Western Gateway wrapped

It’s been a jam-packed year for the Western Gateway STB team. Just some of the things we’ve achieved this year include awarding £100,000 in funding to six rural mobility pilots, hosting numerous forums across the year, kicking off the Avonmouth freight feasibility study, completing the cycling route study, finishing the SIP and expanding the team. Phew!

A big thank you to all our local authorities and partners for your enduring support.

A-board and goodbye

At December’s Board meeting, we said farewell to Councillor Hannah Young, as she moves on to new opportunities. Councillor Young has played a key part in the success of the Western Gateway STB, leading the development of our first ever Strategic Investment Plan (SIP). Her enthusiasm, commitment, and steady leadership enabled the timely and effective delivery of this key plan. We wish her the very best and sincerely thank her for her hard work and support of the STB.

It was hello to her successor, Board Member, Councillor Hugh Malyan. Councillor Malyan is the Cabinet Member for Transport at North Somerset Council and serves as the Councillor for Weston super-Mare. We look forward to his contributions to the Western Gateway STB Board.

DfT Connectivity Tool: An overview for Local Authorities

In late June, the Department for Transport (DfT) published a limited access version of a new Connectivity Tool, an online map system showing how well-connected locations are to a variety of common destinations, such as shopping or healthcare, by walking, cycling and public transport. This provides an overall connectivity score for areas across England and Wales. This score can be further broken down into access to specific destination types, or by specific modes of travel.

The DfT has also published summary data at an Output Area and Local Authority level. This allows for comparisons in connectivity to be made across local authorities. At Western Gateway STB, we’ve made a report and mapping of this connectivity metric data for local authorities across the Western Gateway region. Officers within Western Gateway can access this on our Regional Centre of Excellence site (RCoE).

The RCoE website

An improved version of the Tool, plus a publicly accessible ‘lite’ version were published in December. At a similar time, a draft version of the a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was released for consultation. This includes some additional requirements on planning authorities to consider the accessibility and connectivity of sites being considered for development, and makes specific reference to use of the DfT Connectivity Tool as a potential tool for that assessment.

DfT Connectivity Metric Data

Click here

DfT Connectivity Tool

Lite

(Public version – interactive map)

Click here

DfT Connectivity Tool

Click here

Icons by iconading at flaticon.com

Now live: Spatial Planning Tool

We’ve taken spatial planning a step further. Launched yesterday (just in time for Christmas!), the Western Gateway STB Spatial Planning Tool enables local authority officers to easily assess the impact of potential new housing development sites. By bringing together planning constraints, accessibility, and trip generation data, the tool allows local authorities to compare sites side by side – highlighting their relative merits and challenges. This makes it easier to identify the most sustainable locations for future development.

Access now

If you do not have access to the tool, please contact us at westerngatewaystb@westofengland-ca.gov.uk.

On the road

Adi & Mena make connections at UWE

Our team members, Mena and Adi, joined UWE’s roundtable panel and “Meet the Employers” event in November, where they chatted with Geography and Environmental Management students.

Students showed real curiosity and enthusiasm for the future of mobility, sustainability, and regional development. We’re keen to support more events like this in the future.

Thank you to UWE and the Careers and Enterprise Development team for organising such a valuable and well-run session.

A big thanks to our two interns

At Western Gateway STB, we love to welcome students to the team and give them a taste of what life is like working in the transport world. In return, we’re always rewarded with great pieces of work from each student.

These last couple of months have been no different. Olivia McCombie, a third-year student at UWE, and Declan Kelly, a recent graduate from UWE, have been valuable contributors to the team.

Find out more about what they achieved and what they had to say on our website.