DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL SOUTH MOLTON AREA TRANSPORT STRATEGY April 2016 Devon County Council County Hall Topsham Road Exeter Devon EX2 4QD [email protected] PREPARED BY Name: Barnaby Harris Position: Assistant Planner Date: October 2015 AGREED BY Name: James Anstee Position: Principle Transportation Planning Officer Date: April 2016 ISSUED BY Name: Andrew Ardley Position: Transportation Manager (Policy) Date: April 2016 2 Contents 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 4 2. CURRENT TOWN AND TRANSPORT CONTEXT .......................................... 6 3. PLANNED STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENTS .................................................. 10 4. SOUTH MOLTON TRANSPORT NETWORK – ANALYSIS OF TRAFFIC DATA ............................................................................................................. 12 5. THE TRANSPORT NETWORK AND THE POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................................ 13 6. ACCESS STRATEGIES ................................................................................ 14 7. CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................. 18 3 1. Introduction 1.1 Background 1.1.1 North Devon and Torridge District Councils are currently in the final stages of preparing a joint Local Plan which will set out the development strategy for the area in the period to 2031 and provide the policy framework within which future planning applications will be considered. 1.2 Purpose of Report 1.2.1 This report provides information on the proposed growth strategy for South Molton set out in the Local Plan and the likely transportation impacts. The report then outlines the various transportation improvements necessary to support development proposals in South Molton. 1.2.2 The measures proposed within this report are currently in development. As schemes progress they will be subject to public consultation and approval as part of the necessary planning and / or traffic regulation order processes. The contents of this report will be used to inform the North Devon and Torridge Local Plan, related infrastructure delivery plan and as a basis for negotiating developer contributions, informing rates of the proposed community infrastructure levy, and / or securing external funding. 1.2.3 Comments within this report are made without prejudice to any further detailed comments arising from the preparation and submission of any planning applications. 1.3 Location of South Molton 1.3.1 The town of South Molton is situated in North Devon, and is accessible from the A361 North Devon Link Road which links to locally significant settlements including Barnstaple and Tiverton, as well as the M5. 1.3.2 The parish of South Molton has a population of 5,000; however the town’s functional area (including the surrounding rural parishes1) has a much larger population of 14,000. Its location in the wider Devon area is shown in Figure 1 below. 1 https://new.devon.gov.uk/factsandfigures/area-profile/?geographicLevel=town&geographyId=TOWN25 4 Figure 1: South Molton Location Plan 1.3.3 The draft version of the North Devon and Torridge Local Plan 2011-2031 (published March 2015) plans for sustainable employment led growth and allocates locations for strategic housing development, and employment sites within South Molton. These include a strategic allocation of 860 dwellings west of the existing built up area of South Molton as well as an allocation of 10.8 hectares of employment land to join the existing Business Park in two sites bordering Hacche Lane. 1.3.4 In order to deliver this growth, improvements to the transport infrastructure in the town will be required. The focus of the transport improvements will be on new highway links, acting to relieve the historic town centre, and improved walking and cycling links, helping to increase the opportunities for more active and sustainable travel. 5 2. Current Town and Transport Context 2.1 Town Centre 2.1.1 A large proportion of South Molton town centre is designated as a Conservation Area, which is shown on the map below. The development has the potential to increase vehicular use through the conservation area, which in turn will impact upon the protected site. Therefore it is essential that any forthcoming development is well planned in relation to mitigating its potential impacts. Figure 2 – Map highlighting the South Molton Conservation Area 2.2 Road network 2.2.1 South Molton is well connected to other towns in Devon and Somerset due to its location on the A361 which links to Barnstaple, Tiverton and the M5. The M5 provides direct access to Exeter to the south and to Bristol in the north. 