The Transport Knowledge (TKH) hosted the fifth and final event of a series across the UK on the importance of sustainable transport in the development of new housing. This week, we were in London’s City Hall for the official launch of the KPMG report Integrating the planning and delivery of sustainable transport with new housing development. The report sought to identify barriers to integrated development and set out a series of solutions to overcome them, with practical proposals for government and policy makers to achieve better integration of transport and housing planning.
The event was an opportunity to discuss how better to integrate new housing development and transport infrastructure planning. Sir Peter Hendy, who delivered the keynote address, stressed that transport was about bringing people together for work, education and leisure. Sir Peter said that the London model of governance has allowed for more efficiency when it came to the planning of new homes and links to existing transport networks. The mayoral system of governance in London has led to a more integrated approach, and Sir Peter said that other mayors across the country should follow a similar structure.
Welcoming the launch of the report, Ed Thomas said that KPMG were delighted to be supporting such an important topic. Ed noted that the government must invest in transport as they look to bring forward 300,000 new homes a year.
Martin Dean said that both the report and the work of the TKH were important in increasing awareness of reoccurring issues and encouraging best practice. Martin also pointed out the important role that bus networks can have in unlocking the benefits of new developments and for the communities they serve.
The Chair of the TKH, Hilary Chipping said that the new report was an important contribution to the sector. It was now important that this report and others were put into practice so that greater collaboration between housing and transport planning became a reality.
Providing the perspective of England’s Economic Heartland, Naomi Green highlighted the importance of transport systems being flexible to the opportunities unlocked by new technology. Widening the discussion, Rupert Clubb made a powerful point that transport was not just about physical infrastructure, but that it also must play a vital role in supporting policy aims around health, education and leisure.
Tom Copley AM provided a London-centric view of the transport and housing sector, stating that the biggest challenge faced in London was the funding of transport projects locally by money raised through land value capture. He celebrated the importance of Crossrail 2 as an excellent example of how collaboration has unlocked the full benefits of 200,000 new homes along its route.
Finally, Benjamin Clayton of Homes England welcomed the publication of the report and set out the mission of Homes England to help fix the broken housing market. He said that this could not be done in isolation, and that it was imperative that they worked with combined authorities, developers and transport providers to achieve these goals.
TKH’s role in bringing together transport providers, councillors and housing experts has yet again made a timely contribution to the vital debate about housing and sustainable transport.