Transport paper - a response

Citation

(1999), "Transport paper - a response", Property Management, Vol. 17 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/pm.1999.11317aab.024

Transport paper - a response

Transport paper ­ a response

Keywords Property market, Transport

"A new deal for transport", the Government's long awaited white paper on transport, issued in August, has been analysed by King Sturge & Co.s team of researchers and their conclusions published in "Mind the Gap!".

King Sturge & Co.s report covers the implications to the property market of the proposals in the White Paper, particularly the ongoing struggle between town centres and out-of-town developments.

In the reports introduction, Dr Bob Thompson, head of research at King Sturge & Co., said that while the paper "defines the problems facing a transport infrastructure in which the component parts have been abused over a 50-year period . . . when it comes to solutions, however, the paper fails to deliver. What was needed was a radical, comprehensive review addressing the whole spectrum of supply, demand and prices". He went on to say, "We needed a lion of a paper, so far we have a mouse. It remains to be seen whether it will begin to roar".

The paper offers little clarification on one of the key issues surrounding future transport plans. For "in many respects", the King Sturge report goes on to say, "it is the access of residential property to public transport which drives the whole concept of integrated transport forward.

"Commuting journeys, presumably, all start at home. Unless public transport is easily available within a short distance the journey is lost to the motor car". With 4.4. million homes required over the next 20 years the role of transport in this area needs clarification.

"Mind the Gap!" also highlights the ambivalence in the paper towards the importance of town-centre retailing. This is shown through penalising in-town retail through road pricing and car parking charges, while failing to apply any sanction at all to out-of-town stores. The result may be a "quickening of the move towards home shopping for repeat items accelerating the trend already seen in convenience shopping".

Road pricing will also affect town centre office developments as employers and employees begin to favour out-of-centre business parks. Rather than having the desired effect of discouraging car commuting, it would increase car usage as employees are attracted to out-of-town office locations.

The mode of transport clearly preferred by the White Paper for industry is rail. But the King Sturge report concludes that, although the "clear implication for the location of industrial occupiers is to be within reasonable proximity of a rail hub, however, a preference for rail, however official, does not automatically make it viable". Even with increases in road costs and high levels of congestion, road transport is likely to remain the backbone of most distribution operations; hence proximity to a motorway will still be the key consideration when choosing a location.

King Sturge's report also warns that the micro implications of any transport policy must be considered prior to any policy changes. The obvious example of this is London where the implication of encouraging more people to use public transport, now or in the near future, would result in severe overcrowding. Whereas in other towns and cities, public transport is currently under-used compared to car.

Glaring failures in the White Paper include the lack of radical ideas; overlooking the role of technology in reducing the amount of travel we do; and the need for significant funding to ensure the success of a new integrated transport system. The report concludes that there is a need for change but "A new deal for transport" fails to provide us with directions.