Vale of Local Plan New Settlement Study Consultation July – September 2016

Comments from Parish Council on the traffic effect in Great Horwood of a possible new settlement north of Winslow Introduction

These comments are in response to the Draft Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan Consultation (July to September 2016), where comments are requested on the new evidence documents published in support of the draft plan.

The comments in this document address a specific point: if there is a new settlement north of Winslow, what effect will there be on Great Horwood in terms of traffic, and how might this be mitigated?

These comments are presented without prejudice to the general view of the Parish Council on the New Settlement Study and, in particular, to the appropriateness of a new settlement north of Winslow. This more general view will form part of the Parish Council's response to the overall Draft VALP consultation.

Contents

1. The 2008 proposal for “Winslow Green”

2. Access to a new settlement at Winslow

2.1 With a new road to the A421

2.2 Without a new road: traffic flows north

2.3 Without a new road: Road through Great Horwood

2.4 Without a new road: B4033 Nash Road / Little Horwood Road junction

2.5 Without a new road: Little Horwood Road / Church Street junction and onwards

3. Conclusions

Page 2 1. The 2008 proposal for “Winslow Green”

1.1 At the end of 2008 an application for outline planning permission was submitted to AVDC with reference 08/02944/AOP, and was validated on 29 December 2008. This was an application for the Construction of mixed use development to provide a sustainable extension to Winslow comprising 3300 new dwellings (including affordable); open space and recreation facilities (including sports pitches, country park, nature reserve and play area); employment land (up to 68,000 sq metres of office space) retail floor space (up to 3500 sq metres) and supermarket (3000 sq metres); hotel; education facilities (1 secondary, 3 primary and 3 nursery schools); community facilities (including community centre, creche, GP centre, PACE facility, library and allotments) cemetery; railway station and bus interchange (including parking); relief road with landscaping; Sustainable Urban Drainage Scheme; drainage attenuation lakes; and Sewage Treatment Works | Former Little Horwood Airfield And Adjacent Land To The North Of Winslow Winslow Road Great Horwood MK17 0NY on a site of 270.2 ha (area taken from the application form1) at Former Little Horwood Airfield and adjacent land to the North of Winslow, Winslow Road, Great Horwood MK17 0NY.

1.2 Although the application was refused by committee decision dated 1 April 2009, the details of the proposal and its supporting evidence may be used to illuminate the VALP new settlement options of a development to the north of Winslow, with either Option 2 “Northern expansion” or Option 3 “New garden village” proposing 6000 new dwellings on the Airfield site. Either new proposal would provide 80% more housing than that proposed in 2008.

1.3 As a passing comment, one should note that the capacity calculations for Options 2 and 3 are claimed to be based on keeping 40% of the site area for open space, drainage, etc. and a density of 35dph, which would give 5670 dwellings. However the indicative splodge on the map for Option 3 in the Winslow Options Assessment document is rather smaller than the 270 ha of the earlier proposal as it is entirely to the north of the Washbrook stream.

1.3 Of particular interest is the Transport Assessment2 submitted in 2008. This states, in paragraph 10.3 in the Summary and Conclusions, The existing road network immediately adjacent to the site includes the B4033 Great Horwood Road to the west, the Little Horwood – Winslow Road to the east and Little Horwood Road to the north. These roads are typical country roads which do not conform to current highway standards. The mothballed Oxford – Bedford railway line provides a southern boundary to the site. and in paragraph 10.4 The proposals include a new development road which will provide the sole allpurpose vehicular route to the development. This road will run from the east of Winslow, along part of the existing Little Horwood – Winslow Road, through the development to the improved 1 Document reference 843001 in the AVDC public access database 2 Document reference 843151

Page 3 A421 / B4033 roundabout, north of Great Horwood, providing relief to Winslow from through traffic travelling between Aylesbury and . Traffic from Winslow Green will be discouraged from travelling through Winslow and the Horwoods via the provision of this more direct route to Aylesbury, Buckingham and .

1.4 A plan of the proposed development road may be found in the Appendices to the Transport Assessment3, in drawing CS-18246-RD-400. This shows that the access road was planned to leave the north of the development, crossing Little Horwood Road at a new roundabout, and finishing at an improved A421/B4033 roundabout.

1.5 The rationale for the development road was given in the Transport Assessment at paragraph 10.11 This TA demonstrates that the Winslow Green development proposals have been considered in such a way so as to offer significant safety and capacity enhancements to the transportation network (walking, cycling, public transport and road) for residents of Winslow, and the Horwoods, whilst ensuring that additional vehicular traffic through these locations is minimised. and paragraph 10.12 It is anticipated that 55% of commuter trips out of Winslow Green will be to Milton Keynes; within AVDC, Winslow Green’s proximity to Milton Keynes is particularly compatible with RPG9’s requirement for developments to be “concomitant with Milton Keynes growth needs”.

