Director of Partnerships Tel 0781729 8072 Planning and Policy Email william.tay@.gov.uk Council Your ref 20/01331/OUTMAJ Civic Offices, Union Street Our ref HDC/AW/20/01331/OUTMAJ Chorley

PR7 1AL Date 07/04/2021

FAO: Caron Taylor

Dear Sir/Madam,

TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1990 Planning Application: 20/01331/OUTMAJ Outline planning application for the construction of up to 80 dwellings (including 30% affordable housing) and associated infrastructure, with all matters reserved (aside from vehicular access from Doctors Lane). Land at Tincklers Lane, Tincklers Lane, Eccleston.

I refer to your consultation dated 12 January 2021 in respect of the above planning application.

INTRODUCTION

The proposed development as described above was subject to highway pre-planning application consultation and the current outline submission is accompanied by a Transport Assessment (TA) setting out the transport issues relating to the site and details of the proposed development.

EXISTING CONDITIONS

Existing site information

The proposed site is an open field opposite the Eccleston Cricket Ground. It is fronted by Doctors Lane to the south and bounded to the east by residential houses of The Hawthorns and Banner Close. It is bounded to the north by an agricultural field currently subject to planning application, 20/01085/OUTMAJ for development of 15 dwellings and adjoined west partially by the U700 Tincklers Lane, two residential houses and an open field. The site has an existing gated field access at its north westerly corner to Tincklers Lane, but appears to have also been recently accessed from un-authorised openings at the junction of Tincklers Lane and Doctors Lane; and from a point near the east boundary of the site on Doctors Lane. The site's location plan is shown on drawing no. LC-01 dated 20.08.20.

Phil Durnell Director of Highways and Transport, Lancashire County Council PO Box 100 · County Hall · Preston · PR1 0LD

Existing transport information

In all, there are six Public Rights of Way (PROWs) within acceptable walking distance of the site, but the nearest are FP3 and FP10 located west of the site extending from the Tincklers Lane to FP11 leading to Syd Brook Lane.

There are no dedicated cycle routes near the site to local services and amenities in the area and although the Railway Station is within the recommended 5km cycling distance of the site, the cycle route leading to the Station currently ends at the junction of the A581 Road and C195 Ulnes Walton Road, approximately 2km north of the application site.

Doctors Lane, the U700 Tincklers Lane, Towngate and The Green are bus routes, but public services are not currently operated on the U700 Tincklers Lane and Doctors Lane other than service 810, which is a school service. The public services are operated Mondays-Fridays and Saturdays on Towngate and The Green by services 113 (Preston - Wigan) which operates day service at hourly intervals and services 337 (Chorley - Ormskirk) and 347 (Chorley - Southport), which operate day services at two hourly intervals. The services are operated from existing bus stops located approximately 85m south of the Eccleston bridge on Towngate over the River Yarrow, west of Towngate/U700 Tincklers Lane, west of The Green/The Field and south of The Green/Doctors Lane. The bus stops are all within 800m walking distance of the proposed development which the Manual for Streets (MfS) recommends that residents may be able to access comfortably on foot, but walking distance from the centre of proposed developments to bus stops as recommended by the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) should ideally be 400m.

The existing bus stops do not have facilities of the high-quality standard required to ensure they are disability compliant, safe, attractive and comfortable to use as required by the NPPF, except the two south of The Green/Doctors Lane which have bus stop bay and worded markings with an 'old' shelter for the northbound stop.

The local highway network

The local highway network includes C192 Doctors Lane, B5250 The Green, B5250 Towngate, U700 Tincklers Lane and C192 Tincklers Lane.

Doctors Lane, which would provide access to the proposed development, is an urban single 2-way secondary distributor road that delivers traffic from collector roads in the west and its minor side roads to The Green in the east for distribution to the wider Eccleston. It also delivers traffic from east to C192 Tincklers Lane for distribution towards Mawdesley in the west. The section of Doctors Lane from The Green to Chaucer Close and Crickerters Green is part of an area-wide 20mph zone, but there is 30mph speed limit restriction from the end of the 20mph zone to a point approximately 35m west of Banner Close. From this point to the C192 Tincklers Lane, Doctors Lane is subject to the national speed limit. There are existing footways on both sides of Doctors Lane with street lighting from The Green to the east boundary of the proposed site, but the footway on the south side continues to the entrance of the Cricket Club. The rest of Doctors Lane has no footways and street lighting.

