Executive Summary
Kent’s second LTP seeks to provide choice in the transport network and reduce dependency on the private car, thereby improving accessibility for the whole community and protecting the environment. It tackles the demand for travel with a fresh proactive approach and seeks to manage and maintain Kent’s road network more efficiently, thereby tackling problems of congestion and pollution. The Plan also sets out ways of ensuring the outstanding progress made on making Kent’s roads safer is continued, and it seeks to deliver improvements to meet the transport needs of the County’s growth and economic regeneration areas in a sustainable way.
Accessibility is particularly important in Kent as the County’s economy is not as prosperous as most of the South East. 22% of households do not have access to a car, making it difficult for some residents to reach jobs and key services. Traffic levels continue to rise, in no small part due to Kent’s role as the UK’s gateway to Europe, and this is having a profound impact upon the unique environment which is the Garden of England. The challenge of two major growth areas demands that a sustainable approach be adopted to transport in the future.
Through working with partners and the community, a strategy has been devised to tackle these problems. It will reduce congestion and pollution and tackle problems of accessibility and road safety, and it will also tackle Kent’s ten key objectives for this LTP. These deal with the subjects of :-
- Accessibility
- Demand Management
- Environment, Heritage and Communities
- Health
- Integration
- Keep Kent Moving
- Road Safety
- Sustainable Regeneration
- UK Connections
- UK Gateway
In preparation for this Plan a comprehensive programme of integrated transport schemes has been devised to deliver against both the Government’s and the Kent's community priorities. It has been identified and developed with partners on the basis of four sub areas in the County which reflect both Kent's sheer size and the disparities within it. The Government's planning guideline figures for Kent show a welcome and substantial increase in the funding available for this type of scheme over the next five years. Despite there being no accompanying grant support from Government, Kent will take up this extra borrowing and bear its cost. In addition, the County Council has substantial amounts of revenue investment planned for transport in its medium term financial programme. When added to other investment by Government, developers, transport operators, District Councils and other activity by the County Council, this LTP's headline targets are to achieve :-
- A 10% increase (from 58%) by 2011 in the number of households within 30 minutes travelling time of a hospital by public transport
- A 5% increase (from 88.9%) by 2011 in the number of households within 15 minutes of a GP's surgery by public transport
- By 2007/8 a 40% reduction on 2000 levels in the number of people killed & seriously injured on Kent’s roads with a corresponding 50% reduction for children. A corresponding 10% reduction in the number of people slightly injured by 2010/11.
- A reduction in average vehicle speeds on Kent's roads in residential areas by 10% by 2011
- A 2% increase per year in bus patronage on 2003/4 levels
- A 6% improvement in bus punctuality by 2011
- A 38% increase in cycling on 2003/4 levels by 2011
- Restraining Kent wide traffic growth to less than 2% per annum
- A 10% increase in the use of sustainable transport modes for journeys to school by 2011
Through its track record on the first LTP, Kent County Council can prove that investment in Kent represents value for money and delivers real outcomes for the community. A new method of prioritising transport investment will ensure this continues and that the challenging targets set out above are met.
KCC is ready to deliver the second phase of the East Kent Access major scheme, so vital for the regeneration of this part of the County. KCC asks the Government to fund Phase 2 as a matter of top priority in this LTP period. The Government has already accepted that the County Council has demonstrated the benefits of this scheme and it is now established as a top priority in regional terms.
Figure 1 Map of Kent
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