Former bus boss has raised the alarm after helping parish councils respond the local transport consequences of major new housing developments
Ben Colson spent his career in the bus industry
The new government’s pledge to deliver 1.5 million homes over the next five years risks the creation of new car-dependent communities unless the current planning framework is urgently reformed.
This is the warning from Ben Colson, who spent his career in the bus industry – most notably as founder of bus company Norfolk Green (acquired by Stagecoach) and as chair of the ALBUM group of SME bus companies.
Colson has been working with parish councils to help them respond to the local transport consequences of major new housing developments, and the cross impacts of national planning policy, local policies, developer practice and financing.
My conclusion is that it is a complete not-fit-for-purpose mess and one which, unreformed, will make sustainable transport solutions an ever more distant ideal
Speaking to Passenger Transport this week, he said: “My conclusion is that it is a complete not-fit-for-purpose mess and one which, unreformed, will make sustainable transport solutions an ever more distant ideal if the rate of new build accelerates.”
Colson has written a paper on the subject. It includes a case study of South Wootton in West Norfolk, where 1,350 new homes are being built in two development areas. Although designed to be otherwise, he concludes that these developments will in fact lead to car-dependency for current and future generations. The phased nature of the developments means that transport enhancements only begin once a certain threshold of new homes has been reached – by which time many households will have been living car dependent lifestyles for years.
His recommendations include amending the rules to accept bus services as infrastructure (capital) expenditure when providing connectivity to new development zones.
The conundrum is that unless there is better than just a basic bus service, and one provided for early arrival residents, it will not attract sufficient custom to be either sustainable or viable
Buses are the UK’s main mode of public transport, but Colson says they don’t get the recognition they deserve. “The conundrum is that unless there is better than just a basic bus service, and one provided for early arrival residents, it will not attract sufficient custom to be either sustainable or viable,” he states in his report. “It therefore fails on both criteria and unsustainable private car transport, often single use, will become the default position in most new developments.
He adds: “Ministers have placed emphasis on infrastructure being provided for new developments at an early stage. In people’s minds, this is synonymous with built facilities, yet bus services are the only quick and inexpensive means of providing the architecture necessary for sustainable transport options for such areas. It is therefore important that Treasury rules regard them as such, rather than merely as a low priority call on public revenue funding.”
Colson argues that the situation is contrary to the national planning policy as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which he describe as “a failure of a significant scale at a high level”. “Despite the NPPF’s clarity, it is rarely followed in practice,” he claims. It is in the joint and several interest of developers, and the local planning authority and local transport authority to not do so.”
Colson believes that the situation is aggravated by the regulatory regime for buses. He calls for the introduction of a new “hybrid regulatory regime lying between commercial operation (which can never supply the quantity and range of services to make these new larger developments genuinely sustainable) and franchise (which the public purse cannot afford)”.
Meanwhile, Colson observes that the depressed build rate of new homes has contributed to the problem.
The slower the build rate of new homes the greater the probability that the site will become car-dependent, again contrary to the NPPF vision, a state which will make meeting Net Zero targets all the more difficult
“The slower the build rate of new homes the greater the probability that the site will become car-dependent, again contrary to the NPPF vision, a state which will make meeting Net Zero targets all the more difficult,” he says. “Three developers have told me that the build rate is more a function of sales expectations than their ability to physically build the stock … All three have said that the impact of the Autumn 2022 mini-budget has been to depress sales by about 50%.”
Explaining the transport impact of slower build rates, Colson writes: “Most Planning Conditions (including Section 106 funding) require a particular transport facility to be provided by the date of occupation of the ‘x-th’ dwelling. This means that those new residents already in situ will have become familiar living without. As transport connectivity is a vital element of lifestyle so, in its absence, new residents become car dependent, which is ingrained in their offspring as they become young adults. It is therefore a self-fulfilling recipe for long-term unsustainability.
“The longer it takes to reach the agreed ‘x-th’ dwelling the more ingrained the unsustainable practices will become.”
The same problem applies to the opening of new roads through developments.
Colson offers the example of new developments in South Wootton in West Norfolk. One of them will pay Section 106 funding for a bus service from mid-2027 until mid-2032. However, by then the likely population will be 700 people forced to live car dependent, of which some 450 will have been so for more than five years.
Ben Colson’s recommendations for action
Accept bus services as ‘infrastructure’: Treasury to amend rules to accept bus services as infrastructure (capital) expenditure when providing connectivity to new development zones.
Emphasise need to reduce car-dependency: National Planning Policy Framework should be amended to emphasise the need to reduce car-dependency, and for local planning authorities and local transport authorities to have duty of periodic review. Change Section 106 and Planning Conditions to ensure that slower build rates do not have a negative impact on sustainability.
A hybrid regulatory arrangement for buses: Department of Transport to consider hybrid regulatory arrangement which allows mix of franchise and commercial markets in one area, especially to meet need of local housing growth and to provide for longer-term sustainability in new developments. This may take the form of local transport authorities providing concessions to run some bus routes to at least meet a minimum standard of service.
‘Better-than-just-adequate’ bus connectivity: Local planning authorities and local transport authorities to be jointly responsible for provision of ‘better-than-just-adequate’ bus connectivity in new developments. This may be as part of franchise, Enhanced Partnerships or a mix, hence the need for a hybrid regulatory arrangement.
Changes to the system of road adoption: Department for Transport to lead on making changes to the system of road adoption and associated insurance, and for this to be referenced in the National Planning Policy Framework.
This article appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.
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The post Action urged on new housing and transport first appeared on Passenger Transport.