Environment and roads

Parish travel plans

A Parish Travel Plan or Village Travel Plan will look at the current travel and environmental problems within the parish and provide an overall package of measures to improve the area for local people. It will show what action will and could be taken by Hertfordshire County Council and its Rural Partners.

More than 80% of the land in Hertfordshire is rural, and is home to more than 200,000 of the county’s one million residents. Recent information shows that over the last 20 years traffic has grown on rural roads three times more than on urban roads.

Hertfordshire’s rural land is spread over a large area which means that the majority of people living in these areas are dependent on the car, and for those who do not have access to a car there are few bus services that are commercially viable to run. County lanes and minor routes are often heavily congested by traffic looking avoid other, busier roads in the county.

To tackle these problems Hertfordshire County Council and its Rural Partners have developed a Rural Strategy, the aims of which are to:

• Provide a stronger role for the communities in identifying local needs
• Increase the number of people walking, cycling and using the Rights of Way network
• Improve rural road safety
• Improve the quality of public transport
• Better co-ordinate services to make the best use of what is available
• Integrate modes with the provision of user-friendly route and service information
• Minimise the impact of traffic on rural areas
• Increase the number of locally accessible services that people can reach without the need to travel
• Support the rural economy by promoting green tourism and leisure

The delivery of the objectives will be through the development of a Parish or Village Travel Plan. The Travel Plan process involves the identification of local issues and problems through research such as questionnaires and developing solutions through local residents’ participation in working groups.

A Parish Travel Plan will establish the current situation in your parish with regards to travel and transportation and have an action plan that describes ways in which the aims and objectives can be achieved through the Rural Partners.

If you would like to be involved with the development of a Parish Travel Plan for your parish or you would like further information, please contact Sarah Parfitt at Hertfordshire Highways on 01707 356 554 or write to:

Parish Travel Plans
Hertfordshire Highways
41-45 Broadwater Road
Welwyn Garden City
Hertfordshire
AL7 3SP

Or email: sarah.parfitt@hertshighways.org.uk