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The U700 Tincklers Lane is to the west of the proposed site. It is a rural, single 2-way local access road extending from the C192 Tincklers Lane/Doctors Lane in the south to Towngate in the north. From its junction with Towngate for approximately 250m, the U700 Ticklers Lane has 30mph speed limit restriction, but from this point to its southerly end, it is subject to the national speed limit. The footways on Towngate are extended into the U700 Tincklers Lane for distances of 90m on the east side and 70m on the west side and there is street lighting covering 100m of its section with Towngate.

B5250 The Green and B5250 Towngate are arterial routes that run through Eccleston from New Lane/Lydiate Lane in the north to Langton Brow in the south. Both roads are subject to 30mph speed limit and have footways on both sides with street lighting.

Existing traffic conditions

To establish the speeds of traffic on Doctors Lane for use as basis to design the site access, the applicant conducted a 7-day automatic traffic count (ATC) near the proposed site access on 9 October 2020 and determined the average speeds as 33.9mph eastbound and 34.0mph westbound. The 85th percentile speeds as determined from the survey were 39.5mph eastbound and 40.1mph westbound.

It was agreed at pre-planning consultation stage that the applicant should not conduct new survey of traffic flows and turning counts due to low levels of flows as a result of COVID-19, however, LCC Highways provided the applicant available existing data of traffic flows conducted in 2013 and 2014 at locations on Doctors Lane and the C192 Tincklers Lane. The survey conducted in 2013 on Doctors Lane shows average weekday 2-way AM (08:00-09:00) and PM (17:00-18:00) peak traffic flows of 253 and 280 vehicles, while that conducted on the C192 Tincklers Lane in 2014 shows average weekday 2-way AM and PM peak traffic flows of 349 and 382 vehicles.

Traffic accidents

The TA provides an analysis of the most recent available 6-year record of personal injury traffic accidents of the local highway network from 2014-2019 using LCC's Mario data (2014-2017) and Crashmap data (2018-2019). While the 6-years analysis is acceptable, it is considered that an analysis for the most recent five years from 2015- 2019 would be sufficient and appropriate. Therefore, based on the analysis from 2015- 2019, the assessment shows there were no personal injury accidents on Doctors Lane, the U700 Tincklers Lane and the C192 Tincklers Lane. However, there were a total of 11 slight and 4 serious personal injury accidents on Towngate and The Green within the section from the Eccleston bridge on Towngate over the River Yarrow to The Green/Bradley Lane, an approximate distance of 1.5km. As noted, 3 of the serious accidents involved pedestrians being hit by vehicles while 1 involved collision with a bus with passengers. 2 of the serious accidents occurred within the proximity of the St Mary's CE Primary School while the other 2 occurred at/near a junction. The analysis also shows that majority of the slight personal injury accidents involved pedal and motor cyclists.

This level of recorded personal injury accidents within a 1.5km section of road is high and of highway concern; and although the applicant stated that the accidents may be

3 due to errors on the parts of those involved, the accidents do not compare favorably with local average accident rates and would potentially be exacerbated by the proposed development. Therefore, given the need to minimise conflicts between vehicles and other road users in the area, mitigation measures will be required to alleviate the accident problems.

PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT

The proposal is for residential development of mixed house types of up to 80 dwellings with 30% affordable components. The applicant is only seeking an approval of the access at this stage with all other matters reserved and has submitted an indicative access plan referenced, UG_710_UD_DRG_IAP_04_Rev C (28/10/20), which shows there is potential for the proposed development to be externally connected to future development of lands adjoining the site to the north and west. This would be in line with the MfS as such connectivity would encourage walking and cycling, make the area easier to navigate through and lead to a more even spread of motor traffic. The adjoining lands to the north and south are however not shown in the submission as part of the applicant's boundary, but as indicated earlier, a planning application is currently in the process for 15-dwelling residential development of the land to the north.

LCC Highways has in relation to the 15-dwelling development, requested an extension of footway on the east side of Tincklers Lane to south boundary of the site together with street lighting. If delivered, the footway will tie-in with the proposed pedestrian/cycle link at the north west corner of the current site and facilitate access from Towngate through the current proposed development to Doctors Lane and The Hawthorns.

