Pw040909edh Ottery St Mary to Bowd

EEC/09/198/HQ East Devon Highways and Traffic Orders Committee 14 September 2009 Heavy Goods Vehicles, C808 Ottery St. Mary to The Bowd and C96/C95 through Whimple to Broadclyst Report of the Area Engineer (East) Please note that the following recommendation is subject to consideration and determination by the Committee before taking effect. Recommendation: It is recommended that the report be noted and that formal HGV restrictions on these roads be not pursued any further. 1. Summary This report details the costs and implications for the signing of a formal weight or width restriction on the C808, Ottery St. Mary to the Bowd road, and the C96 and C95 roads through Whimple and out to Broadclyst. 2. Background At the meeting of this Committee on 30 March 2009, Members considered two reports regarding Heavy Goods Vehicles travelling on the C808 Bowd to Ottery St. Mary Road and the C96 and C95 roads through Whimple and out to Broadclyst. It was resolved that, inter alia, a report be submitted to the next meeting of the Committee on the extent of possible restrictions, the signing requirements together with their associated costs. 3. Signing Implications In assessing the signage that would be required, consideration has been given to ensuring that the restriction could be enforced should the need arise. This has meant that every likely point of accessing the routes has had to taken into account when determining the amount of signage required. The C808 from the A3052 at the Bowd through to Ottery St Mary is approximately six kilometres in length with a number of side road junctions along the route. The signing required would not only include the regulatory signing but would also have to include advisory information signs at either end to indicate that the route was restricted. The provisional estimate for this work including design costs has been worked out at just under £21,000. This figure does not allow for any HGV advisory signing to direct HGVs on a more appropriate route. The preferred alternative route to avoid using this road would be via the A3052 through Newton Poppleford and then via the B3180 to join the A30 at Daisy Mount. The C96 and C95 from the Hand and Pen junction on the Old A30 through the village of Whimple and out to Broadclyst is nearly nine kilometres long. A similar signing regime for this route has been costed at approximately £32,000. Here again, this figure includes the design costs and the advanced information signs, but not any signing for an advisory route for HGVs. The preferred alternative route to avoid using this road would be via the B3181 through Pinhoe and then to join the A30 at Junction 29 and then through to Daisy Mount. 4. Environmental Considerations With respect to the C808 route, there are some nine listed buildings and 2.3 kilometres of the route passing through the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). On the preferred alternative route, the only listed buildings are along the A3052 through Newton Poppleford which, as they are adjacent to a Primary County Route is considered acceptable. The alternative route has 2.6 kilometres passing through the AONB. On the existing route there are no County Wildlife sites, whereas the alternative route has two, Prickly Pear Blossoms Park and Cadhay Bog. The alternative route also has a SSSI site at Pebbelbed Heaths compared with none on the existing route. On the Whimple to Broadclyst route, the only consideration is that the centre of Whimple is a conservation area. Although there are no listed buildings along the route passing through the centre of the village it does pass by buildings of architectural interest such as the Church and Post Office. This route is not in the AONB. However the route is, apart from Whimple, entirely through the rural East Devon countryside and the impact on any signage along this route would need to be given very careful consideration if a restriction were to be imposed. 5. Alternative Options Although it is recognised that the use of these routes by HGVs is undesirable, the instances where this has occurred is not very high, particularly on the Whimple to Broadclyst route. Anecdotally it has been found that some of these vehicles are of foreign origin and the drivers do not speak or even understand English. Therefore it is considered that, even if there was a restriction on this route, it could well be that these drivers would ignore it, particularly if the driver was following this route by virtue of using a satellite navigation system. 6. Conclusions Clearly the costs of progressing a formal prohibition on these roads cannot be justified in view of the few instances whereby HGVs have inappropriately used these roads. There is currently no funding allocated for traffic orders such as this and it is highly unlikely that funding to this amount would ever be forthcoming. Furthermore, in view of the low number of HGVs that have been seen using these roads, it is considered unlikely that enforcement of any restriction would be possible. It is considered that the best way forward is to continue working with the Freight Quality Partnerships to keep promoting constructive solutions taking into account the need for access for goods and services and environmental and social concerns. County Electoral Division: Ottery St. Mary Rural, Broadclyst & Whimple East Devon District Ward: Ottery St. Mary Rural, Whimple Tony Matthews Local Government Act 1972 List of Background Papers Contact for enquiries: Paul Wilson Telephone Number: 01392 385080 Background Paper Date File Ref Committee Reports March 2009 pw040909edh sc/osm to bowd 3 hq 090909 .

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