Transport Assessments and Travel Plans

Information Sheet 2- Transport Assessments and Travel Plans

Sheffield City Council is keen to encourage, support and promote high quality sustainable development. We also wish to encourage developments which are less car dependant than they have been in the past. Instead they should be designed to:-

Attract more users to public transport.
Provide access for the private car but not be dependant upon the car.
Provide cost effective travel choices, particularly for the socially excluded
Improve public transport services to areas with poor access.
Encourage economic regeneration without increasing the level of car traffic.
Improve and protect the environment.

The way that people will travel to and from a development is determined by its size, location and type. To ensure that we can all travel to new sites, all forms of transport need to be catered for. Private car use should never be the sole form of transport. The Council therefore, will require larger applications to be supported by a “Transport Assessment”. For more significant developments, in addition to a “Transport Assessment”, the Council will also expect to see a planning application supported by a (green) “Travel Plan”.

To help developers know what is needed from a “Transport Assessment” and a “Travel Plan” the Council has published Supplementary Planning Guidance in a free booklet entitled “Guidelines for the Preparation of Transport Assessments and Travel Plans”. You can get hold of a copy by ringing the Highway Development team on 0114 273 6130. Copies are available either by post or e.mail.

You can also read or download the 'Guidelines for the Preparation of Transport Assessments and Travel Plans' supplementary planning guidance

Transport Assessments

The amount of work involved in preparing a “Transport Assessment” will very much depend on the size, location and type of development. For a small development this could be little more than a letter, but for larger developments this is likely to be a fully bound technical report. The key thing to remember is that you should talk to the Highway Development staff at an early stage.

“Transport Assessments” are needed so you can demonstrate to the public and the Council that you have fully considered the needs of the development in transport and environmental terms.

As a guide, the following table sets out the site area, or minimum gross floor area (GFA) above which the Council would expect a planning application to be supported by a "Transport Assessment".

Development	Site area	GFA/units
Food-Retail	0.2 Ha	1,000m2
Non-food Retail	0.8 Ha	1,000m2
Office (B1)	0.8 Ha	2,500m2
Industry (B2/B8)	2.0 Ha	6,000m2
Residential	1.0 Ha	80 units
Other	60+ vehicle movements in any hour

For developments with little or no car parking that exceeds the above trigger levels a “Transport Assessment” will still be required to consider access by means of transport other than the car.

Travel Plans

The Council is keen to enable all types of developments from business to retail, residential to leisure, develop sustainable transport policies. One way of doing this is through a “Travel Plan”.

The submission of a “Travel Plan” will be required as part of the supporting documentation for planning applications exceeding the following trigger levels:-

For employment sites a threshold of 2,500m2 has been set, this could involve a number of smaller employers joining together;
For all other schemes a floor area of 1,000m2 is the trigger.

To help developers who apply for planning permission know what to include in a “Travel Plan” you should again refer to the Council’s “Guidelines for the Preparation of Transport Assessments and Travel Plans”. You can obtain a copy by contacting the Highway Development Team on 0114 273 6130.

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