Ministerial guidelines
Spatial Planning and National Roads: Guidelines for Planning Authorities
New entrances onto national roads, and development that affects them.
Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government · January 2012 · 41 pages
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- Spatial Planning and National Roads 5 1.6 Regional and Local Roads These guidelines are focused on planning and the network of national roads. National roads, as well as regional and local roads, are classified under Section 10 of the Roads Act 1993, as amended. Planning authorities are also strongly recommended to identify, as part of the development plan process, those stretches of non-national roads outside the 50-60 kmh speed limit zones where it would be appropriate to apply these guidelines and, in doing so, they should take the following matters into account. Some non-national roads are essentially urban roads that are designed to complement and integrate with the national road and public transport systems and facilitate orderly urban development. Other non-national roads, especially the regional road network, provide essential links between the various Gateways and Hubs identified in the National Spatial Strategy and their rural hinterlands. In many cases, investment has improved the alignment, surface and safety of major stretches of regional roads, which carry significant volumes of traffic, especially those outside the 50-60 kmh speed limits for cities, towns and villages. For the future, the protection of such capacity and preservation of enhanced safety standards will be important in ensuring that such regional roads can continue to perform important local and regional transportation functions.
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- 2.1 Role of the Development Plan The development plan sets the policy framework to deliver proper planning and sustainable development. However, new development may generate additional demand for travel and the road traffic element of such demand may create adverse effects by: • reducing average vehicle speeds, increasing journey times; • increasing the number of road accidents; • accelerating the need to upgrade the road network; • complicating or compromising future plans to upgrade a road; and/or • creating environmental and social effects, such as noise and air pollution, including increasing greenhouse gas emissions and increased oil dependence. Alternatively, plans that promote compact urban development and brownfield regeneration in line with the Government’s Smarter Travel strategy will minimise the need for travel and where such need does arise, will encourage a switch towards sustainable modes such as walking, cycling and public transport. Spatial Planning and National Roads 7 Development Planning and Roads Key Messages • Development plans must include measurable objectives for securing more compact development that reduces overall demand for transport and encourages modal shift towards sustainable travel modes. • Development plans must include policies which seek to maintain and protect the safety, capacity and efficiency of national roads and associated junctions, avoiding the creation of new accesses and the intensification of existing accesses to national roads where a speed limit greater than 50 kmh applies. • Planning authorities and the NRA must work together during the early stages of plan preparation to identify any areas where a less restrictive approach may apply. • Development plans must include clear policies and objectives with regard to planning and reservation of new routes and/or upgrades. • Planning authorities should consult at a very early stage with transport infrastructure providers (including the NRA) and, in the Greater Dublin area, with the National Transport Authority. Chapter 2
- 2 8 Therefore, the transport implications of development and local area plans must be considered as an integral element of the statutory development planning process. This should be done in consultation with the appropriate statutory bodies such as the NRA and NTA and transport providers. 2.2 Preparing Plans – Consultation Planning authorities are required, under section 11(3)(c) of the Planning and Development Act, 2000, to consult with the NRA so as to ascertain plans in respect of national roads in their areas. This provides a valuable mechanism whereby potential routes for new national roads or planned improvements to existing roads can be notified to planning authorities and appropriate provision made in development plans to facilitate the future delivery of the road schemes concerned. Section 22 of the Roads Act, 1993, enables the National Roads Authority to make recommendations to a planning authority regarding the content of that authority’s development plan or variation thereto and the planning authority is obliged to consider any recommendation made. Aspects that the NRA should draw to the attention of the planning authority from a national roads perspective might include the approach to land use zoning objectives, that may have implications for access to national roads and for the traffic carrying capacity and operational efficiency of such roads, including junctions, as well as cost implications for planned new roads or existing road upgrades as a consequence of increased land values linked to zoning and/or development objectives. In making recommendations on draft development plans or local area plans, or any proposed amendment or variation to these plans, the NRA will be guided by the policies and recommendations contained in these guidelines. In making development plans, local area plans or non-statutory plans affecting national roads, planning authorities and the NRA must engage in formal consultation, thereby helping to avoid difficulties at the development management stage. Within the Greater Dublin Area (GDA), the National Transport Authority also has a significant role in the planning, delivery and management of existing and new road infrastructure, through, inter alia, the preparation of: • a strategic transport plan; • an integrated implementation plan; • a transport traffic management plan; and • traffic management guidelines.
