www.chippenhamcivicsociety.co.uk - Wiltshire Core Strategy

Wiltshire Core Strategy Consultation Document, June 2011

Comments on Proposals for Chippenham Town

Contents:

A. Summary of main comments and recommendations

B. Elaboration of comments on the Spatial Strategy for Chippenham Town (Core Policies 4 and 5)

Appendix 1: Wiltshire LTP 2011-2026, sustainable transport objectives

Appendix 2: Note on transport and global warming / peak oil

A. Summary of Main Comments and Recommendations

The strategic proposals for Chippenham do not show any transport links (i.e. new roads). This is a major omission, as land use and transport are closely inter-connected, and it is difficult to comment on the strategic site proposals without knowing how they will be integrated with the local and strategic transport network.

The strategic proposals (for new employment and residential land) are highly road-focused (at edge-of-town locations), and likely to generate significant levels of commuting and road-based freight trips. This runs counter to the strategic objectives of both the Wiltshire Core Strategy and the Wiltshire Local Transport Plan, to minimise and reduce car travel, and promote rail freight transport wherever practical.

The Wiltshire Core Strategy should promote rail-oriented development throughout the county to the maximum extent possible. Re-opening of Corsham and Wootton Bassett stations should be top priorities, and likewise greatly increased utilisation of the Trans-Wilts rail link (Swindon-Chippenham-Melksham-Trowbridge-etc). At Chippenham, this means giving top priority to developing future employment at the centrally-located Langley Park site (with over 20 hectares of employment land adjacent to the railway station).

The strategic site development proposals in Core Policy 5 (Options 1 and 2) would mean that most future transport investment in Chippenham will be allocated to building new ring roads, either to the north-east or south-east of Chippenham, or both. This will pre-empt transport investment that should rather be spent on developing sustainable transport infrastructure (rail, bus, cycling and walking facilities and operation).

The eastern ring road, proposed in the 2009 ‘preferred option’ and now implied in both Options 1 and 2 of Core Policy 5, should not be progressed because: (i) it will generate substantial increases in car-based travel, both locally and long-distance; (ii) it will have a major environmental impact on Birds Marsh and greenfield land to the east of Chippenham; (iii) it will absorb substantial transport funds that could be spent on more sustainable modes (Point 4 above).

If the proposal for an eastern ring road is rejected, then it will not be necessary to construct a new link road between Malmesbury Road and Langley Burrell Road (for the north-east site). Instead, more modest improvements to Hill Corner Road can be carried out. This will mean that Birds Marsh will not be blighted by the proximity of a major road, and – with the provision of an adequate green buffer – will safeguard its important role as a strategic environmental and recreational site for Chippenham.

For the south-west Chippenham option, it is recommended that a new road link between Rowden Hill and Avenue La Fleche is progressed, rather than a major new road between Melksham Road and Pewsham Way. The reasons are: (i) it will encourage sustainable travel within Chippenham by improving local access between south-east and south-west Chippenham – a major southern ring road, on the other hand, would tend to encourage longer-distance car traffic and be of little benefit for local trips within Chippenham; (ii) it will assist the proposed town extension at the Bath Road / Bridge Centre site by reducing traffic at the junction; (iii) it will have significantly less environmental impact on the River Avon valley than a major new road; (iv) it will be substantially cheaper (than a major new ring road to the south-east of Chippenham).

Some of the transport funds that might otherwise have been spent on a major south-east ring road should instead be used to provide new underpasses under the railway line, to facilitate pedestrian / cycle / minibus / taxi connections between the east and west sides of the proposed south-west Chippenham extension. (Currently there is only a single, narrow road bridge under the railway for the whole of the 1.5km section between A4 Bath Road and the A350).

Three new Country Parks should be formally designated for Chippenham: (i) the River Avon Valley to the west and south of Avenue La Fleche (as shown in both Options 1 and 2); (ii) land to the north and north-east of Abbeyfield School (note that a Country Park was proposed in this vicinity in the 2009 Chippenham Preferred Option); (iii) Birds Marsh and its surrounding buffer zone.

Chippenham’s three secondary schools (Sheldon, Hardenhuish and Abbeyfield) should be invited to ‘adopt’ the three proposed Country Parks respectively, so that students both learn about and help to promote the wildlife and amenity of each.

B. Elaboration of Comments and Recommendations on the Spatial Strategy for Chippenham Town (Core Policies 4 and 5 in particular)

Need to show transport links on the proposals: The two strategic site options for Chippenham (Options 1 and 2) do not show any transport links (e.g. new roads), or how the proposed sites would be integrated within the local and strategic transport network. Unless the transport links are also considered, it not possible to properly comment on the alternative options. Key issues such as: (i) what would be the impact on Birds Marsh of the north-east Chippenham proposal? (ii) how would school children access Abbeyfield School from the south west Chippenham proposal? can only be addressed by also considering the transport proposals.

Action: Wiltshire Council should immediately publish indicative transport proposals to accompany the proposed site options; otherwise any comments can only be tentative.

