• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Howard Bedford Proof of Evidence For and on behalf of Barwick In Elmet and Scholes Parish Council (“BIESPC”) November 2018 Table of Contents 1. PERSONAL PROFILE ............................................................................................................... 3 2. SCOPE OF EVIDENCE .............................................................................................................. 5 3. CURRENT HIGHWAY INFRASTRUCTURE – DESCRIPTION AND EFFECT ....................................... 6 4. LCC CORE STRATEGY, SAP AND NPPF ..................................................................................... 8 5. CUMULATIVE IMPACT ON THE ROAD SYSTEM ...................................................................... 13 6 I TRANSPORT’S TRAFFIC ASSESSMENT ................................................................................. 18 7. CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................... 24 © BIESPC Howard Bedford Proof of Evidence – Public Inquiry Page 2 of 24 November 2018 1. Personal profile 1.1 I have lived in Barwick In Elmet since February 1987; 1.2 I have been a Chartered Engineer since 1983 and have worked in building services and telecommunications design, development and Commercial positions since graduating from Liverpool (1978) and Bradford (1983) Universities; 1.3 My three children attended Barwick In Elmet School spanning a 19-year period from 1989 until 2008; 1.4 From 1987 up to the present day my family has seen traffic volumes increase through Barwick In Elmet and increases in speeds in and out of the village towards Scholes and Aberford - we have all been subject to increased difficulties negotiating the same roads and highways infrastructure since we first lived in the Parish; 1.5 I have been disappointed and frustrated by the lack of improved infrastructure and the perceived weakening public transport services throughout Leeds, but particularly to the East Leeds district and those serving this parish, and the parish of Aberford. In my opinion the WYCA and its predecessors have failed to provide robust public transport to Scholes and Barwick In Elmet and we are all penalised by this; 1.6 I am a co-founder and strategy team member of the Save Parlington Action Group (“SPAG”) that has campaigned since its inception in 2016 to protect an historic Parlington Estate site, located to the south east of Barwick In Elmet, from the building of 5,000 houses as part of Leeds City Council’s Site Applications Plan. Our objection campaign centred on matters and issues relating to planning. SPAG has contended that the plans for house building in the Parlington Estate are UNSOUND. The independent Planning Inspectors are still investigating whether LCC’s planning policies for this site are SOUND; 1.7 I applied to join the Parish Council in 2017 to work to protect the Parish against speculative house building and unnecessary consumption of Green Belt. I am especially concerned about any house building where the necessary highways, public transport, education and medical services infrastructure is not delivered in advance of the house building. 1.8 I have taken the lead on several Highways and Infrastructure matters and issues; since my election (co-option) to the PC I have been a member of the team that made representations to Leeds City Council concerning the design of the East Leeds Orbital Route. I composed the PC’s response to the ELOR Planning Application 17/04351/LA of August 2017. The Parish Council objected to its design which, contrary to LCC’s claims, we believe is not of the highest standard and that its design does not minimise air, noise and visual pollution; 1.9 On 23rd November 2017 I made a speech in the Development Plans Panel highlighting points that had not been adequately covered in the Planning Application including ELOR’s lack of features and functionality - a poor solution that exposes our residents to the risk of serious harm from air, noise and visual pollution and increased traffic through our villages. Our efforts were rewarded as Leeds City Council added to the number of conditions attached to the delivery of the scheme and beneficial to the Parish; © BIESPC Howard Bedford Proof of Evidence – Public Inquiry Page 3 of 24 November 2018 1.10 These conditions however do not go far enough, and BIESPC is still in detailed negotiations with LCC regarding ELOR’s design. It is evident, even today, that LCC remains unsure about its facts and figures regarding the impact of ELOR on our Parish. This is evidenced by, amongst others, the uncertainty of the anticipated performance of the Main Street/Leeds Road Coronation Tree junction in Scholes over the next few years. As recently as September 2018 in a meeting between BIESPC and LCC’s officers, LCC was still undecided about what to do at the Coronation Tree – whether to leave the priorities as they are or to change them. 1.11 LCC’s traffic planning experts continue to demonstrate their uncertainty about