vision-led planning and transport planning
Founded in 2018, ActivePlanning reflects the lifelong commitment of its principal, Richard Lewis MRTPI MCIHT, to sustainable travel in his own life. He hasn’t owned a car for 32 years, and gets around on foot, cycle and public transport.
Through ActivePlanning, Richard has completed a diverse range of projects for clients all over the country. From preparing a DCO statement in Suffolk to a Regulation 19 statement in mid-Sussex. Through his membership of three Design Quality Review Panels to drafting Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans and route studies in North Northamptonshire, the Isles of Scilly and Hampshire.
Richard is a strategy planner, narrative writer, concept infrastructure designer and graphic designer for planning and transport. His greatest strength is establishing and leading visions for the future of places, through design quality review panels, research and re-imagining. His written work has a track record of helping to win major funding awards including the Highland Council’s Community Links PLUS bid (£6.5m in 2017) and Royal Borough of Kingston’s mini-Holland bid (£30m in 2013).
His work is expertly supported by some of the best co-practitioners in the country. Some of these practitioners have near celebrity status in our community. He’s always looking for more expertise that can be tailored to fit your projects.
Vision led planning and transport planning
National planning policies give emphasis to vision-led planning and development. Planning permission and the adoption of Local Plans is now more contingent than ever before upon putting sustainable travel and walkable place-led neighbourhoods at the heart of delivering challenging housing targets.
Richard’s fresh way of thinking helps clients build their vision and use it as a thread that is clearly visible in their masterplans, design and access statements, transport assessments, travel plans and design codes. He wants genuinely sustainable major development allocations and proposals to succeed.
His approach, combining planning and transport planning, is designed to deliver results seen in reduced dependency on cars and accessibility or those without a car. He takes inspiration from international and UK best practice and advice from organisations including Urban Design Learning, Create Streets, Transport for New Homes and his diverse experience, including projects that have made a clear difference.
Working with the private sector, local authorities, parish councils and community stakeholder organisations, Richard provides a wide range of services including:
Design-led Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs) and LCWIP reviews.
Route and place studies including school streets, bus routes, accessible public realm, and sustainable transport infrastructure baselines for Local Plans.
Active travel and bus stop infrastructure design, and client-side design support.
Vision-led strategic transport and town planning, supporting masterplans and major planning applications with design review and support, proposed active travel connections (including design and access) and public transport route options.
Policy, strategy and funding bid narratives, including graphic design and presentations.
Media communications, engagement literature and workshops.
Richard loves to explore and can therefore work anywhere in the UK in partnership with some of the UK’s leading specialist independent SMEs.
‘My late father instilled in me that if you want change you have to lead by example. For 32 years I’ve done that by not owning a car.’
-Richard Lewis, principal at ActivePlanning
Services and experience
Strategy
Design-led Local cycling and walking infrastructure plans.
Through ActivePlanning, Richard offers design-first Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans.
‘Design-first’ means he identifies and visits all proposed core LCWIP routes, either ‘in person’ or using desktop tools such as Google Streetview and Ordnance Survey to be sure they are deliverable.
This approach is far better than putting lines on a map which become ‘policy’ regardless of whether or not schemes would be feasible and then having to pick up the pieces later.
Furthermore, he investigates a finer grain of local ‘community links’, area-based traffic calming schemes and school streets that can be delivered quickly to maximise accessibility benefits to the community, enabling very local trips.
Simple, clear link and junction numbering together with colour-coding by infrastructure type de-mystifies the presentation of networks, giving readers an at-a-glance overview of what Richard and his design partners believe could be delivered on site in a cautious and ambitious scenario.
Richard’s design-led approach to LCWIPs is, he believes, unique. It allows him to provide much better value for clients, saving money on detailed route reviews - so this is where he invest the bulk of his time.
Richard has also discovered the public are more interested in and engaged with infrastructure than data and modelling. Scheme prioritisation is based on simple outputs from stakeholder engagement and Active Travel England’s pct.bike interface.
Route studies - walking and cycling
Through ActivePlanning, Richard works with engineering partners to offer comprehensive route studies which look at (a) the general feasibility of introducing pedestrian and cycle routes on selected corridors and (b) site specific designs for key locations including junctions, typical design detailing on links, and new crossings.
