Archive for the ‘Access’ Category

One of our members has spoken to Katie Dunk as to when the committee might be meeting, re: the Access Application.

Katie said that it will not be decided officially until 5 days before,but “unofficially” it’s likely to be 07th July.

The next planning committee after this is in September.

Attached is the current draft of the WCRA response letter to the Planning Application for access.

The letter itself is quite short and summarises a common view of the points of concern but the detail is actually listed in the Appendix of the document.

Heres how I suggest you use it:

• In your letter, reference the WCRA letter if you agree with the points we raise, i.e. say something like “I would also request that you take into account the official letter of response from WCRA” ;
• Feel free to review the appendix – picking out those points which support you personal letters of objection;
• Feel free to add the appendix to your letter;
• Remember to copy your letter of objection to your local councillor;
• Remember to copy your letter of objection to WCRA;
• Remember to submit your letter by tomorrow;
• Its helpful if you compose your own letter personalising it to your own situation;
• If you dont have time to review the WCRA letter in detail – remember its still worth sending a letter to Woking Borough Council, simply stating your opinion and personal viewpoint.

The WCRA letter is attached here:  WCRA Objection Letter v3

Copied verbatim a reply to Katie Dunk (Woking Borough Council Planning Officer) from the County Highways Authority:

Dear Katie, thanks for copying me the detailed objections attached to your message below and for reminding me of the due application consultation response for the county highway authority (CHA).  In this reply I will firstly comment on the forwarded objections, then issue the CHA’s application response and then list other matters.

Comments on Objections
Application 09/0434, is for “The formation of 3 vehicular and pedestrian access points to reserved housing land at Moor Lane, Westfield”.  I also understand that the Moor Lane site does not have an extant planning permission for residential development, as planning permission was never actually issued for the 2006 planning application.  For the purposes of what I have written below for the CHA, the application appears to be solely to seek permission for three accesses to a potential housing site identified under saved policy HSG5 of the Woking Borough Local Plan 1999.  Therefore unless the LPA inform me otherwise, I assume that matters such as:
(a) the amount of development that may or may not be applied for on the Moor Lane site under later application(s), and

(b) The amount of development that may or may not be applied for from one, two or all of the proposed accesses under later application(s), and

(c) whether further or other access to the Moor Lane site may or may not be applied for under later application(s), and

(d) the adequacy of the existing transport system to be able to acceptably accommodate that amount of development on the Moor Lane site under later application(s), and

(e) the transport sustainability of the Moor Lane site against current policy and guidance,

are all outside the scope of this ‘access’ application.

The majority of the contents of the transport-related objections appear to be about matters that are outside the narrow purpose of the ‘access’ application that I have set out above.  Therefore whilst these transport-related comments are helpful background information, that I will retain on file for any future applications about the Moor Lane site, they are not directly relevant to the current ‘access’ application.

As above, please let me know if you interpret the purpose of the application differently to what I have written above.

CHA’s Response to Application 2009/0434
“Subject to the Site Access Transport Statement access drawings WBCMOORLANE2.1/07A, 08A, 09B including the following *minor revisions:
(a) I recommend that the drawings for the Westfield Way and Quartermaine Avenue accesses include uncontrolled crossings with flush drop kerbs and tactile blister paving.

(b) I recommend that Quartermaine Avenue access drawing WBCMOORLANE2.1/08A should indicate existing property access(es) made redundant by the application closed-up and reinstated.

(*Note, as these matters are of a minor nature, these revisions are not essential to enable the grant of planning permission)

The CHA has no highway capacity or highway safety objections to the proposed highway accesses and recommends that the following planning conditions and informatives be included on any permission granted.

Condition(s)
(A condition that the Newlands Avenue access be for pedestrian and cycle use and during emergencies only).

Reason: HR1 The above condition(s) is/are required in order that the development should not prejudice highway safety nor cause inconvenience to other highway users.

Policy: PPG13, MV6.

Informative(s)
HInf3 Design standards for the layout and construction of access roads and junctions, including the provision of visibility zones, shall be in accordance with the requirements of the County Highway Authority.

