210614/SK22132/TS01(-01) Ribble Valley Country & Leisure Park Forest of Bowland Transport Statement SK Transport Planning Ltd Albion Wharf, Manchester, M1 5LN 0161 234 6509 [email protected] sktransport.co.uk Contents Page 1 Introduction 1 2 Existing Situation 1 3 Development Proposal 4 4 Traffic Impact 5 5 Accessibility Impact 6 6 Conclusions 8 Appendices A Proposed Layout B Traffic Surveys C TRICS Output Project Document Rev Description Authorised by Signed Date SK22132 TS01 -00 Draft L Speers LGS 10/06/2021 SK22132 TS01 -01 Submission L Speers LGS 14/06/2021 © SK Transport Planning Ltd 2021. All Rights Reserved. 1 Introduction 1.1 SK has been appointed to prepare a Transport Statement (TS) that examines the impact of extending the Ribble Valley Country and Leisure Park to provide an additional 95 permanent holiday homes. The proposed layout is attached as Appendix A. 1.2 For the purposes of the planning application, Ribble Valley Borough Council (RVBC) is the Local Planning Authority and Lancashire County Council (LCC) is the Local Highway Authority. 1.3 The TS has been prepared to outline the highways, servicing and accessibility impact of the proposal. It has been prepared in accordance with guidance set out in RVBC ‘Core Strategy 2008 – 2028: Local Plan for Ribble Valley’, LCC ‘Creating Civilised Streets’, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), and the Planning Practice Guidance. The assessment method has been undertaken in line with Department for Transport (DfT) ‘Guidance on Transport Assessment’ guidance, as although this document was withdrawn in 2014 LCC’s guidance still refers to it. 2 Existing Situation Site Location & Characteristics 2.1 Figure 2.1 shows that the site is located with the Forest of Bowland, to the north of Gisburn. The site is located circa 15km to the northeast of Clitheroe and 11km northwest of Barnoldswick. Site Figure 2.1: Site Location 2.2 The planning application red edge site boundary extends to 16.8 Ha as defined on the Site Location Plan ref. 4528-100B submitted with the application (also shown in Figure 2.2 below). 210614/SK22132/TS01(-01) 1 This includes 11.1 Ha of the existing Holiday Park, which is proposed to be retained, and 5.7 Ha to accommodate the proposed extension. The application seeks the change of use of the extension land from agriculture to facilitate the expansion of the Holiday Park. There is no physical development proposed within the existing Holiday Park as part of this application to the retained site area except the improved open space. The existing Holiday Park benefits from an extant permission for that use. The planning application is submitted with the red edge around the entire proposed holiday park to include the proposed open space improvements and so that the operational relationship between the existing Holiday Park and the proposed extension is clear. The impact of the proposed development is focused on the location of the proposed extension (as shown in Appendix A), and it is for this reason that this report focuses on this part of the site. Figure 2.2: Red Line Boundary Existing Site Use & Operation 2.3 The proposal is to extend the existing Ribble Valley Country and Leisure Park to provide additional holiday accommodation. The existing Park currently provides 325 permanent holiday lodges that are owned by guests. The site does not permit use by touring caravans. 2.4 The site provides amenity facilities for guests, including a gym, adventure playground, games room, shop and laundrette. 2.5 Refuse collection is undertaken via private contract. A site management system is in place whereby the rubbish from the bin stores across the existing Holiday Park is moved an area near to the main entrance on collection day. 2.6 Consent was granted in 2007 (ref: 3/2007/0010/P) for the extension of the site. As part of this consent the applicant was required to introduce pedestrian signage on Kiln Lane / Settle Lane, 210614/SK22132/TS01(-01) 2 verge treatment at the A682 junction, provide an improved site access junction, and provide an emergency access. The applicant is also required, under this consent, to remove overhanging vegetation on Neps Lane within 60m of the river bridge and use an abnormal load escorting company when new vans are transported to the site. Existing Highway Network 2.7 Settle Lane / Kiln Lane routes north-south to the east of the proposal site and provides access to the wider highway network. Vehicle access to the site is provided via a priority arrangement on to Settle Lane / Kiln Lane. The layout and form of the junction was agreed with LCC during consideration of the 2007 planning application. 