Internal layout/parking

The applicant has submitted an illustrative masterplan of the development on drawing no. UG_710_UD_DRG_MPLAN_06B (28/10/20) which shows the proposed dwellings at the south westerly part of the site facing west, but with no frontages to the U700 Tincklers Lane.

The detailed internal site layout should be in line with the principles of the MfS and the LCC's Creating Civilised Streets with all access roads designed as self-enforcing 20mph roads with in-built horizontal speed reduction measures. The internal roads should include 2.0m wide footways and/or service strips as appropriate with turning heads provided to LCC adoptable standards and proven with swept path analysis to demonstrate safe turning of refuse and service vehicles. The detailed layout and the development should be provided and constructed to the Lancashire County Council Specification for Construction of Estate Roads to ensure satisfactory access and in order to be acceptable for adoption under the Section 38 agreement of the Highways Act 1980.

It is noted as in section 4.5 of the TA that parking will be provided to the Chorley Council Parking Standard. Integral and detached garages must be provided to internal

4 dimensions of 3m x 6m (single) and 6.0m x 6.0m (double) in order to be counted as parking spaces.

Proposed site access

The proposed site access to be formed to Doctors Lane would be 5.5m wide width 6.0m corner radii at the approximate position shown on the indicative masterplan with visibility splays of 2.4m x 83.0m to the east and 2.4m x 81.0m to the west. The visibility splays are based on the 85 th percentile speeds resulting from the automatic traffic counts carried out on 9 October 2020 as explained above. The splays are in line with the recommendation of the Manual for Streets (MfS) and as such acceptable.

The TA includes a swept path analysis produced using an 11.2m long by 2.53m wide refuse vehicle to demonstrate if the proposed site access can safely be negotiated by such large vehicles. The analysis on drawing no. P20003-200 (18 Nov 2020) shows the tracking vehicle using portions of the opposing lanes to be able to access and egress the site. This was highlighted by the summary of the independent Stage 1 Road Safety Audit included in the TA. The applicant indicated that the access radii could be increased to 10m with the approval of LCC Highways. But the proposed 6.0m radii is considered acceptable as tighter corner radii help to reduce speeds of turning traffic and make crossing movements easier and safer for pedestrians and cyclists. With the proposed access width of 5.5m, such long/large vehicles should be able to safely negotiate the junction. In addition to the site access, a pedestrian/cycle link is proposed to Doctors Lane near the east boundary of the site.

The indicative access plan seems to suggest the applicant intends to create direct residential frontages along the eastern aspect of the site frontage onto Doctors Lane. It should be noted that for any such direct access to be accepted in addition to the proposed site access and the pedestrian/cycle link, the detailed proposal will have to demonstrate given the existing constraints and limited due to the presence of the matured tree to be retained, that such accesses can safely be accommodated.

ACCESSIBILITY BY NON-CAR MODES

Pedestrians

The site is currently vacant with limited safe walking/cycling routes to local services and amenities. As such, the applicant proposes to provide pedestrian/cyclist connections from the development to the existing built environment at three locations, namely north east of the site to The Hawthorns, north west to the U700 Tincklers Lane and south east to Doctors Lane to ensure local services and amenities on Doctors Lane and The Green can be reached on foot and by cycling. The proposed pedestrian/cyclist link at the north west will facilitate access to and from Towngate following the delivery of the requested footway in front of the proposed 15-dwelling development as explained above and to FP3 which is a divergent footway maintained at public expense and widely used by walkers.

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Cyclists

The delivery of the proposed pedestrian/cycle links from the development will ensure access to local services and amenities within acceptable walking/cycling distances. The Croston Railway Station is within recommended 5km cycling distance of the site, as demonstrated by the cycling isochrone shown in appendix E of the TA, however, the cycle route leading to the Station currently only ends at the junction of the A581 Southport Road and C195 Ulnes Walton Road, approximately 2km north of the proposed site. Cycling is an important mode of travel, offering a more sustainable alternative to the car and the NPPF expects opportunities presented by development proposals to be exploited to make site locations more sustainable by improving the scope for access by cycling. There is therefore a need for the cycle route to be extended from the site to connect the existing at Southport Road/Ulnes Walton Road to allow cycle journeys to be combined with other sustainable transport modes when commuting to and from the site. It is considered that the applicant should deliver the extension to the cycle route for improved accessibility of the proposed development.

