Thanet Parkway Railway Station Alternative Options Analysis Report July 2014 [Blank Page] 2 Contents 1. Introduction 4 1.1 Manston Airport 4 1.2 Development Sites 4 1.3 Deprivation in Dover and Thanet 6 1.4 Optimising Journey Time Improvement Scheme 7 2. Existing Passenger Transport Accessibility 8 2.1 Public Transport Access to Manston Airport 8 2.2 Public Transport Access to Development Sites 8 3. Description of Options 10 3.1 Options Rejected Prior to Workshop 10 3.2 Options Considered in Workshop 11 4. Option Evaluation 12 4.1 Assessment Criteria 12 4.2 Evaluation of Options 13 4.3 Options Shortlisted for Further Consideration 18 5. Further Investigation of Option 2 (Improved Ramsgate Car Park) 20 5.1 Replace the existing station car park with a multi-storey car park 20 5.2 Build a multi-storey car park at Network Rail Maintenance Depot 21 5.3 Build a car park at Warre Recreation Ground 22 5.4 Acquire industrial land on Princes Road to construct a car park 23 5.5 Summary of findings 23 6. Further Investigation of Option 1 (a new Parkway Railway Station) 25 6.1 Manston Green Development Proposal 25 6.2 Kent County Council’s Proposed Site 25 6.3 Determination of Option 26 7. Conclusion 28 Appendix 1: Journey Time to the Manston Airport Site by Public Transport 29 3 1. Introduction This option selection report aims to identify a suitable option to improve rail connectivity to development sites in East Kent. Kent County Council’s aspiration is to encourage inward investment to East Kent and widen the job market for local people by improving the perception of East Kent as a suitable place to invest and work in. This can be achieved by improving rail connectivity to Discovery Park Enterprise Zone, the Manston Airport site and other development sites in East Kent and by taking advantage of planned rail improvement schemes and High Speed 1 (HS1). 1.1 Manston Airport Note: When this analysis was undertaken the Manston Airport was still operational and thus is referred to as Manston Airport. The Thanet Parkway Railway Project consultation material refers the Airport as the Manston Airport Site as currently (January 2015) the future of the site is unclear. Whether the site continues to operate as an airport or is utilised for mixed use development the site is earmarked for growth in Thanet District Council’s Draft Thanet Local Plan to 2031 Preferred Options Document and thus the need to support the site via rail remains relevant. The increased utilisation of Manston has been identified as an opportunity for economic growth in East Kent and a way of providing additional aviation capacity in the UK. The airport is close to a number of high population settlements including Thanet, Canterbury, Ashford, Medway and Maidstone, with the Airport having a catchment area of over 1.5 million people1. A Masterplan document (2009) 2 has been produced for Manston Airport which lays out the ambitions for the growth of the airport. The Masterplan document forecasts that by 2033 the airport will have served around 4.7 million passengers and catered for 400,000 tonnes of freight. Further growth of the airport is expected beyond 2033, but has not yet been forecasted for. The airport has seen development with the introduction of a twice-daily scheduled flights from Manston Airport to Schipol Airport in Amsterdam, operated by KLM Royal Dutch Airline. Schipol airport is a major European hub airport and by flying to Schipol Airport connections can be made to 317 destinations worldwide. Improved rail connectivity has been identified as key to enabling the forecast levels of growth at Manston Airport to occur, with other airports such as Southend having benefited substantially from enhanced rail connectivity. The Masterplan refers to improvements in surface transport access as a way of improving access between Manston Airport and main settlements areas. The delivery of improved rail connectivity to Manston Airport will help support the sustainable growth of Manston Airport, by providing an alternative to the use of the car to access the airport. 1.2 Development Sites The project is also aimed to help establish new commercial development sites and support investment at existing sites. Improving rail connectivity to these sites will help to encourage inward investment, as the attractiveness and accessibility of these sites will improve substantially. The key 1 KCC (2011). Public Transport Accessibility to Small and Medium Sized Regional Airports. 2Infratil Airports (2009) Manston, Kent International Airport Master Plan. http://www.manstonairport.com/userfiles/files/planning/KIA%20Master%20Plan%20LR.pdf 4 sites which will be supported by improved rail accessibility this project include Discovery Park Enterprise Zone, Manston and Eurokent Business Parks and residential areas around Westwood. 