1 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND 1.1.1 This Strategic Transport Statement has been prepared on behalf of The Urban Engineering Studio to support proposals for 2,100 homes as part of a mixed use settlement at Tempsford Airfield in Bedfordshire. Further work will be needed in the form of a Transport Assessment and this statement is subject to discussions with Network Rail, Highways England and the local highway authority Central Bedfordshire. 1.2 SITE LOCATION 1.2.1 The site is situated 1.5km to the south west of Tempsford and 2km to the north west of Everton. It is bounded by the East Coast Main Line (ECML) to the west, Tempsford Road to the south and agricultural farm land and farmsteads to the north and east. The site location is shown below in Figure 1.1. Figure 1.1: Site Location Plan 1.3 EXISTING ACCESS 1.3.1 Existing access to the site is from Tempsford Road to the south and an unnamed road leading to Woodbury Low Farm to the north. These could be upgraded to provide future access to the development. Tempsford Airfield WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff The Urban Engineering Studio Project No 70029035 Confidential December 2016 2 1.4 REPORT STRUCTURE 1.4.1 The remainder of the report is structured as follows: Æ Section 2 identifies local and national transport policy relevant to the proposed development; Æ Section 3 discusses existing transport conditions at the site; Æ Section 4 provides information on the proposed development; Æ Section 5 sets out the access strategy for the proposed development; and Æ Section 6 discusses the sustainable transport strategy for the development. Tempsford Airfield WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff The Urban Engineering Studio Project No 70029035 Confidential December 2016 3 2 RELEVANT POLICY 2.1 NATIONAL PLANNING POLICY FRAMEWORK 2.1.1 The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was published on 27 March 2012 and is a key part of the reforms to make the planning system less complex and more accessible, to protect the environment and to promote sustainable growth. There is an overarching presumption in favour of sustainable development that should form the basis of every plan and decision. 2.1.2 Under the NPPF, development should only be prevented or refused on transport grounds where the residual cumulative impacts of development are severe (NPPF paragraph 32). Æ Decisions on developments that generate significant amounts of movement should take account of whether: Æ The opportunities for sustainable transport have been taken up to reduce the need for major transport infrastructure, depending on the nature and location of the site; Æ There is safe and suitable access to the site for all people; and Æ Improvements can be undertaken within the transport network that cost effectively limit the significant impacts of the development. 2.1.3 The NPPF also advises that plans should protect and exploit opportunities for the use of sustainable transport modes for the movement of goods or people. It therefore advises that, amongst others, developments should be located and designed where practical to: Æ Give priority to pedestrian and cycle movements, and have access to high quality public transport facilities; Æ Create safe and secure layouts which minimise conflicts between traffic and cyclists or pedestrians, avoiding street clutter and where appropriate establishing home zones; Æ Incorporate facilities for charging plug-in and other ultra-low emission vehicles Æ Consider the needs of people with disabilities by all modes of transport (NPPF paragraph 35). 2.2 CENTRAL BEDFORDSHIRE CORE STRATEGY AND DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT POLICIES 2.2.1 The Central Bedfordshire Core Strategy and Development Management Policies set out the long term strategic vision for Central Bedfordshire and a series of policies to inform this vision. Those relevant to transport and access are identified below: 2.2.2 Policy “DM9 Providing a range of transport” requires planning applications for 50 or more dwellings or 1,000 square meters of floorspace to submit a Transport Assessment and Travel Plan. Tempsford Airfield WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff The Urban Engineering Studio Project No 70029035 Confidential December 2016 4 3 EXISTING CONDITIONS 3.1 INTRODUCTION 3.1.1 This section discusses the existing transport conditions at the site. It sets out the travel characteristics nearby urban settlements comparable in characteristic to the propose development and discusses the existing accessibility of the site by all modes of transport. 