News

Joint Local Transport Plan

posted 3 Aug 2010 09:43 by juliet johns

The Engagement Draft (3) of a new Joint Local Transport Plan 2011 to 2026 for the West of England Councils (Bristol City, S Gloucestershire, N Somerset and Bath and NE Somerset) has been published.

Comments are invited, including ideas for prioritising schemes in view of the likely reduction in public spending.

The deadline for comments is 30 September 2010.

The results of the questionnaire will be published on the Travel + website in November 2010.

The final JLTP is due to be published in March 2011.

| Attachments: Transport matters.jpg

Revocation of Regional Strategies

posted 2 Aug 2010 02:12 by juliet johns [ updated 2 Aug 2010 02:23 ]

On 6th July the Secretary of State announced the revocation of Regional Strategies with immediate effect.

The attached letter (see below) was sent to the chief Planning Officers of all local Planning Authorities to help them deal with immediate issues and giving guidance on how this affects the delivery of local development frameworks.

| Attachments: CLG logo2.jpg Guidance on revocation of RSS.pdf

Draft Structural Reform Plan

posted 20 Jul 2010 04:44 by juliet johns [ updated 20 Jul 2010 04:54 ]

Department for Communities and Local Government Draft Structural Reform Plan

The

ambition is localism. Real change driven by local people working together in their communities.

To find out more click here
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/corporate/pdf/16359212.pdf

| Attachments: CLG logo2.jpg

Street Pride

posted 21 Jun 2010 02:08 by juliet johns [ updated 29 Jun 2010 10:04 ]

Street Pride is Civic Voice's national campaign supporting local action to help rid our streets of unnecessary clutter.

A campaign toolkit with information on how to carry out a street survey is available at

http://www.civicvoice.org.uk/campaigns/street-pride/

There are a number of useful briefing notes on Posts, Bollards, Guard Rails and Signs to download.

| Attachments: street clutter350x394.jpg

Line 2 Rapid Transit Route

posted 18 Jun 2010 01:30 by juliet johns [ updated 1 Aug 2010 08:58 ]

The bid for the Line 2 Rapid Transit route, Ashton Vale to Temple Meads and Bristol City Centre is on the Travel + website.

Click on the Transport and Works Act documents to see the full bid.
Document A13 Environmental Statement Non Technical Summary gives an overview of the scheme.

| Attachments: BRT map.jpg

BRT 3 Line 3: Hengrove to Northern Fringe

posted 14 Jun 2010 01:34 by juliet johns [ updated 1 Aug 2010 08:57 ]

Like the South Bristol Link (see News posted 1st June 2010) the Department for Transport decision on the business case for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Line 3: Hengrove via city centre to Cribbs Causeway and Emerson's Green will be postponed until the Government has conducted a comprehensive spending review on public spending for 2011 / 2012 and beyond.

The review is expected to be concluded by October / December 2010.

This will affect the planning of regeneration projects in South Bristol, particularly Knowle West and Hengrove Park and the M32 section including the re-use of the Stapleton allotments as a Park & Ride site.

For the decision see the attached letter below.

For details of the content and programme of the spending review see
www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/spending_review_framework_080610.pdf

| Attachments: BRT Line 3 Map_676.jpg DfT letter re BRT3 Hengrove to Northern Fringe.pdf

Reclaim your street

posted 9 Jun 2010 01:30 by juliet johns [ updated 1 Aug 2010 08:56 ]

A Home Office report found that speeding traffic and nuisance parking were the real 'anti-social' behaviours blighting communities.

So Sustrans' pioneering DIY Streets project has been helping eleven communities tame traffic, reduce speeds, sort out parking and reclaim the space for children's play, trees, plants and people.

For further details and to get in touch with the Sustrans team to find out how to do this in your neighbourhood, go to the Sustrans website.

| Attachments: sustrans.jpg

Network Community Involvement Model adopted as model

posted 7 Jun 2010 09:26 by juliet johns [ updated 7 Jun 2010 09:46 ]

Coming into effect on 2nd April 2010: the Bristol City Council (BCC) Cabinet decided to adopt a Sustainable Development & Transport Scrutiny Commission recommendation to use an NPN method of involvement developed for the BRT Line 3 proposals as a model of good practice for all major Council schemes.

The Cabinet further decided that a toolkit for Neighbourhood Partnerships to encourage good community involvement should also be based on the NPN model.

The attached file (see below) sets out the NPN model 11 steps to effective community involvement.

These are based upon the ground rules adopted in the Bristol Statement of Community Involvement 2008 and refined in practice over the last two years.

A copy of the Scrutiny Commission referral form is also attached (see below).

For questions or further information contact NPN Administrator David Farnsworth on davidfarnsworth@tiscali.co.uk

| Attachments: BCC & NPN Logos_250x165.jpg BCC Cabinet Approved methodology for CI.doc Sus Dev & Transport Scrutiny Comm model CI method referral to cabinet 18 March 2010.doc

South Bristol Link: Major Scheme Bid - programme entry

posted 1 Jun 2010 01:47 by juliet johns [ updated 1 Jun 2010 02:18 ]

The bid submitted by Bristol City Council (BCC)for the construction of the South Bristol Link, the road which connects Hartcliffe Way to the Long Ashton Bypass, has been put on hold by the Department for Transport as part of a stock take of the financial commitments of transport.

The announcement dated 29th March 2010 stated that

'Firm departmental budgets from 2011/12 onwards will only be known after the Government has carried out a comprehensive spending review'.

The BCC bid argued for the Link in order to pump prime the economic and social regeneration of South Bristol, particularly Hengrove Park.

For more information regarding the South Bristol Link see the Travel+ web page

| Attachments: DfT_200.jpg South Bristol Link proposal _650.jpg major transport programme 650.jpg

Coalition Government intentions to change the planning system

posted 27 May 2010 04:16 by juliet johns [ updated 27 May 2010 05:43 ]

The Coalition Government has published a Statement of Agreement across the whole range of national policy that includes new priorities for planning and the planning system.

Among many new policies -

Regional Spatial Strategies will be "quickly" abolished

Green Belts protected

a new designation for open space will be created "to protect green areas of particular importance to local communities"

and in "the longer term" the planning system will be reformed to
"give neighbourhoods far more ability to determine the shape
of the places in which their inhabitants live".

See below the attached extract from the Government's Statement.

The planned reform of the planning system will be based on the concept of "open source planning": a concept borrowed from the internet software world, where centrally standardised software is made open to individuals to vary according to their own needs.

In the case of the planning system this means relaxing central controls and national policy in favour of locally based policies, including "giving local people the power to engage in genuine local planning through collaborative democracy – designing a local plan from the “bottom up”, starting with the aspirations of neighbourhoods".

See below the attached extract from the Conservative Party Green Paper "Open Source Planning".

| Attachments: Coalition Govt plan.jpg Extract from Conservative Green Paper Open Source Planning.doc Extract from Government Coalition Statement.doc

NPN

Planning

Community Involvement

CI and the Developer

Reference