Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 14:

In page 30, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following: “ “hierarchy of road users model” means design of roads and public spaces that prioritises in the following order, people walking and wheeling, people cycling, people using public transport, people using taxi and shared transport, people using private cars;”.

This group of amendments relates to transport and aligning transport with planning. Everybody will be aware that this has always been one of the difficulties when we do development plans, regional plans and local area plans. It is about trying to align good transport. Of course, the planning authority does not have control over transport, although in the Dublin area, we have the NTA strategy and there are other strategies in other areas. However, it is not really possible to compel that public transport be provided.

I have always seen this as one of the weaknesses in our planning system. To my mind, proper planning, where we set out the strategic or appropriate use of land, should be the lightning conductor for services. I know members will be aware that, in many areas, the services do not follow and we end up with zoned land and development proceeding when we do not have a sufficient level of services, whether transport services, community services or other services, for example, school services. In my constituency, Greystones is going through real difficulty at the moment. There has been a lot of housing development in the north Wicklow area but we do not have sufficient capacity in the schools. Although it is planned that schools will be constructed and extended, this has not kept pace with the level of population growth.

Amendment No. 14 refers to the "hierarchy of road users" model, with which we will all be familiar. It sets out that we should prioritise walking, cycling, active travel, public transport and so on, down to private car use, and do it in that order of priority. The hierarchy of road users model is a well-recognised and identifiable model. Most people will have seen its triangular shape, where the priority at the top should be for active travel and it moves down from there. Essentially, it is about climate action and not just the provision of services and assisting people to get around their towns, through their towns or to other places, for example, to work. It is also about climate action.

We have to introduce proper measures for transport into the planning system and give the planning system some scope to provide that transport. I suggest that it lies within the remit of the planning system to provide for good active travel. We see that work being done at a local authority level and it can be done through the Roads Act by including those objectives in the development plans. Where it probably fails a little is in regard to public transport. Although we can set out that public transport is present, it is often not a sufficient level of public transport, whether that is the level of frequency or the capacity to support growth. Therefore, I seek to introduce a definition whereby the “hierarchy of road users" model means the design of roads and public spaces that prioritises, in the following order: people walking and wheeling, people cycling, people using public transport, people using taxi and shared transport, and finally, people using private cars.