Newbattle Accessibility Report August 2013 Newbattle Accessibility Report CONTROL SHEET CLIENT: Persimmon Homes PROJECT TITLE: Newbattle REPORT TITLE: Accessibility Report PROJECT REFERENCE: 99999/ED/TR/01 Issue and Approval Schedule: ISSUE 1 Name Signature Date Issue Prepared by Suzanne Bullimore 15/08/13 Reviewed by Calum Robertson 28/08/13 Approved by Donald Stirling 29/08/13 Revision Record: Issue Date Status Description By Chk App 2 3 This report has been prepared in accordance with procedure OP/P02 of the Fairhurst Quality Management System. Newbattle Accessibility Report Contents 1 Introduction _______________________________________________________________ 1 1.1 Introduction 1 2 Accessibility _______________________________________________________________ 2 2.1 Introduction and Surrounding Land Use 2 2.2 Pedestrian Provision 3 2.3 Cycling 6 2.4 Public Transport 7 2.5 Rail 9 2.6 Access by Private Car 9 2.7 Vehicular Access to development sites 9 3 Development Trips_________________________________________________________ 10 3.1 Trip Generation 10 4 Summary and Conclusion___________________________________________________ 12 4.1 Summary 12 4.2 Conclusions 12 Newbattle Accessibility Report 1 Introduction 1.1 Introduction 1.1.1 This report has been prepared on behalf of Persimmon Homes in support of proposals for residential development of up to 180 dwellings at Newbattle Home Farm, Newtongrange, Midlothian. 1.1.2 The site includes 26 acres of agricultural land on the northern edge of Newtongrange adjacent to the settlement boundary and existing residential areas. The Midlothian Local Plan was adopted in 2008 and confirms that the site is located in countryside within a conservation area (but outwith the green belt) comprising agricultural land. Most of the site is located outwith land currently designated as a Nationally Important Garden and Designated Landscape. The site comprises three separate parts, separated only by existing local roads B703 Newbattle Road and The Beeches. • Part 1 – 9.24 acres (3.74ha) • Part 2 – 12.94 acres (5.23ha) • Part 3 – 5.75 acres (2.33 ha) 1.1.3 The site location is displayed in red at Figure 1. Figure 1 Site Location 1.1.4 The report reviews accessibility to the site considering firstly the most sustainable modes of travel by walking and cycling, then by public transport and finally by private car. 1 Newbattle Accessibility Report 2 Accessibility 2.1 Introduction and Surrounding Land Use 2.1.1 The site is well located in terms of existing facilities and amenities in Newtongrange, with an Accessibility Plan presented at Diagram 1. 2.1.2 The west of the site is bound by Ochre Burn. The River Esk and Doghouses Woods are located approximately 700m to the west. The A7 runs to the west of the site in a northerly-southerly direction through Newtongrange. The town of Bonnyrigg lies approximately 2km west of the site alongside Broomieknowe Golf Course. 2.1.3 The north of the site is bound by open fields. The river South Esk and Lord Ancrum’s Wood are located approximately 700m to the north within the settlement of Newbattle. The settlement of Eskbank is situated further north, approximately 1.5m, which can be reached via Newbattle Road (B703). 2.1.4 The east of the site is bound by open fields and a row of residential housing. There is a narrow footpath along the back of the houses which separates the properties from the site boundary. Footpath between the residential housing and site boundary. 2 Newbattle Accessibility Report 2.1.5 Newbattle High School is located approximately 1.8km to the east and can be accessed via Morris Road. The settlements of Mayfield and Easthouses are located approximately 1km to the east of the site; Easthouses is located just to the north of Mayhouses. 2.1.6 The south of the site is bound by open woodland and residential properties which are part of the village Newtongrange. Newtongrange Primary School is located approximately 7.5km to the south of the site and Newbattle Community High School is approximately 750m to the east. Newtongrange village contains local amenities including churches, shops, supermarkets, public houses and a post office. The location of these amenities can be seen at Diagram 1. 2.1.7 B703 Newbattle Road runs in a north-south direction from Eskbank to Newtongrange separating Parts 1 and 2 of the site. The Beeches also runs in a north-south direction separating Parts 2 and 3 of the site, connecting to B703 Newbattle Road a short distance to the north of the site. 2.2 Pedestrian Provision 2.2.1 Existing pedestrian provision in Newtongrange is of good standard with footways provided to both sides of most roads except for short distances where boundary issues preclude this. 2.2.2 Pedestrian footways will link to existing provision on B703 Newbattle Road and The Beeches. Walking isochrones have been overlaid on Diagram 1. 2.2.3 Newbattle Road (to the east of Part 1 of the site and the west of Part 2 of the site) has a footway along both sides of its carriageway from the junction with Dalhousie Road/Bryans Road until Galadale Drive. From this point a footway is only present along its northbound carriageway until the river South Esk is reached where footways are present along both sides again. 