1www.beyondgreen.co.uk

Planning new developments – a UK practitioner’s

perspective

Neil Murphy, Director, Beyond Green Ltd.

Love Cycling, Go DutchNewcastle, 5th November 2013

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“Imagine a life where travelling to work could simply be a walk in the park. Imagine an environment where children can play safely and you can run, stroll or pedal through pathways into the countryside. Imagine a place where shops for everyday needs are on your doorstep and you can dine and enjoy community facilities just a stones throw away from your ideal home....”

Newcastle Great Park website

Image from John Simpson Architects’ original masterplan for Newcastle Great Park

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Brandevoort, NL

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• Lack of geographical and spatial thinking

• Mobility still emphasised over accessibility

• The ‘efficiency’ of ‘tree’ layouts and the opportunity cost of public space in cost-driven projects

• Spaciousness vs enclosure in street design

• How, and how much, to share space?

Issues – design

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• Planning generally struggles with complexity

• Policy allows (arguably) but does not entail planning around the needs of cycling/ cyclists

• Transport Assessment – predict peak traffic, provide capacity (and “11% for a Travel Plan”)

• “Infrastructure” = roads

• Diversity and understanding among decision-makers

• Insider-outsider problem

Issues – planning

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• Core land-use planning principle that planning should “actively manage patterns of growth to make the fullest possible use of public transport, walking and cycling, and focus significant development in locations which are or can be made sustainable” (para 17)

• “Plans should protect and exploit opportunities for the use of sustainable transport modes for the movement of goods or people. Therefore, developments should be located and designed where practical to... give priority to pedestrian and cycle movements...” (para 35)

National Planning Policy Framework

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• Core land-use planning principle that planning should “actively manage patterns of growth to make the fullest possible use of public transport, walking and cycling, and focus significant development in locations which are or can be made sustainable” (para 17)

• “Plans should protect and exploit opportunities for the use of sustainable transport modes for the movement of goods or people. Therefore, developments should be located and designed where practical to... give priority to pedestrian and cycle movements...” (para 35)

National Planning Policy Framework

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• Planning generally struggles with complexity

• Policy allows (arguably) but does not entail planning around the needs of cycling/ cyclists

• Transport Assessment – predict peak traffic, provide capacity (and “11% for a Travel Plan”)

• “Infrastructure” = roads

• Diversity and understanding among decision-makers

• Insider-outsider problem

Issues – planning

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• Domination of house-building sector by a few large plcs

• Like all oligopolies (/cartels?) produces what it is expedient to produce not “what the market wants” – still selling proto-suburbia

• High barriers to entry

• Wider development sector specialised/divided by use – works against integration

Issues – development industry

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Beyond Green Developments

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• Mixed-use urban extension incorporating 3,520 homes, 1,000 jobs, two schools, a country park

• Integrated mixed use (“traditional”) urbanism + contemporary sustainable design• connected street grid• compact ‘walkable neighbourhoods’• accessible mixed-use

• ‘Car freedom’ transport model:• Cycling integrated not ‘segregated’ • Cycling the alpha mode for journeys 1km><5km• Off site improvements to tackle pinch-points to city centre• Subsidise early adoption of good behaviour; big savings later• Make costs of car ownership transparent + focus on eliminating

2nd vehicle

• ‘Patient’ development model – invest upfront for better land values later

North Sprowston & Old Catton

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Layout

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Street hierarchy

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Primary street

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Tertiary street

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• Resolution to grant planning in September 2013

• Local authorities bought into vision• 2omph max throughout• Compact street dimensions, codified in planning conditionas• Tight parking ratios (for Norfolk)• Bike-friendly junction designs• 0% mode share to car for school trips• Target + subsidise mode shift not highway capacity• Accepted higher mode share estimated to walking and cycling

because or wider ethos of scheme (comprehensive not token)• Acknowledge major challenges for cycling are off-site and fund

acccordingly• City brand and positioning

But:• Planning allowed but didn’t compel (business-as-usual next door...)• Full disclosure: big new road nearby made everything ‘easier’...

A new model for planning for walk + bike?

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• What is the correspondence between walkable/transit-oriented and cyclable environments?

• To what extent does actively promoting cycling entail actively demoting other modes (when you have design carte blanche)?

Some issues to discuss

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Planning new developments – a UK practitioner’s

perspective

Neil Murphy, Director, Beyond Green Ltd.

Love Cycling, Go DutchNewcastle, 5th November 2013