Consultation Questionnaire
Your feedback will also help us to develop proposals for how and where in Kent we should focus on improving transport. The proposals we develop will be set out in a full draft Local Transport Plan, which will be consulted on next year.
Until the full Local Transport Plan 5 is adopted by the Council no final decisions have been made concerning its content and proposals. It is important we hear your feedback at this stage. This questionnaire can be completed online at www.kent.gov.uk/ltp5
Alternatively, if you are unable to complete the questionnaire online, please complete this Word/paper form and return to:
Email: ltp5@kent.gov.uk
Address: Local Transport Plan
Kent County Council
Invicta House
Maidstone
ME14 1XX
Please ensure your response reaches us by midnight 18 September 2023.
What information do you need before completing the questionnaire?
We recommend that you view the consultation material online at www.kent.gov.uk/ltp5 before responding to this questionnaire.
You can answer all or as many of the questions as you like. If you would rather not provide feedback on a section or question, just move on to the next one.
If you need any help taking part in this consultation or have any questions, please contact us at ltp5@kent.gov.uk or telephone us and leave a voice message at 03000 416 595.
Privacy: Kent County Council (KCC) collects and processes personal information in order to provide a range of public services. KCC respects the privacy of individuals and endeavours to ensure personal information is collected fairly, lawfully, and in compliance with the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018. Read the full Privacy Notice at the end of this document.
Alternative formats: If you require any of the consultation material in an alternative format or language, please email: alternativeformats@kent.gov.uk or call: 03000 42 15 53 (text relay service number: 18001 03000 42 15 53). This number goes to an answering machine, which is monitored during office hours.
Section 1 – About you
Q1. Are you responding...?
Please select the option from the list below that most closely represents how you will be responding to this consultation.
Please select one option.
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As a Kent resident |
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As a resident from somewhere else, such as Medway |
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In a professional capacity, please specify: |
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On behalf of a Charity or a Voluntary, Community or Social Enterprise organisation (VCSE) |
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On behalf of a business |
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On behalf of a District / Borough / Town / Parish Council in an official capacity |
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As a Parish / Town / Borough / District / County Councillor |
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Other, please specify: |
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Q1a. If you are responding on behalf of an organisation, please tell us the name of your organisation. Please write in below.
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Maidstone Borough Council |
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Q2. Please tell us the first 5 characters of your postcode: |
ME15 6 |
Please do not reveal your whole postcode. If you are responding on behalf of an organisation, please use your organisation’s postcode. We use this to help us to analyse our data. It will not be used to identify who you are.
Q3. How did you find out about this consultation?
Select all that apply.
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Email from KCC’s Transport Strategy team |
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Email from Let’s talk Kent / KCC’s Engagement and Consultation team |
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KCC County Councillor |
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From my Parish / Town / Borough / District Council |
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From a friend or relative |
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Poster |
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Social media |
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Kent.gov.uk website |
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Newspaper |
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From another organisation, please specify: |
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Other, please specify: |
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Section 2 – Local Transport Plan
Our emerging draft Local Transport Plan sets out the following new ambition for the Council.
We want to improve the health, wellbeing, and economic prosperity of lives in Kent by delivering a safe, reliable, efficient and affordable transport network across the county, and as an international gateway. We will plan for growth in Kent in a way that enables us to combat climate change and preserve Kent’s environment.
We will do this by delivering emission-free travel by getting effective dedicated infrastructure for electric vehicles, increase public transport use, and make walking and cycling more attractive. This will be enabled by maintaining our highways network and delivering our Vision Zero Road Safety Strategy. These priorities will ensure our networks are future-proof, resilient and meet user needs.
Q4. Do you support our new ambition?
Select one option.
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Yes |
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Partly |
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No |
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Don’t know |
Q4a. Please tell us the reason for your answer in the box below:
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Maidstone Borough Council broadly supports the ambition set out in the consultation document for the Local Transport Plan. Sustainable transport is a key component of sustainable growth. If sustainable transport can be made affordable, convenient and accessible, it will encourage behavioural changes and active lifestyle; it will contribute to improving air and noise quality, and consequently public health. Other benefits include making the built environments safer for children, facilitating economic activities and access to opportunities. This is in line with the Council’s own Strategic Plan 2019-2045, especially priority Embracing Growth & Enabling Infrastructure, the Maidstone Integrated Transport Strategy 2011-2031 and adopted Maidstone Local Plan 2011-2031 spatial vision. However, it is felt that the ambition does not address several key concerns we have as a Council. These concerns are set out below are as a result we have edited the ambition to suggest changes. It has been edited by adding text which is underlined.
