The Cameron McKenna Property Survey 1998: Transport priorities

The Cameron McKenna Property Survey 1998: Transport Priorities

In the autumn of last year we distributed a questionnaire to discover the views of the property industry on the policies outlined in the Government's Transport White Paper, and to gauge the impact those policies would have. We received nearly three hundred responses from individuals representing organisations covering the whole spectrum of the property sector. Most of those who responded were senior officers, partners and directors in the organisations concerned. The results have been collated to comprise a survey analysis and supplemental compendium. These documents set out a clear agenda for the Government on behalf of those in the property industry and make very interesting reading. If you would like a copy of the survey please contact Andy Gittins on 0171 367 2269.

Set out below are the principal findings of the survey which also indicate considerable agreement on a number of politically sensitive issues:

• government subsidy to public transport paid from centrally collected taxation is too low
• the main priority for roads is in fact the building of new or improved transport alternatives
• when looking at town or city centres, increased provision of reliable bus services is the most popular choice followed by trams and light railways
• between centres of population, the most popular choices are upgrading existing intercity rail routes and increased investment in the transport of freight by rail
• the proposed tax on work place parking should fall directly on employees who actually use the parking spaces in question by yearly taxation
• transport tax raised locally should be used on regional transport schemes and to fund local or regional transport initiatives
• chosen aspects of public transport should be subsidised from existing central government tax revenue and there should be tax incentives for investors in public transport initiatives likely to be inherently unprofitable
• the most important aim of new central planning guidance should be to protect the environment
• the new transport initiatives are likely to increase the cost of development, make it more difficult to obtain planning permission and increase planning delays. However the initiatives are unlikely to have an adverse effect on the value of investment property
• the new transport initiatives will increase the cost of occupation of business premises
• the Transport White Paper is not radical enough. We have forwarded copies of the survey's findings to the Government and Opposition, as well as to various other influential bodies and people within the property industry.