NE Transport Plan
The Trust has responded to the recent consultation on the North East Transport Plan and sent out a press release. The gist of our response is that we endorse the overall vision of “Moving to a green, healthy, dynamic and thriving North East”, and accept in broad terms its stated objectives, but find its practical suggestions for achieving them woefully inadequate. They do not form a coherent regional strategy and amount to little more than a wish list of projects that the 7 local authorities in the area wish to pursue in the hope of obtaining government funding. It is of particular interest that the plan ignores the key links between County Durham and the Tees Valley which doesn’t come within the remit of the North East Transport Plan.
Message
Thanks to experts in the Trust for such a full response. It’s depressing the new NETP is so scanty. Transport planning seems too often left as an add-on, to be considered after a maximised build has been crammed into a site. I see that the prestigious Royal Town Planning Institute is calling for a much fuller integration of spatial planning with transport planning, with the aim of creating “15-minute neighborhoods” where people can meet their daily needs on foot or by cycling, with effective restrictions for the parking of private vehicles and with streets repurposed for play and social interaction.