the impacts of the ELE. ELOR’s Planning Application was passed by Leeds City Council, but in further discussions gaps in the traffic modelling and the lack of study on the cumulative impacts of all of the developments in east Leeds have created uncertainties with the Parishioners. This is fuelling new concerns and discussions within BIESPC on how these will be mitigated – see Section 5 below; 1.11 With the ELOR Planning Application passed by LCC on 23rd November 2017, BIESPC was surprised that the proposal for 300 houses scheme in Scholes was submitted by the Appellant so soon after. BIESPC recognises that the Application for planning is tactical by the Appellant as this land is not in the current SAP, which has still to be found as SOUND by the Planning Inspectors; 1.12 I attended every day of the recent EiP on the SAP and I noted that the Appellant’s representative objected to the large sites in the Outer North East (“ONE”) Housing Market Characteristic Area (“HMCA”) on the basis of unsustainability. The Appellant’s representative promoted this site as a “cracking development opportunity”. 1.13 Notwithstanding the comments in 1.12 above, I contend that the scheme proposed is not a cracking development opportunity as it is an unsustainable and damaging house building scheme and if built will cause Scholes to be less sustainable than it is currently. Section 1 Summary I remain concerned that the road infrastructure in the Parish is inadequate for the Appellant’s scheme. This concern is reinforced by the lack of evidence provided by the Appellant to counter LCC’s and BIESPC’s concerns. © BIESPC Howard Bedford Proof of Evidence – Public Inquiry Page 4 of 24 November 2018 2. Scope of Evidence My evidence covers the problems that will arise from the cumulative impact on the local and strategic highways around Scholes and across the Parish if the appeal is allowed. I will describe my concerns relating to the Highways Infrastructure in Scholes and the surrounding area on the supporting road networks. I will also demonstrate the lack of evidence provided by the Appellant to provide the sustainability of its scheme. Whilst it is recognised that the Appellant’s proposal is outside of the Leeds City Council’s development Plan, I perceive several conflicts , including those arising with policy N34 and, outside of the development plan, under NPPF paragraph 139(d) (sub-paragraph (d)) which advises that “planning permission for the permanent development of safeguarded land should only be granted following an update to a plan which proposes the development”, so continuing to reflect entirely the substance of earlier national policy on safeguarding land. It should be noted that Jim Buckley will be addressing highway safety issues. © BIESPC Howard Bedford Proof of Evidence – Public Inquiry Page 5 of 24 November 2018 3. Current Highway Infrastructure – description and effect 3.1 Scholes is often described as a linear village and suffers from having only a single north/south running spine road. Unlike many villages in the surrounding area, such as Barwick In Elmet, Aberford and Thorner it does not have other access roads. It should be noted that Barwick In Elmet, Aberford and Thorner each has four access roads. This single spine road creates access difficulties for any form of transport in Scholes. Roads connecting to and from Scholes are concentrated on the junctions with the A64 and with Leeds Road. The spine road has three separate names but is the same single road that connects the north with the south of Scholes. It runs continuously from the A64 at the Scholes Lane/A64 junction to the Main Street/Leeds Road junction often referred to as the Coronation Tree Junction. At the north end of the village the road is called Scholes Lane and it connects the north of Scholes with the A64 York Road. From the old railway bridge to the War Memorial the road is called Station Road. From the War Memorial to the Coronation Tree the road is called Main Street, and it connects to Barwick Road and via the Coronation Tree junction. 3.2 I note that the current junctions with the A64 and the Coronation Tree are operating marginally within capacity and degree of saturation (source reference needed); 3.3 However I contend that a new build programme yielding 300 houses will increase the number of dwellings to around 1,300 and will bring the size of the village to a similar size to Barwick In Elmet (which comprises approximately 1,100 dwellings. I advise that Barwick In Elmet is furnished with 4 access roads each provides ingress and egress to the village from outside. • Long Lane links Barwick In Elmet to Garforth from the south. • Leeds Road links Barwick In Elmet to Scholes and the east Leeds road network to the west. • Cattle Lane links Barwick In Elmet to Aberford and the A1 and M1 to the east. • Potterton Lane provides the northern link for Barwick In Elmet to the A64. Aberford is furnished with 4 access roads each provides ingress and egress to the village from outside.

Load more

  56

Copy Link