Before the event Lynda met Senior Officials from the Department of Infrastructure to discuss transportation planning in Northern Ireland.  Prior to the meeting she had the opportunity to see examples of recent developments in Belfast including the expanding Titanic Quarter and ‘Glider’, Belfast’s new rapid transit service.

Lynda provided an overview of the new advice for attendees and participated in a panel discussion including Alistair Beggs (Director of Strategic Planning, Department for Infrastructure), Chris Conway (Group Chief Executive, Translink) and Dermot O’Kane (Principal Planning Officer, Belfast City Council).

Lynda outlined how we are living with a legacy of recent development that has essentially been designed around the private car, with active travel and public transport often given little more than a passing acknowledgement. This ‘business as usual’ approach has done nothing but reinforce car dependence.

It is now more critical than ever that development is located in the right place, makes the best use of the space it takes up and gives people a greater choice of travel options. We ought to be designing places for people, not cars; and focusing on accessibility to the transport system rather than obsessing about individual mobility.

Lynda highlighted the increasing impact that transport is having on climate change, our health, congestion, air quality, the environment and the economy.  She said “Transport has a key role in helping to tackle some of the critical issues facing society today – be it obesity, asthma or climate change. But to do so, needs a change in approach otherwise transport will continue to add to the problems rather than support their resolution.

Presenting an overview of the key recommendations of the new advice, Lynda stated that it is critical that agencies and stakeholders decide and agree on a clear vision for the future of the Place, outline the steps needed to achieve it and then create the policy needed to deliver it. The vision must integrate and align with other relevant policies and strategies, be evidence based and then delivered through an effective collaboration with key parties. This requires consideration of transport issues, utilising the expertise of transport planners, from the outset.

Simply described, this approach is to ‘decide and provide’ for the future that we want, rather than ‘predicting and providing’ based on previous observed behaviour, which has been seen to just perpetuate car dominance. Lynda concluded “Supporting communities and the full range of people to understand the issues and options has to be part of this process as people need to change their attitudes and behaviour. A change in attitudes and behaviour will be fundamental to making progress – we need a “plastics” moment now! " 

A lively discussion followed the lecture with agreement amongst the panel members that things need to change, and enthusiasm about how we might engage society more widely in these ongoing discussions. It was noted that the younger generation seem less wedded to their cars, being more open to sharing their mobility as well as using more sustainable means, which also offers hope for the future.  Chris Conway noted “Sustainable transport is critical to the planning of our towns and cities in order to address Climate Change and create places for people to live, work and enjoy. I welcome the new advice document produced by CIHT, along with TPS and RTPS, which proposes a new approach to the planning of our towns and cities that directly links development to sustainable transport.  This is a major step forward.”