Gravesham Borough Council
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Toby Carvery, Coldharbour Road, Gravesend Travel Plan Gravesham Borough Council Toby Carvery, Coldharbour Road, Gravesend Travel Plan 5th July 2013 AVS10175-04 Travel Plan Prepared by: Shepherd Gilmour Infrastructure Ltd Gravesham Borough Council Toby Carvery, Coldharbour Road, Gravesend Travel Plan 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1.1 This Travel Plan has been prepared by Shepherd Gilmour Infrastructure on behalf of Toby Carvery. 1.1.2 The restaurant was granted planning permission in December 2011 and is now fully operational employing 32 staff. A condition of the planning decision required that: “Within six months of the restaurant building hereby approved first commencing a Travel Plan shall be submitted to the local Planning Authority for approval in writing. The Travel Plan shall include details of measures designed to help and thereafter maintain a modal shift in favour of a reduced reliance on private car usage for travel to and from the development.” Decision Notice 22nd December 2011. 1.1.3 This Travel Plan establishes the ongoing strategy for the facilitation and encouragement of staff and visitors to travel to the site by non car modes. The overarching objective of the travel plan is to: Encourage travel to the site by non car modes by staff and visitors. 1.1.4 The Strategy includes measures which maximise the benefits of the site layout, in particular its access to public transport and the adjacent off-road cycle network. 1.1.5 An existing member of staff has been appointed to coordinate the travel plan and an action plan has been included which summarises the timing of the Graveshamimplementation of measures. Borough Council 1.1.6 In order for progress to be measured a target for staff modal shares has been established alongside a framework for monitoring staff and visitor travel to the site. AVS/10175-04 Travel Plan 18th July 2013 Toby Carvery, Coldharbour Road, Gravesend Travel Plan 2.0 SITE ASSESSMENT 2.1 Introduction 2.1.1 The site is located on Coldharbour Road to the immediate south of the existing built up area of Gravesend. The location of the site is shown on Figure 1. 2.2 Pedestrian / Cycle Facilities 2.2.1 Figure 1 shows the areas within 400m, 800m and 2km of the site alongside details of cycling facilities. A significant proportion of Gravesend is within 2km walking distance of the site. All of Gravesend is within 5km of the site. 2.2.2 National Cycle Route 177 routes along the southern perimeter of the site. This route links Dartford and Rochester with connections to Gravesend centre. NCN 177 passes through the CycloPark to the south of the site. A map of the local cycle network is attached as Appendix B. 2.2.3 There is a direct connection to the cycle path from the site. 2.2.4 There are spaces for up to 14 bicycles to be parked adjacent to the terraced area of the restaurant with a further 8 spaces to the rear of the building exclusively for staff use. Bus 2.2.5 Bus stopping facilities are located on Coldharbour Road adjacent to Morrison’s store and on Wrotham Road to the immediate north of the roundabout junction with Coldharbour Road. Both of these stops are within 200m of the restaurant. Further stops are located on Coldharbour Road approximately 400m from the Graveshamrestaurant. Bus stop locations areBorough shown on Figure 1 . Council 2.2.6 Table 2.1 provides a summary of this service. Full timetables are attached as Appendix A. AVS/10175-04 Travel Plan 18th July 2013 Toby Carvery, Coldharbour Road, Gravesend Travel Plan Table 2.1 Summary of Bus Routes No. Route Mon-Sat Sunday 308 Sevenoaks – Meopham – Hourly Every 2 hours (at Morrison’s) Gravesend - Bluewater 499 Bluewater – Coldharbour – Perry Every 15 Hourly (Coldharbour Street – Gravesend – Riverview minutes Road) Park Rail 2.2.7 Gravesend Railway Station is approximately 3km from the site. Metro and Mainline services are available from here including high speed connections to London St Pancras. 2.3 Existing Staff Travel 2.3.1 Typically, around 32 members of staff are employed on a part and full-time basis at the Toby Carvery restaurant on Coldharbour Road. 2.3.2 A staff survey was undertaken in June 2013. This determined the start and finish times of staff members, number of hours worked, mode of travel to work and home postcode. 2.3.3 Table 2.2 provides a summary of the recorded mode of travel to work for staff at the restaurant. Table 2.2 Summary of modal shares for staff travel Car Car Walk Bus Cycle Driver Passenger Train Motorbike Other Gravesham38% 31% 0% Borough28% 3% Council0% 0% 0% 100% 2.3.4 It can be seen that the majority of staff working at the restaurant travel to work AVS/10175-04 Travel Plan 18th July 2013 Toby Carvery, Coldharbour Road, Gravesend Travel Plan by non-car modes, with travel by bus and walking representing the most significant modes. 