2.2.2 The proximity and linkages to the A361 can be seen in the plan below. 6 Figure 3 – South Molton in the Wider Transport Network 2.2.3 Strategic developments within South Molton (outlined in more detail below) would be expected to increase traffic flows on South Molton’s main routes through the town centre. There is an aspiration to provide alternative roads to serve the developments, helping to relieve the town centre. Rail 2.2.4 There is no railway station within South Molton. The nearest stations are located at Barnstaple, Umberleigh and at Kings Nympton on the Tarka Line which is serviced with trains from Exeter. Tiverton Parkway which is accessed from the A361 provides connections to the wider rail network including direct trains to Bristol taking just under one hour and London and Birmingham taking just over two hours. 2.3 Bus 2.3.1 Bus routes into and out from South Molton use route ‘155’ with journeys between Barnstaple and South Molton. This runs hourly and takes approximately 30-40 minutes with stops including the town centre and Pathfields Business Park within South Molton. In the other direction the ‘155’ 7 connects South Molton to Tiverton running every 1.5-2 hours (from Tiverton and from South Molton respectively) taking approximately 45-50 minutes. From Tiverton connections along another section of the ‘155’ route is possible to connect to Exeter with the journey taking approximately 2.15 hours. The use of this service appears less attractive to private car and rail options due to the journey duration (approximately twice as long). However it provides a useful opportunity for short journeys along sections of its route. 2.4 Cycling 2.4.1 South Molton is not located on any strategic cycle routes and limited specific facilities for cycling within South Molton exist at present. The current Pathfield Industrial estate is connected by a shared path route from the town centre through the community woodland. There are however potential opportunities for improvements in cycling infrastructure in the town and to link Pathfields Business Park with the wider residential areas and new residential development. This will help to mitigate the effects of increased traffic flows on the town’s local roads from proposed developments. 2.5 Commuting patterns 2.5.1 With regard to commuting, travel data from the 2011 census is shown in Tables 1 and 2 below. One key point to highlight from this data include that of the active workforce that resides within South Molton just 36% work within the town itself. A further 38% work within North Devon with Barnstaple providing a popular destination accounting for almost 75% of that figure. This distribution can also be supplemented by data from the 2001 census travel to work data. Of the residents who lived and worked within South Molton in 2001 the most popular mode of travel to work was driving which represented over 40% of all journeys. Approximately 35% of commuters walked which represents a high proportion of total commuters suggesting walking to work is popular for employment within the town.. However just 3% cycled reflecting the limited cycling specific infrastructure provision within South Molton. A greater focus on creation of more attractive walking and cycling links and promoting sustainable travel through travel planning will help to create a more healthy population and help to relieve traffic impacts from new development. 2.5.2 The new employment developments planned within South Molton should assist in increasing the self-containment of jobs within the area. 8 District Town % North Devon South Molton 36 Barnstaple 29 Chulmleigh 5 Ilfracombe 2 Braunton 1 Fremington and Westleigh 1 Mid Devon All 4 Torridge All 4 Exeter All 2 West Somerset Dulverton 1 No Fixed Place N/A 15 Table 1: Locations of workplace for commuters living in South Molton, based on 2011 census travel to work data District Town % North Devon South Molton 31 Barnstaple 27 Chulmleigh 10 Ilfracombe 4 Braunton 3 Fremington and Westleigh 2 Woolacombe 1 Torridge All 15 Mid Devon All 5 West Somerset All 1 Table 2: Home locations of those working in South Molton, based on 2011 census travel to work data. 9 3. Planned Strategic Developments 3.1 Introduction 3.1.1 Various sites within South Molton have been identified as strategic development areas in the North Devon and Torridge Draft Local Plan 2011- 2031 (published March 2015). 3.1.2 These will provide a total of 1240 new homes (Table 3) and 10.8 hectares of employment development and a new 2.5 hectare (Table 4) livestock market. Figure 4: Development planned within South Molton as included in the North Devon and Torridge Local Plan 2011-2031 (published March 2015). 10 Number of Dwellings Housing Supply 2011-2031 Proposed Dwelling completions 2011-2013