TECHNICAL NOTE NO 1

WHITE HALL, WHITEHOUGH, ACCESS APPRAISAL 13113 – 23 RD AUGUST 2013

1. SCP is instructed by Mrs Astall to review and report upon the potential to access a residential development on land at White Hall, Lower Lane, Whitehough, Chinley.

2. White Hall is currently accessed off Lower Lane (B6062) via a dropped crossing over the footway. The back of the footway the land is around 0.5m lower than the road and the access falls into the site.

3. Lower Lane is a classified highway and there is a mandatory 30 mph speed limit installed. Along the site frontage there is footway which is around 1.2m wide. Because of the level difference between the footway and the site there is a boundary wall installed along the site frontage. The wall is around 1.1m higher than the footway. On the opposite side of Lower Lane there is no footway.

4. The existing site access has a gateway which is around 3m set back from the kerbline. At this point the access is around 4m wide and the access track then narrows further into the site. The site access has very limited visibility onto Lower Lane because of the site boundary walls. Only 12m can be viewed in the leading direction and only 11m can be viewed in the non leading direction from the minimum set back distance for safety of 2.4m.

5. The available visibility at the existing site access is only around 20% of the desired visibility based upon advice contained within Manual for Streets 2 for a 30 mph speed limit where speeds are unknown. Whilst this poor provision of visibility has resulted in no recorded accidents there are clearly safety concerns about the access. For example there is potential for vehicles to have to wait on highway should there be a vehicle waiting to turn out of the site and there is potential for conflict between pedestrians and vehicles at the access point.

6. In order to facilitate any development opportunity on the site it is considered that the existing access point should be upgraded to improve visibility, improve the geometry of the access, improve pedestrian safety and allow space for two cars to pass side by side at the bellmouth.

Directors: W C P Booker B.Sc. D Roberts I.Eng. FIHE FCIHT J Budd MSc MCILT MCIHT Regional Director: G W Bowman BEng C Eng MICE MCIHT Associate Directors: G Meikle MCIHT I R Wickett MCIHT D T Roberts B.Eng. SCP is a trading name of Singleton Clamp & Partners Limited Registered in No. 3728935 Offices in , Leeds and London Cont’d … 2 of 3 White Hall, Lower Lane, Whitehough, Chinley. Access Appraisal.

7. The proposed access detail is illustrated at SCP/13113/SK01Rev A and includes the following:

1) Visibility of 2.4m x 56m in both directions in accordance with Manual for Streets 2 guidance

2) A 5.5m wide bellmouth around 4m set back from the kerbline. Around a further 6m into the site the carriageway reduces to 4.5 wide.

3) 4m radii to improve manoeuvres into and out from the site

4) 2m wide footways around the bellmouth and into the site

8. In order to achieve the proposed improvements it will be necessary to set back the site boundary wall over a distance of around 20m on either side of the access bellmouth. This would also allow for a widening of the footway on the approach to the access. There will be need to remove a number of trees to facilitate the proposed improvement, however the improvement as proposed would be anticipated to lead to a material improvement in the safety of the proposed access and would also ensure that the access is conspicuous to drivers passing along Lower Lane.

9. The accessibility of the site has also been considered in relation to local facilities by foot and access to public transport in the form of both buses and trains.

10. The village offers essential facilities for residents living on the site and the site is well located in relation to the local facilities available within the village. The facilities are found along Lower Lane and Green Lane. There is a convenience store on Lower Lane which provides everyday groceries as well as shoe repairs and a dry cleaners. Other notable shops include a Post Office which is open 6 days a week and a pharmacy, located on Green Lane. All of these facilities are available within a short 500m walk (just over a 6 minute walk time) from the centre of the site.

11. There are bus stops along Lower Lane which are between 230m and 290 m walk distance from the centre of the site. Chinley is a semi-rural location however there are 4 bus services operating through the village. One of the services operates on an hourly basis and serves , Chapel-en-le-Frith and . Two of the other services are school services whereas a further service operates between Hayfield and Buxton, travelling through and Dove Holes.

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12. Further details of the bus services are shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1 – Bus Route Summary

Maximum Frequency Number Route Description Monday to Saturday Sunday

Whaley Bridge – – Chinley – Chapel- 1 service per day 40 No Service en-le-Frith (school service) in either direction

Buxworth – Chinley – Hayfield – New Mills 1 service per day 51 No Service School (school service) in either direction

Buxton – Chapel-en-le-Frith – Chinley – Whaley 189/190 Hourly No Service Bridge

Hayfield – New Mills – Chinley – Dove Holes - 1 service per day 398 No Service Buxton in either direction Source: Traveline

13. The 189/190 service provides an hourly service throughout the day between Buxton and Whaley Bridge and passes a Tesco and Morrisons supermarket, several high schools and Whaley Bridge railway station.

14. Chinley also benefits from a railway station, which provides services between Manchester, Sheffield and Nottingham. The station is located around 400m (5 minute walk time) from the centre of the site. Rail services from this station typically run on an hourly frequency during the day but also provide direct connections to other stations including Stockport and Liverpool in the commuter peak hours.

15. It is therefore considered that the site is well located and offers a range of travel modes to local facilities and is also well located to serve longer distance trips by bus and train.

16. In summary it is considered that the site can be served in a suitable and safe manner and it located within an accessible location.

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