Response to Planning application from Hertfordshire County Council (T and CP GDP Order 1995)

District ref: 12/00694/1
HCC ref: NH/109/2012
HCC received: 04/04/2012
Area manager: Manjinder Sehmi
Case officer: Roger Taylor

Location
Land At Holwell Turn
Holwell Road
Pirton

Application type
Full application

Proposal
Residential development of 8 houses consisting of a pair of semi-detached dwellings and 6 terraced houses to provide 2 x 2 and 2 x 3 bed shared ownership homes and 2 x 2 bed and 2 x 3 bed social rented homes with associated vehicle access and off street parking

Decision
Notice is given under article 16 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2010 that the Hertfordshire County Council as Highway Authority does not wish to restrict the grant of permission subject to the following conditions:

1. The development hereby permitted shall not commence until the proposed access from the Holwell Road has been constructed to base course construction for the first 20 metres and the existing verge has been constructed to footway as identified on drawing 2009-48/PL101 to the current specification of Hertfordshire County Council and to the local Planning Authority's satisfaction.

2. The development hereby permitted shall not be brought into use until the proposed access road and footpaths as identified on drawing 2009-48/PL101 have been constructed to wearing course and the join to the carriageway to Holwell Road has been reinstated to the current specification of Hertfordshire County Council and to the local Planning Authority's satisfaction

3. Before the access from the Holwell Road is first brought into use, vehicle to vehicle visibility splays of 2.4 metres by 43 metres to both directions shall be provided and permanently maintained. Within which, there shall be no obstruction to visibility between 600 mm and 2.0 metres above the carriageway level. These measurements shall be taken from the intersection of the centre line of the permitted access with the edge of the carriageway of the highway respectively into the application site and from the intersection point along the edge of the carriageway.

4. The gradient of the access shall not be steeper than 1 in 20 for at least the first 6.0 metres from the edge of the carriageway.

5. The access road shall be 5.5 metres wide and the kerb radii shall be 6.0 metres, which shall be complete with tactile crossing feature.

6. Construction of the approved development shall not commence until a Construction Traffic Management Plan has been submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority in consultation with the highway authority. Thereafter the construction of the development shall only be carried out in accordance with the approved Plan. The Construction Traffic Management Plan shall include construction vehicle numbers/routing of construction traffic and shall be carried out as approved.

7. Prior to the commencement of development a Construction Method Statement shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority in consultation with the highway authority. Thereafter the construction of the development shall only be carried out in accordance with the approved Statement.

The Construction Method Statement shall address the following matters:

a. Off site highway works in order to provide access throughout the construction period, work shall be completed prior to the commencement of development, and reinstated as required; b. Construction and storage compounds (including areas designated for car parking); c. The siting and details of wheel washing facilities; d. Cable trenches within the public highway that affect traffic movement of existing residents and highway users; e. Foundation works that affect traffic movement of existing residents and highway users; f. Cleaning of site entrance and the adjacent public highways and g. Disposal of surplus materials.

8. Prior to commencement of the development any Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) that are required for the parking restrictions as part of improving the accessibility of the site must be secured in place, such as restricted parking along the frontage of the new development.

REASONS for the recommendation above:

1. In the interests of highway safety and amenity.

2. In the interests of highway safety and amenity

3. To provide adequate visibility for drivers entering and leaving the site

4. To ensure a vehicle is approximately level before being driven off and on to the highway.

5. To facilitate the free and safe flow of other traffic on the highway and the safety and convenience of pedestrians and people with a disability.

6. In order to protect highway safety and the amenity of other users of the public highway.

7. In the interests of highway safety, amenity and free and safe flow of traffic.

8. In the interests of highway safety, amenity and free and safe flow of traffic.

HIGHWAY INFORMATIVE 1:

1. Works to be undertaken on the adjoining highway shall be constructed to the satisfaction of the Highway Authority and in accordance with Hertfordshire County Council publication Roads in Hertfordshire 'A Guide for New Developments.' Before proceeding with the proposed development, the applicant shall contact the Development Team at the North and East Herts Area Office (telephone 01438 757800) to obtain their requirements on how to enter into a section 278 agreement for the associated road works as part of the development. This should be carried out prior to any development work is carried out.

Reason:

1. To ensure that work undertaken on the highway is constructed to the current Highway Authority's specification, to an appropriate standard and by a contractor who is authorised to work in the Public Highway.

HIGHWAY INFORMATIVE 2:

It is advisable that all internal roads could be designed and build to an adoptable standard.

HIGHWAY INFORMATIVE 3.

Prior to commencement of the development the applicant is advised to contact the North and East Herts Highways Area Office (01438 757800) to arrange a site visit to agree a condition survey of the approach of the highway leading to the development likely to be used for delivery vehicles to the development. Under the provisions of Section 59 of the Highways Act 1980 the developer may be liable for any damage caused to the public highway as a result of traffic associated with the development. Herts County Council may require an Officer presence during movements of larger loads.

