UK government plans to cut motorway red tape

The UK government has launched a six-week consultation in an effort to help reduce barriers around unnecessary regulations on England’s motorways and major A roads. It is hoped that the new Highways Agency (HA) developments will remove bureaucracy while putting more power in the hands of local communities and their representatives. The planned changes place greater emphasis on its role to promote economic growth and enable development. Key changes proposed include: easing restrictions for developers on new
February 13, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
The UK government has launched a six-week consultation in an effort to help reduce barriers around unnecessary regulations on England’s motorways and major A roads.

It is hoped that the new 503 Highways Agency (HA) developments will remove bureaucracy while putting more power in the hands of local communities and their representatives.

The planned changes place greater emphasis on its role to promote economic growth and enable development. Key changes proposed include: easing restrictions for developers on new access roads and junctions on motorways; removing requirements for developers to fund mitigation measures unless the impacts of their proposals are severe; simplifying the requirements for service areas; protecting the essential safety and comfort of motorists, while leaving other issues to be decided by local planning and market forces; removing minimum spacing restrictions for service areas, to create greater competition and customer choice.

Announcing the consultation, Roads Minister Stephen Hammond said, “We want to encourage economic growth, while reducing bureaucracy for businesses and local communities.  I hope that local authorities and private developers will take the time to give us their views on our proposals for cutting unnecessary red tape and make planning decisions easier and quicker for all involved.”

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