BASE HEADER

Yes

ID sylw: 107083

Derbyniwyd: 07/03/2025

Ymatebydd: Cotswolds National Landscape Board

Overall, the Cotswolds National Landscape (CNL) Board agrees with the approach laid out in Draft Policy Direction 33. This approach aligns with the approach that is advocated in Policy CC1 (Climate Change - Mitigation) of the CNL Management Plan65 and in the Board’s Climate Change Strategy66.
However, we recommend that Draft Policy Direction 33 and / or the supporting text should also explicitly address the thresholds for increases in traffic movements that are considered to be significant. These thresholds are set out in the guidance on ‘Environmental Assessment of Traffic and Movement’, published by the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA).67
For most roads, the threshold is a 30% increase in traffic movements and for ‘sensitive areas’ it is 10%. The Board’s Tranquillity Position Statement refers to these thresholds and states that the 10% threshold should be applied in relation to increases in traffic movements on roads through - and along the boundary of - the CNL.68 As outlined in the Tranquillity Position Statement, the Board considers that increases above this 10% threshold are likely to have a significant adverse effect on the tranquillity of the CNL, which is one of the area’s ‘special qualities’.69
We recommend that Draft Policy Direction 33 should explicitly state that proposals that would increase traffic movements on roads through - and along the boundary of - the CNL by 10% or more will not be supported.