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 3.1 Development Management is the Key to Plan Implementation As already stated, local authority development and local area plans play a vital role in the achievement of proper planning and sustainable development while also protecting the efficiency, capacity and safety of national roads. This chapter provides advice with respect to tools to support this plan-led development management process. 3.2 Development Applications and National Roads The Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended, require that valid planning applications are referred to the National Roads Authority where: • the development consists of or comprises the formation, laying out or material widening of an access to a national road (as defined in Section 2(1) of the Roads Act, 1993 (No. 14 of 1993)), or, • The development might give rise to a significant increase in the volume of traffic using a national road. Development Management and Roads Key Messages • Development Management is the key to plan implementation. • Planning authorities should put in place effective mechanisms to refer all planning applications on, or with the potential to affect, national roads to the NRA and also in the Greater Dublin Area to the NTA in accordance with the Planning and Development Regulations. • Traffic and Transport Assessments (TTA) and Road Safety Audits (RSA) should be used in preparing planning applications for major development affecting national roads. • Assessment of development proposals must take into account broader planning and development policy as well as engineering criteria, road safety and the environmental effects of national roads. • Control of roadside and adjoining signage and lighting is an important contributor towards achieving enhanced road safety and planning authorities should use their regulatory and enforcement powers accordingly. • Development proposals requiring physical works on the national roads network should include making provision for the payment of the appropriate development contributions in line with the requirements of planning legislation and local authority development contribution schemes. Chapter 3 25
- 3 26 The Regulations enable the NRA to make submissions or observations to the planning authority in respect of planning applications notified to it. Article 28(2) of the Regulations states that any submission or observation made by a prescribed body in relation to an application should be considered by planning authorities before a decision is made. The NRA is also prescribed to be consulted under similar criteria for local authority developments, the preparation of Strategic Development Zone schemes (SDZ), strategic infrastructure, State development, electricity transmission lines and strategic gas infrastructure. The network of national roads may be adversely affected by a proposed development even in circumstances where direct access is not required to the network as a consequence of the volume of traffic to be generated. Planning authorities should liaise with the NRA in developing mechanisms to help identify applications that could have potential implications for national roads and which should, accordingly, be referred to the NRA for consideration. The planning guidelines on development management issued by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in June 2007 contain best practice guidance on how applicants, planning authorities and other agencies, should work together in ensuring that planning applications have regard to the applicable planning policy context and contain all the relevant information that planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála need to properly assess them.
- Spatial Planning and National Roads 27 3.3 Development Standards Where a development proposal involves physical changes to a national road, the planning authority should ensure that developers prepare their proposals in line with applicable design standards, i.e. the NRA Design Manual for Roads and Bridges. Such standards should be flagged in any pre-planning consultation discussions. Such development applications must be subjected to road safety audits of the type recommended in the NRA’s Design Manual for Roads and Bridges. 3.4 Traffic and Transport Assessment (TTA) Development proposals may generate significant additional trips/travel, including road traffic, with potentially significant implications for national and non-national roads. This could, in some circumstances, necessitate changes to the road and/or junction layout in order to address capacity and road safety concerns and maintain a satisfactory level of service for road users. Large-scale development may also have significant implications for public transport services. Proposals should include ways to reduce the traffic impact of the development. Traffic and Transport Assessment (TTA) is a methodology used to assess the transport impacts of a proposed development, incorporating any subsequent measures necessary to ensure roads and junctions and other transport infrastructure in the vicinity of the development remain fit for purpose and encourage a shift towards sustainable travel modes. TTAs are recognised internationally as a useful tool for assessing impacts of larger and/or more complex development proposals, and can be a valuable tool in the development management process. In 2003, the then Department of the Environment and Local Government and the Department of Transport together with the Dublin Transportation Office published Traffic Management Guidelines, which outline the approach to Traffic and Transport Assessment. The NRA has also prepared Traffic and Transport Assessment (TTA) Guidelines 2007 (available at www.nra.ie) to supplement this document as it relates to national roads. The TTA Guidelines seek to promote best practice for the preparation of Traffic and Transport Assessments and explain the relevance of TTA in the planning process. The Guidelines will be updated over time in light of experience as practice evolves regarding the integration of transportation and land use planning. Planning authorities, guided by the documents mentioned above, should advise prospective applicants for planning permission of the need for such an assessment to accompany larger planning applications, taking account of the nature, scale and location of the proposed development, its potential to generate additional trips/travel and the criteria contained in the documents concerned.