Firstly, Kent as a tourist destination. Specifically, the Maidstone Economic Development Strategy (2021) has a priority to make Maidstone town centre a destination like other parts of Kent and so leisure and tourism elements should be included in the LTP5 ambition.
Secondly, Kent transport should be fully accessible. The Maidstone Integrated Transport Strategy 2011-2031 strategic objective 5 states:
‘Ensure the transport network considers the needs of all users, providing equal accessibility by removing barriers to use.’
Therefore, the Council feels that the ambition should be edited to read: ‘We want to improve the health, wellbeing, and economic prosperity of lives in Kent by delivering a safe, reliable, efficient, accessible, and affordable transport network across the county and as an international gateway. We will plan for growth in Kent in a way that enables us to combat climate change and preserves Kent’s environment.’
Thirdly, the timely delivery of infrastructure. The adopted Maidstone Local Plan 2011-2031 spatial objective 11 states: ‘To ensure that key infrastructure and service improvements needed to support delivery of the Maidstone Borough Local Plan are brought forward in a co-ordinated and timely manner, and that new development makes an appropriate contribution towards any infrastructure needs arising as a result of such new development.’
This is supported by spatial 6 of the emerging Local Plan Review currently at examination. Therefore, the Council feels that the ambition should be edited to read: ‘We will do this by delivering emission-free travel by getting effective dedicated infrastructure to electrify vehicles, increasing public transport use by improving convenience and accessibility; making walking and cycling attractive; maintaining our highways network; planning for growth in a way that reduces the need to travel where this is appropriate and possible; seeking investment opportunities and timely delivery of infrastructure and delivering our Vision Zero road safety strategy. These priorities will ensure our networks are future-proof, resilient and meet user needs.’
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Q5. Our emerging draft Local Transport Plan describes nine challenges concerning transport in Kent that we intend to address. Please tell us if you agree or disagree with us focusing on these challenges.
Select one option per challenge/row.
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Challenges |
Agree |
Disagree |
Don’t know |
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1. Our highways assets are in a phase of managed decline which in turn makes them less resilient to new pressures. |
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2. Following a decline in the number of injuries and fatalities on Kent’s roads, these levels have risen in 2021. |
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3. Traffic is causing congestion, poor air quality and impacting Kent’s economy. |
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4. Transport challenges in Kent arise from how the existing population of 1.6 million people and 70,000 businesses in the county choose to travel, as well as traffic generated by new developments being built. |
ü |
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5. Some indicators of public health, such as obesity and life expectancy, are worsening. |
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6. The financial viability of the public transport service has declined due to cost pressures and changes in passenger demand. |
ü |
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7. Kent’s international gateways need government leadership – the impacts which arise and affect our local communities and the national economy cannot be resolved entirely by ourselves. |
ü |
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8. Carbon dioxide (CO2e) emission reductions from management and use of the road network are forecast to go off-track, compared to the levels of reduction needed to contribute towards reducing the worst effects of climate change. |
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9. We need more funding and need to know what funding we will have over the next few years so we can improve transport in Kent. |
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Q5a. If you would like to make any comments on the challenges or would like to suggest any others that we should consider, please tell us in the box below:
If your comment relates to a specific challenge, please make that clear in your answer.
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Challenges |
Comment provided |
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CHALLENGE 1 - Our highways assets are in a phase of managed decline which in turn risks them becoming less resilient to new pressures. |
It is recognised that with current resources, KCC appear to tolerate this position. As part of the actions going forward, it is recommended that KCC should identify parts of the country that have leveraged resources, how they have done so and from there, advocate to bring greater resources to the county. |
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CHALLENGE 2 - Following a decline in the number of injuries and fatalities on Kent’s roads, these levels have risen in 2021. |
Challenge 2: The fatalities and injuries are a consequence rather than a challenge to Kent’s transport system. As currently worded, it is unclear what the actual challenges leading to the increased fatalities and injuries are. We recommend that Challenge 2 should be revised to identify the underlying issues, whether this is safety issues of the highways network, or drivers and road user’s behaviours, or something else. This will help identify appropriate plans and actions. Reference should be made to road safety education in this regard.