COMMENTS:

The development comprises of the residential development of 8 houses consisting of a pair of semi-detached dwellings and 6 terraced houses to provide 2 x 2 and 2 x 3 bed shared ownership homes and 2 x 2 bed and 2 x 3 bed social rented homes with associated vehicle access and off street parking.

VEHICLE ACCESS

The development has one point of access from the Holwell Road which is the classified C22 local access road subject to a speed limit that is restricted to 30 mph.

TECHNICAL AUDIT

The design would have to be submitted to a scale of 1:200 to the highway authority and subjected to a Technical Audit with the ultimate design being technically approved prior to commencement of the s278 works on site.

To maintain highway safety along the residential street adjacent to the site the highway construction must be complete to base course level for the first 20 metres prior to any building construction to the new development commencing on site.

The width of the access road has been drawn at 5.50 metres wide on the submitted drawings which would accommodate large vehicles servicing the development. This width would support two-way traffic taking into account the passing of delivery vehicles for the scale of the development and due to the likelihood of indiscriminate parking on the access road.

Further discussion will need to take place with the developer to discuss the adoption process for the internal highway layout and the limits of highway adoption that the highway authority would accept. The submitted road layout is not to an adoptable standard (albeit there is room to provide service strips along the access road). The site internal layout will need to comply with 'Roads in Hertfordshire - A Design Guide' if the roads within the estate were to be adopted under a Section 38 Agreement.

The Developer should contact the Development Control Team at the Hertshighways North and East Herts Area Office (telephone 01438 757800) to obtain their requirements for the adoption process for the associated road works as part of the development. This should be carried out prior to any development work being carried out.

The internal road layout should have an acceptable level of vehicle to vehicle inter-visibility this has been shown as visibility splays at the access and a visibility zone along the footway (no planning condition has been recommended for this sightline as visibility is obtained along the footway and this zone was only provided for clarity that a good level of pedestrian visibility is being provided) that is to be provided under highway recommended condition 1 and 2.

Vehicle to vehicle inter visibility

The vehicle to vehicle inter-visibility from the new junction within the new development has been shown on the submitted drawings the visibility splays are provided in accordance with Manual for Streets.

Due to the geometry of the horizontal alignment of the road layout and estimated egressing speed of traffic rumble strips have been introduced near to the entrance of the development and near to the end of the access road this is in order that the speed of egressing vehicles are slowed down prior to entering the Holwell Road. Forward visibility around bends within the development access road must be maintained to the sight stopping distance (SSD) criteria of Manual for Streets this must be demonstrated as detailed on the conditional planning permission.

Manoeuvrability within the Road layout

The geometry of the horizontal alignment of the road layout has sufficient capacity to accommodate two-way traffic for vehicles likely to serve the development a swept path analysis has been prepared and is shown on drawing 2009-48/PL101 this shows a 7.5 tonne vehicle 7.5 metres long that is equivalent to the size of a typical delivery truck or a small fire appliance.

The scheme has been designed in order that refuse collection vehicles (RCVs) do not enter the site and refuse is picked up from the refuse collection point, the method of refuse collection must be confirmed as acceptable by North Herts refuse collection agency.

The vehicle tracking shown is acceptable for the manoeuvring space needed for delivery and emergency vehicles at the end of the cul-de-sac and along the access road, the turning area is shown accommodates large vehicles for emergency and delivery purposes and is considered acceptable.

Technical Design of the Road Layout

The gradient of the access road has been recommended to be a minimum 1:20 (5%) for the first 6.0 metres. This gradient is to avoid grounding of vehicles using the access to the new development from the Holwell Road.

Hertfordshire County Council as Highway Authority considers that the details submitted showing the development layout has an acceptable level of vehicle to vehicle inter visibility on the road layout and accords with highway safety.

However prior to commencement on site preliminary design details of the new access road should be provided to establish the technical design is to highway standards. An engineering drawing should be prepared drawn to a suitable scale of 1:200 to demonstrate the extent of re-profiling of the carriageway where it joins the existing road at the Holwell Road this may extend to the centre line of the road. The provided details should included the access width, kerb radii, carriageway crossfalls and a scheme for the on-site and regulated discharge of surface water run-off drainage from the proposal.

Three copies of the preliminary design should then be submitted for approval to the highway authority where a in due course when progressing the s278 agreement a technical design check would also be carried out.

In order to proceed to full planning permission a topographical survey of the existing ground levels would be required to ensure that the carriageway construction join of the vertical alignment of the new access road is possible from the adjacent highway.

Parking provision

Parking provision has not been sited to comply with the walking distance found within Roads in Hertfordshire “A Design Guide” which is 20 metres (Roads in Herts Section 2 Part 1 Chapter 8 Paragraph 8.5).

To mitigate the occurrence of residents parking on the Holwell Road it is recommended that restricted parking is introduced along the frontage of the site.

A careful balance must be struck between the desire of residents to park as near to their house as possible and maintain the overall setting.