1.6 The present options are being considered in a context different from that of the earlier proposal (although there are also some similarities – the delivery of East-West Rail was anticipated for 2012 in the 2008 proposal, whereas the current delivery date is not expected to be earlier than 2020). Nevertheless the earlier proposal was supported by detailed traffic modelling, and so a comparison with the access method proposed for the present options will be instructive.

3 Document reference 843165

Page 4 2. Access to a new settlement at Winslow

2.1 With a new road to the A421

2.1.1 Section 5 of the VALP New Settlement Scoping Study considers the potential for strategic growth at Winslow. Paragraphs 5.27 to 5.38 consider the highways implications of a new settlement on the Airfield site.

2.1.2 The Scoping Study makes several references to the possibility of a road linking any proposed new settlement to the A421. From paragraph 5.32: […] We have sought to identify potential mitigation at this junction4 which at least enables it to operate at a level similar to the situation without the development. This has required widening on each arm of the junction, longer flares and modifications to the central island. Given the scale of development planned, consideration would need to be given to providing a new link road connected northwards to the A421, and taking traffic away from Winslow Town Centre and Great Horwood. From paragraph 5.33: […] Signalisation could be considered here5 alongside provision of a new link road connecting Winslow northwards to the A421. Further work will be needed to investigate wider transport impacts beyond these immediate junctions. From paragraph 5.35: Further technical work is clearly needed to consider the potential for provision of a link road which takes traffic away from Winslow Town Centre and connects northwards to the A421. From paragraph 5.36: The strategic need for a western link road which diverts traffic away from Winslow Town Cntre; and for a link nothwards to the A421 to mitigate the impacts of growth on roads through Little Horwood and Great Horwood require further consideration. (Typos in the original.)

2.1.3 The Scoping Study does not, however, take adequate care when considering the implications of failing to build a link road. The rest of this representation provides further information about those implications, and explains why the planning harm of failure to build such a road would be fatal to the proposal.

2.2 Without a new road: traffic flows north

2.2.1 The Winslow Initial Junction Modelling appendix lists initial proposals for seven new or remodelled junctions. This representation is concerned with traffic to the north of any proposed new settlement, and therefore with the following junctions:

4 “This junction” is the A421/B4033 roundabout north of Great Horwood 5 “Here” refers to the B4033 Nash Road / Little Horwood Road junction in Great Horwood

Page 5 1. A421 / B4033 Nash Road 2. B4033 Nash Road / Little Horwood Road 3. Little Horwood Road / New Settlement 4. Little Horwood Road / Church Street / Shucklow Hill 5. B4033 Great Horwood Road / New Settlement

2.2.2 Traffic flow from the new settlement to the A421 would therefore have three possible routes: a) north to junction 3, then left to junction 2, then right (B4033) to junction 1; b) north to junction 3, then right to junction 4, then left to the A421 at one of the two unimproved junctions; c) west to junction 5, then right (B4033) to junction 2, then left (B4033) to junction 1. The existing traffic from Winslow and the A413 would continue to take the B4033 to junction 5, and would then follow route (c) as at present.

2.3 Without a new road: Little Horwood Road through Great Horwood

2.3.1 The Transport Assessment for the 2008 proposal stated, at paragraph 2.30, Little Horwood Road is approximately 1.5 miles long and links the villages of Great Horwood and Little Horwood It has a 30 mph speed limit within Great Horwood and a 60mph limit between Great Horwood and its junction with Shucklow Hill/Church Street.

2.3.2 The present proposal envisages a road leaving the new settlement to the north, and joining Little Horwood Road at a new roundabout (junction 3). This is at almost the same place as the roundabout shown for the 2008 proposal, but without the fourth arm to the north.

2.3.3 The route of Little Horwood Road west of the proposed roundabout is at present in open countryside for the distance of two fields and then enters the village of Great Horwood. The Great Horwood Neighbourhood Plan envisages development on both sides of Little Horwood Road; with this development the road would be in open countryside for the distance of a single field.

2.3.4 Within Great Horwood village there are several side roads off Little Horwood Road, together with parking access for several dwellings. Many of the older dwellings do not have any on-site parking facilities, and so some cars are normally parked in the road. The road is not wide enough to allow two-way traffic where cars are parked, although the current traffic flow is not high enough to result in delays. There are occasions where many more cars are parked in the road, particularly near the junction with B4033 Nash Road, and this can cause delays.

2.3.5 A BCC Highways report for a recent planning application6 advised refusal of permission for a development off one of the side roads. The report noted, with regard to parking in Little Horwood Road, Whilst I recognise that the applicants have suggested that parking restrictions could be introduced in the vicinity of the junction to provide greater confidence that the routing of vehicles will not be affected and that the junction will be unobstructed, I am not satisfied

6 14/02414/AOP Land off Willow Road, report dated 6 June 2016

Page 6 from the information available to me that any parking that would be displaced by the parking restrictions could be accommodated without creating or adding to a problem elsewhere.