HInf5 The Highway Authority has no objection to the proposed development, subject to the above conditions but, if it is the applicant’s intention to offer any of the roadworks included in the application for adoption as maintainable highways, permission under the Town and Country Planning Act should not be construed as approval to the highway engineering details necessary for inclusion in an Agreement under Section 38 of the Highways Act 1980.

HInf13 The permission hereby granted shall not be construed as authority to carry out works on the highway. The applicant is advised that a licence must be obtained from the Highway Authority Local Transportation Service before any works are carried out on any footway, footpath, carriageway, verge or other land forming part of the highway.

HInf15 The developer is reminded that it is an offence to allow materials to be carried from the site and deposited on or damage the highway from uncleaned wheels or badly loaded vehicles. The Highway Authority will seek, wherever possible, to recover any expenses incurred in clearing, cleaning or repairing highway surfaces and prosecutes persistent offenders. (Highways Act 1980 Sections 131, 148, 149).

HInf23 The applicant is advised that as part of the detailed design of the highway works required by the above condition(s), the County Highway Authority may require necessary accommodation works to street lights, road signs, road markings, highway drainage, surface covers, street trees, highway verges, highway surfaces, surface edge restraints and any other street furniture/equipment.”

Other Information
Below for completeness I have repeated the body text of my 27May09 pre-registration comments on application 2009/0434.

Dear Paola, in reply to your 21May09 letter, I collected the pre-registration planning application papers from your reception yesterday.  I have briefly reviewed the papers and carried out a site visit, and have the following feedback for the county highway authority (CHA) on the papers.

Note that the Ecological Appraisal and Tree Survey Report are not matters for the CHA.

I advise that the Design & Access Statement should not refer to Surrey Structure Plan policy, because this plan is defunct following the release of the South East Plan.

I have not considered the Site Access Transport Statement (SATS) sections 2 ‘Site Accessibility’, 3 ‘Traffic Attraction & Initial Junction Modelling’, nor 4 ‘Access Options Appraisal’ (save as below), because these matters are not directly associated with the access application.

Under SATS paragraph 4.51-4.54, I recommend that the design of the Westfield Way access permits access by the construction vehicles that are likely to be associated with the construction of the development (and the route to Westfield Road be kept clear of on-street parking), unless a temporary construction access is proposed.

I have the following comments on the SATS access drawings WBCMOORLANE2.1/07A, 08A, 09B:

(a) I recommend that the drawings for the Westfield Way and Quartermaine Avenue accesses include uncontrolled crossings with flush drop kerbs and tactile blister paving.

(b) I recommend that Quartermaine Avenue access drawing WBCMOORLANE2.1/08A should indicate existing property access(es) made redundant by the application closed-up and reinstated.

For the CHA I am likely to make the following response on this application:

“The CHA has no highway capacity or highway safety objections to the proposed highway accesses and recommends that the following planning conditions and informatives be included on any permission granted.

Condition(s)
(A condition that the Newlands Avenue access be for pedestrian and cycle use and during emergencies only).

Reason: HR1 The above condition(s) is/are required in order that the development should not prejudice highway safety nor cause inconvenience to other highway users.

Policy: PPG13, MV6.

Informative(s)
HInf3 Design standards for the layout and construction of access roads and junctions, including the provision of visibility zones, shall be in accordance with the requirements of the County Highway Authority.

HInf5 The Highway Authority has no objection to the proposed development, subject to the above conditions but, if it is the applicant’s intention to offer any of the roadworks included in the application for adoption as maintainable highways, permission under the Town and Country Planning Act should not be construed as approval to the highway engineering details necessary for inclusion in an Agreement under Section 38 of the Highways Act 1980.

HInf13 The permission hereby granted shall not be construed as authority to carry out works on the highway. The applicant is advised that a licence must be obtained from the Highway Authority Local Transportation Service before any works are carried out on any footway, footpath, carriageway, verge or other land forming part of the highway.

HInf15 The developer is reminded that it is an offence to allow materials to be carried from the site and deposited on or damage the highway from uncleaned wheels or badly loaded vehicles. The Highway Authority will seek, wherever possible, to recover any expenses incurred in clearing, cleaning or repairing highway surfaces and prosecutes persistent offenders. (Highways Act 1980 Sections 131, 148, 149).

