Travel planning in Saltaire WHS – a case study
March 23, 2022
The Saltaire World Heritage Management Plan incorporates a Delivery Plan which includes an objective (4) to “Develop, promote and support environmental sustainability across all activities in Saltaire, its immediate setting and Buffer Zone”. To achieve this objective, the Plan included an action (4.1) to “develop and implement a sustainable travel plan for the WHS to include travel by residents and visitors”.
The travel plan is a long term management strategy that seeks to deliver sustainable transport objectives through action and articulated in a document that is regularly reviewed. A travel plan involves identifying an appropriate package of measures aimed at promoting sustainable travel, with an emphasis on reducing reliance on single occupancy car journeys
Travel plans can assist in increasing accessibility whilst reducing local air pollution, greenhouse gases and noise. Importantly, in increasing accessibility in a sustainable and efficient way, travel plans are widely recognised for contributing to economic vitality through transport improvements, better use of existing capacity, behavioural change and enabling clean and inclusive growth and promoting health and wellbeing.
The Saltaire Travel Plan is primarily focused on travel to, from and within the World Heritage Site itself, not its buffer zone. It covers travel by residents, visitors and employees within the World Heritage Site.
Alongside the Saltaire Travel Plan there is also a proposal to trial Saltaire as an Active Travel Neighbourhood (ATN) as a result of Bradford Council successfully securing £2m from the second tranche of the Active Travel Fund. ATNs are areas where a number of residential side streets are closed to motorised vehicles and other measures introduced to discourage non-local traffic from using these streets to cut through an area. Consultation was launched in July to give local residents, businesses and users of the area to opportunity to identify local traffic issues and have their say on the proposals