2.4 Without a new road: B4033 Nash Road / Little Horwood Road junction

2.4.1 Table 8 in the Scoping Study, considering “Junction modelling results with Mitigation”, observes with respect to this junction A 3arm roundabout although signalization may be preferred Paragraph 5.33 also observes Where mitigation is required to address local impacts, our proposal is for roundabouts which would be more in keeping with the rural nature of the area. This would be particularly difficult at the B4033 Nash Road / Little Horwood Rd junction in the centre of Great Horwood as it would impact upon the village car park.

2.4.2 There are several comments to be made about this. The first is that the “village car park” is a misnomer. The whole of the open area in the centre of Great Horwood is a registered village green under the provisions of the Commons Act 2006, and is available for local people to take part in lawful sports and pastimes. Part of the village green has a hard surface, and cars may be parked there for the benefit of residents and visitors provided that this part of the green is not required for other purposes.

2.4.3 A Summer Fair is held on the village green every year on the Feast of St James, under a charter granted in 1447; for two days in August the Fair vehicles are parked on the hard surface of the green. During this period residents cars are parked in High Street and at the top of Little Horwood Road, causing a significant reduction in the capacity of the latter road. There are also other events held on the green which require the removal of parked cars.

2.4.4 On school days Great Horwood High Street (part of the B4033) is congested in mid-afternoon as parents park their cars along the street, waiting for their children to leave school. If cars are parked partly on the footway then the rest of the carriageway is wide enough for two-way traffic. Part of the time, however, the school bus waits at the bus stop outside the Church, and traffic can pass in only one direction at a time. Similarly, when there are parked cars then traffic containing wide vehicles such as HGVs will be able to pass in only one direction at a time.

2.4.5 There are no alternative parking places in Great Horwood. The increase in traffic taking routes (a) or (c) from any proposed new settlement to the A421 would therefore be likely to result in major congestion in Great Horwood, even with a signal-controlled junction at B4033 Nash Road / Little Horwood Road (and such a junction would be inappropriate in a village setting). A roundabout, even if it were permitted under the provisions of the relevant legislation, would make the congestion significantly worse by increasing on-street parking and thereby reducing the capacity of both Little Horwood Road and High Street.

2.4.6 There have been rare occasions where a significant increase in traffic has been diverted through Great Horwood. Any obstruction to the free movement of traffic on such occasions has

Page 7 resulted in severe congestion, as the following photograph shows.

This photograph was taken in the morning of Saturday 18 June 2016, and shows the view looking south from B4033 Nash Road towards the junction with Little Horwood Road. The increased traffic

Page 8 flow was caused by the closure of the A421 for resurfacing, and the congestion was caused by the A413 / B4033 junction at Winslow, over two miles away (there were no parked cars in the High Street on that day). Although the traffic flow to and from a new settlement would be lower, it would still experience peaks during weekday rush hours which could be comparable with the A421 Saturday morning flow; parked cars or other obstructions would then cause a rapid build-up of congestion.

2.4.7 The use of routes (a) and (c) for traffic between any proposed new settlement would therefore result in unacceptable congestion, even with the mitigation measures suggested.

2.5 Without a new road: Little Horwood Road / Church Street junction and onwards

2.5.1 Traffic leaving any proposed new settlement to the north, and arriving at the roundabout at junction 3 on Little Horwood Road, could turn right towards Little Horwood on route (b) instead of turning left to Great Horwood on route (a). It would then arrive at junction 4.

2.5.2 The suggested improvement to junction 4 comprises a right-turn filter lane for traffic arriving from Little Horwood Road. This would be of benefit for traffic turning along Church Street towards Little Horwood and then, in the village, turning left towards . It would not benefit traffic continuing through Little Horwood towards Winslow, as such traffic could more easily reach its destination by leaving the new settlement to the east and joining Winslow Road at junction 6.

2.5.3 Most of the traffic arriving at junction 4 from Little Horwood Road would be avoiding the congestion in Great Horwood and would turn left up Shucklow Hill. It would then arrive at the A421 at one of the two unimproved junctions.

2.5.4 In the other direction, traffic from the A421 coming down Shucklow Hill and wishing to turn right at junction 4 into Little Horwood Road would still have an awkward turn with poor visibility. It is not clear that the model being used by the authors of the Study has captured the nature of the problem at this junction.

3. Conclusions

3.1 The promoters of the 2008 application were clear that, if their application were to succeed, then a new link road would be needed to take traffic from Winslow Green to the A421.

3.2 The current options for a new settlement north of Winslow are significantly larger than the 2008 proposal. The authors of the Study note that a new link road would be beneficial, but shy away from recommending it. For the reasons given above, Great Horwood Parish Council believes that the Study has seriously underestimated the problems that would arise without such a link road. Without prejudice to the Parish Council's general view on the appropriateness of a new settlement north of Winslow, it believes that any such development without a link road would be unacceptable.

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