Transport Update

This section of the website provides an update on the Horkesley Park Planning Application. For convenience this section is broken down into categories - see the menu on the left of the page. The remainder of the website remains unaltered as this information is current, detailing the Application, the content of the proposals, the consultants, Q&A and much, much more…

An assessment of Traffic, Transport and Access considerations was completed by independent specialist consultants, RPS Group plc, as part of the Environmental Statement (ES) submitted with the Application and is supported by a Transport Assessment and Travel Plan, as well as other information supplied to Colchester Borough Council (CBC) and Essex County Council Highway Authority.

The Highways Agency, Essex County Council Highway Authority and Suffolk County Council Highway Authority have all raised no objection to the Horkesley Park Planning Application.

The ES concludes that the highway network has sufficient capacity available to facilitate the proposals and that Horkesley Park will not give rise to unacceptable traffic increases or impacts on the surrounding local or strategic road network. The assessment also concludes that the technical arrangements for the A134/London Road junction are satisfactory and that the site is accessible by alternative modes of transport to the private car including walking, cycling and public transport.

The Transport Assessment and Travel Plan (and other related information) provides details of a large number of enhancements to walking, cycling and public transport facilities delivered by Horkesley Park to promote sustainable transport choices for visitors and for local people alike. These include:

new public transport links and extended routes
provision of a Horkesley Park hopper bus, with a cycle transporting trailer, to link with other tourism destinations, including Dedham village
shuttle bus for staff
improvements and extensions to the footpath network
the provision of new cycleways and associated facilities including cycle hire

All of these enhancements are to be secured through a s106 Agreement and/or Planning Obligations.

The statutory bodies for transport and sustainability issues are the Highways Agency, Essex County Council Highway Authority and the Suffolk County Highway Authority, although the impact of the Scheme on the local road network has also been raised by other consultees such as CBC’s Strategic, Policy and Regeneration department (SP&R) as well as local residents.

The initial responses to the Application by both the Highways Agency and Suffolk County Council Highway Authority queried the impact of additional traffic on existing A12 junctions whilst the Highways Agency also advised it did not have sufficient information and imposed a TR110 Direction preventing the Application from being approved until it had the information it required to respond fully.

However, following discussions with the statutory bodies and the provision of additional surveys, assessments and further reports which consider the cumulative impact of the proposal and all other allocated growth for Colchester on the local road network including scenarios both with and without the new A12 Junction 28, the Essex County Council Highway Authority formally responded to the Application (6 July 2010) raising no objection subject to the secured

The Local Highway Authority (Essex County Council) has expressed that it is happy that the Horkesley Park site will be accessible by public transport, cycle and foot thereby confirming that it satisfies the Government requirements.

provision of the proposed enhancements to walking, cycling and public transport facilities, traffic management and highway improvements.

Importantly, the Local Highway Authority (Essex County Council) has expressed that it is happy that the Horkesley Park site will be accessible by public transport, cycle and foot thereby confirming that it satisfies the Government requirements. After receiving the additional information, the Highways Agency removed its holding Direction on 7 April 2010 (with a final version on 13 May 2010) and raised no objection to the Application. This was followed by the Suffolk County Council Highway Authority response of 6 May 2010 which also raised no objection to Horkesley Park.

Despite the three positive responses (from the Highways Agency, Essex County Council Highway Authority and Suffolk County Council Highway Authority) all raising no objection, CBC’s SP&R department has continued to object on sustainability grounds and it is believed they instructed consultants Savell Bird & Axon (SBA) to provide a review considering the Application in context of matters relating to transportation policy, access and access by non car modes. This SBA Review is dated November 2010 and was made public on CBC website on 21 January 2011.

In response, the Horkesley Park Transport Planning Consultant prepared a formal response, dated 18 March 2011, which concludes that the three identified matters (namely transportation policy, access and access by non-car modes) have already been examined in full by the local highway authority and have been deemed to be acceptable. Notwithstanding this, the response by the Horkesley Park Transport Planning Consultant also concludes the SBA Review is poorly informed and includes a number of serious flaws.

Please click on the documents below if you would like more information (pdf format):

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