70031253 Axbridge Road, Cheddar Technical Note 01: Accessibility Review 16 March 2017 Introduction WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff has prepared this Technical Note (TN) in order to summarise our findings in relation to access to and accessibility of the Yeo Valley Farm site located to the north of Axbridge Road, Cheddar, Somerset. We have reviewed these matters with reference to content of the Submission Draft Sedgemoor Local Plan currently out for public consultation until 17 March 2017. We welcome recognition and allocation of this established brownfield site within the Draft Sedgemoor Local Plan and Sedgemoor District Council (SDC)’s acceptance of the principal of its redevelopment. Within this TN we summarise the following: · Location of the site at the gateway to Cheddar and in comfortable walking distance of Axbridge village; · The existing, high quality, safe vehicular access to the site, offering ample capacity for future development and enabling development with a minimum of disruption to movements into and out of Cheddar; · Potential to reduce HGV movements associated with site use, depending on future uses; · Accessibility to various day-to-day services and facilities available within Cheddar and Axbridge; · Accessibility to high quality recreational walking and cycling opportunities, afforded by proximity to the ‘Strawberry Line’ (National Cycle Network Route 26) and numerous public footpaths, supporting SDC’s objectives in terms of healthy lifestyles; · Location adjacent to the regular no126 bus service which operates seven days a week along the A371 linking Weston-super-Mare, Axbridge, Cheddar and Wells; and · Opportunities to provide or contribute toward localised accessibility improvements to support any redevelopment proposal, also to the benefit of existing residents and businesses close to the site. These will ensure sustainable access to and from the site and address any residual accessibility concerns that SDC may have. Site Location The site comprises the Holt Farms Ltd (Yeo Valley) business site primarily used for the storage of dry materials (e.g. yoghurt pots), along with two residential dwellings within its curtilage (Rothesday and Winden). It is located to the north of the A371 Axbridge Road, Cheddar (postcode BS26 2DP), to the north west of Cheddar and to the north east of Axbridge. The site is approximately 2km from Cheddar village centre and 1.6km from Axbridge village centre. Cheddar is designated by the Draft Sedgemoor Local Plan as being a Tier 1 settlement, second only to the district’s main settlements of Bridgewater and Burnham-on-Sea/ Highbridge in terms of the breadth of good quality services and facilities, which it provides to serve not only the settlement but also a wider area. Axbridge is identified as a Tier 2 settlement, which is deemed by SDC to still provide a good range of services and facilities, both serving the settlement itself and close neighbouring smaller settlements. Proximity of the site to both settlements increases the number of day to day services and facilities in walking or cycling distance. The site is located approximately 16km (10 miles) north west of Wells and approximately 11 miles (18km) from Weston-super-Mare. The main settlement in Sedgemoor (Bridgwater) is approximately 28km (17 miles) to its south west and the regional centre of Bristol is approximately 30km (18 miles) to its north. The site is bound to the south by the A371 Axbridge Road, a route which connects Weston-super-Mare to the north west with Wells to the south east (via Axbridge, Cheddar and a number of other settlements). To the west of Axbridge the A371 also meets the A38, which connects Bristol to the north with Bridgewater to the south. In the immediate vicinity of the site, the A371 is subject to a 30mph or 40mph speed limit, with the change in speed limit adjacent to the site boundary. There are associated traffic calming features (rumble strips and painted roundels) denoting the entrance to Cheddar (the ‘Cheddar’ road sign on approach from the west is also located adjacent to the site). The 40mph designation extends westwards beyond the A371 / Cheddar Road junction. The 30mph speed limit, which commences approximately 43m west of the main site access, continues eastwards into the centre of Cheddar. The A371 adjacent to the site also benefits from street lighting. The site is bound to the north by Cheddar Woods, to the east by Cheddar Woods Holiday Park and to the west by a private dwelling and its plot. To the south of the A371, directly opposite the site, are the Broadway Cottage Camping Site and Carters Pay Less Tyres. As well as benefiting from proximity to services and facilities within Cheddar and Axbridge, the site is also extremely well placed for access to numerous leisure and recreational walking and cycling routes, supporting SDC’s objectives in relation to encouraging healthier lifestyles through maximising the benefits of living within or close to a rural environment. The long distance ‘Strawberry Line’ cycle route (National Cycle Network Route 