Proposed Equestrian Facility at Catesby Thorn
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PROPOSED EQUESTRIAN FACILITY AT CATESBY THORN NEAR STAVERTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE TRANSPORT STATEMENT September 2017 G.J.Ford B.Sc, C.Eng, MICE, MCIHT Impact Design Consultants CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION 2.0 DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS 3.0 TRAFFIC GENERATIONS 4.0 ACCESS TO SERVE THE FACILITY 5.0 CONCLUSIONS Appendices (i) Location Plan (ii) Indicative Layout of the Facility (iii) Access Proposals (iv) ATC Survey (v) Pre Application dialogue with Northants County Highways (vi) Photographs 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.01 Ms Lesley Wilson is the owner of Catesby Thorn near Upper Catesby on the lower Catesby Road between Staverton and Hellidon. Having recently purchased the property Ms Wilson together with her husband, Paul Boyd and sister intend to occupy it as their family home. 1.02 Extending to 12.94 Hectares the landholding is to be used for the keeping of horses. Mrs Wilson currently owns 4 horses which are kept elsewhere in livery stables in South Northamptonshire. The only building present is a single storey brick bungalow and the holding does not benefit from any utilty buildings. 1.03 A Planning Application has been submitted to Daventry District Council for private stables and an agricultural machinery shed to be erected immediately to the north of the dwelling. The stables are to accommodate the aforementioned horses and provide space to house machinery needed to maintain the landholding. 1.04 This Transport Statement relates to equestrian proposals in addition to the above which are the subject of a separate Planning Application. It considers the impact in traffic terms and the proposal to consolidate and improve the access situation. 2.0 DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS 2.01 At the present there are no equestrian activities on the landholding. Sheep are grazed by a tenant who visits twice daily to attend to his flock. 2.02 The proposal to which this TS relates involves the construction of the following :- ® A barn with stables, tack room and rest area ® Indoor riding school ® Outdoor riding arena ® Range of isolation stables The proposed layout is shown in Appendix (ii) 2.03 It is proposed that equestrian activities are to replace the farming activities on the landholding. The equestrian activities will be looked after by Mr Boyd & Ms Wilson and her sister and no additional staff will be employed. 2.04 The proposed buildings and stables will cater for an additional 15 horses which will comprise 3 No DIY liveries, 6 No Full liveries and 6 No Assisted liveries. 2.05 A new access to serve the site is proposed which will enable the access that serves the dwelling to be permanently closed. Pre application dialogue has taken place with Northamptonshire County Highways whose comments have shaped the ATC survey and this statement. He proposed access is the existing gateway to the field. Not a new access. 3.0 TRAFFIC GENERATIONS 3.01 Of interest to the highway authority is the impact in highway and traffic terms of the change in use. This requires an assessment to be made of the traffic generations before and after the change of use. 3.02 The current Traffic flows generated by the site are associated with the following elements:- Residential property Farm activities Equestrian activities 3.03 There is a residential property on the site which as a habitable dwelling is capable of generating typically 7 trips a day. As Mrs Wilson horses are currently stabled elsewhere there are a number of trips associated with visiting them each day. The tenant farmer also makes regular visits to tend to his sheep twice daily. Current trips are as follows :- Source Trips per day Residential 7 Equestrian 4 Farming 4 Total 15 3.04 An active farm can generate a wide range of traffic flows depending upon its size and the type of farming pursued. Farms can generate traffic flows from 0600 to 2000 hours at certain times of the year and 7 days a week. The impact in highway terms depends upon the landholding in relation to the farm buildings and the local highway network. Some large farms can generate high flows but because of their locations can have minimal impact upon the public highway. 3.05 With the landholding farmed by a tenant who is based elsewhere the level of farming trips generated have been reduced to a significant degree from what its potential could be if it were to be more intensively farmed. 3.06 If the landholding was part of an active farm utilising all of its landholding it would be capable of generating 20 - 30 trips a day many of which would involve slow moving farm vehicles often towing machinery. Figures in this range emerge from the joint Countryside Commission/TRICS report upon Farm Diversification published in 2002. It also coincides with figures arrived at by this practice in considering the smaller farms of a similar size. 3.07 Traffic flows associated with the equestrian activities are dictated by the livery packages offered and the number of staff employed. Full Livery, Assisted Livery and DIY Livery are to be offered. With Full livery there is no requirement for a horse owner to attend site each and every day. As a result owners can chose to visit at any time convenient for themselves and for many working owners this according to the applicants can mean the period 1800 – 2000 hours during the summer months and any time at the weekends. 3.10 There will some movements involving horseboxes on and off the site at times but these will be staggered throughout the week and each day. Such movements will be modest in number as the horses will have many of the facilities they require on the site. 3.11 With a capacity of 15 horses proposed for the site 3 of which are DIY it is unlikely that any more than 40% of the owners with Full or Assisted livery will attend the site on a daily basis. This would suggest that 8 owners could visit on an average weekday some twice a day equating to typically 22 trips with more at the weekend when traffic flows on the public highway are at a lower level. It is considered that horse owners would add very few trips to the network during the acknowledged peak periods at this location. 3.12 Staff for the equestrian centre comprise the principal and two others all of whom are resident on the site. With opening hours from 0730 to 1600 hours any journeys made by temporary or relief members of staff will lie outside the peak periods. Some journeys may be made during the day but the nature of the business requires their continued attendance on site. 3.13 Some DIY livery is being offered but at a modest level. When it is provided the horse owners are required to attend to all of their horses needs attending often twice a day to feed, water and exercise them. There is however invariably a degree of sharing of these duties and one person will attend to more than one horse when they visit. Trips associated with this type of livery are higher than Full livery although the majority of trips occur early in the morning and later in the day thereby often avoiding the peak periods on the local network. Assisted livery sits somewhere between DIY and Full in considering the level of attention provided. 3.14 With 3 horses on DIY livery we are considering 4 trips each per day for the owner. At this level of spaces there is less likelihood of sharing taking place. With Full livery we are considering 2 – 3 visits a week ie 4 – 6 trips over 7 days equating to less than 1 trip a day. With assisted livery the number of visits will be between the aforementioned values and will equate to 2 – 3 a day. With 6 such liveries the potential for sharing is greater and 2 trips a day would appear reasonable. 3.15 Other visitors to the facility on a regular basis will include a vet and a farrier together with a number of deliveries and visitors. The frequency of these visits will vary but attempts to examine or cater for as many horses in a single visit will be made and visits more than once a month would be unlikely. Hay for the horses will be imported but the potential exists for much of this to be grown on the farm by the applicants thereby reducing some of the larger traffic movements normally associated with an equestrian centre. 3.19 Typical maximum daily flows through the proposed site access if a consent is granted could be assessed as follows :- Source Trips per Day Residential Dwelling 7 Equestrian – DIY Livery 12 Equestrian – Full Livery 6 Equestrian – Assisted Livery 12 Others 0 - 8 Total 37 - 45 The predicted flows will vary from day to day with the higher level associated with visits from the vet, farrier coinciding with a hay delivery and visitors. The above trips even those associated with a DIY Livery are spread over a full day and equate to a modest level of flows. Many of the flows through the improved access will avoid the peak periods on the Staverton to Hellidon Road which are usually 0800 – 0900 and 1700 – 1800 hours. Accordingly flows from the facility are predicted to be diluted and in highway terms sustainable. 4.0 ACCESS TO SERVE THE FACILITY 4.01 There are currently three access onto the Staverton to Hellidon Road along the site frontage. The road follows a straight alignment for around 350 m with a bend combining with a descent at its northern extremity and a more pronounced bend at its southern extremity.