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The Local Transport Plan process was first announced in the Government Transport White Paper, "A New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone", in July 1998. Local Transport Plans have subsequently been described by Government as a 'cornerstone' in the process of delivering its commitment to modernise Britain's transport infrastructure, and when Parliament approved the Transport Act 2000 a statutory duty was placed upon local authorities to prepare and implement a Local Transport Plan.
As the name implies, the Local Transport Plan (LTP) focuses on local transport needs and the process produces a 5-year strategy and a statement of resources required to deliver them. The strategy is prepared in consultation with the local community and must comply with the 'over-arching' objectives of the governments integrated transport strategy. The resulting Plan is submitted to Government for approval and includes targets and performance indicators that Government can use to monitor the local authority's progress towards achieving the local transport strategy.
Local Transport Plans must also be seen as part of the Government's overall strategy for implementing their 'Integrated Transport Policy' and, as such, they form part of a hierarchy of plans and actions co-ordinated by central government through regions to the local level. This means that the Local Transport Plan should acknowledge and support Regional Development, Planning and Transport Strategies and the local planning policies, for example those set out in Local Structure Plans.
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