HInf23 The applicant is advised that as part of the detailed design of the highway works required by the above condition(s), the County Highway Authority may require necessary accommodation works to street lights, road signs, road markings, highway drainage, surface covers, street trees, highway verges, highway surfaces, surface edge restraints and any other street furniture/equipment.”

Regards
Greg Devine, Transportation Development Control Officer (Woking / Guildford)
Address. Surrey County Council, Room 365, County Hall, Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 2DY
Direct dial tel. 020 8541 7027
Fax. 020 8541 9335
E-mail. greg.devine@surreycc.gov.uk

Here at WCRA we are still formulating the official letter that we are going to submit.

For those of you who need a reminder of where to send your objections to then please note the following:

1. All objections should quote the access planning application reference namely, PLAN/2009/0434.
2. Any views you wish to make on this application MUST be made in writing and can be submitted online, by letter or email.
3. Online comments are submitted via Woking Borough Councils online planning application (this only works with Internet Explorer v5.5 or higher. A  quick link can be found here:   http://caps.woking.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=KJVTWCRU01300
4. Email comments can be posted to developmentcontrol@woking.gov.uk.
5. Postal comments can be sent to:  Adrian Bishop, Borough Planning Officer, Woking Borough Council, Civic Offices, Gloucester Square, Woking, Surrey GU21 6YL. Please copy to Katie Dunk, Planning Officer.
6. Please also send a copy of yor comments to WCRA and to your local councillor.

• WCRA Contact Address: Chairman, WCRA, 8 Moor Lane, Woking, GU22 9QY
• Councillor Derek McCrum (Kingfield & Westfield Ward): Sunnymeads, Westfield Common, Woking, Surrey, GU22 9NT.  01483 772735. cllrderek.mccrum@woking.gov.uk
• Councillor Stewart Brown (Kingfield & Westfield Ward): 19 Mabel Street, Woking, Surrey, GU21 6NN.  07847 059959.  cllrstewart.brown@woking.gov.uk
• Councillor Simon Bellord (Mayford & Sutton Green Ward): Flat 1 Tetten Hall, West Hill Road, Woking, Surrey, GU22 7UJ. 01483 767865. cllrsimon.bellord@woking.gov.uk

The report from the independant Transport Study has been delivered.

Summary of Findings

• the excessive distance to nearby bus stops, and hence non-compliance with government policy documents PPG13 and PPS3 which require new development to be sustainable and readily accessible to public bus transport;
• the vehicular capacity of the Westfield Road / Balfour Avenue junction which has been analysed using incorrectly assigned development traffic, and without forecasting to realistic future year scenarios (year 2006 analysed);
• questionable interpretation of PICADY output data, despite the output being based on incorrect input data;
• further concern over other nearby junctions, such as the Balfour Avenue /Westfield Common junction, where the proposed development is likely to have a significant impact;
• misleading statements regarding the width of vehicular access to the development site which do not consider the width of existing roads leading to the development and their associated vehicular capacity.

The report can be downloaded here: 2803_TS_Review

Kerry has offered to provide print copies tonight between the hours of  7:30pm and 8:30pm only.

Please contact her at: kerry@willow-bank.org.uk to make the arrangements.

submitted a letter to Woking Borough Council requesting clarification on an initial few points concerning:

• Why Moor Lane was discounted as an access route?
• Why the proposed Westfield Way route (12b) was selected?
• What was the likely sequence of road access development?
• What happens to the displaced residents of the demolished council houses?

A transcript of the reply is shown below and a pdf of the reply can be downloaded by clicking on the link here > Microsoft Word – Letter to Bill Corney June 09 re Moor Lane

To:

Mr Bill Corney

Acting Chair

Westfield Common Residents Association

From:

Civic Offices

Gloucester Square

Woking

Surrey GU21 6YL

Telephone (01483) 755855

Facsimile (01483) 768746

DX 2931 WOKING

Email wokbc@woking.gov.uk

Website www.woking.gov.uk

2nd June 2009

Dear Mr Corney

RE: Moor Lane Development

Thank you for your email dated 22nd May 2009 regarding the above proposed development. We have addressed each of your queries separately as follows.

Question:

Access from Moor Lane (option 1) – The application discounts use of Moor Lane due to 3rd party land ownership issues.

