Strategic Transport Infrastructure Programme
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STRATEGIC TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAMME PART OF DARTFORD’S LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK February 2011 BOROUGH COUNCIL CONTENTS 1. Introduction 3 2. The Programme 3 3. Recent Changes 4 4. Proposed Way Forward 5 Appendices A. Key Milestones in the Kent Thameside Transport Programme 8 B. Evidence Base 9 C. Kent Thameside Strategic Transport Programme: Initial Programme for Delivery 11 D. Reports to Dartford Council on the Transport Tariff 18 E. Transport Contributions Received/Committed 43 2 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 This paper has been produced to support Dartford’s Core Strategy Submission document, in particular, Policy CS 16, Transport Investment. It addresses the delivery and implementation mechanisms for the transport schemes necessary to achieve the planned level of development. 1.2 The Proposed Submission evidence base contained a number of documents1 which assessed and defined the requirement for increased capacity to the transport network, as well as a mechanism for the funding and delivery of the schemes. The approach adopted is referred to as the Kent Thameside Strategic Transport Infrastructure Programme (STIP), a comprehensive package of schemes to support planned development in both Dartford and Gravesham Boroughs. Policy CS 16 refers to this programme. 1.3 Work with partners on the development of the Programme commenced in 2006. Early work focused on modelling of transport impacts arising from planned development and identifying mitigation schemes2 . The has seen a concentration on identification of funding sources, later period mechanisms for the delivery of the Programme3 and working arrangements between the partners. The core partners working together on the Programme are Dartford Council, Gravesham Council, Kent County Council, Kent Thameside Regeneration Partnership, the Highways Agency, Department for Transport and the Homes and Communities Agency. Private sector partners have been involved in developing the Programme at appropriate points in time. 1.4 Whilst the rationale for the Programme remains relevant, the mechanism for the funding and delivery of schemes is undergoing review. This paper provides an update on the situation and outlines how the Council proposes to work in partnership to deliver the programme. 2. THE PROGRAMME 2.1 The STIP was devised in response to the difficulties which were encountered when attempting to agree with developers separate mitigation packages for each site which came forward for development.4 This approach appeared likely to result in a mixture of grampian conditions, planning obligations and other planning agreements which, while relevant to the site in question, would not amount to a coherent programme for the orderly and timely provision of infrastructure addressing the cumulative impacts of development in Kent Thameside viewed as a whole. In particular the site-by-site approach did not 1 See Appendix A 2 See Appendix B for details of evidence base documents. 3 See Appendix D for reports to Dartford Council’s Cabinet regarding implementation of a tariff mechanism for seeking developer contributions. 4 See Appendix D, Report to Cabinet July 2007 for further background on the rationale of the Programme. 3 provide the Highways Agency with the confidence to agree individual developments in the area, and development in the Ebbsfleet Valley became stalled as a result. 2.2 The key features of the STIP are: i) a transport investment programme which addresses the cumulative impact of developments taken together, based on a once-and-for all assessment; ii) the cost of implementing the programme to be met from a pooled fund of public and private sector contributions administered by Kent County Council, as the highways authority; iii) developer contributions to the programme to be equitably apportioned, whether by a set metric or by reference to impact assessments; iv) schemes in the programme to be delivered in step with development; v) legally binding obligations between the partners, providing a reliable delivery framework; vi) formal monitoring and review arrangements. 2.3 It is only with these arrangements in place that the local planning authority, the highways authority (Kent County Council) and the Highways Agency can be satisfied that the strategic transport impacts of planned development will be addressed. The additional proviso is that a sustainable transport approach is adopted within each site as set out in proposed Policy CS15. 3. RECENT CHANGES 3.1 Whilst partners are committed to the principles of the Strategic Transport Infrastructure Programme, its means of implementation is undergoing review in response to legislative and economic changes. 3.2 The Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations (March 2010) introduced CIL as a new mechanism for funding infrastructure. The legislation envisages that CIL will, to a large extent, replace the need for S106 contributions. In accordance with government’s objective to limit the scope of S106’s, the regulations (122) clarified the criteria governing S106 agreements and made these a legal requirement. They also limited the potential for seeking pooled contributions from S106’s in the future. From 2014, or from the time that a Community Infrastructure Schedule is put into effect, it will not be possible to seek contributions towards a specific item of infrastructure from more than five developments. The effect of these changes is that in the short-term, in advance of introducing CIL, it will be more difficult to operate a tariff-type system for transport contributions across as a wide area as Dartford and Gravesham, as had been previously proposed. 3.3 Secondly, the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review in October 2010 (see Appendix C) has seen the withdrawal of provisional commitments to the strategic transport programme. £13m of funding to be delivered through the 4 Homes and Communities Agency, however, remains a commitment, with spending programmed to start in the 4th Quarter of 2010/11. 3.4 The downturn in the housing market has had an impact on S106 contributions from private development. Some funding has been collected towards strategic transport infrastructure and further S106’s have been signed5. However, funding committed in S106’s will not be delivered until the schemes commence on site. The anticipated slower build out rates in the short to medium term will result in contributions coming forward at a slower rate. The greatest impact arises from the Eastern Quarry S106 contribution. The phasing agreed as part of the S106 on the £40m transport contribution related to a faster development programme. With a much longer build-out, the proposed phasing is no longer considered viable by the developer. Negotiations are taking place to agree a settlement that is acceptable to the developer, whilst also ensuring that the integrity of the programme is not undermined. 4. PROPOSED WAY FORWARD 4.1 The changes outlined above indicate that in the current economic climate and economic restraint in both public and private sectors, funding for the Strategic Transport Programme will come forward more slowly. There is likely to be less certainty about the timing and amount of the future funding stream. This suggests a need to move away from a pre-planned, fully-costed and comprehensive strategic transport programme across Kent Thameside, to one which addresses transport impacts and mitigation schemes on a more local basis and is more sensitive to the timing of housing delivery and the availability of funding at a given point in time. 4.2 A locally-based or zonal approach is well-suited to current circumstances as it can enable a more focused approach to spending and accommodate funding made available in smaller tranches. Central government’s objective is to maximise the effectiveness of spending by linking funding to delivery. This can be achieved by a focus of public sector spending on those local areas or zones which look likely to bring forward the earliest development. Such an approach will facilitate the levering of private sector funding, improve viability of schemes and allow early delivery. 4.3 In advance of a Community Infrastructure Levy, the restrictions on S106’s require that a clear relationship is demonstrated between the impact of a development and a mitigation scheme. Any contribution must be proportionate to the impact. In this context, a flat rate tariff contribution towards a Kent Thameside-wide transport programme is no longer feasible. Nonetheless, the difficulties in operating contributions towards strategic transport infrastructure on a scheme-by-scheme, which led to the development of the Strategic Transport Programme, still remain. Pooling of contributions between more than one development is necessary to provide mitigation schemes which treat 5 See Appendix E for details 5 all development equitably and in a way which does not constrain development through viability issues. 4.4 Again, the local area or zonal approach allows a more appropriate response to the S106 restrictions in advance of CIL introduction. The outputs from the Kent Thameside model enable the apportionment of impacts between development schemes within the relevant local area. This can be used to derive an apportionment of costs for each mitigation scheme. The more localised basis of pooled contributions, with a clear evidence base demonstrating the link between a development and a mitigation scheme ensures compliance with Regulation 122 of the CIL Regulations. 4.5 In the short-term, therefore, the Council is working with its partners