If residents consider that the parking spaces are too far away from the their dwellings they will park their vehicles on the Holwell Road or the access road on the development which will cause an obstruction and prevent emergency vehicles and delay buses reaching their destination on time and service vehicles such as RCVs from collecting refuse.

It is inevitable that residents that do not have individual driveways will not park in the prescribed areas and will park outside their homes.

To keep the turning areas clear of parked vehicles access to parking spaces and driveways have been be introduced at the ends of turning areas to prevent parking in such areas.

Transport Statement

Public Transport

The applicant has submitted a Planning, Design and Access Statement no details were mentioned regarding the passenger transport provision.

The nearest bus stops to the development are at the end of Royal Oak Lane. These stops have been identified in the Planning Obligations Informative for upgrading to DDA standards. The village of Pirton has a limited bus service that runs throughout the day. This has been considered to be a viable service to meet the needs of the new residents in order to reduce the use of the private car.

It has been recommended to use s106 contributions to provide upgrades to bus stops in the vicinity of the site in order that they are fully Disable Discrimination Act (DDA) compliant.

Walking and Cycling

Pedestrians have access to an extensive network of footways within the village albeit there is no footway along Holwell Road until the junction of Royal Oak Lane where the footway disappears at a point where a connection to the village system of footpaths are maintained that extends to the village High Street and Great Green where the main village bus stop is located.

The village centre and local facilities have a realistic access from the development by cycling albeit that there is no dedicated cycle lanes or sufficient room on the carriageway however to provide them.

Construction Traffic

A planning condition has been recommended to prepare a Construction Traffic Management Plan to mitigate the likely impact that the volume of construction traffic travelling to the development may have on the village residents.

Transport Impact/Accident Data

There has been no traffic data produced as the development is outside the threshold to produce a Transport Assessment or a Transport Statement.

The new development will have appropriate off-road parking and a turning space. In addition a planning condition has been recommended to introduce parking restrictions along the frontage of the development. Research through the HCC’s accident data revealed that there has been no recorded accidents in the last 5 years along the Holwell Road. The bend at the Holwell turn some 45 metres distance from the centre of the access to the development is a natural traffic calming although the 30 mph sign could be relocated further into the 60 mph section to serve as a buffer zone this would serve little purpose vehicles approaching the bend would find it difficult to traverse around the bend at more than 25 mph. The new access has been assessed as being consistent to other developments in the area by comparing with established new development that are existing residential development that has been granted planning permission. Such as the land between 34 and 44 Royal Oak Lane development which was granted in 2003 and showed no concerns at that time that were brought to attention despite having no footway connection to other parts of the village.

Traffic Generation

Given the proposal involves the provision of an additional 16 parking spaces generating 0.5 trips per household (the figure of 0.5 trips taken from the 2011 (b) TRICS Data base) in the peak hours in contrast to the original nil parking provision, considering the total peak generation of traffic would be around 4 vehicles departing from the development in the morning peak period (8:0 am to 9:0 am) and arriving at the development in the evening peak period (5:0 pm to 6:0 pm) taking into account that the development is located adjacent to a local access road the new traffic generation of vehicles is considered not to have a significant impact on the local highway network.

The proposal includes a 5.5 metres wide access road which will have the capacity for the level of traffic generated by the scale of development giving the capacity to accommodate two-way traffic at the entrance.

No data has been submitted to establish the likely impact of the development would have on the local road network.

PLANNING OBLIGATION INFORMATIVE: Through the planning process Hertfordshire County Council would recommend that a financial contribution is provided by developers toward an integrated transport scheme to mitigate the incremental increase in traffic impact from developments and maximise the sustainability of the site in transport terms where safety and passenger transport improvements would then be delivered in order of need.

This approach is consistent with Circular 5/2005 whereby contributions relate to the scale and impact of development. A financial contribution in the region of £8, 000 based on £500 per parking space would be consistent with similar contributions already made by other developers in the County although this sum would not be sufficient to fund a new bus service or increase the frequency of such a service.

OFFSITE WORKS INFORMATIVE:

The requirement as part of the offsite s278 works is to include dropped kerbs and tactiles to the footway pedestrian crossing points at the entrance to the site from Holwell Road. The details should be included as part of the s278 drawing as part of the required highway work in conjunction with the development.

The requirement as part of the offsite s278 works is to join into the carriageway of Holwell Road. The details should be included as part of the s278 drawing as part of the required highway work in conjunction with the development.

As a requirement of the section 106 agreement the bus stops located at the junction of Royal Oak Lane are required to be upgraded to DDA standards in order to maximise accessibility of the site. The bus stops will need to be upgraded with easy access kerbs (shelters may not be appropriate). This will need to be agreed in conjunction with appropriate parties. These works shall be secured through the s106 agreement.

CONCLUSION

Hertfordshire County Council as Highway Authority has considered that the proposal would not have an unreasonable impact on the safety and operation of the adjoining highways with the inclusion of the recommended planning conditions and highway informatives above.

Roger Taylor

Date 23/04/2012

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