It should also be noted that travel volumes reduced significantly during the pandemic hence the trends currently observed (decline in the number of injuries and fatalities on Kent’s roads before 2021) need to be treated with caution. |
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CHALLENGE 3 - Traffic is causing congestion, poor air quality and negatively impacting Kent’s economy. |
This challenge should be amended to refer to impacts on health from poor air quality. |
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CHALLENGE 4 - Transport challenges in Kent arise from how the existing population of 1.6 million people and 70,000 businesses in the county choose to travel as well as traffic generated by new developments being built. |
The description under Challenge 4 seems to be unclear. Stating that impacts of new development have marginal effects can be misleading. MBC suggests that this is revised to state the need to promote and enable sustainable behavioural changes in light of the current dominant choice of transport mode. It should also acknowledge that this issue will be exacerbated if not addressed, considering the amount of growth (and with it, additional population) being proposed across Kent by Local Planning Authorities. It should be noted that the emerging strategic sites (such as Heathlands and Lidsing) offer the opportunities to ensure sustainable travel choices and patterns are embedded from the outset. In addition, these sites offer the economy of scale required to deliver strategic transport infrastructure – which can help address the challenge around funding. It is also recommended that the LTP5 is accompanied by a map showing the proposed strategic settlements across Kent and their associated indicative growth figures (houses, employment land, retail floorspace, infrastructure provided), as well as their status (allocated, safeguarded, or proposed in a draft Local Plan) to investigate the emerging trend for inter-settlement travels and to ensure sustainable transport choices are made available for these accordingly. In light of the new Monitor and Manage approach, further consideration must also be given to the review and financial mechanisms to counter the risks associated with this approach. This is of critical importance when an identified mitigation scheme involves multiple stakeholders, and multiple highways authorities. This is of strategic importance to ensure that when a development fails to achieve its target, arrangements and contributions will have been in place to update the mitigation(s), their costs, and deliver them in time, so that the knock-on effects on the network and other development sites will be minimised. |
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CHALLENGE 5 - Some indicators of public health, such as obesity and life expectancy, have been worsening. |
Worsening public health is an unintended consequence rather than a challenge for the transport system. It is therefore recommended that Challenge 5 is revised, for example, to state that the current business as usual transport trends will lead to negative impacts on public health, as currently shown by some indicators. The description text under Challenge 5 currently reads: ‘These trends are made more difficult to tackle as we have become increasingly less active as part of our travel. Activity levels for public transport and walking and cycling are far higher compared to door-to-door private transport.’ It is suggested that this paragraph is revised to elaborate further on how the challenges relate to the named public health indicators (obesity and life expectancy). In addition, indicators for public respiratory conditions should also be included. (Policy Outcome 5A should then be revised to reference active travels and public health accordingly. See comments further below) |
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CHALLENGE 6 - The financial viability of the public transport service has declined due to cost pressures and changes in passenger demand, leading to cuts in public transport services. |
No comment. |
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CHALLENGE 7 - Kent’s international gateways need government leadership – the impacts which arise and affect our local communities and the national economy cannot be resolved entirely by ourselves. |
No comment. |
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CHALLENGE 8 - Related to all the previous points, carbon dioxide (CO2 e) emission reductions from management and use of the road network are forecast to remain at too high a level compared to the reduced levels needed to contribute towards reducing the worst effects of climate change. |
No comment. |
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CHALLENGE 9 - We need more funding and need to know what funding we will have over the next few years so we can improve transport in Kent. |
Question is raised whether KCC has exhausted all funding options, including any unused SELEP funding. MBC would like to raise the lack of progress on ITS scheme despite the funding secured from allocated development. |
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Additional challenge |
An additional challenge to be considered is the increasing number of electric vehicles and alternative zero carbon transport. This requires a holistic coordinated approach with energy and transport sectors to plan before their impacts become much bigger issues on public areas, for example, charging infrastructures, grid capacity (to facilitate these vehicles without straining the grid), grid greening, infrastructure becoming outdated, etc. There is scope to work with electricity and transport operators and other stakeholders to plan for and to future-proof supporting infrastructure. |
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Additional comments |
It is recommended that the LTP5 makes reference to a changing context regarding the levels of car driver licence holding, the cost of travel, the demographic change and consequently what implications these have on transport needs and transport planning. For 25 years, each new generation of young people has been taking up progressively fewer driving licences and undertaking fewer trips and less mileage by car. The trend has gone almost unnoticed by transport policy makers, but it is likely to continue. This has major implications for transport policy.
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As part of our Local Transport Plan, KCC is required to present the level of carbon emissions generated by transport use on the Kent network and demonstrate how we think that will change in the future if we do not take any new actions.
Q6. To what extent is lowering the carbon emissions of travel and helping to reduce the severity of climate change, important to you?
Select one option.
