Outside London, most permissions control construction traffic through a Construction Traffic Management Plan condition. In two-tier areas, the planning authority is the district council but the highway authority is the county council. The CTMP is really written for the county highways officer, whose response decides whether the condition is discharged.
What highway officers check
- Routing: a clear route from the strategic road network to the site that avoids weight-restricted roads, low bridges, villages and schools where possible
- Vehicle numbers and sizes: estimated movements by phase and the largest vehicle expected, especially for concrete, steel and plant deliveries
- Timing: delivery hours that avoid the morning and afternoon peaks and school-run times
- Site access: visibility, gate positions, turning space within the site, and banksman control
- Parking: where operatives and visitors will park, so it is not on surrounding residential roads
- Road cleanliness: wheel washing, road sweeping and how mud on the road will be prevented
- Condition surveys: a record of the highway's condition before and after, so any damage can be repaired
Rural and village sites
Narrow lanes are the most common problem. Officers often ask for:
- passing places
- restrictions on articulated vehicles
- verge protection
- advance warning signs
- a commitment that drivers will follow the agreed route
Showing swept paths at the site entrance and any tight junctions on the route avoids much back-and-forth.
Common reasons for refusal
- no route plan, or a route through a village or past a school
- vehicle numbers that do not match the size of the scheme
- no turning space, so vehicles would reverse onto the road
- contractor parking left to chance
- generic content copied from another site
Keep it usable
The CTMP should be short enough to hand to every delivery driver and supplier. A one-page route map and summary of rules, appended to the main document, is often the part that actually changes behaviour on site.