SUSTAINABILITY STATEMENT

Proposed Residential Development, Land off Ffordd Eldon, Sychdyn CR/15018/TN01 - 13 July 2015

INTRODUCTION

1. This Sustainability Statement has been prepared by SCP on behalf of Stewart Milne Homes to support the proposed residential development of 43 units on land off Ffordd Eldon, Sychdyn, .

2. The location of the site is shown on Figure 1 below:

Figure 1 – Site Location

A5119

Development Site

Fford d Eldon

Vownog

Source: cc-by-sa openstreetmap

Directors: W C P Booker B.Sc. D Roberts I.Eng. FIHE FCIHT J Budd MSc MCILT MCIHT Regional Directors: G W Bowman B.Eng. C.Eng. MICE MCIHT S Carmody B.Sc. C.Eng. MICE MCIHT J Russell B.Eng. DipTM MCIHT CMILT Associate Directors: G Meikle MCIHT P Todd B.Sc. (Hons) M.Sc. MCIHT MTPS L Kendall BA (Hons) MCIHT SCP is a trading name of Singleton Clamp & Partners Limited Registered in England No. 3728935 Offices in , Leeds and London JobNo / Proposed Residential Development,, Land off Ffordd Eldon, Sychdyn Sustainability statement

EXISTING SITE CONDITIONS

3. The site is situated to the north east of Sychdyn, just off Ffordd Eldon, approximately 3.5km to the north of Mold. The site currently comprises agricultural land.

4. The site is bounded by open fields to the north, east and west, and by existing residential properties to the south.

5. Footways are provided alongside roads within the village, with lighting also provided along a number of key routes. The adjacent road is subject to a 30mph speed restriction. The surrounding road network provides footways and lighting at strategic points, and consists of a series of single carriageway, national speed limit roads.

DEFINING ACCESSIBILITY

6. Whilst there is no single piece of guidance or standard to refer to regarding accessibility, there are multiple sources of literature containing relevant information. Below are the sources of relevant guidance:

° National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

° PPG13: Transport – (now superseded by NPPF)

° Manual For Streets (MfS)

° DfT Accessibility Indicators

° Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) – Designing for Journeys on Foot

° Flintshire County Council Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Sustainability Appraisal (SA) – Scoping Report

7. NPPF recognises the importance of promoting sustainable transport through the development of strategies and local plans. In particular, the transport system needs to be balanced in favour of sustainable transport modes, giving people a real choice about how they travel.

8. The NPPF consolidated and superseded a number of older items of planning policy into one single concise document, including PPG13: Transport. PPG13 previously provided indicative thresholds for walking and cycle journeys of up to 2km and 5km respectively, which NPPF has not disputed. These walk / cycle distance thresholds are also repeated in the MfS.

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9. The MfS document states that walkable neighbourhoods are typically characterised by having a range of facilities within 10 minutes’ (up to about 800m) walk-time of residential areas which residents may access comfortably on foot. However, it goes on to state that this is not an upper limit and that walking offers the greatest potential to replace short car trips, particularly those under 2km.

10. Similarly, the DfT has published a number of indicators that are to be used by Local Authorities in the preparation of their Local Transport Plans and Local Development Frameworks. These criteria can also form the basis for Transport Assessments prepared for new developments. The stated indicators are summarised in Table 1 below:

Table 1 – DfT Accessibility Indicator

Trip Type / Purpose Thresholds Mode From Proposed Site (Mins) (Mins)

Access to major centres 15 -30 PT and / or walk 15 minutes - Mold Town Centre

Access to employment 20-40 PT and / or walk 15 minutes - Mold Town Centre

Access to primary 15-30 PT and / or walk 5 minute – Sychdyn County education Primary School

Access to secondary 20-40 PT and / or walk 20 minutes – Mold Town Centre education (Alun School or Ysgol Maes Garmon)

Access to further 30-60 PT and / or walk 20 minutes – Coleg Cambria education College,

Access to Hospitals 30-60 PT and / or walk 20 minutes – Mold Community Hospital

Access to GPs 15-30 PT and / or walk 15 minutes – Various GPs in Mold Town Centre

Source: DfT

11. Guidance is contained in the CIHT document “Guidelines for Journeys on Foot ” which states that the preferred maximum walking distance for commuting and trips to education sites is 2km.

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12. In relation to the distance that a child is expected to walk to and from school, the Department for Education and Skills states that the “s tatutory walking distance ” is two miles for children aged under eight, and three miles for children aged eight and over.

13. Section 5.3 of the Flintshire County Council SEA and SA scoping report identifies, within the transportation section, the concern in rural areas for transport and accessibility to towns and key services including hospitals. As shown above in Table 1 , the proposed development site provides adequate accessibility links to both of these requirements.