26) from Yatton Railway Station to Cheddar can be accessed approximately 600m from the site, close to the A371 / Cheddar Road Junction, where the off-road section of the route between Axbridge and Cheddar commences. Opportunities for new direct access to the Strawberry Line could be explored in association with any development application. The site is recognised within paragraphs 5.122 and 5.126 of the Draft Sedgemoor Local Plan as being a site likely to become available and suitable for redevelopment. Recognition of the potential for redevelopment of this brownfield site, in accordance with the Draft Local Plan’s assertion that “The reuse of brownfield land will be promoted wherever possible”, is welcomed, as is the fact that SDC see no overriding constraint why redevelopment of the site would be unacceptable in locational terms. It is also welcomed that the plan recognises that the site is relatively close to Axbridge and Cheddar and benefits from nearby services and facilities, although it is believed that the wording in paragraph 5.126 that it “does benefit from some small scale local services within walking distance from the site” (our emphasis) actually undersells its locational advantages and its proximity to a Tier 1 and a Tier 2 settlement (see later). Given the location of the site at the ‘gateway’ to Cheddar, denoted by the welcome sign and change in speed limit to 30pm, along with the presence of street lighting and adjacent tourism and commercial land uses, we would call into question the assertion within the Local Plan that the site should be treated as a ‘rural’ brownfield site judged under Policy T.13. This would not reflect the site’s location in proximity to Axbridge and Cheddar (given their notable roles within SDC’s settlement hierarchy). The remainder of this note outlines the credentials of the site in access and accessibility terms and identifies how improvements can be made to support any future planning application for redevelopment, to address current limitations to sustainable access. Site Access The site benefits from an established and high quality main vehicular access from the A371, in the form of a priority junction with right turn ghost-island. This provides ample capacity to support future redevelopment of the site of the scale which could be accommodated within its boundaries. The main access is supplemented by a smaller secondary access, in the form of a simple priority junction providing access to the two existing dwellings of Rothesday and Winden. Visibility at the site accesses is good. During the most recent 5-year period for which personal injury accident (PIA) data is freely available, there have been no accidents recorded in association with the site accesses. This suggests that the current layout is safely and suitably providing for site access and can equally do so for future development on the site. Nonetheless, redevelopment will provide an opportunity to rationalise site access and to ensure that the access needs of pedestrians and cyclists are also well catered for, either through amendments to the site access or through more direct connections from the site to the footway along its frontage, to correspond to desire lines into and out of the site. Access and accessibility by non-car modes of transport are outlined and assessed further below. Depending on the type and scale of future development, the site’s redevelopment could reduce HGV movements compared to the current situation, responding to local concerns about HGV traffic in Cheddar more generally, which were raised in response to previous rounds of consultation regarding the emerging local plan. In summary, an established, high quality access to the site already exists. The site access junction already benefits from a right turn ghost island, would have ample capacity to support future redevelopment and benefits from good visibility. In terms of NPPF, the existing junction demonstrates with certainty that the requirement for a safe and suitable access to future development can be easily met. Accessibility The Draft Sedgemoor Local Plan highlights the locational benefits of Cheddar for further development, such as proximity to a number of employment opportunities, including those associated with Tourism around Cheddar Gorge. It is understood that no specific accessibility advice in terms of walking and/or cycling distances or thresholds is adopted by Somerset County Council (SCC) as the Local Highways Authority. We understand that SCC’s standing advice is that: “It is for the Local Planning Authority to determine if the development is appropriately located, having regard to the development limits as identified in the adopted Local Plan/Core Strategy”. Table 1 therefore summarises some of the key services and facilities within approximately a 30 minute walk (or 10 minute cycle) of the site. Proximity to and promotion of these facilities can support encouragement of walking and/or cycling to undertake day to day travel needs, rather than choosing less healthy or more polluting modes of transport or travelling further afield.