Comment

Representation ID: 17149

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Worcestershire County Council

WCC is the Highway Authority for Worcestershire and is responsible for operating and maintaining the county’s local road network, both in respect of current activities and needs as well as its long-term operation and integrity. It is on the basis of these responsibilities that the comments that follow are made.
Our network adjoins the Draft Black Country Plan area at the A456, to the immediate south of Halesowen, the M5 to the south of Quinton and the A449 located to the south of Stourton. We are keen to ensure that transport and land use planning policy is closely integrated, so that the Worcestershire transport network is able to facilitate the delivery of sustainable economic growth.
We are interested in the potential traffic impacts of any development site proposals and/or policies coming forward through the Local Plan process that may impact on Worcestershire’s highway and transport network, and need to ensure that these are fully assessed during the plan-making stage. It is imperative to identify any improvements needed to deliver aspirations at this early stage, as set out in Government policy.

In summary, as a minimum, in order for the transport evidence base to satisfy the requirements of the NPPF, it is necessary to establish:
• The transport impacts of the development allocations.
• The improvements necessary to ensure that the impacts are not severe.
• Any land required for the delivery of the necessary improvements
• The cost of the necessary improvements.
• Any other deliverability constraints.