APPEAL BY Amber REI Limited. Proposed Redevelopment at the former Poultry Processing Factory, Haughley Park STATEMENT OF COMMON GROUND ON TRANSPORTATION ISSUES AGREED BETWEEN TRANSPORT PLANNING ASSOCIATES ON BEHALF OF MID SUFFOLK COUNCIL AND PEGASUS GROUP ON BEHALF OF THE APPELLANT NOVEMBER 2020 LPA Ref: DC/19/02605 PINS Ref: APP/W3520/W/20/3258516 Former Poultry Factory, Haughley Park Statement of Common Ground on Transportation Issues CONTENTS PAGE NUMBER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 2 THE APPEAL SITE & LOCAL HIGHWAY NETWORK 2 3 THE APPEAL PROPOSAL 8 4 TRIP NUMBERS AND IMPACT 12 5 TRANSPORT POLICY 16 6 PLANNING CONDITIONS AND OBLIGATIONS 17 7 AREAS OF DISPUTE 18 FIGURES Figure SCGT/1 Cycling Isochrones APPENDICES Appendix SCGT/A Trip Distance Table. Appendix SCGT/B Bus Timetable. Appendix SCGT/C Travel Plan. Appendix SCGT/D Extracts of 2008 Transportation Assessment. Appendix SCGT/E 12 hour 85th percentile trip rates November 2020 i Mid Suffolk Council & Pegasus Group Former Poultry Factory, Haughley Park Statement of Common Ground on Transportation Issues 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 This is an agreed Statement of Common Ground on issues relating to highways and transportation (SCGT), between Transport Planning Associates on behalf of Mid Suffolk Council (MSC) and Pegasus Group on behalf of the Appellant. 1.2 This SCGT sets out various matters of fact and other areas of agreement and dispute associated with the proposed redevelopment of a former Poultry Processing Factory at Haughley Park. The scheme comprises up to 120 dwellings, employment uses and community provision including sports pitches and a community orchard. 1.3 The issues that are dealt with within this SCGT include: (i) the Appeal site and the Appeal proposal; (ii) access to services and facilities by walking, cycling and public transport; (iii) vehicular access and trip impact; (iv) planning conditions and obligations; and (v) areas of agreement and dispute. 1.4 The Appellant and the Council will seek to agree additional matters in due course in advance of the Inquiry as appropriate. November 2020 Mid Suffolk Council & Pegasus Group 1 Former Poultry Factory, Haughley Park Statement of Common Ground on Transportation Issues 2 THE APPEAL SITE & HIGHWAY NETWORK Site Location 2.1 The Appeal site comprises previously developed land, which was last used as a Poultry Processing Factory. It is agreed that the lawful land use allows for any industrial activity to take in the buildings or at the site, provided it can utilise the existing buildings / external areas and that there are no planning controls on the hours of operation. 2.2 The Appeal site is situated in Mid Suffolk District, around seven kilometres to the west of Stowmarket by road and around 20 kilometres to the east of Bury St Edmonds by road. Stowmarket is identified as the particular focus for employment opportunities on the A14 corridor. Suffolk is largely a rural county and Mid Suffolk is largely a rural district. 2.3 Elmswell is around 3.5 kilometres to the north west of the appeal site. Haughley New Street is around 2.0 kilometres to the east and Haughley is around 3.5 kilometres to the east. Wetherden is around 1.5 kilometres to the north east. Woolpit is around 5.8 kilometres to the west. These distances are by road measured from the approximate centre of the appeal site to the approximate centre of those settlements. 2.4 Elmswell, Haughley and Woolpit are identified in the adopted Mid Suffolk Core Strategy (2008) as Key Service Centres at Policy CS1. Key Service Centres are described as villages that are capable of providing local services and facilities to a dispersed rural population. 2.5 The distances between the site and facilities by road are tabulated at Appendix SCGT/A. 2.6 The car ownership levels in the local ward are an average of 1.52 cars & vans per household. The car ownership levels in the District are an average of 1.59 cars & vans per household. A total of 16.4 percent of local employees were recorded to work from home in the 2011 census, compared to 10.3 percent nationally. November 2020 Mid Suffolk Council & Pegasus Group 2 Former Poultry Factory, Haughley Park Statement of Common Ground on Transportation Issues Existing Access Arrangements 2.7 Haughley Park includes a Grade 1 listed building, a facility for Scouts including two large summer camps, a venue for meetings and around 40 weddings each year and also other events. The owner of Haughley Park has suggested that the site can accommodate up to 5,000 visitors in a day. 2.8 A private road links the main body of the site with Haughley New Road at a simple priority tee-junction in the north. The private road in its current form previously served the factory traffic. It presently serves other land uses contained within the Haughley Park estate. 