2.8 An emergency access is provided to the north of the main access on Settle Lane. The 2007 planning permission for the site restricts the use of this access to emergency vehicles only. 2.9 Figure 2.3 shows the Public Right of Way (PRoW) routes near to the site. This shows that existing PRoW paths (FP14, FP15 and 25) route through the existing Park. PRoW FP23 routes across the proposal site. Figure 2.3: Public Right of Way Network [source: LCC Mario Database 2021] Highway Safety 2.10 Accident data for the road fronting the site has been reviewed using LCC’s Mario database for the most recent five years available. The database review shows that there have been no accidents at the site access junction, or on Settle Lane / Kiln Lane near to the site during the period assessed. Existing Network Traffic Flows 2.11 The proposal is for the extension of a holiday use and so it was appropriate to survey existing site activity and access junction traffic flows on a Bank Holiday weekend that also covers half term. 210614/SK22132/TS01(-01) 3 The survey was undertaken during the AM and PM peak periods on Friday 28th May 2021. The timing of the survey also coincided with the lifting of many of the lockdown restrictions and the operator confirmed that they were seeing a 35% increase in site activity, when compared to normal conditions, and that the Bank Holiday Friday would be one of the busiest periods of the entire year. The survey data therefore provides a robust means of assessing future conditions. 2.12 The survey data is attached as Appendix B. The survey data has been converted to passenger car units (PCU) using standard conversion factors. The surveys show that the AM peak occurs between 8.15 and 9.15, and the PM peak occurs between 16.45 and 17.45. The site peak and network peak hours coincide. Table 2.1 provides details of the peak hour junction flows. AM Peak Hour Kiln Road South Site Kiln Road North Kiln Lane 0 7 13 Site 2 0 0 Settle Lane 8 0 0 PM Peak Hour Kiln Road South Site Kiln Road North Kiln Lane 0 23 17 Site 13 0 2 Settle Lane 16 4 0 Table 2.1: Peak Hour Site Access Flows (in PCU) Existing Site Traffic Flows 2.13 The survey data has been used to establish the existing site traffic flows and derive trip rates based on the current accommodation level (325 holiday homes). This information is provided in Table 2.2. Existing Traffic Flows Trip Rates (per unit) In Out Total In Out Total AM Peak Hour 7 2 9 0.022 0.006 0.028 PM Peak Hour 27 15 42 0.084 0.046 0.130 Table 2.2: Existing Site Traffic Flows & Trip Rates (Weekday Surveys) 2.14 To allow an understanding of the level of traffic activity at the weekend, the TRICS database has been used. The TRICS forecast (attached as Appendix C) has been used to determine typical differences in weekday and weekend daily traffic flows and maximum peak traffic flows. The peak hour at the weekend occurs between 12pm and 1pm and the maximum peak on a weekday occurs in the PM. The analysis shows that Saturday daily traffic flows are typically 11% higher than weekday daily flows, and peak hour flows are 33% higher. To derive weekday peak hour trip rates the surveyed maximum peak (PM) has been increased by 33%, as shown in Table 2.3. Trip Rates (per unit) Derived Existing Traffic Flows In Out Total In Out Total Weekend Peak Hour 0.112 0.061 0.173 36 20 56 Table 2.2: Derived Site Traffic Flows & Trip Rates (Weekend) 210614/SK22132/TS01(-01) 4 3 Proposed Development 3.1 The proposed layout is attached is shown in Appendix A. 3.2 The proposal seeks to extend the existing holiday park by constructing 95 more holiday lodges. The lodges would be served by the existing amenities currently provided at the site, including a gym, adventure playground, games room, shop and laundrette. 3.3 Vehicle access to the site will be retained from the existing main entrance on Settle Lane / Kiln Lane. As with existing arrangements, parking is provided in the layout outside each lodge. 3.4 PRoW FP23 routes across the proposal site. The layout retains this route along its existing alignment. 3.5 Service and refuse collection arrangements will be retained as existing using the same private contractor and will occur via the main entrance and the site management area. Bin stores are provided across the proposal site for use by guests. 3.6 The applicant agrees that the same arrangements will be used when moving new vans to the site as per the 2007 consent. Namely to remove overhanging vegetation on Neps Lane within 60m of the river bridge and use an abnormal load escorting company when new vans are transported to the site.