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South West Regional Committee Transport Consultation Response from Exmoor National Park Authority July 2009
Thank you for giving Exmoor National Park Authority the opportunity to comment on transport in the South West.
The National Park is also home to over 10,000 local residents and is visited by over 2 million visitors a year and the value of tourism in the Greater Exmoor area is estimated to be approximately £200m a year (STEAM survey 2007).
The response to the specific questions below focuses on the needs and experiences of Exmoor National Park. However the issues faced will be similar across all protected areas in the region, and indeed many other rural areas.
A summary of our response is as follows: · Public transport provision to and within Exmoor National Park is currently inadequate for the needs of local residents and visitors and to achieve sustainable management of one the UK's finest landscapes/ · We believe as a priority greater investment is needed in the public transport network alongside more effective use of existing services through better co-ordination and promotion. This is essential to prepare for a future of rising fuel costs and the need to cut carbon emissions. Care must be taken in any infrastructure to conserve and enhance the special qualities of a protected area like Exmoor. · Greater use of existing infrastructure would go some way to achieving the necessary developments without significant impact in the public purse. Future investment needs to take full account of the opportunity costs and externalities associated with further developing public transport vs. other options such as road development to foster greater individual car use. · The current arrangements for prioritising and funding transport infrastructure work are not effective in cross boundary nationally significant areas, nor do they take into account the true opportunity costs and / or externalities of infrastructure developments. · The region is not currently doing enough to promote environmentally friendly transport given the stretch targets for cutting CO2 emissions from central government and the evidence that action is needed now. · Through increased partnership and co-ordinated work there is scope for more effective working to deliver sustainable transport for the region between local, regional and, in the case of National Parks, national government organisations. · GoSW has a pivotal role in ensuring the forthcoming Regional Transport Strategy is truly reflective of the wide range of issues facing the south west in terms of the environment and communities of the region as well as the economy. · Despite public transport being a deregulated industry government maintains a vital role in supporting, developing and promoting public transport. This is especially true in rural areas where commercial routes are often considered unviable by operators.
1. Whether transport provision in the south west is adequate to meet the demands placed upon the region; 1.1 We do not believe that transport provision is currently adequate. Exmoor National Park receives the equivalent of over 2 million day visits a year. National research has shown that over 90% of visitors to National Parks in the UK arrive by car, and it is believed that this figure will be even higher for Exmoor, with the nearest mainline rail connections nearly 20miles from the Park boundary.
1.2 Bus connections into and around the Park are also somewhat limited with just 4 main services running from east at Taunton to Dulverton (25 service), Tiverton in the south across the moor to Minehead (398 service), Barnstable in the west to Lynmouth (309/310 service) and Minehead to the east to Lynmouth (300 service) - the latter two joining to form a service along the coast. The buses are infrequent (the most frequent running at less than 1 an hour and none at all in the evenings).
1.3 These services are supplemented with a few additional summer services such as the Exmoor Explorer and the Exmoor Link but these are even less frequent running just 2 to 4 days a week for between 2 and 4 months a year).
1.4 The poor transport links necessitate a high level of car use which can create considerable management problems with the potential of damaging the very qualities that attract visitors to the area. Central government has highlighted the role of National Parks to act as models for the sustainable management of the wider countryside (DoE Circular 12/96, 1996) and this is difficult to achieve with such a high reliance on private transport. The Exmoor National Park Management Plan (2007-2012) contains a target of making Exmoor Carbon Neutral by 2025. For this to be achieved significant reductions in CO2 emissions are required and improved public transport services will help to achieve this.
1.5 A significant number of people do not have access to a car. The 2001 census shows that more than 25-30% of those living in the surrounding urban areas (such as Tiverton, Barnstaple, Minehead, Illfracombe, Taunton) do not have access to a car. Their opportunities to benefit from the experiences and opportunities gained on Exmoor are therefore severely limited through the limited public transport provision.
1.6 Looking further afield a survey conducted by National Opinion Polls demonstrated a relatively high level of awareness of Exmoor and yet it experiences lower visitor numbers than many other National Parks. It is believed that the poor transport links into the area are one of the main contributors to this conundrum. Increasing access to the area will help achieve the Exmoor National Park Management Plan objective of increasing visitor spend by up to 25% between 2007 and 2012. Exmoor National Park can support an increase in visitor numbers provided there are ways to manage them in a sustainable manner.
1.7 It can be seen that investing in sustainable transport options can have wide ranging social and economic benefits as well as environmental benefits. Such economic impacts include encouraging new audiences to visit the area, bringing in new money; encouraging existing visitors to use public transport and thereby invest in the local economy; and; support an increase in visitor dwell time promoting increased opportunities for local expenditure. Social benefits include decreased rural isolation with increased access to service, improved health, and a safer community environment.
1.10 In summary we believe there is a need for better bus and rail links to and within places like Exmoor to enable more sustainable tourism, and to foster wider community, economic and environmental benefits. It is generally accepted that in order to win user confidence a quality service needs to be in place and this will necessarily need increased support in the early years.
2.1 Improved transport links in rural areas will have many benefits both through protection of the area's special qualities as well as contributing to more sustainable forms of tourism (on which the area's economy depends on).
2.2 The increasing costs of fossil fuels, as well as the expected decreasing availability will have a strong impact on the rural communities of Exmoor. Such a scenario is likely to also effectively make Exmoor 'out of bounds' for many potential visitors in the not too distant future and infrastructure needs to be developed now to fulfil future requirements.
