Isn’t it just good planning?
Taking a ‘Vision Led’ approach to planning is not a new concept. Creating a clear vision for a new development and then imbedding those principles within the design is what might simply have been referred to as ‘good planning’ in old money. Even the recent, more explicit application of the term to transport planning is not a wholly new invention. Ultimately, it is a collaborative approach to planning new developments. One that aims to create better places by prioritising people, designing for sustainability and health, and encouraging community involvement.
What is new; however, is that the concept is now enshrined in national planning policy as a result of the recent changes to the NPPF. This is ultimately to be commended, but it does raise some interesting points for debate which will no doubt play out over the next months and years. This article does not aim to review those changes (we have all now seen enough of those!) but to consider some of the main questions arising from the NPPF from a transport perspective, and how we can even begin to answer them.