3.2 JOURNEY TO WORK MODE SHARE 3.2.1 In order to estimate the likely mode share of trips generated by a development at Tempsford Airfield Journey to Work Mode information has been obtained from the 2011 Census and is summarised in Table 3.1 below. Table 3.1: Journey to Work Mode Share TEMPSFORD SANDY (E00087994 OUTPUT AREA) (CENTRAL BEDFORDSHIRE 001 MSOA) Journeys to Journeys to Mode Percentage Percentage Work Work Train 6 4.8% 225 8.3% Bus 1 0.8% 43 1.6% Taxi 0 0.0% 4 0.1% Motorcycle 0 0.0% 20 0.7% Driving a car or van 105 84.0% 1,951 71.9% Passenger in a car or van 6 4.8% 134 4.9% Bicycle 3 2.4% 72 2.7% On foot 2 1.6% 260 9.6% Other 2 1.6% 6 0.2% TOTAL 125 100.0% 2,715 100.0% 3.2.2 Table 3.1 above shows that 84% of all journeys to work from Tempsford and 71.9% of journeys to work from Sandy are made by car. The proposed scheme would seek to achieve the most sustainable scenario by improving on the Sandy mode shares and seek to increase bus and cycling and reduce the need to travel by car. 3.2.3 A plan showing the destinations of journeys to work from Sandy (Central Bedfordshire 001 MSOA) is provided in Figure 3.1 below. Tempsford Airfield WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff The Urban Engineering Studio Project No 70029035 Confidential December 2016 5 Figure 3.1: Destination of Journeys to Work from Central Bedfordshire 001 MSOA 3.2.4 Figure 3.1 above shows the major employment destinations to be Sandy and surrounding villages, Bedford, St Neots, Cambridge, Lechworth Garden City, Stevenage, Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield and Bletchley. Tempsford Airfield WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff The Urban Engineering Studio Project No 70029035 Confidential December 2016 6 3.2.5 It should be noted that journeys to work only makes up a small proportion of all person trips. The 2015 National Travel Survey (NTS) indicated at 12.5% of all trips for rural villages are for commuting purposes. Other journey purposes, such as Shopping, make up a much larger proportion of trips (17.8%). Therefore good accessibility of key local facilities by non-car modes of transport (schools, health care facilities and supermarkets) will be key to encouraging sustainable travel by residents. 3.3 PUBLIC TRANSPORT ACCESSIBILITY 3.3.1 No buses currently route via Tempsford Road. The nearest bus stops is approximately 2km to the south east on Potton Road, Everton opposite the Lawens. The proximity of the site to existing bus services will potentially allow for the rerouting of services through the site. 3.3.2 Sandy Railway Station is located 4km to the south of the site and is served by a half hourly service towards London King’s Cross and Peterborough with journey times of around 45-60mins. 3.4 LOCAL HIGHWAY NETWORK 3.4.1 Existing access to the site is from Tempsford Road to the south and an unnamed road leading to Woodbury Low Farm to the north. 3.4.2 Tempsford Road is a rural unclassified single carriageway road of approximately 6m in width connecting the villages of Tempsford and Everton. The road has no footway provision or street lighting and is subject to the national speed limit. Tempsford Road crosses the ECML at Everton Public Highway Level Crossing 400m to the west of the site access. 3.4.3 The unnamed road leading to Woodbury Low Farm is a no-through route connecting the village of Tempsford with farmsteads and farmland to the east of the ECML. This is a rural unclassified single carriageway road of approximately 4m, with no footway provision and no street lighting. The unnamed road connects with Station Road 650m to the north west at Tempsford Public Highway Level Crossing. There is, however, highway verge to accommodate a footway/cycleway if required. 3.4.4 The A1 is situated 2km to the west of the site and is accessible via Tempsford Road to the south or via Station Road to the north. This provides onward connections to the A427 and A428 to the north and A1(M) to the south. This site is therefore well located for access to the strategic road network. These junctions are not considered to have capacity issues, and this will be confirmed through a Transport Assessment in due course. Tempsford Airfield WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff The Urban Engineering Studio Project No 70029035 Confidential December 2016 7 4 PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT 4.1 TEMPSFORD AIRFIELD NEW SETTLEMENT 4.1.1 A first phase of up to around 2,100 homes as part of a mixed use settlement delivered in the current plan period is proposed for the south of site. The initial amount as part of the 2,100 could be around 750 homes to coincide with measures to provide upgraded crossing of the railway. There is then potential for a total 4,000 homes beyond the current plan period for the whole site. 4.1.2 This scale of development has the potential to offer a sustainable master plan that creates an environment for reducing the need to travel.