This Document Is the Response of Essex County Council (ECC), The
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
M11 JUNCTION 7A - MAY -JULY 2016 FORMAL PUBLIC CONSULTATION : ECC RESPONSE OCTOBER 2016 This document is the response of Essex County Council (ECC), the promotor of the M11 Junction 7A and widening of Gilden Way scheme, to the public consultation undertaken between 11 May - 6 July 2016. 1. Introduction We (Essex County Council) welcome the results of the public consultation and would like to thank everyone who took part for their time and considered responses. As set out in the consultation document we have been considering the need for an additional M11 junction to serve Harlow for many years. In 2013 we set out the scheme objectives and started the process of developing and sifting the strategic options. This process included drawing together historic studies to identify and evaluate a short list of 6 strategic options, from which it was concluded that the M11 J7A option was the optimal solution and was, therefore taken forward to the next stage of design development. In December 2013, public engagement events were held to provide information about the scheme and publicise the indicative design solutions for the scheme. From these events we learnt that there was continued support for a Northern Bypass either as an alternative to the proposed scheme or as a future scheme. The bypass was supported mainly because the public, local communities and organisations saw it as an opportunity to remove traffic from Harlow. At this point we took action to address comments from the public and local councils and added an additional objective to design a new junction layout with greater potential for a link into a potential future Northern Bypass and consideration of what we had learnt informed the next stage of detailed design (before the public consultation). In July 2015 further public information events were held to show the current technical designs of a proposed scheme. A number of engagement events were also held with local authorities and organisations to ensure information was cascaded to local communities and feedback taken into account. Key findings from public information events and engagement: • Concerns about noise and air quality. • Concerns about rat-running through Harlow, Old Harlow, Sheering Lower Road and Sheering, and increases in HGVs. • Concerns about access and severance primarily from residents of Old Harlow, Churchgate Street, Gilden Way and The Campions. • Concerns about road safety, particularly for schoolchildren. • Support for a Northern Bypass. • That the scheme should provide good value for money. 1 M11 JUNCTION 7A - MAY -JULY 2016 FORMAL PUBLIC CONSULTATION : ECC RESPONSE OCTOBER 2016 • Confusion with presentational material, particularly traffic flow information. We took action to address these comments from the public and local councils and during the next stage of scheme development we made the following changes to the scheme: • The removal of the ‘loop’ up ramp from the east bound link that was replaced with an at-grade roundabout to address residents’ concerns about the height of the scheme and impact on the environment • New junction to The Campions and a dedicated access road for all the properties; • New access to Mayfield Farm; • A 40mph speed limit on Gilden Way/Sheering Road and the new link road to the new Junction 7A roundabout; • Improvements to the Non-Motorised User (NMU) facilities throughout the scheme by creating a footway and cycleway from London Road to Sheering Road; • Improvements to the existing pedestrian crossing and 3 additional signalled crossings were incorporated into the scheme; • Improvements to the existing bus stops; • HGV ban covering Old Harlow and Churchgate Street; • Right turn ban into Old Harlow via Mulberry Green was incorporated to primarily address rat-running issues, but also safety concerns; • Restriction on non-residential movements along Lower Sheering Road; • We also ensured that the information that was presented for the public consultation was easier to interpret and engage with. Between 11 May and 6 July 2016 we undertook a formal public consultation to obtain views from the public, communities, local councils, organisations and businesses about the scheme. This consultation was to inform our decision, by Cabinet, on the preferred route for the scheme. The next part of this report summarises how we carried out the consultation and our response to the consultee feedback received. 