- Under the provisions of Section 9 (6A) of the Planning Act, each planning authority within the GDA shall ensure that its development plan is consistent with the NTA transport strategy. Accordingly, statutory and non-statutory consultation with the NTA and the NRA is also essential for planning authorities in the GDA in ensuring that their plans are consistent with these guidelines. Planning authorities must also ensure that they consult with the NRA in preparing any local area plans or other non-statutory plans where there may be material implications for national roads. 2.3 General Content of Development Plans Development plan policies must take account of relevant policies and programmes, including investment programmes, of Government and infrastructure delivery agencies. Planning authorities must, accordingly, ensure that consultation takes place with relevant national organisations (e.g. the National Roads Authority, CIE and, where appropriate, the National Transport Authority and the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA)), as well as private bus operators at an early stage in the process of preparing plans. Such consultation should establish what plans there are for the provision or upgrade of transport infrastructure and services. Objectives concerning these plans, including reservations of corridors where project planning has advanced sufficiently, should be incorporated in development plans and local area plans. Achieving the objectives of development plans will often rely on the provision of infrastructure by State agencies such as CIE, the NRA, NTA, and RPA, and others such as private bus operators. Recognising that the investments of State agencies such as those mentioned above must take place within budgetary allocations and the overall national budgetary and fiscal framework, a targeted approach is vital whereby development plan objectives are realistic and can, with a high degree of confidence, be serviced within a reasonable time period by investments being planned at national level, complemented, as appropriate, by locally funded initiatives, including infrastructure proposals. In this way, planning authorities and State transport providers, working together, can avoid difficulties arising later in the development management process. In particular, the approach to preparing development plans as recommended in the Department’s Development Plans Guidelines (2007), should include the elements contained in Box 2.3 below, and be consistent with other guidance, as updated, contained in the Retail Planning Guidelines (2005) and Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines for Planning Authorities (2005) and any other relevant parts of other planning guidelines. Spatial Planning and National Roads 9
- Written statements and maps of plans will normally demonstrate the roads hierarchy within the functional area of the planning authority concerned, including connections to adjoining areas. At a more detailed level, development and local area plans should also contain objectives relating to: • promotion of patterns of land use change that minimise adverse transport effects, including those on the national road network, by reducing journey distances and enabling travel choice; 2 10 Box 2.3 Overall Recommended Content for Development Plans and Local Area Plans • Policies and objectives to: - reflect the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport’s Smarter Travel : A New Transport Policy for Ireland 2009-2020; - protect the capacity, efficiency and safety of national roads and associated junctions; - ensure that transport and settlement patterns mutually support each other; - minimise the need for travel and reduce the length of journeys by maximising the proximity of people, business and the services they require; - encourage walking, cycling and public transport, including, where future investment in sustainable modes is planned and committed, setting specific targets to increase the % share of persons travelling by these modes; - promote greater investment in, and usage of, public transport modes, such as rail and bus networks, with the support of complementary land use policies; - protect emerging or preferred routes notified by the NRA in relation to future national road schemes and land requirements for future road upgrades; and - ensure that zoning strategies are consistent with value for money considerations applying to the provision of public infrastructure, including roads, and public transport. • An outline of the key transport corridors, nodes and networks, including public transport networks such as bus networks in any Core Strategy, (accompanied by a diagrammatic illustration). • Development standards in accordance with the Traffic Management Guidelines 2003, NTA related publications and where relevant, as in the case of major national road junctions etc., the NRA’s Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, as well as guidance on road safety audits and the NRA’s traffic and transport assessment (TTA) procedures.
- • provisions, including zoning and standards, which ensure that land uses in the vicinity of the network are compatible with the safe and efficient operation of national roads and associated junctions; • ensuring high standards of safety for road users; • protection of the identified preferred route corridors for future national road schemes; and • policies and objectives that require developers to avoid, remedy or mitigate the adverse effects of their development on transport systems and/or infrastructure, including national roads, and provide mechanisms requiring developers to make reasonable contributions towards the costs of any required mitigation, alterations or capacity enhancement works to transport systems and/or infrastructure. 2.4 Approach to Plan Preparation Where a development plan or local area plan proposes development to take place on zoned lands adjacent to national roads which could affect the operation and capacity of such roads, the planning authority must prepare its plans in such a way that demonstrates that such roads can continue to perform their strategic transport function into the future by: • protecting undeveloped lands adjoining national roads and junctions from development so as to cater for potential capacity and safety enhancements (in consultation with and subject to the agreement of the NRA); • ensuring, where appropriate, and taking account of these Guidelines, that capacity enhancements and/or traffic management measures can be put in place to facilitate new development around national roads and associated junctions, together with enhancement funding mechanisms, and • improving operational efficiency of the non-national road and transportation infrastructure – e.g. where appropriate, promoting new non-national road networks and alternative transport/travel modes. Planning authorities must therefore develop an evidence-based approach to planning policy and undertake detailed transport modelling, as necessary. The NRA and NTA can assist the process by data exchange and assisting with the development of assumptions. Key steps in undertaking such an evidence-based approach for development frameworks are set out in box 2.4. Spatial Planning and National Roads 11