Could you elaborate on this matter please? Is the issue that ownership is uncertain or cannot be determined in which case the Council is unable to progress or is the issue that, this would add too much delay or cost to be worth progressing, i.e. via land searches and compulsory land acquisition. This point is significant in that the outline planning application identified this as one of the feasible routes in and therefore a number of residents expectations have been therefore disconfirmed.

Answer:

The County Highways Authority (CHA) would require significant changes to Moor Lane for it to be used as a major access to the site.

Some of the land required to achieve the necessary road structure is not in the Council’s ownership and would require a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) of 3rd party land. Indeed, it is unclear who owns some of the land. Added to this, if there is a viable alternative it would be difficult to justify a CPO.

To avoid this situation, Mayer Brown, an external highways consultant, was commissioned by the Council to assess whether there are other viable options using land already within the Council’s control. The study has shown that there is at least one feasible alternative, removing the need to use Moor Lane as a main access, while satisfying the CHA requirements.

Question:

Access from Westfield Way (options 9 a/b vs. 12b) – Can you elaborate?

Is option 12b favoured because this does not cause displacement of existing residents that would be incurred via either option 9a/b?

Answer:

Options 9a and 9b would have indeed caused more disturbance to the residents than Option 12b, not only to those in the houses that would have had to be demolished, but also to those Westfield residents west of 9a and 9b accesses.

Question:

Access from Quartermaine (option 5) – In terms of construction / displacement of current residents.

Is it intended that this access route will be created at the later stages of the development i.e. after construction of phase 1 of the site.

Answer:

The details of the phases will form part of the bidders proposals and are yet unknown.

Question:

Do the existing residents of these dwellings (which I understand to be council residents) then get priority in the housing register for housing allocation in the new site?

Answer:

The existing residents will get priority on the housing register. Vacant possession and demolition of their houses will have to be achieved before Financial Close in September 2010.

We will be holding another public consultation during Autumn 2009. Details of the consultation will be made available to residents closer to the time. Your name has been added to our list of interested parties and we will ensure that you are made aware of the date.

We hope we have helped in some way to answer your queries. The Council will continue to keep residents informed as the project progresses. If you would like further information regarding Priority Homes please refer to Woking Borough Council’s website at www.woking.gov.uk/priorityhomes or call 01483 743891.

Yours sincerely,

Priority Homes Team

For those struggling to find or download the documents here are the relevant docs in pdf format downloaded from the WBC planning site.

• Application Form
• Application Submission
• Location Plan
• Design & Access Statement
• Site Access Transport Statement
• Ecological Appraisal
• Tree Report

These are as per the copies posted by WBC onto their public planning portal (21st May 2009).

All rights acknowledged.

Westfield Common is registered as CL121 in the Common Land register (Commons Registration Act, 1965).

A map showing the registered area is shown below:

Development of Common Land is protected by statutory law, the most relevant laws are:

• Section 38 of the 2006 Act requires that consent be sought to carry out  restricted works on land registered as common land under the Commons Registration Act 1965.  Restricted works are any that prevent or impede access to or over the land. They include fencing, buildings, structures, ditches, trenches, embankments and other works, where the effect of those works is to prevent or impede access. They also include, in every case, new solid surfaces.
• Under the Law of Property Act 1925 (Section 194) it is unlawful to construct buildings, erect fences, or carry out any other works which prevent access to common land unless the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has given permission.
• Under the Law of Commons Amendment Act 1893 (Section 2) Any inclosure or improvement of a common (removal of common rights and enclosure of the land) is not lawful unless the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has granted permission.
• Road Traffic Act 1988 (Section 34) -This makes it unlawful for a person to drive a motor vehicle on any common land (as well as some other types of land ) without lawful authority.

To assist with interpretation of the Tree Survey here is an image of the trees impacted by Route 12b based on the finding of the tree survey.

Interpretation is as follows:

• Class A – Retention is a high priority.
• Class B – Retention is a moderate priority.
• Class C – Retention is a low priority.

For those struggling to find the information in the planning application or WBC website.

Planning permission has been requested for 3 routes:

• Option 3 – Through the southern end of Newlands Avenue (emergency access only)
• Option 5 – Through demolished 3 & 5 Quartermaine Avenue
• Option 12b – South side of Westfield Way.

See map below (click for larger view).  The routes are shown in red: