Section outline: transport statement for a 40 dwelling scheme
At 40 dwellings most schemes fall below the transport assessment threshold and need a transport statement instead. Here is the section structure a highway officer expects and the order to write it in.
A 40 dwelling scheme normally sits below the threshold for a full transport assessment, so the right document is a transport statement: shorter, desk based, and focused on whether the access, parking and servicing arrangements work rather than on network capacity modelling. Written well it runs to 25 or 30 pages with appendices and is accepted without a second round.
The threshold is set locally, so confirm it before deciding which document to produce. National guidance treats a statement as appropriate where the transport implications are small, and highway authorities set their own unit or trip based triggers. Some switch to an assessment at 50 dwellings, others at 80, and some use a peak hour trip figure instead.
Where 40 dwellings sits against the threshold
Ask the highway authority two questions in writing before you start. Which document do they require at this scale, and is there anything site specific that pushes it up a level.
The things that commonly escalate a 40 unit scheme to a Transport Assessment are an access onto a classified or high speed road, a known collision cluster at the junction, a location within an Air Quality Management Area, a site with poor accessibility by any mode other than the car, or a cumulative position where other consented development is loading the same junction.
Where none of those applies, a Transport Statement is the proportionate document, and councils normally expect it to be prepared by someone with relevant transport planning experience. Professional review is strongly advised.
Record the agreement in the document itself. A statement that opens by naming the officer, the date and the agreed scope is harder to criticise later for omitting something.
Existing conditions and the accessibility audit
This section establishes the baseline and it is where most of the persuasive material sits.
Cover the site location and existing use, the adjacent highway network with carriageway widths, speed limits and recorded speeds where available, footway provision on both sides, street lighting, crossing points, and the existing access arrangement if there is one.
Then the accessibility audit. Measure actual walking distances along the available routes rather than straight line distances, and tabulate them against the destinations that matter.
| Destination | Distance on foot | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Nearest bus stop | Metres along the route | Services and frequency |
| Primary school | Metres along the route | Footway and crossing provision |
| Convenience shop | Metres along the route | Lit route, dropped kerbs |
| Railway station | Metres or kilometres | Cycle parking at the station |
| GP surgery | Metres along the route | Gradient where relevant |
Use the published guidance on walking distances to interpret the figures rather than simply listing them. A bus stop 350 metres away along a lit footway with dropped kerbs is a different proposition from one 350 metres away across an unlit verge.
Finish with collision data. Request five years of personal injury collision records for the study area from the highway authority or take them from the published road safety data, and report them by severity and by cause. Where there is no pattern, say so plainly, because that is a finding.
Trip generation and the database behind it
Use an established trip rate database and show your working. The section should state the land use category selected, the geographical and date filters applied, the number of survey sites in the resulting sample, and the reason for excluding anything.
Report trip rates per dwelling for the weekday morning and evening peak periods and for a daily total, then apply them to 40 dwellings. Present vehicle trips and total person trips, because a highway officer wants the first and a planning officer increasingly wants the second.
Mode share comes from census travel to work data for the relevant small area, adjusted where the site is materially better or worse connected than the area average. State the adjustment and the reason for it. An unexplained adjustment that happens to reduce car trips is the quickest way to lose credibility.
Where there is an existing use on the site, calculate the net change rather than the gross trips. A site with a redundant commercial building can show a reduction, and that is worth presenting as a table of existing, proposed and net.
Distribution, assignment and when capacity work is needed
Distribute the trips using census journey to work flows, local knowledge of the network, or a locally available model if the authority has one. Assign them to the links and junctions in the study area and present the result as a plan with flows annotated.
At 40 dwellings, formal junction capacity modelling is often unnecessary, and the statement should say why rather than simply omitting it. The usual justification is that the peak hour increase on the critical arm is small enough to have no material effect, with the figure stated.
Where the authority does ask for capacity work, the standard approach is the recognised junction modelling software for priority junctions and roundabouts, and signal modelling software for signalised junctions. Report the ratio of flow to capacity and the queue length, and compare against the criteria the authority applies, commonly a ratio of flow to capacity of 0.85 for priority junctions and a degree of saturation of 90 per cent for signals.
One honest caveat. Capacity outputs at this scale are sensitive to the base flows used, so state the survey date and whether the counts were taken in a neutral month, avoiding August and December.
Parking against the adopted standard
Set out the adopted parking standard, quote it, and tabulate the proposed provision against it by dwelling size. Where the standard is a maximum, say so, and where it is a minimum, say that too, because the two lead to opposite arguments.
