Transport Statement
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LAND AT SNATCHFIELD FARM, CHURCH STRETTON Transport Statement 26 June 2020 On behalf of Shropshire Council Project Ref: 70069852 2nd Floor, Shirehall Abbey Foregate, Shrew sbury SY2 6ND. w sp.com 1 REPORT CONTROL Title LAND AT SNATCHFIELD FARM, CHURCH STRETTON Transport Statement Client Shropshire Council Project Ref 70069852 Draft report issued 21 May 2020 Final report issued 26 June 2020 Prepared by Ray Hughes Office Shrewsbury (Shirehall) Checked by Martin Withington 2nd Floor, Shirehall Abbey Foregate, Shrew sbury SY2 6ND. w sp.com 2 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 4 SECTION 1: EXISTING CONDITIONS 5 Background 5 Site location 5 Local highway network 6 Accident data 6 Sustainable transport 8 Walking 8 Cycling 9 Bus 9 Rail 9 SECTION 2: PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT 10 Land use proposals 10 Access proposal 10 Trip generation and impacts 11 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 14 FIGURES Figure 1: Site location 5 Figure 2: Collision data map 7 Figure 3: Clive Avenue looking north from Ragleth Road 11 Figure 4: Clive Avenue looking north to Snatchfields Lane 12 TABLES Table 1: Residential vehicle trip rates per dwelling 12 Table 2: Residential vehicle trip rates per dwelling – proposed site 12 Table 3: Residential Vehicle Trips on Ragleth Rd at Clive Av Junction - 12 existing Table 4: Residential Vehicle Trips on Ragleth Rd at Clive Av Junction – with 12 development Table 5: Residential Vehicle Trips on Clive Av at Watling Street South 13 junction – existing Table 6: Residential Vehicle Trips on Clive Av at Watling Street South 13 junction – with development 3 4 INTRODUCTION • This Transport Statement (TS) has been prepared by WSP on behalf of Shropshire Council following a request to allocate a residential housing development site off Chelmick Drive, Church Stretton (site CSTR021). The proposed development consists of 70 residential dwellings. • The contents of the TS have been produced in line with good practice guidelines and set out within the National Planning Practice Guidance. • This report will set out the existing conditions and identify potential transport issues relating to the proposed development. It will note what measures need to be taken to deal with anticipated transport impacts of the scheme with particular regard to improving accessibility by sustainable modes of transport. 5 SECTION 1: EXISTING CONDITIONS Background • Church Stretton (population 3,700), a popular tourist destination is located in a narrow valley in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, midway between Shrewsbury and Ludlow on the A49. • Church Stretton benefits from good transport links, including a railway station and is a popular retirement destination with 31.5% of residents aged 65 and over (compared with 19.7% for the County). Similar numbers commute in and out of the town and most residents reside in owner-occupied dwellings (82% in LJC area, 2001 census). Site location • The site is located to the south east of the centre of Church Stretton and is currently a grassed agricultural field used for grazing livestock (Snatchfield Farm). It is on the edge of the urban area. Figure 1 shows the location of the site. Figure 1: Site Location • The areas to the west, north and east of the site are residential and there is open land to the south of the site. • Jack Mytton Way, a long distance footpath and bridleway runs through the site. • The town centre, with its railway station and main facilities is close by and less than a kilometre away and a 10 to 15 minute walk. 6 • The site is flanked by residential roads running parallel to its east and west borders. Properties are generally detached and of low density. Bungalows are common. Local highway network • Snatchfield Farm currently accesses the highway network at Chelmick Drive via a farm track to the north west corner of the site. Access to the town centre and wider area is then possible via Watling Street South, the A49 and the B4371 Sandford Avenue. There are currently no other vehicular access points to the site. • To the west of the site, the A49 (a primary route and trunk route) runs through the Stretton Gap, connecting Shrewsbury to the north with Ludlow and Hereford to the south. • Close to the south west corner of the site is Chelmick Drive, a quiet residential road running parallel to the west of the site. Assuming access can be made here, this would make a suitable access point to link with an estate road. Access to the A49 and the town centre would then be via Ragleth Road and Clive Avenue. • The impact of the proposed site in terms of additional vehicular trip generation can be seen in Section 2. Accident Data • Collision statistics for the surrounding area have been obtained by the Department of Transport. There have been no collisions in the vicinity of the site, nor any cluster of incidents adjacent to the site during the period 2015 to 2020. • Specifically, there are no road traffic collisions recorded on any of the roads leading up to the proposed site from • The few collisions in the wider area are largely distributed across higher flow routes including the A49 trunk road and the town centre where there are greater levels of vehicular and pedestrian movements. 