Print all pages

---

2. Executive Summary

Purpose of the Local Transport Plan

Local Transport Plans (LTPs) are a requirement of the Transport Act 2000. The Transport Act states that plans must set out both overall strategy and plans for their implementation.

East Sussex’s third LTP (LTP3) was adopted in 2011 and covers the period from 2011 to 2026. Since LTP3 was adopted, the policy context has changed significantly on a national, sub-national and local scale, leading to the need to review the existing LTP and develop a fourth LTP (LTP4).

The policy review provides full details of the renewed context and need for a new LTP. Key changes include an increased emphasis on climate change, the need to decarbonise transport, and how the pandemic has impacted user needs and the way in which people choose to travel. Furthermore, transport accessibility, equity and inclusiveness, and the opportunities to support healthy lifestyles have become a priority for transport investment. LTP4 needs to reflect a changing policy context and current transport investment priorities.

Back to top

---

LTP4 approaches

A collaborative approach in developing LTP4 has been taken, which has resulted in an ambitious and deliverable plan. Delivery of the plan will require partnership working with partners and communities and, crucially, funding from various sources. Underpinning the approach has been the goal of identifying the role that transport can play in improving social, environmental, and economic outcomes across both urban and rural areas within East Sussex, and connectivity across the East Sussex boundary and to the wider south east region. 

Inclusive

This approach is inclusive - The principle of inclusiveness is a fundamental element of the plan. Including planning for people with both physical and hidden disabilities alongside other groups, including people of an older age, women, and Black, Asian, and ethnic minority groups. An Equalities Impact Assessment has been undertaken on LTP4 to analyse and assess how the plan might impact differently on the identified groups of people, as above, and sets out the actions partners can undertake when developing and delivering transport infrastructure, services and initiatives to eliminate or minimise any impacts.

Partnership working

This approach has been developed in partnership - Partnership working is a critical element of this plan. Working with stakeholders across a wide range of modes, sectors, and policy areas, has been employed in the development of the plan. Responsibility for the delivery of the LTP rests not just with East Sussex County Council but with multiple organisations. Relationships established throughout the LTP co-development process will be maintained and enhanced to support and maximise the funding secured over the life of the plan to enable the vision and objectives of the LTP4 to be delivered. 

Planning for 'people and places'

This approach plans for people and places - focusing on enabling and encouraging integrated journeys and reducing the need to travel through land-use and planning policies that support sustainable travel. Encouraging and enabling inclusive and sustainable travel modes (walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport), adopting vehicles with cleaner fuels alongside the utilisation of emerging transport technologies will help to achieve the Council's net-zero ambitions.

This approach is vision-led and resilient to future uncertainty - by embracing a ‘planning for people and places’ approach and working collaboratively with stakeholder representative groups (councillors, officers, and local stakeholder representatives) to explore how different political, economic, social, technological, and environmental trends might evolve to create different versions of the future in 2050. This activity was undertaken using scenario planning.

A preferred future ‘Completely Connected Communities’ was developed and informed the LTP4 vision. Importantly a vision led approach provides flexibility. Whilst the vision will stay constant during the timescale of the East Sussex LTP4 the policies and schemes identified within the strategy and investment plan can be updated, adjusted or adapted to take into account any policy changes and the availability of new funding streams that are brought forward over the life of the plan. Further details are included in Appendix A.

Back to top

---

Vision

An inclusive transport system that connects people and places, is decarbonised, safer, resilient, and supports our natural environment, communities, and businesses to be healthy, thrive and prosper.

Back to top

---

Objectives and outcomes

To realise the vision, the following objectives and corresponding desired outcomes have been identified.