Public transport

Bus As indicated above, although there are bus stops within the MfS recommended acceptable walking distance of 800m on Towngate and The Green from the centre of the proposed development, they are not within the desirable 400m walking distance and none of the bus stops have facilities of the high-quality standard required to ensure they are disability compliant, safe, attractive and comfortable to use. Public bus services are also not currently operated on Doctors Lane and the U700 Tincklers Lane. Given the potential public transport demand of the proposed development and the need for appropriate facilities to encourage public transport use as required by the NPPF, it is considered that the applicant carries out improvements to the six bus stops at the locations described above on Towngate and The Green to quality disability compliant standards to include raised kerbs and boarding areas, bus stop bay and worded markings, clearways etc., with the existing shelter for the north-bound bus stop to the south of The Green/Doctors Lane replaced with new.

Consideration should also be given to extending public bus services to the U700 Tincklers Lane and Doctors Lane which may require a couple of new bus stop facilities to be installed.

Train: As part of measures to extend the cycle route from the site to connect the existing route at Southport Road/Ulnes Walton Lane, an assessment should be made as to whether there are adequate secure cycle storage facilities currently in place at the Croston Station with appropriate measures to ensure provision of new cycle storage facilities or make up for any deficit if the existing provision be assessed to be inadequate.

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TRAFFIC FORECAST

The applicant's methodology used to provide an indication of the likely levels of traffic to be generated by the proposed development has been assessed by LCC Highways.

Assessment years

The development impact was assessed for the year of application submission, 2020 and future year of 2025.

Traffic growth

The 5-day average flows from the 2014 traffic survey of the C192 Tincklers Lane supplied the applicant by LCC as explained above were factored to the 2025 assessment year using TEMPRO and NTM based on local traffic growth factors of 1.1061 (AM peak) and 1.1046 (PM peak) derived for the wider Chorley area. The factors were then applied to the 2014 surveyed flows to obtain the 2025 baseline flows (without development flows).

Committed Developments

The applicant considered traffic flows associated with the existing Carrington Centre, but as the TEMPRO growth factors applied already cover increased flows associated with the Centre, no adjustments were made in the resulting growth factors. There are committed developments in the area with the potential to cumulatively impact the local highway network, but which the applicant failed to include in the assessment. These include the proposed 15-dwelling development on U700 Tincklers Lane – application, 20/01085/OUTMAJ and the 34-dwelling development on Parr Lane – application, 20/01193/OUTMAJ. As the assessment will not be robust without taking into account the committed developments, this aspect of the assessment will need to be revisited.

Trip generation

Vehicle trips LCC Highways provided the applicant trip rates (shown in paragraph 6.3.1 of the TA) for use to assess the trip demand of the proposed development. When applied to the proposed 80 dwellings, the assessment shows that the development will generate 47 and 53 two-way trips respectively during AM and PM peak periods. This is considered robust when compared to trips to be generated based on trip rates from TRICS, which shows that the development will generate 38 and 39 two-way trips respectively during AM and PM peak periods.

Multi-modal trips The applicant has established the travel characteristics of the proposed development based on a multi-modal assessment that identifies the number of person trips by mode. Using journey to work data from the 2011 Census, it is predicted that the proposed development will generate 57 and 65 total person trips respectively in the AM and PM peak periods. Of the total person trips, 82.6% will travel by car generating

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47 and 53 trips respectively in the AM and PM peaks, 5.8% will travel as car passengers generating 3 and 4 trips in the AM and PM peaks, while 5.7% will walk generating 3 and 4 trips in the AM and PM peaks. The other travel modes as listed on Table 6.3 (paragraph 6.4.3) of the TA will generate single trips during the peak periods.

Trip distribution

The routes traffic associated with the proposed development might take are predicted based on journey to work 2011 Census data to allow the impact on key junctions to be assessed. The applicant predicts that during peak periods, 30.6 % of trips generated by the proposed development will head south of The Green towards Wigan. 57.9% will travel in the north direction of the U700 Tincklers Lane towards Preston and Chorley North with the remaining 11.5% travelling south towards on the C192 Tincklers Lane towards Croston, and West Lancashire. The calculation of the distribution is on shown in appendix G.

