The TSIP will include a broad range of topics, covering many aspects of transport and travel in Lambeth and beyond, over the short, medium and longer term and is closely related to a number of other policy developments and initiatives.
The Transport Strategy has been developed alongside our review of the Lambeth Local Plan – the spatial strategy for development in the borough – which is currently being updated. As well as setting out all the policies that new development should comply with in order for us to deliver our strategic objectives, the updated Local Plan includes a list of projects that will be required in order to support expected development – this is known as the Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP). A subset of the IDP relates specifically to transport and public realm. Projects identified in the IDP are therefore a fundamental element of the TSIP. The updated Local Plan, including the revised IDP is scheduled for adoption in 2020. The IDP includes a range of strategically important projects that will support sustainable growth and some of these are long term initiatives, such as rail station upgrades. The TSIP focuses on how we start to deliver these, as well as shorter term projects that meet our objectives.
In terms of shorter term projects – the next three years – more detail on these is included in our Local Implementation Plan (LIP). The LIP is the borough’s response to the Mayor’s key transport objectives. It sets out how we will deliver the Mayor’s Transport Strategy in Lambeth, including how we will spend the annual funding we receive from Transport for London (TfL) for smaller transport projects. TfL is a key partner and funder for boroughs and our recently adopted and approved LIP policy document is an important part of our overall strategy as well as being a key delivery tool. Therefore Lambeth’s LIP, together with the IDP, are key building blocks for the TSIP.
A key objective of the Transport Strategy is to address issues of air quality and many of the projects and programmes included in the TSIP will help to deliver this. The key policy document relating to this area is Lambeth’s Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) 3. There is inevitably some overlap between the AQAP and the TSIP. In terms of monitoring activity and outputs in relation to air quality however, the AQAP is the primary document and the TSIP will be used to provide more information about delivery in certain topic areas, for example on how we intend to provide infrastructure for charging electric vehicles.
In putting together the TSIP we will also take into account the agreed recommendations of Lambeth’s Equality Streets Scrutiny Commission. This cross-cutting investigation looked at a broad range of transport and related issues with a particular focus on making our streets accessible to everyone.
Since the Draft Transport Strategy was published the council has declared a climate emergency and committed to becoming carbon neutral as an organisation by 2030. We are also committed to working with the community to agree broader initiatives to reduce carbon emissions across the borough. Many of the projects and programmes contained within the Strategy already support this objective, but in some areas we will need to go further and faster with existing plans and consider other options. The TSIP will respond to the borough-wide carbon reduction strategy as it emerges.