Transport Development Management (TDM)

The role of Transport Development Management is primarily one of ensuring that highway safety, convenience and amenity are not compromised through developments. We do what we do because we believe unregulated development can lead to:

• avoidable fatalities
• environmental degradation
• unhealthy urban networks where economic activity is not supported.

We believe in working collaboratively, especially with enlightened developers, to influence the approach and the details of this important aspect of development. Our customer is, therefore, everybody who uses the transport infrastructure in Oxfordshire. Manual for Streets encourages just such a collaborative approach. Our pre-application process is a way of ensuring this.

Our direct clients are usually the City and District Councils for whom we provide consultation responses, as well as overseeing County applications in the same impartial fashion.

The recommendations of these reports are interpreted through the democratic process with other considerations, when decisions are made on planning applications. We work to serve this process to optimise conditions for communities, from a transport point of view.

Our work contributes to the fulfilment of our Connecting Oxfordshire: Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (LTCP) and therefore serves Oxfordshire’s constituents.

Our vision is: Development proceeding smoothly in transport terms, recognising the historic nature of Oxford and Oxfordshire building a prosperous, sustainable, secure and safe future with the infrastructure necessary to cater for this.

How we do what we do

We are more than willing to provide input before planning applications are made. This is in the form of pre-application advice from a transport perspective.

The correct level of supporting documentation for an application will ideally be determined at this stage (Transport Assessments, Transport Statements, Travel Plans, Travel Plan Statements, Design & Access Statement).

Our Transport Development Management team is a statutory consultee of the planning process and therefore gives technical advice on the transport and highway implications of each proposal.  We are not the decision-making authority, this is the Planning Authority.

Our main medium of operation is the consultation response to the relevant Planning Authority, at the Districts and the County planners.

There are many aspects of a consultation response, which relate to this, including:

• assess the transport and highway implications of new development within the framework of government and council guidelines and make recommendations to the Local Planning Authorities as to whether the application should be permitted or refused on transport grounds
• protect the highway network and existing transport infrastructure from the impacts of new developments
• secure the upgrading of existing and provision of new transport infrastructure to mitigate against the impact of the development proposals
• secure contributions to improve transport provision in a wider context to account for the cumulative effects of new developments
• promote our sustainability objectives by encouraging walking, cycling and public transport
• consulting widely including taking into account the wishes of parishes and councillors

Impartial advice is given as a consideration of engineering matters. This often involves coordinating responses from many parts of our department. We do this by reference to the standards contained in a series of design guides:

• Street Design Guide (pdf format, 7.5Mb)
• Street Design Guide Part 2 Adoptable Highway Criteria  (pdf format, 1Mb)
• Cycling Design Standards (pdf format, 1.2Mb)
• Walking Design Standards (pdf format, 2.6Mb)
• Parking Standards for New Developments (pdf format, 682Kb)
• Road Safety guidance note (pdf format, 144 KB)

Three basic responses are ultimately possible:

• no objection
• no objection, with conditions and/or mitigation and/or developer contributions
• objection/holding objection

By the judicious use of conditions, outright objection is rarely necessary, unless proposals are totally unacceptable with ‘severe’ implications and / or are likely to be ‘unsustainable’.

The generation of traffic by a development is essentially a form of externality produced as a consequence of its existence. By the principle of polluter pays, developer contributions are required in order to deal with, such negative consequences, as can be mitigated for and additionally under some circumstances what gain can be made to invest in future-proofing development.

What is the context for what we do?

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) published its latest update of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) on 7 February 2025. The NPPF replaces all Planning Policy Guidance (PPG) Notes and Planning Policy Statements (PPS).

National Design Guidance to achieve the above with a ‘sense of place’ is contained in the two-volume Manual for Streets (MfS).

Our local guidance stems from the aims of Oxfordshire's Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (adopted in July 2022) covering the time period to 2050.

There are various levels of supporting documentation for a planning application, and the appropriate level should be determined in the pre-application process. These include:

• Design and access statements
• Travel plans
• Decide and Provide Methodology Checklist (docx format, 22 KB)
• Decide and Provide Transport Assessment Requirements (pdf format, 2Mb)
• Travel plan statements

Releasing Development Strategy in Didcot and surrounding villages in the vicinity of HIF1 Schemes

Prior to Didcot Garden Town Centre Housing Infrastructure funding (HIF1) being secured in June 2019, it was established that the local and strategic highway network serving Didcot and the surrounding area experiences severe congestion and capacity issues during the morning and evening commuter periods.  The areas of concern most affected have been identified as the river crossing between Sutton Courtney and Culham, Clifton Hampden village signal junction, and the A4130 as the main route between Didcot and Milton Interchange (A34).

To manage the highway network, a strategy was devised in 2017 to control development within areas (including Didcot) that have the most severe capacity issues in the absence of strategic highway infrastructure to support new growth in the Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire districts (as identified in LTCP and district Local Plans). This strategy involved TDM officers objecting to new developments (including single dwellings) that would generate a new vehicular trip in the morning and evening commuter peak times.

Due to the diverse nature of development that is promoted in the Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire districts a four-tiered approach is to be used:

Tier 1: Single house (and extension) proposals that will generate new vehicular movements in the morning and evening commuter peak hours are no longer to be objected to by TDM officers on traffic impact (HIF1) grounds.  This is on the basis HIF1 funding has been secured and OCC is confident in delivering HIF1.  Each Tier 1 planning application will be assessed on its merits.

Tier 2: Developments of less than 10 houses that will generate new vehicular movements in the morning and evening commuter peak periods are no longer to be objected to by TDM officers on traffic impact (HIF1) grounds. This is on the basis HIF1 funding has been secured and OCC is confident in delivering HIF1. Tier 2 development proposals will be assessed on their merits and strategic highway and public transport contributions will be sought as well as any appropriate mitigation works.

Tier 3: Development sites of 10+ houses that will generate new vehicular movements in the morning and evening commuter peak periods are no longer to be objected to by TDM officers on traffic impact (HIF1) grounds.  This is on the basis HIF1 funding has been secured and OCC is confident in delivering HIF1. Tier 3 development proposals will be assessed on their merits and strategic highway and public transport contributions will be sought.  Off-site and on-site highway infrastructure will be expected to be delivered early on for these development sites to encourage sustainable and active travel patterns.  Occupation controls will be applied to development sites to lessen the cumulative impact on the highway network.

Tier 4: Commercial developments.  It is recognised by OCC that there are significant existing and proposed commercial sites in the area that help support the local and national economy such as Culham Campus, Milton Park, Harwell Campus (and others).   While these sites are not directly linked to releasing housing via the delivery of HIF1 they are to play an essential role in its delivery, such as providing land or delivering some elements of the highway works.  While HIF1 funding has been secured and OCC is confident is delivering HIF1, Tier 4 development proposals will be assessed on their merits but will be expected to mitigate their own impact through local and site wide measures which may include providing excellent pedestrian, and/or cyclist provisions and enhanced frequent public transport service provisions to help reduce their impact in the local area before HIF1 is delivered and in the long term.  Restrictions on gross floor area usage or occupation thresholds may be applied to development sites to lessen the cumulative impact on the highway network.

Pre-application highways advice on major planning applications web page

How do I obtain pre-application advice?

Complete the form with as much detail regarding the proposals as possible, including location and site plan, access arrangements and a Decide & Provide methodology checklist.