Introduction to site-wide considerations
Active places require a range of local services and community facilities that are conveniently located on high-quality, accessible walking and cycling routes. Active places provide a strong sense of place. They have well-designed and green streets and public spaces that encourage people and families to travel by walking or cycling, socialise and play.
The planning application assessment toolkit helps to gather evidence and assess the walking, wheeling and cycling merits of a development proposal.
Location and design
The location and design of active places should be based on a sound active travel assessment, including a forecast of all day trips to, from and within the site by walking, wheeling and cycling.
An assessment of the design and accessibility of existing active travel routes in the area of the sites should also be completed. The travel plan should outline ambitious mode share targets and measures to embed active travel, alongside appropriate monitoring and remedial strategies.
Development should be focused on locations which are or can be made sustainable through offering a genuine choice of transport modes, while promoting walking, wheeling and cycling.
When planning new places, the aim should be for facilities such as schools, shops, community facilities, healthcare, and open spaces to be within 800 metres of all homes.
Transport and facilities
Public transport services and facilities should be well located and accessible via walking, wheeling or cycling, ensuring easy onward interchange with public transport. Bus stops should ideally be located so that nobody needs to walk more than 400 metres from their home.
The ease of movement for people around a place is important within the site, but the movement network must make connections to destinations, places, and communities beyond the site boundaries. The internal active travel network must connect to and enhance off-site routes, rather than create indirect routes of poor quality.
Proposals for new places should be created around a network of high-quality, well-integrated active travel routes. These routes should be of suitable width, surface and topography, and connect to surrounding areas.
Pedestrians and cyclists should be given priority when moving across a site. This will help create routes that are coherent, direct, safe, comfortable, and attractive. Active travel networks should form a continuous and connected grid in a development, reflecting desire lines of where people want to travel.
Higher density developments are well placed to support local public transport and services. Compact developments support more walking, wheeling and cycling journeys. The opportunity to provide a mixed-use development should be explored.
Active travel infrastructure, public transport services and community facilities should be delivered early in large-scale developments to ensure walking, wheeling and cycling habits are formed as the development takes shape.