2. The consultation . The consultation was on the proposed M11 Junction 7A and widening of Gilden Way scheme and consultees were asked about how well it would achieve the scheme objectives and invited comments on the scheme and the environmental findings. The consultation was publicised through the ECC corporate social media accounts, local media reports of the launch event and consultation, and adverts placed in local papers. In addition, during the consultation period, staffed public events were held in four locations to enable closer interaction with the project team and ECC officers so that 2 M11 JUNCTION 7A - MAY -JULY 2016 FORMAL PUBLIC CONSULTATION : ECC RESPONSE OCTOBER 2016 individuals and community representatives could better understand the proposals and how to take part in the consultation. A total of 477 people attended these events. The table below shows visitor numbers for each event. St Johns Arts and Recreation Centre 140 Sheering Village Hall 180 Harlow Central Library 48 Mulberry Green Hall, Catholic Church of the Assumption 107 3. Responses A total of 149 consultation responses were received including 6 responses from campaign groups. In addition a petition with 150 signatories was received expressing opposition to the scheme. The figures overleaf illustrate the broad home locations of respondents to the consultation. This demonstrates that the highest number of responses were received from residents most likely to be affected by the scheme, ie along Gilden Way, in Old Harlow and in Churchgate Street. We were pleased that so many people and organisations took the time both to attend and to respond. 3 M11 JUNCTION 7A - MAY -JULY 2016 FORMAL PUBLIC CONSULTATION : ECC RESPONSE OCTOBER 2016 4 M11 JUNCTION 7A - MAY -JULY 2016 FORMAL PUBLIC CONSULTATION : ECC RESPONSE OCTOBER 2016 5 M11 JUNCTION 7A - MAY -JULY 2016 FORMAL PUBLIC CONSULTATION : ECC RESPONSE OCTOBER 2016 4. Our response to issues raised at consultation The consultation asked 7 questions, 5 of these questions asked for the respondent to indicate their level of agreement with the statement (quantitative questions) as well as having an open question requesting detailed comments (qualitative question). The levels of agreement for each of the 5 questions are summarised in the next figure and the vertical dashed line shows the approximate mid-point of respondents who gave an answer. Summary of Consultation Responses To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statement ‘the scheme will provide support 16 22 9 13 35 5 for the predicted homes and jobs growth (from Local Plans)? To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statement ‘the scheme will meet future 15 11 15 10 45 4 traffic demands’? To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statement ‘the scheme will reduce 18 13 9 16 39 5 congestion primarily for the A414 corridor’ To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statement ‘the scheme will improve 28 15 4 15 33 5 accessibility to and from Harlow’? To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statement ‘the traffic management for routes connecting to Gilden Way will ensure that 16 17 10 15 36 6 Old Harlow, Churchgate Street and Sheering Lower Road will not be adversely impacted by the scheme in 2021’? 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Strongly Agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly Disagree No Answer These questions provide a snapshot of the views of the consultees who chose to respond to the consultation. It demonstrates that a majority of consultees who responded disagreed or strongly disagreed that the scheme achieved the objectives. 6 M11 JUNCTION 7A - MAY -JULY 2016 FORMAL PUBLIC CONSULTATION : ECC RESPONSE OCTOBER 2016 It should be noted that for such a large scheme the number of consultation responses is low. If there was to be strong opposition to the utility of the scheme then we would expect larger numbers of respondents. Although most people disagreed that the scheme would provide support for the growth in homes and jobs predicted by the emerging local plans, and that it would predict future needs, the modelling results clearly show that the scheme will improve the ability of the roads network to cope with growth. In the longer term more may be needed but this is the best scheme. It may be that, in the longer term, additional measures are needed to address the impact of growth on the highways network. A majority of respondents disagreed that the scheme would reduce congestion on the A414 corridor and improve accessibility to Harlow. Again, the modelling shows that overall traffic congestion will reduce as a result of the introduction of the scheme, although this benefit may be offset by the impact of future growth. A majority of respondents considered that traffic management would not be adequate to protect Old Harlow, Churchgate St and Sheering Lower Road. Although the modelling showed that the impact would be small, we have re-examined the proposals for Gilden Way to see if further activity can be undertaken to minimise this. It is clear that there are a significant number of local residents, primarily those living close to Gilden Way who would prefer not to see the scheme built as it will increase traffic flows along Gilden Way. However, the capacity of Gilden Way will be increased and the scheme has been designed to minimise the impact on other locations. The results of the consultation are detailed in the consultation response analysis report .