Objectives

• Objective 1: Deliver safer and accessible journeys:
  • Outcome 1.1: Create enhanced and inclusive transport networks for all users.
  • Outcome 1.2: Contribute to reducing the number of casualties and collisions on our transport networks.
  • Outcome 1.3: Contribute to improving personal safety for all journeys.
  • Outcome 1.4: Improve interchange between travel modes.
  • Outcome 1.5: Improve access to key local services by all modes.
• Objective 2: Support healthier lifestyles and communities:
  • Outcome 2.1: Increase the proportion of walking, wheeling, and cycling journeys.
  • Outcome 2.2: Increase active travel and public transport journeys through education, training, travel behaviour change initiatives and information.
  • Outcome 2.3: Re-design road space to balance the needs of different road users, including encouraging people to walk, wheel, cycle and use the bus.
  • Outcome 2.4: Support reduction of emissions to improve air quality.
  • Outcome 2.5: Mitigate noise pollution through technology and design.
  • Outcome 2.6: Improve access to green spaces, public rights of way and leisure and health facilities.
• Objective 3: Decarbonise transport and travel:
  • Outcome 3.1: Increase the proportion of people travelling by walking, wheeling, cycling, public and shared transport.
  • Outcome 3.2: Facilitate the uptake of ultra-low and zero-emission vehicles for journeys, through the delivery of supporting infrastructure.
  • Outcome 3.3: Work with partners to decarbonise transport and tackle climate change.
  • Outcome 3.4: Support clean technologies and fuels that contribute towards the decarbonisation of transport.
• Objective 4: Conserve and enhance our local environment:
  • Outcome 4.1: Conserve and enhance our local and natural environment by mitigating negative impacts of transport design and delivery.
  • Outcome 4.2: Enhance and create attractive connected communities and public spaces.
  • Outcome 4.3: Support habitat connectivity and increase in biodiversity through the delivery of enhanced and new transport infrastructure and public spaces.
• Objective 5: Support sustainable economic growth:
  • Outcome 5.1: Facilitate the efficient movement of goods and people.
  • Outcome 5.2: Contribute to reducing deprivation and inequality through improved accessibility for all to employment, education, and training.
  • Outcome 5.3: Attract and retain businesses and a skilled workforce in the county.
  • Outcome 5.4: Enhance sustainable access to key visitor and cultural destinations.
  • Outcome 5.5: As a local highway authority engage with our local planning authorities to deliver sustainable and well-connected housing and employment growth identified in their Local Plans.
• Objective 6: Strengthen the resilience of our transport networks:
  • Outcome 6.1: Improve journey time reliability for people and businesses.
  • Outcome 6.2: Enable transport journeys to be resilient, flexible, and adaptable and recover quickly from emergencies and events.
  • Outcome 6.3: Improve the condition of highway and other transport infrastructure and assets.

Back to top

---

Chapter themes, policies and example schemes

This strategy is centred around four key themes. Each chapter includes policies to achieve, objectives and priority scheme types that have been referred to in the accompanying investment plan.

Theme A: Tackling climate change and enhancing our local environment

Supporting decarbonisation of the transport system and the way in which transport can support, protect, and enhance our natural and built environment.

Policies relating to this chapter include:

• Policy A1: Reducing emissions.
• Policy A2: Future zero-emission vehicles and infrastructure.
• Policy A3: Resilience and adaptation.
• Policy A4: Biodiversity and natural capital.
• Policy A5: Energy supply.

Most schemes included in the plan seek to support the decarbonisation of transport, therefore a map of schemes has not been included in this chapter.

Theme B: Safer, healthier, and more active travel 

The capacity for transport investment to improve public health and individual wellbeing in our urban towns and local centres and villages in more rural areas. Schemes include active travel (walking, wheeling, cycling), improved connectivity, placemaking, public space enhancements, behaviour change programmes and travel interchanges / mobility hubs.

Policies relating to this chapter include:

• Policy B1: Healthy lifestyles.
• Policy B2: Active travel.
• Policy B3: Road safety.
• Policy B4: Placemaking.
• Policy B5: Air quality.
• Policy B6: Improved access to green and blue infrastructure.
• Policy B7: Rights of Way.

Example schemes from the LTP4 Investment Plan which supports the LTP and the delivery of Theme B, subject to funding being secured by East Sussex County Council and other partners, are presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Key schemes for Theme B "Safer, healthier and more active travel"

Click here for a larger version of Figure 1 'Key Schemes for Theme B' in pdf format [1.8 MB] [pdf]

A full list of schemes presented on this map is available in Appendix B.

Theme C: Integrated and accessible transport for all

Bringing as many people as possible within ready access of a high quality, frequent and reliable public transport provision. Proposed is a suite of urban, inter-urban and rural bus service enhancements, as well as rail enhancements.