3.0 TRAVEL PLAN OBJECTIVES AND TARGETS 3.1 Introduction 3.1.1 The overarching objective of this travel plan is to: Encourage travel to the site by non car modes by staff and visitors. 3.1.2 This reflects the wording of the planning condition relating to the requirement for the travel plan. A further key objective is to maximise the benefits of the site location. As set out above the site is located adjacent to National Cycle Route 177 with a direct connection from the site to the route. 3.1.3 In addition the site is within close proximity to the CycloPark which is also accessible via NCN 177. The CycloPark provides cycling, running and extreme sports facilities. As such cycling has a high profile within the locality and it is considered that an appropriate objective for the travel plan is therefore to: Actively encourage visitors to the restaurant to arrive by bicycle. 3.2 Targets 3.2.1 A very high proportion of staff already travel to work by non-car modes. It is therefore the target of this Travel Plan to maintain this level over the next five years following which the target will be reviewed: GraveshamMaintain the proportion Boroughof staff travel to work Council by non-car modes at 69% or more over the next five years. 3.2.2 The restaurant will also work to encourage more visitors to arrive by non-car AVS/10175-04 Travel Plan 18th July 2013 Toby Carvery, Coldharbour Road, Gravesend Travel Plan modes. When travel patterns have been monitored, as set out within the Action Plan, a visitor specific target will be identified. 4.0 TRAVEL PLAN MEASURES 4.1 Introduction 4.1.1 This section details the measures to be implemented at the site in respect of achieving the objectives identified above. The list of measures is not exhaustive and will be subject to ongoing review and improvement. 4.2 Appointment of Travel Plan Co-ordinator 4.2.1 A senior member of staff has been appointed to act as the Travel Plan Coordinator. The individual will be responsible for: • Explaining and marketing the Travel Plan to existing staff and new employees. • Displaying promotional material for staff and visitors. • Ensuring that website information reflects the aims of the Travel Plan • Liaising with the local authority and any other interested bodies (e.g. SUSTRANS). • Undertaking surveys in accordance with the monitoring action plan. • Implementing promotional events. 4.2.2 The Travel Co-ordinator will be allocated an annual budget for the implementation of the Plan. The name and contact details of the Site Travel Plan Co-ordinator will be provided to the Kent County Council Sustainable Travel GraveshamTeam. Borough Council 4.3 Measures to Encourage Public Transport 4.3.1 The following measures aim to encourage public transport use amongst both AVS/10175-04 Travel Plan 18th July 2013 Toby Carvery, Coldharbour Road, Gravesend Travel Plan staff and visitors: • A display of a map showing the locations of bus stops in relation to the site, alongside details of bus services will be maintained in a location where it can be viewed by both members of the public and staff. • Current copies timetables of the local bus services detailed within section 2.0 of this Travel Plan to be retained and made available on request to visitors and staff. • All new recruits to be advised of bus services routing close to the site. • Bus service details to be included on the Toby Carvery Gravesend website within the ‘find & contact us’ page. 4.4 Measures to Encourage Cycling 4.4.1 The following measures aim to encourage cycling use amongst both staff and visitors: • Include details of access by cycle on a display that can be viewed by both staff and members of the public. • Keep a local cycle map on site for reference. • Include details of reaching the restaurant by cycle on the website. Include a photograph of bikes parked outside the restaurant. • Consider providing directional signposting on NCN 177 to the restaurant Graveshamand Coldharbour Road, Boroughliaise with SUSTRANS inCouncil respect of this. • Offer two members of staff the opportunity to have cycle training each year. AVS/10175-04 Travel Plan 18th July 2013 Toby Carvery, Coldharbour Road, Gravesend Travel Plan • Give consideration to hosting a Dr Bike session or community bike ride at the restaurant to encourage visitors to arrive by cycle. 4.5 Measures to Encourage Walking 4.5.1 The following measures aim to encourage walking use amongst both staff: • Consider providing staff with pedometers and holding a steps competition, rewarding staff with the most steps over a period of time.