- 3 28 In summary, the NRA TTA Guidelines indicate the following: • Early discussion of proposals between the developer and the relevant staff of the local authority (planning, roads) is essential in identifying the need for and extent of any traffic and transport assessments to expedite the overall planning process. • Advisory and sub-threshold criteria concerning a requirement to prepare a TTA as part of the planning application for proposals which may affect national roads (including those which impact on junctions). • The importance of scoping, as a precursor to the preparation of a TTA, at the pre-planning consultation stage between prospective applicants and planning authority staff. Detailed guidance on how to conduct scoping is provided in the NRA’s Guidelines. • The TTA should be written as an impartial assessment of the traffic impacts of the proposed development and it should not be seen to be a “best case” promotion of the development. All impacts, whether positive or negative, should be recorded. • The level of detail included within the TTA should be sufficient to enable the planning authority and those making observations on the proposed development to follow all stages of the assessment process, to know what assumptions have been made and to arrive at a similar set of results and conclusions. • The TTA should assist the developer and local planning authority in deciding if any adverse traffic impact identified is significant enough to require revision of the development proposal or whether the proposed response measures are sufficient to mitigate the impact of the development on the road network to acceptable levels. This is the fundamental test and is often regarded as the main purpose of a Traffic and Transport Assessment as related to road infrastructural considerations.
- Spatial Planning and National Roads 29 3.5 Demand Management Where appropriate, and taking account of the findings of Traffic and Transport Assessments, applicants should prepare and submit proposals that will minimise the traffic generated by their development through the preparation and implementation of travel plans/mobility management plans, including measures such as integration with public transport, promotion of car sharing/pooling, parking pricing and control, and the encouragement of cycling and walking by the provision of cycling and walking routes and secure cycle parking. The Greater Dublin Travel Demand Management Study and the NRA’s National Roads Traffic Management Study provide a valuable reference for such actions. There is a need to assess the performance of demand management measures over time in order to ensure that such measures are taking effect in the long term. 3.6 Road Safety Audits Planning authorities should generally require that planning applications, involving a new access to a national road or significant changes to an existing access, are accompanied by a road safety audit to aid the identification of any appropriate measures required to maintain safety standards. The planning authority may, however, decide to dispense with the requirement for a road safety audit in the case of applications for an individual dwelling proposal in the case of lightly-trafficked sections of national secondary routes – described under the heading ”Exceptional Circumstances” above. Guidance for the preparation of road safety audits is included in the NRA Design Manual for Roads and Bridges. 3.7 Avoiding Adverse Impacts from Existing and Future Roads National roads can potentially produce significant adverse effects that extend beyond the roads concerned, such as: • traffic noise and vibration; • vehicle generated emissions, including greenhouse gas emissions; • lighting/glare; • dust and non-point source pollution e.g. storm water run-off, spray-drift and litter; and • visual impact. Planning authorities should engage with applicants and their agents to address, as an integral element of their development proposals, potential negative impacts arising from existing or planned national roads. This could include mitigating impacts through appropriate design of buildings, landscaping features and site layout as part of the development proposal.
- 3 30 3 In the case of planning legislation, planning permission under section 34 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 is required for signage on private property, while advertisement structures are also covered by a licence issued under section 254. The Environmental Noise Regulations, 2006 (S.I. No. 140 of 2006) should be taken into account within the development plan and development management processes, as well as relevant noise maps and noise action plans prepared under the Regulations for specific roads. The Regulations apply to national and non-national roads with traffic volumes above a prescribed level. Accordingly, all proposals in respect to noise sensitive developments within the zone of influence of such existing or of planned new roads should identify and implement, where appropriate, mitigation measures in relation to noise and other effects listed above. The costs of implementing the mitigation measures concerned should be borne by the developer. With regard to lighting, while such facilities help to promote security and personal safety, advertise commercial enterprises, permit outdoor working and sports activities and highlight features of interest, artificial lighting that is poorly designed, installed or maintained can create adverse safety effects on road users by misleading the driver as to the road alignment, obscuring road signs or markings and/or distracting drivers’ attention. This is also a particular concern for developments on roads which run parallel to the national road network.; Inappropriate building design or materials can also reflect light in a manner that may result in adverse effects on safety. The use of highly reflective building surfaces, such as glass, in situations where they are likely to reflect car headlights can impair drivers’ vision and cause distraction and thus create confusion and have adverse effects on road safety. 3.8 Signage On national roads, the erection of signage needs to be tightly regulated for road safety and environmental reasons3. Planning authorities must avoid proliferation of roadside signage, especially outside the 50-60 kmh speed limit areas in a manner that would reduce the effectiveness of essential signage such as directional and other authorisied road traffic signs, create visual clutter and distractions for road users and/or reduce visibility at junctions, interchanges and bends. In particular, the practice of random parking of large truck trailers on lands visible from the public road as a form of advertising hoarding and/or the sale of cars on the roadside should be regarded by planning authorities as forms of unauthorised development. Enforcement mechanisms are available under existing statutory codes and should be