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Very important |
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Slightly important |
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Neutral |
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Low importance |
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Not at all important |
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Don’t know |
There are a range of actions that could be taken to help reduce the carbon emissions from journeys. Please note that we are not proposing any of these actions as part of our new Local Transport Plan at this stage – they are based on ideas which have been tried elsewhere and which could be considered for areas of Kent in the future.
Q7. Please select from the list below those actions that you think we should consider taking if funding were available.
Select all that apply.
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Provide on-street electric vehicle charging points in residential areas and town centres. |
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Provide rapid charging hubs to help with using electric cars or vans for longer distance journeys in Kent. |
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Provide access to more car club vehicles that are electric and zero emission. |
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Run more events like Maidstone Cycle Fest, to help people experience walking, cycling, and taking public transport around town |
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Provide more choice by introducing hubs at bus and rail stations and around community facilities that provide access to shared transport such as bicycles for hire, car club vehicles. |
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Provide one single digital service on smart phones and computers, to book and pay for whole journeys in one go across all forms of transport used. |
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A scheme to scrap vehicles in return for travel vouchers that can be used on the bus, trains, car clubs and other shared transport available. |
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Reduce speed limits in towns to make roads safer to help people walk and cycle and help cars journeys produce less emissions. |
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Reduce traffic around schools where appropriate to make walking and cycling more popular, safer, and easier. |
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Reduce air pollution and emissions from deliveries in urban areas by supporting deliveries by electric cargo bikes. |
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No actions should be taken. |
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Other, write your suggestions in box below:
The Council would like to see the following actions from LTP4 taken forward for the Borough in LTP5:
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In response to the transport challenges we face, and to help us deliver our overall ambition for transport in Kent, we have identified nine proposed Policy Outcomes that we want to achieve in Kent.
Q8. Do you support or oppose each proposed Policy Outcome?
Select one option for each policy outcome/row.
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Support |
Oppose |
Don’t know |
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1. The condition of our managed transport network is kept to satisfactory levels, helping to maintain safe and accessible travel and trade. |
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2. Deliver our Vision Zero Road Safety Strategy through all the work we do. |
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3. International travel becomes a positive part of Kent’s economy, facilitated by the county’s transport network, with the negative effects of international haulage traffic decreased. |
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4. International rail travel returns to Kent and there are improved public transport connections to international hubs. |
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5. Deliver a transport network that is quick to recover from disruptions and future-proofed for growth and innovation, aiming for an infrastructure-first approach to reduce the risk of highways and public transport congestion due to development. |
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6. Journeys to access and experience Kent’s historic and natural environments are improved. |
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7. Road-side air quality improves as decarbonisation of travel accelerates, contributing towards the pursuit of carbon budget targets and net zero in 2050. |
ü |
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8. A growing public transport system supported by dedicated infrastructure to attract increased ridership, helping operators to invest in and provide better services. |
ü |
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9. Transport makes a positive contribution to public health due to increasing numbers of people using a growing cycling and pedestrian network with dedicated infrastructure and any increase in disturbance from aviation noise is avoided. |
ü |
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Q8a. If you would like to make any comments about the Policy Outcomes or would like to suggest any other outcomes we should consider, please tell us in the box below:
If your comment relates to a specific outcome, please make that clear in your answer.
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Policy Outcome 1 |
The Council would like to see the A229 Blue Bell Hill between M20 junction 6 and M2 junction 3 and B2079 to Marden from A229 added to the Resilient Road Network Map figure 14 page 35. Also, a label for the A229 to the south of Maidstone should be added to figure 14.
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Additional Policy Outcome |
A new Policy Outcome should be added [or: Policy Outcome 1 should be revised] to state that the emerging strategic settlements and existing settlements will be supported and connected in a holistic way. This would consider growth proposed by the Council in its emerging Local Plan Review at the Garden Community locations in the Borough. |
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Policy Outcome 2 |
Support – no comment |
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Policy Outcome 3 |
Support – no comment |
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Policy Outcome 4 |
Support – no comment |
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Policy Outcome 5 |
Support.
Reference to public health and active travels should be added to align with Challenge 5. In addition, as set out elsewhere in the document, it is not only development but also the dominant choice of transport that poses challenges to Kent’s transport system. As such, reference of ‘due to development’ should be removed.
It is recommended that Policy Outcome 5 is
revised to read: ‘Deliver resilient transport, future-proofed for growth and
innovation, aiming for an active travel and infrastructure-first
approach to reduce the risk of highways under capacity and
public transport congestion and public health impacts |
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Policy Outcome 6 |
Policy Outcome 6 should be amended to consider other tourism or leisure destinations as well. |
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Policy Outcome 7 |
Support – no comment |
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Policy Outcome 8 |
Policy Outcome 8 should also add increase the coverage of the public transport system/ service to previously inaccessible areas. As it should not be just about improving existing infrastructure and services.