2.2.4 The Beeches (to the east of Part 2 and the west of Part 3) has footways along both sides of the carriageway at a small section beside Part 3 of the site, however for the remainder of the road north of Gardiner Place there are no footways. 3 Newbattle Accessibility Report Mansfield Road/the Beeches 2.2.5 There are number of designated pedestrian crossing points on the road network facilitating access to the local amenities. Dropped kerbs on B6482 Bryans Road side street 4 Newbattle Accessibility Report 2.2.6 A puffin crossing with dropped kerbs and tactile paving is located on B6482 Mansfield Road to the south-east of the development outside the Key Store. Several of the side streets connecting onto Bryans Road have dropped kerbs and painted on footprints and writing telling the pedestrian to look left and right to assist with safe crossing. These are also included on all arms of the roundabouts of Bryans Road/NewbattleRoad/Dalhousie Road and Main Street. All of the arms of the junction (apart from Bryans Road) also have an island in the centre of the carriageway to facilitate crossing. 2.2.7 A zebra crossing is located on Bryans Road across from Welfare Park. This will assist children walking to Newtongrange Primary cross Bryans Road safely. Zebra crossing on B6482 Bryans Road 2.2.8 The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 came into effect in 2005 which placed various duties on the Local Authorities, one of which was to draw up a plan for a system of paths ‘sufficient for purpose of giving the public reasonable access throughout the area’. These paths are known as core paths and all local authorities in Scotland were required to create a plan of Core Paths. 2.2.9 Midlothian Council’s Core Paths Plan provides information regarding the nature and location of available footpaths and cycleways within the general location of the development site. The existing Core Paths network comes close to the site in several locations. To the south a Core Path routes through Welfare Park from Bryans Road, Main Street and Park Road leading to Newtongrange Primary School. To the north, several core paths link onto the B703 at Newbattle Road. The Core Paths extend north to Dalkeith and east to Easthouses and Mayfield. 5 Newbattle Accessibility Report 2.3 Cycling 2.3.1 Midlothian Council has produced its own Cycle Map providing an overview of cycle facilities throughout Midlothian. Two routes marked for cycling in the vicinity of the development are identified at Diagram 1. In addition to these routes, the permeable network of quiet local roads and paths make the location suitable for cycling trips. 2.3.2 Local roads in the vicinity of the development are generally lightly trafficked and suitable for journeys to education and employment, with local schools and a broad catchment area of local villages accessible within a comfortable cycling distance. The B6482 to the south of the site runs in an easterly-westerly direction and is marked on the cycling map as a main road with light traffic, confirming suitability for use as a cycle route. The B703 and the A7 adjacent to the site are identified as suitable for cycling, but suited to more experienced cyclists as traffic levels at peak periods can be heavier. These on-road routes connect the site with Dalkeith to the north, Newtongrange to the south and Mayfield and Easthouses to the east. 2.3.3 On a more strategic level, National Cycle Route 1 (NCR1) runs to the west of the site in a northerly-southerly direction. NCR1 is a long distance cycle route running down the east coast of Britain. NCR1 links the site with Galashiels and to the south and Edinburgh to the north. 6 Newbattle Accessibility Report 2.4 Public Transport 2.4.1 Existing public transport in the vicinity of the site is exclusively provided by bus. The closest bus stops are marked on Diagram 1 and are within approximately 400m walk distance of the site as specified in PAN75 guidance. Buses serving these stops are provided by Lothian Buses and First Bus. 2.4.2 Details of current services, approximate frequencies and journey times are summarised at Table 1. General Frequencies Mon-Fri Operator Service Principle calling points Sat Sun Off Peak Eve Peak Silverknowes - Western General Hospital - Lothian Edinburgh - Gilmerton - Eskbank - 29 15 30 - 30 - Buses Newtongrange Gorebridge (Mon-Sat daytime) or at peak times only to Bryans - Mayfield Baberton - Wester Hailes - Longstone - Gorgie - Lothian Haymarket - Edinburgh - Commonwealth Pool - 33 10 15 30 15 30 Buses Cameron Toll - ERI - Dalkeith - Bryans - Newtongrange - Gowkshill - Gorebridge Lothian Woodburn – Dalkeith – Hardengreen – 39 30 60 - 60 - Buses Bonnyrigg – Newtongrange - Gorebridge Edinburgh Bus Station - Cameron Toll - ERI (Main Road) - Eskbank - Newbattle Abbey - 3 First Bus 95A Newtongrange - North Middleton - Galashiels - - - - - jnys Hawick.