7 Figure 2: Collision data map 8 Sustainable transport Walking • The public can currently walk through the proposed site using the Snatchfield Farm track which is also a designated public bridleway (The Jack Mytton Way) and has a hard surface suitable for farm vehicles. • The bridleway links a high point called Windy Ridge at nearly 300 metres to the south east of the site and the town centre to the north west. It provides a desirable - direct and partly traffic free walking route to the town centre. • The bridleway leaves the site in its north west corner where it continues in the form of a hard-surfaced path alongside (and segregated from) Chelmick Drive. It continues through a gap in the houses for a distance of 153 metres until it reaches the highway network at Snatchfield Lane. Here there is a footway on the north side of the lane. There are then continuous footways into the nearby town centre. • The walking route via the bridleway to the town shops (midpoint Sandford Avenue) is 830m, to the main supermarket is 1.15km, to the GP surgery 1.09km and to the town’s primary and secondary schools on Shrewsbury Road is 1.6km. • To cross the A49 and to access the town centre, train station and the bus stops for more frequent bus services, pedestrians are provided with controlled crossings near the junctions with Sandford Avenue. A puffin crossing is also available closer to the centre on Sandford Avenue whilst a footbridge is available at the train station for access to both platforms (though there is no disabled ramp/lift). • Local residential roads - Chelmick Drive and Ragleth Road have continuous footways on both side of the road and with average carriageway width (to the junction with Clive Avenue) of 5 metres. The footways are in good condition and well lit. The existing housing generally has plenty of natural surveillance. Speeds on the roads are limited to 30 mph. • The walking route to the town centre via the main access point on Chelmick Drive in the south west corner of the site would entail walking along Chelmick Drive, Ragleth Road and a length of Clive Avenue before reaching Watling Street South, Crossways and the A49. • There is an option to use a footpath after 60 metres on the west side of Clive Avenue. This has links with Watling Street South (87 metres) and the A49 (65 metres). However, this is narrow, unlit and its gradient might make it a challenge for some pedestrians. There are dropped crossings when the path meets the A49. 9 Cycling • There are no formal cycle routes offering segregated cycle paths in the surrounding area. However, as Jack Mytton Way is a bridleway, cycling is also permitted and can provide a more direct alternative to Ragleth Road and Clive Avenue to access the town centre. (This would be a distance of 1km mid-way up Sandford Road compared to 1.3m via Ragleth Road). • The topography of the local area may cause some challenges for cycling. The site is at an altitude of between 210 and 240 metres above sea level. The nearby railway station close to the A49 and town centre is at 187m. Ebikes could be an excellent option given the local terrain. Bus • The nearest bus stop to the site, at St Milburgas Church on Sandford Road (B 4371) is 660m away and is served by the 540 bus service. This provides a single weekday bus service to Shrewsbury. • The 435 service links Church Stretton to Ludlow and Shrewsbury and provides an hourly service Monday to Saturday at peak times. The nearest top is at Beaumont Road in the town centre, 1 kilometre from the site. Rail • Trains arrive at Church Stretton rail station, hourly, on the Manchester to Cardiff line. One stop north – Shrewsbury is the hub for changes to Birmingham, North Wales and Chester. • Church Stretton is therefore well connected to both north and south Wales, the Midlands and the north west. Connections for London are at Crewe and Wolverhampton/Birmingham. • The walking route via the Bridleway to the train station is 860m (or just 506m if choosing to cross the A49 without a pedestrian crossing facility at Crossways / A49 junction). Overall Sustainability • Manual for Streets (section 4.4) states “Walkable neighbourhoods are typically characterised by having a range of facilities within 10 minutes’ (up to about 800 m) walking distance of residential areas which residents may access comfortably on foot”.