14. It is therefore in the context of the above guidance / policy that the accessibility of the site by non- car modes has been considered.

Pedestrian Access

15. Pedestrian footways are provided on the majority of roads within Sychdyn village, together with lighting at strategic points, connecting the development to various services, including local schools, bus stops, and other facilities. The development site is located in close proximity to existing residential development.

16. Basemap Visography TRACC software has been used to establish the area that can be reached in a 2km walk distance for the site, following existing highway and footpath routes. Figure 2 below illustrates the 2km walking catchment area:

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Figure 2 – Walk Accessibility from the Development Site

Source: cc-by-sa openstreetmap

Cycling

17. Car journeys of up to 5km are considered to be replaceable by cycling. Dedicated cycle routes are not available within the site area, due to its largely rural nature; however on-road cycling is an option for short journeys within the village, or to provide access to longer distance cycle routes in the wider area.

18. North Coastal Route 5 is a long distance route, connecting , Colwyn Bay and Bangor, along with further locations to the south of the site. This route provides an excellent leisure route.

19. Several local cycle routes are also available, including the combined off-road / on-road routes around Ruthin, to the west of the site. Figure 3 below illustrates the 5km cycling catchment area:

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Figure 3 – Cycle Accessibility for the Development Site

Source: cc-by-sa openstreetmap

Public Transport – Bus

20. The nearest bus stops to the site are located on Vownog, New Brighton Road and the A5119, all within 500m of the proposed site access. Buses using the stops provide access to a range of destinations including Mold, Flint, Northop, and Holywell.

21. A summary of accessibility by bus is provided in Table 2 below.

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Table 2 - Bus Accessibility from the Development Site

Bus Stop Locations Service New Frequency Route Operator Number Vownog Brighton A5119 (mins) Rd Sealand Manor – Queensferry GHA 8 P Asda – Shotton – 120 Coaches – Northop – Mold Chester - Wrexham – GHA 9 / X9 P Queensferry – Connah’s Quay 90 Coaches – Mold Holywell - Mold – Flint – GHA / 11A P Shotton – – Broughton 60 Arriva – Chester Rhewl – Greenfield – 18X P P&O Lloyd 60 Flint – Mold Wrexham – – 28 / 28A P P P Buckley – Mold – Sychdyn – Townlynx 60 Northop – Flint Holywell – Flint – Northop – 28X P Townlynx 60 Mold – Connah’s Quay – GHA 99 P 1 service Mold Coaches Aston – – Northop Hall – 110 P Townlynx 1 service Northop – Sychdyn – Mold Mold – Wrexham D42 P P&O Lloyd 120 RURALrider

Public Transport - Rail

22. In terms of rail, there are two train stations within 10km of the development site. and Penyffordd stations both provide services to Bidson and Wrexham Central, both running on an hourly basis. Hawarden station is 8km, and Penyffordd just over 10km from the proposed site access.

Table 3 - Train Services from the Development Site

Average Service Service Start / Rail Station Route Headway Finish times (mins) Wrexham Central – Wrexham General – Hawarden Gwersyllt – Cefn-y-Bedd – Caergwrle – Hope

(Flintshire) – Penyffordd – Buckley – 60 06:55 – 23:25 Hawarden – Shotton – Neston – Heswall – Upton (Merseyside) - Bidston Wrexham Central – Wrexham General – Penyffordd Gwersyllt – Cefn-y-Bedd – Caergwrle – Hope

(Flintshire) – Penyffordd – Buckley – 60 06:48 – 23:33 Hawarden – Shotton – Neston – Heswall – Upton (Merseyside) - Bidston

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23. As the table shows, both Hawarden and Penyffordd stations provide access to a number of smaller stops, on the route to Wrexham and Bidston. Longer distance train links can be picked up through use of connecting services at both of these destinations.

24. A 60 minute public transport journey has been mapped using TRACC software to show the areas from the site that can be reached within this journey time, as highlighted below.

Figure 4 – 60 Minute Public Transport Accessibility from the Development Site

Source: cc-by-sa openstreetmap

25. The plan demonstrates that areas such as Chester, Wrexham, Neston, Tafarn-y-Gelyn, and Prestatyn are all located within a 60 minute public-transport commute time from the site.

26. This provides a wide catchment and suggests that public transport affords a realistic alternative to the private car for prospective residents commuting from the site.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

4.1 It is concluded that the proposed site is located within a rural village, however it has been demonstrated that there is a significant range of facilities local to the site, including public transport.

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4.2 The proposed site is therefore considered to be well placed to comply with the aims of national policy as set out in local policies, and is well placed to reduce dependence upon private car usage.

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