Richard is happy to attend site visits with the client and key stakeholders to identify local issues and then, if necessary, to re-visit to take further photos and give consideration to any new route options to be taken forward. His work is iterative.
Route study reports are designed to be used to attract funding. Richard prepares visually-appealing desktop published documents and can bring additional expertise to verify routes through sensitive areas (RAMSAR, SPA, SAC, SSSI).
Masterplanning
Through ActivePlanning, Richard works with master developers, urban designers, developers, planners, engineers and architects at the visioneering / brainstorming and other early masterplan stages to establish the masterplan vision, design principles, active and sustainable transport networks.
Our sustainability-led approach has helped lead consultants deliver multi-award winning masterplans and compete in national architectural competitions.
We want to create healthy places that naturally (without saying so) promote a better quality of life, greater travel independence for children, and inclusion of people who find themselves unable to own or drive a car for many reasons - or simply choose a car-free lifestyle as a positive facet of how they want to live their lives.
Design and Design Quality Review and support
Design is at the heart of ActivePlanning’s approach to projects.
Richard Lewis is a lifelong cyclist with a career working in transport planning departments and extensive semi-technical knowledge gained from studying design guidance and schemes in London, Paris, Copenhagen and the Netherlands.
Though not an engineer, he has a strong working knowledge of cycle infrastructure design from a “user perspective” and understands the pitfalls including greater conflicts at junctions, the interaction between pedestrians and cyclists.
He is capable of designing concept schemes as a base for technical development and is extensively and effectively engaged in design discussions. As well as learning, he regularly provides detailed design advice which is taken on board by engineers.
His design knowledge has been effective in his roles as a design reviewer, helping win major funding (a total of £36.5m for two authorities) and transforming the funding landscape for others (Luton Borough Council and the Isles of Scilly).
Projects completed and ongoing
City of Winchester Trust 2025 (ongoing): Winchester Movement Strategy review and proposals including concept designs.
New Forest National Park Authority 2025: Transport Summit.
ONH Planning for Good (ad-hoc ongoing): Regulation 18 planning submission; strategic design advice (active travel and transport).
Totton Town Council LCWIP (2025)
Council of the Isles of Scilly LCWIP (2023)
Buckden Parish Council (2019) - resulting in local scheme delivery funding.
Department for Transport pilot and ‘independent’ LCWIP support programme 2020-2022 - provided support for emerging new LCWIPs.
Kettering, Wellingborough and Corby LCWIPs (2022) led by WSP.
New Forest National Park Authority with Charlotte Baker Communications and Strategy: Route 120 schemes co-ordination (new).
New Forest National Park Authority with City Infinity: Route 120 cycle route study led by Hegsons Design Consultancy Ltd.
Hart District Council Route 150 cycle route study with City Infinity (2025)
Member of design quality review panels in Harlow, Epping and West Somerset managed by Frame Projects. Influenced the provision of active travel infrastructure within various masterplan sites, including making active and sustainable travel easier and more convenient than driving. Significant influence over the design of the emerging Latton Priory Masterplan.
Design inputs to support City Infinity on cycle route studies 120 (New Forest) and 150 (Hart).
UK Atomic Energy Authority (2024). Concept design for cycleway through new entrance gateway. Internal stakeholder engagement.
Luton Borough Council (2023). Design support for cycle routes in Leagrave and Bedford Road. This involved coaching the framework contractor and supporting the client. Achieved restoration of over £450,000 of Active Travel Capability Funding by helping the council achieve exemplary scheme designs.
Knutsford Town Council 2023. “Dog Wood” cycling and walking path. Concept scheme design, stakeholder engagement and report. The technical project was completed by an engineering consultancy.
SOG Limited (2022) Heath Park Masterplan (400 dwellings and mixed light industrial uses), strategic transport advice with emphasis on sustainable modes and local services. Led by EcoResponsive Environments - multi-award winning.
Active travel route design serving 5,000 home development on the edge of Kettering. Led by Stantec for Hanwood Park Ltd.
County Westmeath, Ireland: Ardee, Mullingar, Athlone. Central area masterplans incorporating active travel infrastructure, including concept designs. Led by Turley.
Mobility Management Plans - Ireland. Various, led by consultant partners and resulting in planning approvals.
