Marble Hill Park Response to LB Richmond Highways Comments September 2017 N01/172807 Introduction 1. Vectos has been appointed by English Heritage to advise on transport issues related to planning application for proposals at Marble Hill Park within the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. 2. A planning application (Ref: 17/1096/LBC) was recently submitted to LB Richmond for the following development: Marble Hill House: Minor internal alterations; repair to damp affected flat wall plaster, installation of a new platform lift. External decoration and repair work; repairs to windows, if a window is substantially rotten, partial or full replacement of joinery elements may be necessary. 2. Stable block: Single storey rear extension for use as a café, with associated mechanical plant; Internal and external alteration. 3. Landscaping: New soft and hard landscaping works, including restoration of gardens, upgrade of sport pitches; replacement of seating, play areas and storage facilities. 4. Boundary treatment, walls and fencing: Partial demolition in part, repairs and new. 5. Service yard: New service yard, access and associated storage facilities. 6. Sports centre: Internal refurbishment. 3. This planning application was supported by a comprehensive Transport Assessment (TA), prepared by Vectos. Following submission of the application, LB Richmond has raised a number of highways issues in relation to the submitted application and TA. The comments provided by LB Richmond are contained at Appendix A . A meeting was also held with LB Richmond officers to discuss these comments in more detail. 4. This Technical Note sets out a response to the LB Richmond comments, providing additional and / or amended information as appropriate. LB Richmond Comments 5. The following section of this Technical Note summarises each LB Richmond comment (in bold) followed by a response. Richmond Road (adjacent to Marble Hill Park) is not 20mph, as stated in the TS. It is a 30mph. 6. This is an error within a descriptive section of the Transport Assessment. It is acknowledged that the correct speed limit of Richmond Road within the vicinity of Marble Hill Park is Page: 2 30mph. However, this alteration does not result in a material difference to the assessment undertaken of the development proposals. There is no way to check that pedestrian visitors to the park have driven but parked on street with a residents permit. 7. In order to confirm whether existing pedestrian visitors to the park have driven and parked on surrounding streets, it was agreed with LB Richmond officers that a sample survey at the pedestrian entrance points would be undertaken. This survey would cover all entrance points to the site to gain a snap shot that could then be applied to the previously collected survey data. It was agreed with LB Richmond officers that the sample surveys would be undertaken on Friday 30 June and Saturday 1 July 2017 between 12:00-16:00. This survey was undertaken by an independent specialist survey company and the raw survey data is provided at Appendix B. 8. These surveys recorded the mode of transport of all those entering the park and for those that entered on foot but travelled by car, their parking location was also recorded. The results of the survey are summarised in Table 1 below. Table 1: Method of Travel of those Surveyed Entering Marble Hill Park on Foot Mode of Travel Friday Saturday Walk / Run 392 81.8% 497 74.8% Car (driver or passenger)- Parked On-Site 22 4.6% 21 3.2% Car (driver or passenger)- Parked Off-Site 29 6.1% 78 11.7% Cycle 18 3.8% 26 3.9% Train 10 2.1% 22 3.3% Bus 8 1.7% 20 3.0% Total 479 664 9. Table 1 demonstrates that of all those that were surveyed entering the park on foot, 10-15% had used a car (either as driver or passenger) as their main mode of travel to the site. 10. The survey results also indicate that each of these visitors arriving by car did not do so individually, with many arriving in groups (e.g. families travelling in the same vehicle). As such, the 51 visitors arriving by car equates to 34 cars, a ratio of 67%. On a Saturday, the 99 arrivals by car equates to 45 cars, a ratio of 45%. 