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Policy Outcome 9 |
Support – no comment |
Q9. We would like to know which of our proposed Policy Outcomes are most important to you. Please select the three most important from the list below.
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1. The condition of our managed transport network is kept to satisfactory levels, helping to maintain safe and accessible travel and trade. |
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2. Deliver our Vision Zero road safety strategy through all the work we do. |
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3. International travel becomes a positive part of Kent’s economy, facilitated by the county’s transport network, with the negative effects of international haulage traffic decreased. |
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4. International rail travel returns to Kent and there are improved public transport connections to international hubs. |
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5. Deliver a transport network that is quick to recover from disruptions and future-proofed for growth and innovation, aiming for an infrastructure-first approach to reduce the risk of highways and public transport congestion due to development. |
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6. Journeys to access and experience Kent’s historic and natural environments are improved. |
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7. Road-side air quality improves as decarbonisation of travel accelerates, contributing towards the pursuit of carbon budget targets and net zero in 2050. |
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8. A growing public transport system supported by dedicated infrastructure to attract increased ridership, helping operators to invest in and provide better services. |
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9. Transport makes a positive contribution to public health due to increasing numbers of people using a growing cycling and pedestrian network with dedicated infrastructure and any increase in disturbance from aviation noise is avoided. |
For each of the nine planned policy outcomes we have proposed Policy Objectives to help us target our work to improve transport. We will measure the proposals we develop for our full draft Local Transport Plan against these.
Q10. Do you support or oppose each of these proposed Policy Objectives?
Select one option for each policy objective/row.
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Policy Objectives |
Support |
Oppose |
Don’t know |
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1A). Achieve the funding necessary to deliver a sustained fall in the value of the backlog of maintenance work over the life of our Local Transport Plan. |
ü |
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2A). Achieve a fall over time in the volume of people killed or very seriously (life-changing) injured occurring on KCC’s managed road network, working towards the trajectory to reach zero by 2050. |
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3A). Increase resilience of the road network serving the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel crossing, by adding holding capacity for HGV parking across the southeast region equivalent in capacity to Operation Brock, to reduce reliance on these disruptive schemes and the burdens and impacts they create on the transport network and affected communities in Kent. |
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3B). Increase resilience of the road network servicing the Port of Dover through delivery of the KCC bifurcation strategy including improvements to the M2 / A2 road corridor and its links to the M20 and a new Lower Thames Crossing for traffic towards the north. |
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4A). International rail travel returns to Ashford International and Ebbsfleet International stations, supported by the infrastructure investment needed at Kent’s stations wherever necessary. |
ü |
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4B). A fall in the time it takes by public transport to reach international travel hubs compared to conditions in 2023. |
ü |
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5A). Strengthen delivery of our Network Management Duty to deliver the expeditious movement of traffic by using our new moving traffic enforcement powers and keeping on-street parking enforcement, delegated to the Districts, under review. |
ü |
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Policy Objectives |
Support |
Oppose |
Don’t know |
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5B). Reduce the amount of forecast future congestion and crowding on highways and public transport that is associated with demand from development by securing funding and delivery of our Local Transport Plan. |
ü |
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5C). The prospects for the future of transport increase across the whole county, with new innovations in transport services having a clear pathway to trial or delivery in Kent. |
ü |
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6A). Proposals in our Local Transport Plan are clearly evidenced in terms of their contribution in providing new, faster, or more inclusive access to historic and natural environment destinations in the county, with proposals targeting access to such locations where appropriate. |
ü |
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7A). Reduce the volume of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions entering the atmosphere associated with surface transport activity on the KCC managed highway network by an amount greater than our forecast “business as usual” scenario. This means achieving a greater fall than those currently forecast of 9% by 2027, 19% by 2032 and 29% by 2037. |
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7B). No area in Kent is left behind by the revolution in electric motoring, with charging infrastructure deployed close to residential areas, reducing barriers to adoption. |
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7C). Proposals are clearly evidenced in terms of their contribution in providing lower emissions from transport in Air Quality Management Areas in the county. |
ü |
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8A). We will aim to obtain the further funding to deliver the outcomes our Bus Service Improvement Plan (or its replacement) beyond its current horizon of 2024/25. We will ensure that our Local Transport Plan proposals are clearly evidenced in terms of their contribution towards achieving our Bus Service Improvement Plan. |
ü |
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8B). We will identify and support industry delivery of priority railway stations for accessibility improvements and route improvements to reduce journey times and improve reliability. |
ü |
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Policy Objectives |
Support |
Oppose |
Don’t know |
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9A). We will aim to deliver walking and cycling improvements at prioritised locations in Kent to deliver increased levels of activity towards the Active Travel England target and support Kent’s diverse economy, presented in a Kent Walking and Cycling Infrastructure Plan. |
ü |
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9B). Represent and protect Kent residents from the impact of noise disturbance arising from new and expanded airports including maintaining our opposition to a second runway at Gatwick and the need for a reduction in night flights. |
ü |
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Q11. If you have any comments on the Policy Objectives or would like to suggest any more objectives, please tell us in the box below:
If your comment relates to a specific objective, please make that clear in your answer.