Cover four further items that are routinely missed.
- Visitor parking, including whether it is unallocated and how it is managed.
- Cycle parking, with the standard applied, the location and the type of stand, and secure covered provision for flats.
- Electric vehicle charge points, which for new dwellings with associated parking are required under the relevant Approved Document, with cable routes shown.
- Accessible parking bays where any dwelling is designed to the wheelchair user standard.
Where the proposal departs from the standard, the evidence that supports a departure is local parking stress data rather than argument. A Parking Survey carried out to a recognised methodology, on weekday and weekend overnight periods outside school holidays, is what a highway officer will accept.
Servicing, refuse and emergency access
This section is drawings supported by text, and it is the section that most often sends a layout back for revision.
Show refuse vehicle swept paths on the proposed layout using the authority's own vehicle dimensions. The drawing has to show entry, collection and exit in forward gear. State the carry distance from each bin storage position to the collection point, against the figure the authority applies, which is commonly 25 metres.
Show fire appliance access against the relevant Approved Document, including the appliance position relative to each dwelling entrance and the hose distances. On a cul de sac layout with a shared private drive, this frequently governs the turning head dimension.
Cover delivery and removal vehicle access, visibility splays at the site access with the x and y distances stated and the speed they are derived from, and forward visibility on any internal bend. Where the access is onto an adopted highway, note whether a highway agreement under section 278 of the Highways Act 1980 will be needed, and whether internal roads are to be offered for adoption under section 38.
Construction traffic belongs here in outline and in a condition in detail. A Construction Traffic Management Plan is normally secured by condition rather than submitted with the application, but saying what it will cover helps.
Sustainable travel measures worth offering
At 40 dwellings a full travel plan is usually disproportionate, and a travel information pack issued to each household on occupation is the normal expectation. Where the authority does require one, a Travel Plan with named targets, a coordinator and monitoring is the document.
The measures that carry weight are physical and local: a new or upgraded crossing point on the route to the school, a dropped kerb and tactile paving where the footway currently ends, cycle parking at the bus stop, a contribution towards a real time information display, or a footway link through the site connecting two existing routes.
Measures that carry little weight are generic commitments with no mechanism: encouraging residents to walk, promoting car sharing, aspirational mode share targets. Offer the first category and secure it by condition or obligation.
Appendices and what the highway officer checks first
Appendices should carry the trip rate database output in full, the collision data, the accessibility plan with measured routes, the access drawing with visibility splays dimensioned, swept path drawings, any capacity modelling output files summarised, and the parking survey where one has been done.
In practice a highway officer opens three things first: the access drawing, the swept path drawing and the visibility splays. Make sure all three are current, consistent with the planning layout and correctly titled, because a superseded drawing number in an appendix undermines the whole document. The discipline for that is the same as for any submission, as set out in drawing schedules and title blocks at validation.
PlanScope drafts a transport statement structured to UK planning policy and marks where survey data is still needed. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval. For specialist technical reports, qualified professional input may be required.
This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.
Frequently asked questions
Does a 40 dwelling scheme need a transport assessment or a statement?
Normally a statement, because the transport implications are usually small at that scale, but the threshold is set by the local highway authority rather than nationally. Ask in writing which document is required and whether anything site specific escalates it, such as an access onto a classified road, a collision cluster or poor accessibility by non car modes.
Which trip rate database should be used?
An established national trip rate database, with the land use category, geographical and date filters and the resulting sample size all stated in the text. Report weekday morning and evening peak rates and a daily total, present both vehicle and person trips, and calculate the net change where there is an existing use on the site.
Is junction capacity modelling needed at this scale?
Often not, but the statement should explain why rather than omitting the topic. The usual justification is that the peak hour increase on the critical arm is too small to have a material effect, with the figure given. Where modelling is required, report the ratio of flow to capacity or degree of saturation against the authority's criteria.
How do I justify parking below the adopted standard?
With local parking stress evidence rather than argument. A parking survey carried out to a recognised methodology, covering weekday and weekend overnight periods outside school holidays, is what a highway officer will accept. Also check whether the standard is expressed as a maximum or a minimum, because that changes the argument entirely.
What usually sends a layout back for revision?
The servicing section. Refuse vehicle swept paths that do not allow exit in forward gear, bin carry distances beyond the figure the authority applies, fire appliance access that cannot reach every dwelling entrance within the hose distance, and turning heads too small for the authority's own vehicle dimensions.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.