11. Of the 34 car trips on a Friday, 10 were parked within the car park. The remaining 24 cars were parked in off-site locations, or did not give a parking location. On the Saturday, 14 cars parked in the car park, with the remaining 31 cars parked off-site. 12. Applying these results to the predicted visitor numbers previously presented in the TA would give rise to a revised number of predicted future trips for park users (i.e. not including visitors to the house) to the site by car. 13. Trips to the site have been divided into two categories; visitors to the park and visitors to the House. This distinction has been made because visitors to the house will result in more Page: 3 significant increases in vehicular traffic as a result of the proposals. In reality, English Heritage anticipates that 50% of house visitors will be park users who have taken the opportunity to visit the house at the same time, and that as a result, only 50% of the remaining visitors will come by car. However as a worst case scenario, we have worked on the principle of 50% of all visitors to the house arriving by car. This is considered a worst case scenario because currently only 12% (on average) of visitors to Marble Hill come by car, and at other comparable English Heritage sites such as Kenwood House or Chiswick House & Gardens, the majority of visitors arrive by non-car modes of travel. These predicted trips remain unchanged from the previously submitted TA. 14. A summary of the predicted trip numbers at the site is presented in Table 2 below. Table 2: Predicted Visitor Numbers Total Park Park High Park Low House Park Only High Daily Park Only Visitors Season (Two Season (One Visitors Season Visitors Visitors Year Thirds of Third of (Total Park High High Season Total) Total Season Visitors less Visitors Divided by House Visitors) 183 days) 2016/2017 695,000 463,333 231,667 2,940 460,393 2,523 2017/2018 631,818 421,212 210,606 2,940 418,272 2,292 2018/2019 631,818 421,212 210,606 22,565 398,647 2,184 2019/2020 806,200 537,467 268,733 67,183 470,283 2,577 2020/2021 792,300 528,200 264,100 52,820 475,380 2,605 2021/2022 778,400 518,933 259,467 51,893 467,040 2,559 2022/2023 764,500 509,667 254,833 50,967 458,700 2,513 2023/2024 779,790 519,860 259,930 51,986 467,874 2,564 2024/2025 795,386 530,257 265,129 53,026 477,232 2,615 2025/2026 811,294 540,863 270,431 54,086 486,776 2,667 15. For predicted park visitors (i.e. excluding visitors the house), these are now further divided into two categories based on the two potential parking locations, on-site (in the car park) or off-site (predominantly on local roads). These have been based on the proportions set out above. 16. Table 3 presents the predicted park visitor only trips for a weekend day. Page: 4 Table 3: Revised Park Visitors Only (Excluding House Visitors) by Car Daily Arrivals By Car (based on current parking locations) Total Year Park Parking On-Site Parking Off-Site Vehicles Visitors No. Visitors No. Vehicles No. Visitors No. Vehicles 2016/2017 2,523 303 202 260 173 375 2017/2018 2,292 275 183 236 157 341 2018/2019 2,184 262 175 225 150 325 2019/2020 2,577 309 206 265 177 383 2020/2021 2,605 313 208 268 179 387 2021/2022 2,559 307 205 263 176 380 2022/2023 2,513 302 201 259 173 374 2023/2024 2,564 308 205 264 176 381 2024/2025 2,615 314 209 269 179 389 2025/2026 2,667 320 213 275 183 396 17. Table 2 demonstrates that the revised number of car trips generated by park visitors only on a peak weekend day by park users will be 396 in 2025/2026. Based on a 10 hour day, this equates to an average of 40 vehicles per hour. Currently there are 375 car trips by park users only, and this is predicted to increase to 396 by 2025/26; an increase of 21 cars per day on current traffic generated by car users. Based on a ten hour day, this represents an additional two vehicles per hour on average across the day. 18. To calculate total visitor numbers by car, predicted visitors to the house have then been added to the above, and this is presented in Table 4 below. Table 4: Revised Daily Vehicle Trip Generation Marble Hill Park Marble Hill House Total Year Arrivals via Total Arrivals via Total Arrivals via Total Car Vehicles Car Vehicles Car Vehicles 2016/2017 562 375 6 4 568 379 2017/2018 511 341 6 4 517 344 2018/2019 487 325 74 49 561 374 2019/2020 575 383 221 147 796 530 2020/2021 581 387 174 116 755 503 2021/2022 571 380 171 114 741 494 2022/2023 560 374 168 112 728 485 2023/2024 572 381 171 114 743 495 2024/2025 583 389 174 116 757 505 2025/2026 595 396 178 119 773 515 19.