Anyone wishing to work on the highway will soon have to apply for a permit to carry out  work on Dorset roads.

Dorset Highways is working with Saanchi Solutions Limited to develop and implement a permit scheme for works on the Dorset Council highway network.

At the moment, work promoters have a statutory right to work on the highway and tell the council when they will be working on the road.

Under a permit scheme, work promoters will be asking for permission to work on the highway and will need to provide clear start, end and duration details – any alteration to these during the work could incur a fee.

Permit schemes were introduced by the Government to:

• reduce disruption on the road network
• improve overall network management
• reduce delays to the travelling public
• reduce costs to businesses caused by delays
• incentivise work promoters to collaborate

Implementing a permit scheme will ensure the council has accurate information about the work taking place on its network, which will allow better co-ordination and management of works.

Also, with a permitting scheme in place, working on the highway without a permit becomes a criminal offence.

The permit scheme will be cost neutral when it is live – with the cost of permits funding the administration of the scheme.

Activities likely to need a permit

Although Dorset Highways is currently developing it’s permit scheme, activities likely to need are permit are:

• breaking up or resurfacing any street
• opening the road, footway, verge or cycleway
• the need for any form of temporary traffic regulation order or notice, or the suspension of pedestrian crossing facilities
• reducing the width of the existing carriageway

Exact details will be known later this year.

The legal bit

• Permits were brought into existence through the Traffic Management Act 2004
• In 2015, statutory guidance for permits were introduced to give consistency across the country​
• The Department for Transport has now said Local Authorities must have a permit scheme in place by April 2020

If you have any questions about the scheme, please contact our traffic team.