Decision details

To agree the freight management schemes to be further investigated in 2016-17 following the prioritisation of freight requests by the Community Area Transport Groups (CATGs) and assessment using the Council’s Freight Assessment and Prioritisation Mechanism (FAPM).

That the following three freight management requests (highlighted grey in Appendix 1) are progressed further and investigated to identify the most appropriate forms of freight management at each route:

This decision was published on 5 August 2016 and will come into force on 15 August 2016.

The Freight Strategy is a key element of Wiltshire’s LTP and identifies a network of advisory HGV routes to manage freight movement effectively in order to protect the environment, improve public safety and support the economy.  The FAPM has been developed to evaluate freight requests and prioritise those routes which give rise to the highest impacts on local communities.

The FAPM was developed by the Wiltshire and Swindon Freight Quality Partnership and adopted by Wiltshire County Council in April 2008.  It is the acknowledged method for assessing and prioritising community requests for freight management including requests for weight limits.  As such, no other options have been considered.

Wiltshire’s third Local Transport Plan was developed in consultation with local councils, community groups and other stakeholders.  The County’s Freight Strategy was developed with key transport stakeholders including the Police, the Freight Transport Association, the Road Haulage Association, and the Campaign for Better Transport.  The FAPM was developed in conjunction with Wiltshire’s Freight Quality Partnership, which includes the above stakeholders, as well as Swindon Borough Council.

The freight requests have all originated from the local communities and each one is supported by some or all of the local councils through which the routes run.  Each freight request has been considered by the relevant CATG with each one putting forward their top two freight priorities for assessment.