- Spatial Planning and National Roads 31 used as necessary under such planning legislation and other legislative codes taking account of the road safety, planning and environmental impacts of such practices. Advice and guidance in respect of signage on national roads concerning major tourist and leisure features and facilities has been outlined in the NRA’s Policy on the Provision of Tourist & Leisure Signage on National Roads (March 2011) which is available to download from the publications section of the NRA’s website – www.nra.ie/Publications/NRAPolicyDocuments. 3.9 Development Contributions. Given the scale of public investment in transport in general and roads in particular, planning authorities should ensure that they implement the provisions as set out under sections 48 and 49 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 in relation to the payment of financial contributions by developers towards the cost of providing or upgrading public infrastructure in circumstances where the works concerned are necessitated by development. Where a development which is the subject of a planning application will impact on a national road or an area served by such a road is acceptable in principle and the additional traffic to be generated by the proposed development requires the upgrading of the roads concerned, the costs of appropriate upgrades should be met by the developer. A condition in this regard should be imposed as part of any approval to be issued by the planning authority in respect of such development. As stated in Section 1.4, trip generation implications from development frameworks should be assessed and appropriate responses identified in development and local area plans to cater for these trips. Ideally, the required transport infrastructure will be in place before the traffic effects of a new development occur. However, developers may encounter difficultly in putting the necessary funding for the required transport infrastructure in place at least until part of the development has been completed. To deal with this issue, larger developments may need to be phased, such that development below a certain threshold can be undertaken with limited mitigation. Development beyond that threshold level should only be permitted once the required transport infrastructure is in place. Where a succession of small to medium scale developments will cumulatively have a significant adverse effect on the national road network, it can be difficult to identify the point in time when improvements will be required, or the proportion of the costs that should be attributed to each development. The complexities of these situations should be examined and resolved, where possible, by the NRA and the relevant local authority.
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- Spatial Planning and National Roads 4.1 Introduction Implementation of these guidelines by planning authorities, the National Transport Authority, the National Roads Authority and An Bord Pleanála will ensure that the State’s considerable investment in national roads is harnessed in a manner that is sustainable in economic, social and environmental terms. The particular roles and responsibilities of Government Departments and agencies, planning authorities, including An Bord Pleanála, and applicants and their agents are set out below. 4.2 Government Departments The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government will continue to work proactively with planning authorities in both facilitating strategically focused and plan-led development, and in commenting on local authority development plans and local area plans to ensure that they are implementing these guidelines. The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport will continue to provide an overall regulatory framework for roads and transport related activity. It will also continue to provide investment in both national and non-national roads, as well as public transport infrastructure and services in line with the availability of public funds. 4.3 National Transport Authority (NTA) and the National Roads Authority (NRA) The NTA4 and NRA will actively work with planning authorities in developing their plans at city and county level and, where appropriate, at local plan level. The NTA and NRA will comment on draft plans and development proposals as appropriate and participate in such modelling or technical analysis exercises undertaken by local authorities as may be necessary to ensure that new development takes account of the capacity of the national roads network. 4.4 Planning Authorities and An Bord Pleanála Planning authorities will implement the strategic principles outlined in Chapter 1 and overall development planning and development management methodologies in Chapters 2 and 3, respectively, in relation to all of their development planning functions under the prevailing planning legislation, including, in particular, objectives on access to national roads. Implementation 4 In the case of plans in the Greater Dublin Area 33 Chapter 4
- 4 34 An Bord Pleanála will apply these guidelines in considering appeals made to the Bord and/or applications made to the Bord under the provisions of the Strategic Infrastructure Act, 2006. 4.5 Applicants and Agents Applicants and their agents, in bringing forward proposals for development that could impact on the national roads network, must develop their proposals in line with the provisions of the NSS, regional planning guidelines, local authority plans and these guidelines.
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.