- 2.5 Required Development Plan Policy on Access to National Roads With regard to access to national roads, all development plans and any relevant local area plans must implement the policy approaches outlined below. Lands adjoining National Roads to which speed limits greater than 60 kmh apply: The policy of the planning authority will be to avoid the creation of any additional access point from new development or the generation of increased traffic from existing accesses to national roads to which speed limits greater than 60 kmh apply. This provision applies to all categories of development, including individual houses in rural areas, regardless of the housing circumstances of the applicant. Transitional Zones: Where the plan area incorporates sections of national roads on the approaches to or exit from urban centres that are subject to a speed limit of 60 kmh before a lower 50 kmh limit is encountered – otherwise known as transitional zones - the plan may provide for a limited level of direct access to facilitate orderly urban development. Any such proposal must, however, be subject to a road safety audit carried out in accordance with the NRA’s requirements and a proliferation of such entrances, which would lead to a diminution in the role of such zones, must be avoided. Lands adjoining National Roads within 50 kmh speed limits: Access to national roads will be considered by planning authorities in accordance with normal road safety, traffic management and urban design criteria for built up areas. 2 12 Box 2.4 Key Steps for Building an Evidence-Based Approach Step1: Identifying and consulting with the key stakeholders in developing an integrated approach2; Step 2: Confirmation of the national and/or higher level policy context for the development plan proposals; Step 3: Developing evidence based tools such as traffic models, including agreement between stakeholders in relation to acceptable data and assumptions; Step 4: Identification of demand management and mitigation measures to minimise the transport impact of the plan; Step 5: Identification of any infrastructural enhancements required and phasing; Step 6: Agreement between stakeholders on a delivery strategy including funding arrangements. 2 May include various sections of the local authority, adjoining local authorities, the NRA, the Department of the Environment Community and Local Government, the National Transport Authority, public transport providers etc.
- Spatial Planning and National Roads 13 2.6 Exceptional Circumstances Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 2.5 above, planning authorities may identify stretches of national roads where a less restrictive approach may be applied, but only as part of the process of reviewing or varying the relevant development plan and having consulted and taken on board the advice of the NRA and having followed the approach outlined below. (1) Developments of National and Regional Strategic Importance A less restrictive approach may be adopted in the case of developments of national and regional strategic importance which by their nature are most appropriately located outside urban areas, and where the locations concerned have specific characteristics that make them particularly suitable for the developments proposed. Such proposals must be in accordance with the National Spatial Strategy, Regional Planning Guidelines and other Guidelines issued by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government under the provisions of section 28 of the Planning Acts. In considering whether exceptional circumstances arise in the development plan and local area plan context, the planning authority and the NRA should take the following matters into account: (1) the relevance and appropriateness of proposed development in supporting the aims and objectives of the National Spatial Strategy and Regional Planning Guidelines; (2) the requirements of other planning guidelines issued under section 28 of the Act including the Retail Planning Guidelines (2005), which include a general presumption against large retail centres being located adjacent or close to existing, new or planned national roads, including motorways; (3) the nature of proposed development and the volume of traffic to be generated by it, (4) any implications for the safety, capacity and efficient operation of national roads; (5) any plans for future upgrades of national roads and other transport infrastructure/services; (6) the suitability of the location compared to alternative locations; (7) the pattern of existing development in the area; (8) satisfactory details of the proposed demand management measures; (9) acceptable funding and delivery proposals for any road improvements required, and, (10) the precedent that could be created for cumulative development in the area and the potential implications for the national road network.
- (2) Lightly-trafficked Sections of National Secondary Routes A less restrictive approach may also apply to areas where additional development may require new accesses to certain lightly-trafficked sections of national secondary routes. Such areas would be confined to lightly trafficked national secondary roads serving structurally weak and remote communities where a balance needs to be struck between the important transport functions of such roads and supporting the social and economic development of these areas. In such areas, policies in development plans permitting new accesses to national secondary roads may be considered acceptable where the following criteria apply: • Traffic volumes are low and are forecast to remain below 3,000 AADT (as verified by the NRA) for the next 20 years; • There is no suitable alternative non-national public road access available; • The development otherwise accords with the development plan, and • Safety issues and considerations can be adequately addressed in accordance with the NRA’s Design Manual for Roads and Bridges. Where planning authorities wish to identify an area/national road where the foregoing less restrictive approaches could apply in a development plan or local area plan they must: (a) Consult with the NRA at the earliest practicable stage in reviewing the development plan on the identification of areas and developments that the planning authority considers represent exceptional circumstances, taking the criteria above and below into account; and (b) Ensure that any submissions from the NRA have been fully and properly considered within the process of preparing the plan. 2 14
Source Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government: Spatial Planning and National Roads: Guidelines for Planning Authorities (January 2012) · Licence the publisher's termsText read from the publisher’s PDF; tables, maps and drawings do not survive as text, and page numbers are the PDF’s (its first page is 1). Check the original before relying on a passage.