2.9 The private road is typically round 5.5 metres wide, which allows two larger vehicles to pass. The length of the overall route between the approximate centre of the main body of the site and Haughley New Road is approximately 780 metres. There is a localised narrowing on the access road at the frontage of the listed building. The road here is less than 4.1 metres wide for a length of around 56 metres and less than 5.5 metres wide for a length of around 71 metres. It is agreed that the existing access road can accommodate the Appeal scheme vehicles and cyclists. Local Highway Network 2.10 The local highway authority is Suffolk County Council. The strategic highway authority responsible for the A14 is Highways England. These authorities were consulted on the planning proposal. Suffolk County Council confirmed its recommendation that the planning application is not refused on highways grounds subject to suitable highway mitigation measures being secured. Highways England offered no objections. 2.11 Haughley New Road is unclassified and is locally designated as U4977. It is derestricted and subject to the national speed limit. As well as serving Haughley Park, it serves the nearby Wetherden Business Park, which incorporates a saw-mill, a vehicle repair shop and valeting service, to the east on the north side of the road. There are no existing footways in this location and pedestrians have the choice of walking on the carriageway or the adjoining verges (where possible). The Haughley Park junction is not a new junction. It previously served industrial traffic including Heavy Goods Vehicles. It is agreed to operate satisfactorily at present. November 2020 Mid Suffolk Council & Pegasus Group 3 Former Poultry Factory, Haughley Park Statement of Common Ground on Transportation Issues 2.12 Park Road forms a side road junction on Haughley New Road around 350 metres to the east of the site access point. It is derestricted and subject to the national speed limit to the immediate north of the junction. The speed limit changes to 30mph at Wetherden village around 80 metres to the north and this section includes direct frontage access for existing dwellings and also serves the Park View estate (around 30 dwellings). Pedestrians on Park Road either walk on the carriageway or the adjoining verges (where possible) along the side of the road. Highway Safety 2.13 It is agreed with reference to the Crashmap database that there have been four vehicle related accidents and no pedestrian or cycle related accidents on Haughley New Road between Warren Lane in the west and the Park Road junction in the east in the last 21 years, including a significant amount of time when the factory on the Appeal site was operating. 2.14 The vehicle related accidents that have occurred on this section of Haughley New Road were in different places and there have been none in the last five years. 2.15 It is agreed that the access point currently operates safely and that it previously operated safely when the poultry factory was in operation. It is agreed that there is no material accident pattern or recorded problem on the local highway network for any types of road user, on Haughley New Road or elsewhere nearby, and that the appeal proposal is not predicted to have a material impact on the safety of the local junctions, or the general safety or operation of the local highway network. Walking, Cycling and Public Transport 2.16 An average walking speed of 80 metres per minute (4.8 kilometres or 3 miles per hour) is agreed to be a suitable average. An average cycling speed of 292 metres per minute (17.5 kilometres or 10.9 miles per hour) derived from the Transport Assessment is also agreed to be an average. November 2020 Mid Suffolk Council & Pegasus Group 4 Former Poultry Factory, Haughley Park Statement of Common Ground on Transportation Issues 2.17 It is agreed that the walking and cycling distance between the approximate centre of the site and the Park Road junction with Haughley New Road is approximately 1.1 kilometres. It is agreed that the walking distance between the approximate centre of the Appeal site and the nearest primary school at Elmswell is 3.8 kilometres by way of Haughley New Road, Park View and local rights of ways. The local education authority with reference to ‘statutory walking distance eligibility’ has a duty to provide free school transport for all pupils if their nearest school is further than a prescribed distance. The distance for pupils under 8 is 3.2 kilometres (2 miles) and the distance for pupils between 8 and 16 is 4.8 kilometres (3 miles). It is agreed that there are no other prescriptive thresholds for walking distances in local or national guidance.