The development trips were then added to the 2025 baseline flows (without development flows) to obtain the 2025 (with development flows) as shown on the flow diagrams in appendix H of the TA which also shows the traffic flows at the proposed site access.

HIGHWAY IMPACT ASSESSMENT

The trip distribution on Table 6.4, paragraph 6.5.3 of the TA shows that the proposed development will not result in an unacceptable increase in traffic at Tincklers Lane/Towngate and The Green/Doctors Lane; and although there would be some increased traffic at Tincklers Lane/Doctors Lane during AM and PM peaks, the level of increase is not high and delays and queues do not currently occur at the junction, therefore, traffic impact mitigation measures for Tincklers Lane/Doctors Lane and the junctions of Tincklers Lane and Towngate; and The Green/Doctors Lane will not be required.

Operational capacity of the proposed site access

The applicant has provided PICADY modelling of the proposed site access to assess its capacity and potential operational issues. The result of the assessment as provided on Table 6.5, paragraph 6.6.9 of the TA shows that in the future year of 2025 with development, the site access will operate well within capacity with maximum RFC value of 0.09 and minimal queues.

MITIGATION MEASURES:

Doctors Lane

• It was agreed at pre-planning consultation stage that a 2.0m wide footway be provided on the north side of Doctors Lane along the site frontage from Tincklers Lane to tie-in with the existing footway in the east. The applicant proposes to

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provide the footway within the site boundary setting it back sufficiently from the highway to avoid roots of the existing matured tree in front of the site. The section of existing footway between the east boundary of the site and Banner Close (approximately 16.0m in length) is less than 1m wide, therefore as the width of the carriageway of Doctors Lane is 5.5m in front of site, increasing to 6.0m in the east, the applicant proposes to widen the 16.0m section of the footway to 1.2m by utilising part of the carriageway without reducing its width below 5.5m consistent with the width of the carriageway in front of the site.

• Since the pre-planning consultation, other emerging developments in the area have come forward which together with the current proposal are likely to have cumulative impacts on the highway network and while it was agreed then not to provide a footway on the south side of Doctors Lane in front of the site, the footway is now considered necessary due to the potential cumulative impacts. The explanation relating to the presence of matured trees on the south side of Doctors Lane is noted, however, it is not considered this should prevent the provision of the footway from its current end at the entrance of the Cricket Ground to Tincklers Lane/Doctors Lane. Similar constraint was posed by the line of trees to the east of the entrance to the Cricket Ground during the provision of footway that section of footway, however, this was navigated without causing destruction to the tree roots. Therefore, it is considered that the footway on the south side of Doctors Lane should be provided as part of the mitigation measures, even if this would mean a slight reduction in the required 2.0m width in order to avoid the tree roots.

• It was agreed that an uncontrolled crossing comprising of dropped kerbs and tactile pavings should be installed in front of the site at the approximate locations shown on submitted plan, P20003-300 in appendix D of the TA to facilitate safe crossing of the section of Doctors Lane fronting the site.

• As indicated on plan, P20003-300 the applicant is to provide dropped kerbs and tactile pavings at all junctions and pedestrian crossing points on Doctors Lane from its junction with the Tincklers Lane to its junction with The Green.

• The applicant is to implement through a Traffic Regulation Order, an extension of the 30mph speed limit restriction from its current end at the east boundary of the site to the approximate location shown on plan, P20003-001E on C192 Tincklers Lane. The speed limit restriction will include associated signage and gateway features at both ends of the restriction and street lighting.

U700 Tincklers Lane

• Provision of speed limit signs near Tincklers Lane/Doctors Lane to indicate change of speed limit of Doctors Lane and provision of 'Pedestrians in road ahead' signs and 'SLOW' worded markings on north and south approaches of Tincklers Lane to Public Right of Way (FP3).

• Extension of cycle route from the site to connect the existing route at Southport Road/Ulnes Walton Road for access to Croston Railway Station.