1.2.1 Discovery Park Enterprise Zone Discovery Park Enterprise Zone is the former site of Pfizer’s European research and development headquarters. The site was purchase in August 2012 by Discovery Park Ltd and provides 3 million square feet of workspace, including laboratories, offices and warehouses. Forty six companies are currently located at the site, with the potential for businesses to benefit from discounted business rates by locating at the site. The site is also set to benefit from a new investment project in coastal defences. The £25 million project is to provide a 1 in 200 year flood protection for the Discovery Park Enterprise Zone site and for the town of Sandwich. The site has recently been successful in attracting new businesses to the site, with Discovery Park owners in 2012 announcing ambitions to create 3,000 at the Enterprise Zone by 2017. Accessibility to this site is predominantly by private car although walking and cycling from Sandwich is encouraged. Access to jobs by non-car users and sustainable development of the site, requires investment in sustainable transport to the site to take advantage of the HS1 and planned rail improvements between London and Ramsgate. 1.2.2. Manston Business Park Manston Business Park is identified with Thanet District Council’s Core Strategy Preferred Options Consultation as a “prime location for economic growth. The document suggests that the 43 acre site should be allocation for B1, B2 and B8 business use. In order to support job creation at this site it is recognised that improvements in public transport are required, mentioned in the Core Strategy Preferred Option document. 5 Figure 1: Location of Manston Business Park (Source: Thanet District Council) 1.2.3. EuroKent EuoKent has been allocated a mixed use area in Thanet District Council’s Draft Local plan to 2031, linking and integrating the development into the wider Westwood community. Land is provided for up to 350 residential properties and 15.5 hectares of land for flexible business use. In order for this site to be a sustainable location for development, sustainable transport to this site needs to be improved. 1.3 Deprivation in Dover and Thanet Thanet is a particularly deprived area of Kent, with 15,200 households thought to be living in poverty in 20103. The unemployment rate in Thanet is 5.7% (June 2013) compared to a Kent average of 2.8% (June 2013)4. There are also areas of Dover with high levels of unemployment, such as Tower Hamlets with an unemployment rate of 8.2%5. The high level of unemployment in parts of East Kent means that commercial development and economic growth is required to support the economies of these Districts. It is also important to recognise that car ownership in Thanet and Dover is low in comparison to other parts of Kent and therefore sustainable access to development sites is essential. 3 Kent County Council (2012). Households in Poverty. https://shareweb.kent.gov.uk/Documents/facts-and-figures/Deprivation/dep1-11-households-in- poverty.pdf 4 Kent County Council (2013) Unemployment in Kent https://shareweb.kent.gov.uk/Documents/facts- and-figures/Unemployment/district-unemployment-bulletin.pdf 5Kent County Council (2013) Ward Unemployment in Kent https://shareweb.kent.gov.uk/Documents/facts-and-figures/Unemployment/ward-unemployment- bulletin.pdf 6 1.4 Optimising Journey Time Improvement Scheme KCC and Network Rail are working together on a number of schemes to reduce journey time between Ashford International and Ramsgate by about 10 minutes by 2018/19. Capitalising on the existing HS1 and planned rail enhancements will result in a greater perception of the region as a viable place to attract inward investment. 7 2. Existing Passenger Transport Accessibility This section summarises the existing transport accessibility to Manston Airport and the development sites. 2.1 Public Transport Access to Manston Airport Stagecoach operates an hourly bus service between the Manston Airport site, Manston Business Park, Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Palm Bay and Birchington on service number 38 and 38A. With three bus stops between the Manston Airport site and Ramsgate Railway Station, along with some custom bus stops being served, the timetabled journey time between the Manston Airport site and Ramsgate Railway Station is between 9 and 10 minutes. The airport site is also served by the number 11 bus service which provides a Monday to Saturday connection to Broadstairs, Westwood, Minster, Preston, Ickham and Canterbury at a frequency of 5 buses per day, but does not provide a direct connection to any railway stations. Ramsgate Railway Station is the closest railway station to the Manston Airport site , at a distance of approximately 4km from the entrance to the Manston Airport site, which is well connected with a number of rail services operating between Ramsgate and London. In the off peak, Ramsgate Station is served by a single train per hour from Margate to St Pancras International via High Speed 1 (HS1), while in the peak this increases to 2 trains per hours (tph) with a journey time of 76 minutes.