FAQs
Improved health and well-being and improved quality of life
Better awareness of different travel options
Less traffic on the roads and lower demand for parking
Improved public transport services
Reduced overspill parking in residential areas
Reduced air and noise pollution
Possible environmental accreditation for an applicant’s company
Financial savings for the applicant/future occupier
Securing support from senior managers at the applicant’s company
Identifying roles and responsibilities
Undertaking a site assessment and staff travel survey
Defining the applicant’s goals and set targets
Identifying measures and travel options
Monitoring, reviewing and reporting progress
Raising awareness and sharing the plan with residents and employees within the monitored site
Ensure active and sustainable travel is being promoted for residents and employees across BCP. Monitoring data should provide feedback on the level of engagement by residents and employees within the monitored site. Results should indicate where an increase in, or change of, promotion is required.
Ensure the effectiveness of any actions being implemented and identify whether a different approach is required. Monitoring data will indicate whether the actions are having the required effect in achieving behaviour change. If necessary, revisions or changes can be identified.
Make any appropriate revisions to travel plans. Monitoring data will indicate progress towards identified targets and highlight any adjustments or modifications required. This will ensure targets and objectives are realistic and can be met.
What is a Travel Plan?
Travel plans are a package of measures which encourage walking, cycling and the use of public transport, and are required as part of the planning application for large developments such as new schools, office blocks, hospitals and leisure facilities, to reduce their impact on surrounding roads.
Managed and monitored by the council, they are a long-term plan for including sustainable travel into planning, with developers required to track targets over a set number of years.
They not only benefit the employer and their employees, but also nearby residents, local communities and the environment.
Although travel plans are in place across all three areas and have been for many years, historically, the monitoring fees associated with them currently only apply in Poole and not Bournemouth and Christchurch.
What are the benefits of a Travel Plan?
The benefits of a Travel Plan include:
What’s involved in producing a Travel Plan?
The key steps to introducing a Travel Plan are:
Why do we monitor travel plans?
In addition to baseline data, we require this information to be submitted at regular intervals across the early years of development. This data is used to:
Why have Travel Plan monitoring fees typically only been charged for Poole so far?
The Borough of Poole had a specific Supplementary Planning Guidance document which sought a monitoring fee while other legacy authorities took different approaches.
Within some, no fees were sought, and the monitoring activity was entirely funded as part of the day-to-day activities of Travel Plan officers.
In others, development-specific monitoring fees were negotiated as part of a planning application.
Following the formation of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, we’d like to assess what developers and communities feel about taking a fairer, more consistent approach.
What will you do with the income from monitoring Bournemouth and Christchurch travel plans?
Depending on the outcome of this consultation, any income generated by the introduction of monitoring fees in Bournemouth and Christchurch would be used to fund Travel Plan monitoring and supporting developers once they are in place.
How are monitoring fees calculated?
The banded monitoring fees below have been developed to reflect the amount of local authority officer time required to evaluate the initial plan, assess the monitoring data and participate in reviewing any amended plan in the future.
Band Thresholds | BCP1 | BCP2 | BCP3 | BCP4 | BCP5 |
Residential units (no of dwellings) | 20 | 50 | 200 | 400 | 600+ |
Class C1 Hotel (no of beds) | 40 | 75 | 100 | 150 | 200 |
Class E Commercial, Business and Service | 0 | 2000m2 | 4000m2 | 6000m2 | 8000m2 |
Class F1 Learning and non-residential institutions | 0 | 1000m2 | 2000m2 | 3000m2 | 4000m2 |
Class F2 Local Community Uses | 0 | 1000m2 | 2000m2 | 3000m2 | 4000m2 |
Class B2 General Industrial | 0 | 400m2 | 800m2 | 1200m2 | 1600m2 |
Class B8 Distribution/ Wholesaling | 0 | 4000 m2 | 8000m2 | 12000m2 | 16000m2 |
Stadia (no of seats) | 0 | 1500 | 3000 | 4500 | 6000 |
Other | Case by case basis | ||||
Fees (£) Charge for set-up and 7 years monitoring | 3370 | 4950 | 6800 | 7265 | 9700 |
A comparison exercise was undertaken to provide a comparator of similar local authority charges as an alternative measure. This ‘mid-market’ estimate would place our fees within an acceptable range based on current market figures but excludes local factors and is a flat rate regardless of the size of developments or the level of monitoring required.
The table below shows a financial comparison of the three charging options for Band BCP3 developments:
| 6 travel plans annual scenario | 12 travel plans annual scenario |
Zero Charge | £0 | £0 |
BCP Proposal | £20,400 | £40,800 |
Mid-market | £17,094 | £34,188 |
Why do we charge for travel plans?
The council uses monitoring fees to produce travel plans and provide officer guidance to developers to ensure they are supported at every stage during both the planning stage and their Travel Plan roll out.
Are there different rates depending on the type of business?
The monitoring charges reflect the complexity of the monitoring and assessment of a specific Travel Plan rather than the type of business.
A Travel Plan is proportionate and is scaled to the size of the development with the most complex schemes requiring lots of targets, thus requiring a greater level of monitoring.
How long have travel plans been in place?
The Borough of Poole introduced a specific Travel Plan Supplementary Planning Guidance Document back in 2003, while travel plans have been in operation across Bournemouth and Christchurch for over 20 years.
The only difference being fees were charged for Poole but not the other areas.
Do businesses have to apply for a Travel Plan or does BCP contact them?
A Travel Plan will be negotiated for developments that apply for planning permission which are likely to have significant transport implications.
BCP Council also operates a Business Travel Network (BTN) open to employers of any size in the three towns with the aim of giving their staff better sustainable transport options.
The BTN provides advice and support on travel plans as part of this, which is separate to the planning system.
To learn more about travel plans or to discuss travel planning requirements, you can contact the team via: activetravel@bcpcouncil.gov.uk(External link)
Are travel plans a legal document?
Travel plans are not a legal document, however, as part of planning permission, a planning condition is often used to ensure its aims and targets are adhered to.
In some cases, travel plans may be included within a legal agreement, but this is typically reserved for the largest developments.
Of the three Travel Plan monitoring fee proposals you are consulting on, what is meant by ‘applying a fee aligned with other councils’?
This is the third option of our consultation proposals where we are seeking your views on implementing a monitoring fee that considers those currently charged by a select number of UK councils and calculating an average figure which sits halfway between the lowest and highest fees.