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Policy objectives |
MBC’s response |
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1A) |
Support – no further comments |
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2A) |
Support – no further comments |
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3A) |
The Council does not support this objective as it is not strong enough in eliminating the need for Operation Brock which has a n impact on the economy and residents of the Borough through the delays caused when it is in use. The objective should be reworded to state that the need for Operation Brock will be eliminated. |
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3B) |
The Council does not support this objective at the present time as it feels it not to be worded strong enough with regards to the ‘outcomes for rural communities’. Operation Brock cuts rural communities off and makes everyday life much more challenging in the Borough. This was gathered from a recent survey the Council undertook in the Borough (August 2022) ‘How does Operation Brock impact you?’. The results of the survey can be found on the link below:
How does Operation Brock impact you? | Lets Talk Maidstone (engagementhq.com) |
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4A) |
Support – no further comments |
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4B) |
Support – no further comments |
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5A) |
Policy Objective 5A: The Council seeks clarification what is meant by ‘keeping on-street parking enforcement, delegated to the Districts, under review’. |
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5B) |
Policy Objective 5B: The Council would like to see this amended to include the provision of highways improvements and the retention of the Leeds Langley Relief Road from LTP4. |
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5C) |
Policy Objective 5C: In light of MBC’s high expectations for new housing in the town centre and new garden communities, this is strongly supported. |
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6A) |
Policy Objective 6A: MBC would like to see Maidstone town centre with its significant heritage is also featured – and its status as county town is also highlighted. |
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7A) |
Policy Objective 7A: As currently worded, achieving ‘a greater fall than those currently forecast’ in transport emission does not provide the confidence that we will achieve net zero carbon target. In addition, this is accompanied by a set of policy objectives referencing EV expansion (Objective 7B) and development in the Air Quality Management Areas (Objective 7C). Whilst these are welcomed, MBC considers that more fundamental changes are required to meet the net zero carbon target. MBC urges KCC to show leadership in identifying these objectives which could then be implemented locally through ITS and Local Plans. |
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7B) |
Support – no further comments |
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7C) |
Support – no further comments |
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8A) |
Support – no further comments |
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8B) |
Support – no further comments |
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Additional policy objective suggested |
New policy objective 8C: To support improved new public transport routes in the county such as the extension of Thameslink to Maidstone Railway Stations. |
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9A) |
Policy Objective 9A: MBC has put forward a number of prioritised locations in Maidstone based on the: Maidstone Local Plan 2011-2031, emerging Maidstone Local Plan Review, Maidstone Integrated Transport Strategy 2011-2031, and the Maidstone Walking and Cycling Strategy 2011-2031 when it responded to the KCWIP stakeholder consultation in July 2023.MBC welcomes opportunities to work together to ensure these locations (and any other locations that KCC considers appropriate) are included in the Kent Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan. MBC would like to see further progress on this work. MBC would like to emphasise the importance of its timely progress to ensure a holistic approach to sustainable transport at all levels. Maidstone Borough Council would like to know where the prioritised locations are and how they will be selected. |
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9B) |
Support – no further comments |
Q12. If you have any other comments or suggestions on the emerging draft Local Transport Plan or its evidence base, please tell us in the box below:
Please note comments that do not address the content of the plan or evidence base will not be considered. If your suggestion relates to a specific section/page please provide details.
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Section 3 – Equality and health analysis
To help ensure that we are meeting our obligations under the Equality Act 2010 we have prepared an Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) on our emerging Local Transport Plan.
An EqIA is a tool to assess the impact any proposals would have on the protected characteristics: age, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, religion or belief, and carer’s responsibilities. The EqIA is available online at www.kent.gov.uk/ltp5 or in hard copy on request.
