.

Where large goods vehicle movements are expected away from the DFRN once a development is fully operational, in certain circumstances a planning condition can be used, similar to those mentioned in freight movement during construction. For minerals and waste sites this may include limiting the number of large goods vehicle movements over a set period. Each development will be expected to demonstrate proposed mitigation measures in the developments' Transport Assessment and Travel Plan. Traffic management measures and developer contributions to mitigate impacts may also be required, where relevant.

Further guidance on Transport Assessments and Travel Plans is available on the Council's website.

9.2 Action related to development related freight

Action 4 – Development related freight

The Council will manage and mitigate the impact of large goods vehicle movements related to new development as far as practicable using planning conditions, Transport Assessments and Travel Plans.