Travel Plan Inspector Comes to Call

Somerset County Council is paying visits to businesses to ensure their travel plans are up-to-date.

Travel plans have been used for the past 10 years or so to ensure that occupiers (staff, residents and visitors) of new developments do their best to reduce their reliance on using the motor car.

Somerset has a total of 71 travel plans already in place, with a further 63 already agreed with developers and waiting for the offices and housing estates to be built. Businesses are responsible for delivering their own travel plans, but help is available from Somerset County Council's travel plan coordinator. Travel plans are secured through a planning condition (around two thirds) or a legal agreement (around a third).

Businesses are responsible for monitoring how their staff travel and have targets to encourage alternatives such as walking, cycling and public transport use, as well as working at home and motorcycling.

Mendip has the most travel plans, followed by South Somerset. West Somerset and Exmoor have the fewest. Each year has seen a steady increase in the number of travel plans secured in Somerset. More travel plans have been secured in 2010 than any other preceding year. Many travel plans agreed recently for new industrial and housing developments will shortly come into effect.

You can view any travel plan in Somerset using iOnTRAVEL.

  • To contact Somerset County Council's travel plan coordinator, please contact us.