Q13. We welcome your views on our equality analysis and if you think there is anything we should consider relating to equality and diversity, please add any comments below:
Please do not include any personal information that could identify you within your response.
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No comment.
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The HIA is used to identify the health and wellbeing impacts of the proposed plan to help us with our planning. The HIA is available online at www.kent.gov.uk/ltp5 or in hard copy on request.
Q14. We welcome your views on our Health Impact Assessment and if you think there is anything we should consider relating to health and wellbeing, please add any comments below:
Please do not include any personal information that could identify you within your response.
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No comment.
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Section 4 – More about you
We want to make sure that everyone is treated fairly and equally, and that no one gets left out. That's why we are asking you these questions. We’ll use it only to help us make decisions and improve our services.
If you would rather not answer any of these questions, you don't have to.
It is not necessary to answer these questions if you are responding on behalf of an organisation.
If you are responding on behalf of someone else, please answer using their details.
Q15. Which of the following best describes your working status?
Select one option.
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Working full time |
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Working part time |
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On a zero-hours or similar casual contract |
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Temporarily laid off |
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Freelance/self employed |
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Unemployed |
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Not working due to a disability or health condition |
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Carer |
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Homemaker |
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Retired |
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Student |
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Other, please specify: |
Q16. Are you…?
Select one option.
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Male |
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Female |
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I prefer not to say |
Q17. Is your gender the same as your birth?
Select one option.
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Yes |
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No |
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I prefer not to say |
Q18. Which of these age groups applies to you?
Please select one option.
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0-15 |
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16-24 |
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25-34 |
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35-49 |
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50-59 |
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60-64 |
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65-74 |
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75-84 |
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85+ over |
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I prefer not to say |
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Q19. Do you regard yourself as belonging to a particular religion or holding a belief?
Please select one option.
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Yes |
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No |
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I prefer not to say |
Q19a. If you answered ‘Yes’ to Q19, which of the following applies to you?
Please select one option.
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Christian |
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Buddhist |
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Hindu |
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Jewish |
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Muslim |
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Sikh |
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Other |
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I prefer not to say |
If you selected Other, please specify:
The Equality Act 2010 describes a person as disabled if they have a long standing physical or mental condition that has lasted, or is likely to last, at least 12 months; and this condition has a substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. People with some conditions (cancer, multiple sclerosis, and HIV/AIDS, for example) are considered to be disabled from the point that they are diagnosed.
Q20. Do you consider yourself to be disabled as set out in the Equality Act 2010? Please select one option.
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Yes |
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No |
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I prefer not to say |
Q20a. If you answered ‘Yes’ to Q20, please tell us the type of impairment that applies to you.
You may have more than one type of impairment, so please select all that apply. If none of these applies to you, please select ‘Other’ and give brief details of the impairment you have.
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Physical impairment |
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Sensory impairment (hearing, sight or both) |
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Longstanding illness or health condition, such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, heart disease, diabetes or epilepsy |
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Mental health condition |
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Learning disability |
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I prefer not to say |
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Other |
Other, please specify:
A Carer is anyone who provides unpaid care for a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction cannot cope without their support. Both children and adults can be carers.
Q21. Are you a Carer?
Select one option.
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Yes |
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No |
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I prefer not to say |
Q22. Are you …?
Select one option.
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Heterosexual/Straight |
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Bi/Bisexual |
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Gay man |
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Gay woman/Lesbian |
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Other |
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I prefer not to say |
Q23. To which of these ethnic groups do you feel you belong?
Select one option. (Source 2011 Census)
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White English |
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Mixed White & Black Caribbean |
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White Scottish |
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Mixed White & Black African |
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White Welsh |
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Mixed White & Asian |
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White Northern Irish |
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Mixed Other* |
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White Irish |
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Black or Black British Caribbean |
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White Gypsy/Roma |
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Black or Black British African |
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White Irish Traveller |
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Black or Black British Other* |
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White Other* |
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Arab |
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Asian or Asian British Indian |
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Chinese |
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Asian or Asian British Pakistani |
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I prefer not to say |
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Asian or Asian British Bangladeshi |
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Asian or Asian British Other* |
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*Other - If your ethnic group is not specified on the list, please describe it here:
Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire; your feedback is important to us. All feedback received will be reviewed and considered in the development of our emerging Local Transport Plan.
We will report back on the feedback we receive, but details of individual responses will remain anonymous, and we will keep your personal details confidential.
Closing date for responses: 18 September 2023.
Consultation Privacy Notice
Last updated: 30 April 2023
Who are we?
Our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information is regulated under the United Kingdom Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. We are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information for the purposes of those laws. Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.
