LONDON MEDWAY COMMERCIAL PARK CYCLE STRATEGY ON BEHALF OF 04 Feb 2016 Our Ref: NK018150 RPS Sherwood House Sherwood Avenue Newark on Trent Nottinghamshire NG24 1QQ Tel: 01636 605 700 Fax: 01636 610 696 Email: [email protected] rpsgroup.com/uk London Medway Commercial Park Cycle Strategy QUALITY MANAGEMENT Prepared by: Adrian McHale Authorised by: Damian Meehan Date: 04/02/2016 Project Number/Document NK018150-CS Reference: COPYRIGHT © RPS The material presented in this report is confidential. This report has been prepared for the exclusive use of Goodman Real Estate (UK) Ltd and shall not be distributed or made available to any other company or person without the knowledge and written consent of RPS. rpsgroup.com/uk London Medway Commercial Park Cycle Strategy CONTENTS QUALITY MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................................................ 2 CONTENTS ....................................................................................................................................................... 3 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Purpose of Report ........................................................................................................................ 4 1.2 Benefits of Active Travel .............................................................................................................. 4 2 SITE ASSESSMENT ............................................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Site Location ................................................................................................................................ 6 2.2 Existing Cycling Infrastructure ..................................................................................................... 6 3 SCHEMES, INSURANCE AND INITIATIVES ...................................................................................... 18 3.1 Cycle to Work (Bike Hire) ........................................................................................................... 18 3.2 Insurance ................................................................................................................................... 18 3.3 Pool Bikes .................................................................................................................................. 19 3.4 Proposed Bike Parking Monitoring ............................................................................................ 19 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................................. 20 Appendix A: WALKING & CYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE MAP Appendix B: EXISTING SIGN SCHEDULE & MAP Photographs rpsgroup.com/uk London Medway Commercial Park Cycle Strategy 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose of Report 1.1.1 RPS Group Ltd have been appointed by Goodman Real Estate (UK) Ltd as highway, traffic and transportation consultants to produce a Cycle Strategy which concerns transport matters for their London Medway Commercial Park, Kingsnorth, Hoo Peninsula, Medway, Kent. 1.1.2 The site for London Medway Commercial Park (formerly known as the Kingsnorth Commercial Park) is both identified and allocated by the Medway Local Plan (Adopted 14 May 2003) and MC have subsequently granted outline planning permission for the development of the park accordingly (MC/08/0370). 1.1.3 In order to improve the marketability of the business park minor material amendments to the planning have been approved. These approved amendments (MC/13/0541 and MC/13/1594) have increased the B8 usage for the approved business park extension. 1.1.4 Condition 30 of this latest planning permission (MC/13/1594) requires that no later than 3 months prior to the first occupation of the development that a Cycle Strategy is submitted to and agreed by Medway Council (MC), the Local Planning Authority (LPA). This Cycle Strategy is presented in this report which builds upon the Interim Umbrella Travel Plan which is intended to promote the travel choices that are available for travel to/from the development site and in turn reducing the reliance on private car journeys originating from housing in the process. It is envisaged that this Cycle Strategy will organically grown as individual occupiers are identified. 1.2 Benefits of Active Travel 1.2.1 The benefits of cycling as an effective form of transport are well known for both the individual and the greater population in terms of health, wealth and the environment and this fact is widely recognised and promoted at international, national and local levels of government. This section of the report aims to make you, the reader aware of these. • Health 1.2.2 In terms of health, it is widely recognised by the Department of Health (www.dh.gov.uk), the National Health Service, etc., that obesity is a key risk factor for a number of conditions including heart disease, stroke, some cancers and type-2 diabetes. In addition to the physical health problems caused by obesity, there can be a reduction in people’s overall quality of life, which can lead to additional mental health problems. Lack of physical activity is seen as a major factor in modern lifestyles that contributes to these health problems and cycling may be part of the answer. 1.2.3 Furthermore, cycling has an important role to play in social inclusion; it enables a greater proportion of the population to afford travel to see friends and relatives. 1.2.4 Somebody who rides a bike often will be a physically and mentally fitter individual which is both a benefit to them in terms of avoiding the negatives associated with inactivity. It is also a benefit to their employer as they will be less likely to have days off due to illness and will be more alert workers. 4 rpsgroup.com/uk London Medway Commercial Park Cycle Strategy • Wealth 1.2.5 Cycling is a relatively inexpensive mode of transport: the initial outlay can be modest, less than a week’s wages for most people; under current national policy vehicle excise duty (VED) is paid relative to the environmental impact of a vehicle and for bicycles this is £0; fuel costs for a bicycle are almost non-existent, unless you count the occasional chocolate bar or banana; and maintenance costs are limited also. Compare this to a car which, can cost tens of thousands to purchase and between £2,000 and £11,000 (VED and Insurance, etc) before a wheel is turned and over 20-30p per mile there after (fuel, maintenance and parking, etc) (The AA, 2010). 1.2.6 Beyond the personal costs however, cycling also has a significant role in the wider economy. For instance as previously suggested, cyclists are generally fitter members of the population and therefore are less of a drain on the economy and are more likely to contribute towards it; it is estimated that chronic heart disease alone costs the UK economy about £10 billion, based on 2000 prices (Cavill & Davis, 2007) due to hospital treatment, and days lost to illness and death, etc. 1.2.7 Furthermore, cycling has many positive externalities, for example, theoretically the more people that cycle, are less people contributing to road congestion, and congestion may be limiting economic activity in some areas. • Environment 1.2.8 Cycling is a relatively benign form of transport in terms of its impact upon the environment (unless you consider the carbon footprint of a carbon framed bike). Cycling therefore results in little or no pollution in terms of noise or emissions and once more the externalities of cycling can result in a reduction of congestion and therefore pollution at both local and global levels. 1.2.9 Currently the UK government has set the ambitious target of cutting net emissions by at least 80% by 2050 (compared to 1990 levels) (Climate Change Act, 2008). The UK government target was raised from 60% to 80% following recommendations set out by the Committee on Climate Change (Ecchinswell, 2008). 1.2.10 More recently the UK along with another 194 countries also signed up to the Paris Climate Conference agreement (Dec 2015), where agreement was reached on: • a long-term goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels; • to aim to limit the increase to 1.5°C, since this would significantly reduce risks and the impacts of climate change; • on the need for global emissions to peak as soon as possible, recognising that this will take longer for developing countries; • to undertake rapid reductions thereafter in accordance with the best available science. The AA, 2010, The Automobile Association, Motoring Costs 2010, The Automobile Association. Cavill, N., Davis, A., 2007, Cycling and Health, What is the evidence? Cycling England, London. Ecchinswell, L. T., 2008, Interim advice by the Committee on Climate Change, Committee on Climate Change 5 rpsgroup.com/uk London Medway Commercial Park Cycle Strategy 2 SITE ASSESSMENT 2.1 Site Location 2.1.1 The London Medway Commercial Park is located circa 30km east of London and almost immediately north of the existing Kingsnorth and Damhead Creek Power Stations in the Hoo Peninsula, Medway, Kent as shown below in Figure 1. N SITE Figure 1: Location Plan 2.2 Existing Cycling Infrastructure 2.2.1 Cycling has the potential to substitute for short car trips, further facilitating sustainable travel. Cycling is particularly