County Highway Authority – Response to Access Application

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