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Towngate and The Green

• Improvements to 6no bus stops on Towngate and The Green at the locations stated above to quality disability compliant standards to include raised kerbs and boarding areas, bus stop bay and worded markings, clearways etc., with the existing shelter for the north-bound bus stop located south of The Green/Doctors Lane replaced with new. The applicant has indicated on plan, P20003-001E that there is potential for improvement of 4 of the bus stops, however as all the bus stops are within acceptable walking distance of the site, it is considered all 6no bus stops should be improved.

• Mitigation measures to alleviate accident problems on Towngate and The Green, within the section from the Eccleston bridge over the River Yarrow in the north to the end of The Green at its junction with Langton Brow.

The above improvements in addition to connection of the proposed 3no., 3.5m wide pedestrian/cyclist links from the site to the existing highway will be carried out through the s278 agreement of the highway act 1980 with all costs borne by the applicant. The Trigger points for all s278 works will be before commencement of development.

INTERIM TRAVEL PLAN

The application submission includes an Interim Travel Plan (ITP) seeking to promote use of sustainable transport modes such as walking, cycling and public transport; and manage the impact of the proposed development on the highway network. I can confirm that the ITP meets LCC Highways submission criteria. A Full Travel Plan will therefore need to be developed along the timescales outlined in the ITP to include as a minimum. • Contact details of a named Travel Plan Co-ordinator. • Results from the travel survey. • Details of cycling, pedestrian and public transport links to and through the site. • Details of the provision of secure cycle storage. • Objectives. • SMART Targets for non-car modes of travel, taking into account the baseline data from the survey. • Action plan of measures to be introduced, and appropriate funding. • Details of arrangements for monitoring and review of the Travel Plan for a period of at least 5 years.

Based on LCC Travel Plan thresholds, the proposed 80 dwellings is classified as medium development and will as such require the payment of contribution of £12,000 to enable LCC to provide the following range of services in connection with the Travel Plan. • Appraise the Workplace Travel Plan submitted to the Council pursuant to the planning permission and provide constructive feedback. • Oversee the progression from Interim to Full Workplace Travel Plan in line with agreed timescales.

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• Monitor the development, implementation and review of the Workplace Travel Plan for a period of up to 5 years.

The travel plan contribution will be secured through the s106 agreement of the Town and Country Planning Act 1980 and the trigger point would be prior to commencement of development to enable suitable support to be provided early in the process.

CONCLUSION

The NPPF stresses the need for development proposals to give priority first to pedestrian and cycle movements and so far as possible facilitate access to high quality public transport. The above mitigation measures are in line with the NPPF as they are necessary to make the proposed development acceptable in planning terms. The measures are directly related to the development and are fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development and will as such form part of pre-commencement conditions to be suggested to the Local Planning Authority.

LCC is required under the NPPF to ensure safe and suitable access to the site can be achieved for all people and to ensure any significant impacts in terms of capacity and congestion on the highway network or highway safety can be cost effectively mitigated as developments should only be prevented or refused on transport grounds where the residual cumulative impacts of development are severe.

The proposed development is acceptable in principle subject to the delivery of the above mitigation measures. Meanwhile, please attach the following suggested conditions and an advice note to the approval.

Conditions:

1. No part of the development hereby approved shall commence until a scheme for the construction of the site access and the off-site works of highway improvement has been submitted to and approved by the Local Planning Authority in consultation with the Highway Authority. Reason: In order to satisfy the Local Planning Authority and Highway Authority that the final details of the highway scheme/works are acceptable before work commences on site.

2. No part of the development hereby approved shall be occupied or opened for trading until the approved scheme referred to in Condition 1 has been constructed and completed in accordance with the scheme details. Reason: In order that the traffic generated by the development does not exacerbate unsatisfactory highway conditions in advance of the completion of the highway scheme/works.

Advice note:

• The grant of planning permission will require the applicant to enter into an appropriate Legal Agreement, with the County Council as Highway Authority. The Highway Authority hereby reserves the right to provide the highway works within the highway associated with this proposal. Provision of the highway works includes

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design, procurement of the work by contract and supervision of the works. The applicant should be advised to contact the Community Services for further information by emailing the County Council's Highways Development Control Section on [email protected] or by writing to the Highways Development Control Manager, Lancashire County Council, Cuerden Depot, Cuerden Way, Bamber Bridge, Preston, PR5 6BS, quoting the planning application number in either case.

Yours faithfully,

WILLIAM TAY ENGINEER (HIGHWAY DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT)

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