2.3 Priority should also be given to making public transport use easier and more attractive. Many settlements on Exmoor have no direct public transport provision and providing, for example, secure cycle storage, could encourage greater use of existing service by making it easier for those off route to access the service. Another way of making public transport use easier is better promotion and access to co-ordinated information which is particularly important in cross boundary areas like Exmoor. The enhanced experiences offered through public transport use need to be better demonstrated to increase usage, particularly for recreation / leisure.
2.4 In developing the infrastructure for transport in the area it must be remembered that Exmoor is highly valued for its tranquillity and all proposals within or near the National Park could have a detrimental impact on its special qualities.
2.5 Within the National Park the treatment of rural roads should be considered very carefully in relation to signage and road markings etc as such features can be damaging to the character and quality of the countryside. An improved public transport offer could help to reduce the use of individual cars on Exmoor and thereby might reduce the need for further perceived road development.
3.1 The current Regional Transport Strategy (RTS), contained within RPG10, makes no specific reference to either protected landscapes or leisure transport in rural areas, and this should be addressed in future developments.
3.2 In addition the RTS should recognise the importance of transport for local communities in rural areas as well as for leisure in places like Exmoor as both an economic driver for sustainable tourism development in the area, and as an opportunity to limit the impacts of individual car use.
4.1 Whilst new capital infrastructure can be costly it is important that a sustained effort is made to ensure the existing infrastructure is used to its full potential. As an example significant investment has previously been made to upgrade the rail link between the mainline intercity route at Taunton with the West Somerset Railway, a heritage line skirting the eastern edge of Exmoor National Park and terminating at Minehead. This provides an exciting opportunity to provide direct train services to the edge of the National Park linked in with the national rail network, but to date this has not been fully utilised. The proposed ferry link between South Wales and Minehead and / or Illfracombe is another example of an opportunity to link Exmoor with a wider population. However in order to maximise the potential of such developments quality transport links need to connect from the terminals for onwards journeys into and around the Park.
4.2 Although inevitably increased funding is required to set up a robust and resilient public transport networks in rural areas it is believed any investment can demonstrate good value for money. In particular good value for money could be demonstrated if the true cost of less sustainable forms transport was measured to include externalities and hidden costs such as pollution, poor health, loss of earnings through accidents, congestion, visual impact etc.
5.1 Currently the vast majority of transport related decisions relevant to Exmoor National Park are taken by the two Local Transport or Highways Authorities (in both cases Devon and Somerset County councils).
5.2 Public Transport within National Parks is often viewed as primarily for recreational / leisure use and is therefore often a low priority for local authority funding. However such services are vital also to local communities both to enable access for those without private transport to essential services and to support sustainable tourism - the mainstay of the local economy. Transport provision for local communities within rural areas is often also viewed as a lower priority owing to the increased costs and lower number of people affected - albeit they are in more need of access to services and facilities outside of their immediate area. Whilst it is pleasing to note that Devon County Council base their funding decisions on subsidy per passenger rather than journey type, this still doesn't reflect the increased costs of transport in a rural area (owing to longer distances covered etc) or indeed, as previously noted, the additional benefits achieved for the economy, environment and communities.
5.3 Local Authorities have a range of competing demands on their limited funds. This can be a particular issue for revenue funds towards sustainable transport solutions within National Parks with local transport officers having to compete with other services with the result that leisure transport is seen as a lower priority than areas such as education and social care. Such a system does not necessarily take into account the full opportunity costs of developing efficient and effective public transport options for rural areas or the externalities of the current emphasis of car use. This could be viewed as a market failure and point towards the need for central or regional government to ring fence funding towards delivering transport options locally in nationally significant areas.
5.4 As in most areas previous local transport plans have tended to focus spending on road development over and above public transport investment, which could see a decrease in car use and therefore less of a need to develop the existing road network.
6.1 No. At present as mentioned above public transport options for getting to / from and within Exmoor National Park are inadequate meaning a greater use of private car use. The impacts of car use are wide ranging and can include: acceleration of climate change; loss of biodiversity; increases in air, noise and visual pollutions; congestion and; road danger (for wildlife and humans alike).
6.2 It is accepted that urban models for public transport do not always lend themselves for replication in rural areas where demand can be lower and distances covered greater.
6.3 There are however a number of opportunities that can be greater supported. For example on Exmoor this summer a new 'Moor Rover' is being piloted by a local community transport organisation (AtWest). The Moor rover is a flexible, demand responsive service using minibuses to provide access to areas of the National Park, within Somerset, not currently covered by public transport.
6.4 Existing services, where capacity exists for growth, could also be better promoted and for this to happen greater co-ordination is required between different areas. Exmoor is currently working with Somerset and Devon County Councils to co-ordinate public transport information provision and promotion throughout the area, which is currently split by the county boundary. This will be based on traditional paper based methods, as well as utilising new technology such as google maps.
7.1 As described in section 5.3 there is a need to further consider funding for rural services, particularly in an area like Exmoor that has a national significance and to ensure a range of benefits are achieved for mutual benefit of all, and fulfilment of a rage of government policy.
8.1 It is understood that future regional transport strategies will be produced by the Regional Development Agency, and will therefore be likely to concentrate on the economic impacts of transport in the region. GoSW will have a key role in ensuring the final plan takes a holistic view of transport in the region against the wider needs of society and issues identified in government policy.
9.1 Whilst public transport is currently a deregulated industry there remains a vital role for government at all levels to ensure transport provision is not only adequate but fulfils its full potential for the benefit of the environment, society and economy at large.
9.2 In particular government can play a pivotal role in promoting sustainable transport options, co-ordinating services (and bridging any gaps) and supporting private sector providers to provide a more genuinely sustainable transport service.
Dan James Sustainable Economy Officer
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