The personal information we collect and use
Information collected by us
In the course of responding to consultations published by Kent County Council we collect the following personal information when you provide it to us:
· responses to questionnaire / consultation
· equalities data collected through questionnaire response - age, sex, gender identity, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexuality, disability, pregnancy or maternity or if you are a Carer
· employment and education details
· postcode.
We ask you not to provide information that will identify you in your response in this questionnaire.
You do not need to submit any equalities or postcode information if you do not want to. KCC is committed to the principle that all our customers have the right to equality and fairness in the way they are treated and in the services that they receive. Any information you do give will be used to see if there are any differences in views for different groups of people, and to check if services are being delivered in a fair and reasonable way.
We will not ask you to provide your name, email or full home address. If you provide this information, it will not be entered into spreadsheets or databases used to process response data and will not be used in producing reports. We will follow our Data Protection policies to keep your information secure and confidential. Your equality data will be anonymised before it is shared with external organisations who have been commissioned on individual projects to undertake analysis and reporting on our engagement and consultation activities.
How we use your personal information
We collect and use this information in order to:
· understand your views about a particular topic or KCC activity
· analyse consultation and engagement activity
· inform KCC’s future strategy, policy, service design and budget planning
· undertake equality monitoring.
We may use your postcode to analyse the geographical spread of responses and in some cases to understand in more detail how responses are impacted by location. We will only ask you for the first five characters of your postcode to avoid being able to identify specific households in less populated areas.
We may use your postcode to carry out a type of profiling to estimate which one of a number of lifestyle groups you are most likely to fall into. We do this using geodemographic segmentation tools. We do not make any decisions about individual service users based solely on automated processing, including profiling.
How long your personal data will be kept
We will hold any personal information provided by you in this questionnaire for up to six years following the closure of a consultation. Our Retention Policy is available from our website or on request.
We rely on UK GDPR Article 6(1)(e): ‘processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest' and Article 6(1)(c) ‘for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject’ as our lawful basis.
We rely on Article 9(2)(g) ‘processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest’ (statutory etc. and government purposes, equality of opportunity or treatment) as the lawful basis on which we collect and use your special category data.
The processing is necessary for our statutory purposes including equalities monitoring or to understand the potential impact of proposals on conditions related to special category data within your response (e.g. when identifying or keeping under review the existence or absence of equality of opportunity or treatment between groups of people with the view to enabling such equality to be promoted or maintained.) It is necessary for identifying or keeping under review the existence or absence of equality of opportunity or treatment between groups of people with the view to enabling such equality to be promoted or maintained. You can read KCC’s Equality Policy on our website or on request.
Who we share your personal information with
We may share your personal data with those listed below:
- services within the Council who are responsible for the management of the engagement or consultation activity
- a third-party supplier who has been contracted to independently analyse the consultation responses
- organisations such as schools and academies with whom we may be consulting in partnership or on behalf of
· district or borough councils or government departments with whom we may be consulting in partnership or on behalf of.
We will share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required by applicable law.
Any personal information provided that could identify you will be removed before consultation results are published.
We use a system to log your feedback, which is provided by Granicus.
Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have a number of rights which you can access free of charge which allow you to:
· know what we are doing with your information and why we are doing it
· ask to see what information we hold about you
· ask us to correct any mistakes in the information we hold about you
· object to direct marketing
· make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Depending on our reason for using your information you may also be entitled to:
· ask us to delete information we hold about you
· have your information transferred electronically to yourself or to another organisation
· object to decisions being made that significantly affect you
· object to how we are using your information
· stop us using your information in certain ways.
We will always seek to comply with your request, however, we may be required to hold or use your information to comply with legal duties.
For further information about your rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, see the guidance from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under UK GDPR.
If you would like to exercise a right, please contact the Information Resilience and Transparency Team at data.protection@kent.gov.uk.
Keeping your personal information secure
We have appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost or used or accessed in an unauthorised way. We limit access to your personal information to those who have a genuine business need to know it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.
Who to contact
Please contact the Information Resilience and Transparency Team at data.protection@kent.gov.uk to exercise any of your rights, or if you have a complaint about why your information has been collected, how it has been used or how long we have kept it for.
You can contact our Data Protection Officer, Benjamin Watts, at dpo@kent.gov.uk. Or write to Data Protection Officer, Kent County Council, Sessions House, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1XQ.
The United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation also gives you the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner who may be contacted at https://ico.org.uk/concerns or telephone 03031 231113.
For further information visit https://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council/about-the-website/privacy-statement.