Policies relating to this chapter include:

• Policy C1: Inclusive access.
• Policy C2: Bus and coach.
• Policy C3: Rail.
• Policy C4: Integrating transport.
• Policy C5: Demand responsive (including taxi, private hire, and digital demand responsive travel) and community transport.
• Policy C6: Public transport infrastructure.

Example schemes from the LTP4 Investment Plan which support the delivery of LTP and Theme C, subject to funding being secured by East Sussex County Council and other partners, are presented in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Key schemes for Theme C "Making public transport accessible for all"

Click here for a larger version of Figure 2 'Key Schemes for Theme C' in pdf format [1.8 MB] [pdf]

A full list of schemes presented on this map is available in Appendix B.

Theme D: Keeping East Sussex Connected

Supporting people and businesses in getting where they need to go, quickly and reliably. Specifically, longer distance highway, railway and bus schemes are of importance as well as freight.

Policies relating to this chapter include:

• Policy D1: Strategic connectivity.
• Policy D2: Freight and international gateways.
• Policy D3: The needs of business and the visitor economy.
• Policy D4: Supporting sustainable development and development control.
• Policy D5: Parking.
• Policy D6: Highways maintenance and asset management.

Example schemes from the LTP4 Investment Plan which support the delivery of LTP and Theme D, subject to funding being secured by the Council and other partners, are presented in Figure 3

Figure 3: Key schemes for Theme D “Keeping East Sussex connected”

Click here for a larger version of Figure 3 'Key Schemes for Theme D' in pdf format [1.7 MB] [pdf]

A full list of schemes presented onthis map is available in Appendix B.

Back to top

---

LTP4 Investment Plan

The delivery of the LTP strategy is supported by an ambitious Investment Plan. This Investment Plan will require a combination of national regulatory and policy activity and funding supported by local policies and investment priorities that combine to achieve the ambitions and vision.

Partnership and collaborative working across multiple organisations responsible for delivering the different aspects of the plan will be critical. Together these aims to produce a step-change in transport provision, subject to funding being secured by East Sussex County Council and partners. Investment priorities often are multi-modal and integrated across transport as well as other key policy areas, including digital, health and land-use planning.

With this being an aspirational strategy, setting out ambitions for transport up to 2050, it will be used by the County Council and their partners to secure future funding. Therefore, as the plan is largely unfunded it does not include targets. The delivery of the LTP4 will be monitored using a set of indicators related to the LTP4 objectives, alongside the evaluation of specific schemes.

Back to top

---

LTP4 carbon assessment

As part of the development of LTP4 an assessment of carbon impacts of interventions within the plan has been conducted via the following:

• Scenario planning - a quantitative assessment using Transport for the South East’s South East Economy and Land Use Model (SEELUM) that estimated that a Local Transport Plan aligned with the ‘preferred scenario’ could reduce tailpipe emissions from between 19 and 30 percent beyond reductions in emissions under a ‘Business as Usual’ scenario in 2050.
• Multi-criteria assessment - a qualitative assessment for sifting of policies and schemes for inclusion in the Local Transport Plan was conducted. Within this assessment all policies and schemes were assessed against the following criteria: activity (impacts on vehicle kilometres), efficiency (impacts on fuel consumption or zero-emission vehicles) and embedded carbon (impacts of construction / materials).

A Carbon Assessment playbook was launched at the end of August 2024 jointly by several Sub National Transport Bodies, including Transport for the South East. The County Council will use the carbon assessment playbook during the early part of the Plan’s delivery phase to acquire a better understanding of local emissions by scheme investment type and scheme level identified in the LTP4 Investment Plan. The County Council will publish the outcomes of these assessments on the LTP4 webpages, when they are available.

Back to top

---

Modal Strategies

The LTP4 will be supported by a series of short modal strategies, with these either being updated to reflect LTP4 or being newly developed strategies. These are outlined below.

• Local Cycle and Walking Infrastructure Plan.
• Bus Service Improvement Plan.
• Rail Strategy and action plan.
• Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy.
• Freight Strategy.

These will include identified schemes which are specific to each mode of travel, but also demonstrate the opportunities for integration between modes.

Back to top

---

---