• “function" is minimum...  “enjoyment” is the next step - walking and cycling routes not only have to be fundamentally safe and secure but to really encourage more active travel, they have to be attractive.
• Active Travel England  - “ a huge opportunity” we are still awaiting the detail but this organisation will be a statutory consultee, they will have the ‘carrot’ and the ‘stick’ to not just look at cycling but everything the Highway Authority does and how it complies with the guidance. But is funding enough and what will the political backlash be?
• LTN1/20 table 4.1 “fundamental for planning and designing streets"- this is key in moving forward and in pulling together effective Design Codes.  It highlights “consequences of design choices” in a way that design guides have never done.
• Waltham Forest - A really good example of incorporating cycling on busy routes and removal of parking -https://enjoywalthamforest.co.uk/about-mini-holland/ and how evidence underpins delivery and impact.
• Active Travel Academy http://blog.westminster.ac.uk/ata/ is a really useful source of evidence - research demonstrating impact!
• Schemes are being refused on LTN1/20 grounds   https://www.smarttransport.org.uk/news/latest-news/Government-faces-legal-challenge-over-road-building-policy and https://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1698053/cambridge-office-scheme-refused-against-officer-advice-failing-provide-high-quality-cycling-infrastructure
• Low traffic neighbourhoods - we know what works, but applicability is down to the public/community support and the polititians!

Our final session as thought provocative as the ones that came before. It is striking how the differing themes discussed over these past few weeks all draw the same conclusions:
• There is a need for community engagement and involvement;
• Front loading design is essential;
• Use the tools available to you; and
• People need to work together to deliver a common vision.

In terms of this week’s topic – trees, streets and spaces, a really useful discussion around the:
• Need to capture community involvement to secure delivery and retention of trees within streets
• Barriers to to delivery – services and fears over their management below the ground and under trees
• There needs to be a change in attitude to street adoption and trees
• We need to look proactively and innovatively at opportunities and solutions
• It’s not always about the number of trees
• Biodiversity Net Gain is an important driver to deliver trees in streets and in multifunctional spaces
• Please refer to ‘Tree Design and Action Group – Trees in the townscape. A guide for decision makers’.

Key messages:

The National Design Guide (NDG) suggests looking beyond the 'redline’ of planning applications: design teams need to look at the space between buildings and establish that the life of the street is dependent on movement between destinations.

The NDG suggests good places should offer a choice of transport. Planning for peak traffic and commuting - are streets currently over-designed? How do we promote healthier and more sustainable modes of transport?

COVID 19, human behaviour has changed so quickly – in future there will be demand for more walking and cycling; willingness to experiment e.g. pop-up one-way systems; an agile mindset to accept that approaches might not work, review and try something else.

Tools are available to consider movement, particularly the interrelationship of social movement, health and play. Urban modelling systems and digital platforms are emerging: STRAVA, Streetmap, Open Space Syntax Model, 'citizen-led' appropriation of spaces e.g. Playing Out.

The social dimension of movement is fundamental, Red Infrastructure (the lifeblood of the place). COVID 19 will prompt the need for community infrastructure planning in placemaking.

The NDG mentions doorstep play, the ability for play is a measure of place quality. Traffic speed reductions from 30 to 20mph will also emerge.

Highway authorities need to adapt to consider functional movement not only of people but of nature, to address the bigger issues of biodiversity and the climate emergency. 'Building for a Healthy Life' considers these points.  

Shaping Streets Design Review will broaden discussions around movement. Using the 'Seven Ls' as a prompt to establish permeability:

Location (where are the schools, facilities etc);

Linkage points (exist and create);

Layout (designed around location and linkage);

Land use (dispersal of uses across the site);

Landscape (character and quality);

Lining (how buildings reach/meet the streets); and,

Longevity (high quality materials to last and management of a place)
Language is essential - think streets not roads, mobility not transport, and consider the qualitative experience of a good journey.