1.Thank you for inviting the Highways Agency (HA) to comment on the London Southend Airport and Environs Joint Area Action Plan (JAAP) and the associated Sustainability Appraisal (SA) produced by Rochford District Council and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council.
2. As you may have noted from our previous correspondence, the HA is an executive agency of the Department for Transport (DfT). We are responsible for operating, maintaining and improving England's strategic road network (SRN, Motorways and Trunk Roads) on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport. Although there are no trunk roads within the Borough Boundary, the Highways Agency considers that the expansion of London Southend Airport may have an impact on the SRN outside the borough, and in particular the A13 and Junctions 29 and 30 of the M25 motorway.
3. In spatial planning and development control terms, we have a duty to safeguard the operation of the motorway and trunk road network as set out in the DfT circular 02/2007 (Planning and the Strategic Road Network). The circular encourages the HA to work co-operatively with Local Planning Authorities within the framework of the Government's policies for planning, growth areas, regeneration, integrated transport and sustainability. We look to your Council's Local Development Framework (LDF) to promote strategies, policies and land allocations which will support alternatives to the private car.
4. Please see below our comments following a review of the document from a transport perspective.
I trust you will find our comments helpful and we would, of course, be pleased to meet you to discuss our comments, or any other issues that may relate directly to, or could have an impact on, the trunk road network.