Final LTP March 2006

The Regional Guidance and Strategies most relevant to our LTP2 are:

1. The Regional Spatial Strategy for the West Midlands

2. The West Midlands Economic Strategy and Action Plan 2004 – 2010

3. The West Midlands Regional Housing Strategy

These are described below:

(a)  The Regional Spatial Strategy

The Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) was issued as Regional Planning Guidance (RPG11) in June 2004.  Our LTP2 takes full account of the RSS, recognising the central role of the Metropolitan Area in terms of both employment and meeting housing demand.  The LTP2 supports the objective of reversing the trend of decentralisation of population and investment from the Major Urban Areas (MUAs).

The vision for the region is set out in Chapter 2.  It recognises that a step change in both policy and delivery is required.  The regional vision states that:

'Compared with historical trends this will require a significant redistribution of new development, investment, and action particularly to support the development of the region’s transport networks, to bring forward appropriate development opportunities, and improve the quality of the environment within the MUAs.'

The RSS contains the Regional Transport Strategy (RTS) which, in turn, reflects Government Guidance and the plans of the Highways Agency and the former Strategic Rail Authority.  The RTS provides a spatial framework which has helped us prepare this LTP2.

The RTS for the West Midlands recognises that:

'the availability of car parking has a major influence on the means of transport people choose for their journey and their ultimate destination.'

Local planning authority (LPA) parking standards are a key tool in promoting sustainable development and reducing car dependency, but the RTS recognises the difficulty of balancing the competition between urban centres in terms of parking restraint.  It proposes that LPAs follow PPG3 and PPG 13 guidance about levels of parking provision ⁱⁱ.

The RTS also sets out a 'Priorities for Investment' table of regionally significant schemes.  The table contains many of the measures proposed in our 2003 LTP and this LTP2, including:

• measures aimed at achieving behavioural change
• the M42 Active Traffic Management pilot scheme
• M42 widening, junctions 3 – 7
• Active Traffic Management for the M5 / M6 / M42 Midland Motorway Box
• passenger capacity enhancement at Birmingham New Street Station
• improved surface access, especially by public transport, at Birmingham International Airport
• development of Bus Showcase / Quality Bus networks
• Red Route network development
• Metro extension through Birmingham city centre to Five Ways
• Metro extension from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill
• further Metro extensions in the Birmingham and Black Country conurbation

(b)  The Regional Economic Strategy

The West Midlands Economic Strategy and Action Plan 2004 – 2010 (RES) 'Delivering Advantage', published in 2004, retains the core vision and objectives of the 1999 edition.  The strategy’s vision is that by 2010:

'The West Midlands is recognised as a world class region in which to invest, work, learn visit and live and the most successful in creating wealth to benefit all of its people.'

The RES identifies 13 challenges that must be overcome.  Five have been given highest priority because they bear the greatest influence on realising the vision.  The Transport Challenge is one of the high priority challenges and is identified because:

'Despite a pivotal position in the national network providing significant location advantages, inadequacies in the region's transport infrastructure have a major negative impact on the regional economy, and adversely affect the choices people make about where to live and work;

Traffic congestion is a fact of daily life in all major urban areas, with conditions throughout the day increasingly reflecting those of peak hours, a situation exacerbated by inadequate public transport.  Congestion in the West Midlands motorway box (M6 / M42 and M5) is now a national issue with extensive delays increasingly commonplace;

Accessibility to, and within, rural parts of the region, especially to the west, is poor;

Birmingham New Street station is constrained  by line and platform capacity and there are capacity constraints on the West Coast Main Line, particularly the two-track line between Coventry, Birmingham and Wolverhampton; and

Our challenge is, through close and energetic partnership, to find innovative solutions, and create a safe, sustainable, world-class transport system which supports our regional economy.'

The RES directs its resources to Regeneration Zones (RZs) and High Technology Corridors (HTCs).  RZs encompass concentrations of need and include the 10% most deprived wards in the region, as well as most of the bottom 20%.  The key aim is to increase economic activity and employment levels within these wards and strengthen links between areas of need and areas of opportunity.  There are four RZs within the Metropolitan Area:

• East Birmingham and North Solihull
• North Black Country and South Staffordshire
• South Black Country and West Birmingham
• Coventry and Nuneaton

Two Urban Regeneration Companies have been established, one in West Bromwich, the other in Walsall, as agencies to co-ordinate regeneration in these areas, within the two 'Black Country' Regeneration Zone.

Three HTCs have been identified for the establishment of high value-added businesses linked to research institutions.  These are located in areas formerly dependent on the motor industry and are predominantly within the Metropolitan Area.  The HTCs are:

• Central Technology Belt (A38 Birmingham to Worcester)
• Wolverhampton / Telford
• Coventry / Solihull / Warwickshire

The general location of the RZs and HTCs is shown in Figure 5 ‘Regeneration Zones and High Tech Corridors’.

The RES is clear that funding from partners is vital to ensure the success of the regeneration strategy, which seeks to reduce discrepancies between residents of RZs and the regional average. It states that:

'This target will be achieved only if public sector resources available in the relevant areas are amalgamated to deliver Zone strategies.'

Our LTP2 supports the RES by focusing the Major Schemes programme primarily on the RZs and HTCs, in order to reduce congestion and/or improve accessibility.  Area-wide Schemes, such as Urban Traffic Control (UTC) and Red Routes, also support the RES by making better use of road space, reducing congestion, improving the reliability of journey times and thereby helping business and economic regeneration.

(c)  Regional Housing Strategy

The over-arching aim of the emerging West Midlands Regional Housing Strategy (RHS), in terms of Urban Renaissance, is:

'To develop a pattern of housing investment that meets the needs and aspirations of the people of the West Midlands and, in conjunction with both the Spatial Strategy for the Region (as set out within Regional Planning Guidance) and the Regional Economic Strategy develops patterns of housing provision which will support the economic development of the region, protect and enhance the environment, stem patterns of out-migration from the older urban centres of the region and contribute to urban and rural renaissance.'

RHS objectives support Urban Renaissance and set out to address:

• issues of crime and safety
• quality of the local environment and local services
• patterns of low demand and restructuring housing markets in such areas
• how to prevent low demand spreading to other neighbourhoods already at risk

Our LTP2 supports the RHS by ensuring that transport investment is focused on accessibility, travel safety and quality of life in less well-off areas. It also supports opportunities for brownfield redevelopment and more sustainable ways of living and working.

The LTP2 also aligns with the Government's plan 'Sustainable Communities - building for the future' and the complementary West Midlands regional plan.  These plans set out lasting solutions to reverse decline and to regenerate deprived areas.

Our LTP2 supports the aims of the Pathfinder initiative, particularly through the accessibility and safety aspects of Integrated Transport block schemes.  The Birmingham - Sandwell Housing Pathfinder, one of only two such initiatives in the region, has resources to make this low-demand housing area more attractive. 

Influencing Regional Strategies

In the West Midlands, we have an up to date RSS and RES and see one of the LTP2’s key roles as underpinning their implementation.  The West Midlands Regional Assembly is currently subjecting the RSS to a number of focused partial revisions and this lends the opportunity for them to be informed by our LTP2.  For example:

• The Black Country Study, which is currently underway, is looking at options for reorganising land use patterns that can be better served by public transport and encourage cycling and walking
• Regional parking standards are due to be addressed shortly and, through our LTP2, we will seek to ensure that they support our demand management measures
• We will continue to work with regional partners to identify Strategic Park & Ride sites that support both RSS and our LTP2 strategy