The proposals for new housing and employment in Chippenham are strongly road-based, and run counter to the County and National policies of discouraging growth in car travel and road-based freight movement.

The proposed 28 hectares of new employment land at Showell Farm and 2.5 hectares at north-east Chippenham are located right on the edge of town, and focused on the road network. They will encourage car commuting and road-based freight. The current situation at Bumper’s Farm industrial estate illustrates the level of car / road freight dependency that the proposed new estates are likely to engender.

In the Wiltshire Local Transport Plan 2011-2016, 10 out of 18 strategic transport objectives specifically aim at promoting sustainable transport (see list in Appendix 1 below); similarly, the draft Wiltshire Core Strategy’s Strategic Objective 8 aims at promoting sustainable forms of transport (see Core Policies 42 to 48).

Rail-oriented development: The Wiltshire Core Strategy should aim at maximising the use of the rail network in Wiltshire, and locating new development in the County around the rail network as much as possible. This means:

· Bringing Corsham and Wootton Bassett stations into use as soon as possible;

· Maximising use of the Trans-Wilts railway line (Swindon-Chippenham-Melksham-Trowbridge-Westbury - Dilton Marsh -Warminster-Salisbury);

· Locating new development to support this rail axis, both strategically (i.e. in towns on the rail network) and locally (i.e. at locations near existing stations).

Langley Park: the priority location for new employment in Chippenham: The Langley Park site, with over 20 hectares, is a key employment site located at an important node in the national rail network. This site should be maintained and promoted for future employment. (There may also be scope to slightly expand this employment north-eastwards alongside the B4069 Langley Burrell Road).

The Langley Park site should not be used for mixed use development (e.g. retail and residential use), and it should reserved primarily for employment, serving a range of businesses, from small start-up units to major offices and factories.

Action: The Langley Park site should be given the top priority for new employment development in Chippenham – i.e. it should be developed first, ahead of any new development at the south-west Chippenham employment site (Showell Farm).

Developer contributions and public funds should be channelled into sustainable transport infrastructure, not roads.

Both Options 1 and 2 of the proposed sites for Chippenham imply major road developments (ring roads) to the north-east and south-west of Chippenham. The North-East Chippenham proposal (Section 5.1.28 of the Consultation Strategy) mentions a new road crossing the railway to link with the East Chippenham Strategic Allocation (proposed in Option 2), while the South-West Chippenham proposal (Section 5.1.30) might potentially involve a new road around the south of Chippenham from the A350 to the A4 east.

The East Chippenham option (Section 5.1.33) would definitely involve a new road link to the east of Chippenham, potentially forming the first stage of a new ring road around the east of Chippenham from the A350 (north) to the A4 (east). This was previously proposed in the now-abandoned ‘preferred option’ of 2009 (see diagram on next page)

The three site options mean that Chippenham could potentially have ring roads constructed around the east and south of the town – these would be additional to the existing A350 west of the town.

The proposed site options also mean that investment in transport infrastructure would be channelled into new road building, rather than sustainable transport infrastructure. For example, developer contributions would be largely ploughed into the new ring roads, whilst Wiltshire Council’s transport funds will also be spent on developing these roads.

The emphasis on new roads is spelled out in the Wiltshire Core Strategy Consultation Document – Core Policy 48 (Strategic Transport Network) states that the A350 will definitely be improved, (at Yarnbrook/West Ashton, and other locations to be selected); whereas only ‘promotion and encouragement’ is offered for new rail stations at Corsham and Wootton Bassett and improved rail services on the Trans-Wilts line. In addition, the North Wiltshire Local Plan 2011 safeguards land along the A350 at Chippenham for future dualling.

Action: The Wiltshire Core Strategy should adopt a clear position as to which of the following road options will be pursued for Chippenham in the long term; either:

The Consultation Core Strategy implies that Phase 1 of an eastern ring road is supported, but says nothing about a southern ring road.

The eastern ring road, originally recommended in 2009 as the ‘preferred option’ for Chippenham (see diagram on previous page), should not be implemented, either now or in the long-term, on account of:

2. The environmental impact (affecting Bird’s Marsh, and consumption of good quality agricultural land);

3. The diversion of scarce transport infrastructure resources into road-building instead of sustainable transport infrastructure.

If an eastern ring road is not constructed, then it will not be necessary to build a new road between the A350 and the B4069 Langley Burrell Road. Instead, the existing Hill Corner road can be improved through localised improvements on a smaller scale. This would enable some residential development to take place, but on a more limited scale whilst maintaining a substantial green buffer (say minimum 200 metres wide) between the new housing and Birdsmarsh wood.

Regarding the East Chippenham site in Option 2, the building of a new bridge over the railway may not be viable for just 700 dwellings and 2.5-6 ha. of employment land. The (new) bridge can probably only be justified if it is the first phase of an eastern ring road. But if a ring road is rejected on sustainability grounds, then the bridge – and the proposed East Chippenham site – should not go ahead.

For the south and south-west side of Chippenham, two alternative road options are possible candidates in conjunction the south-west proposed site option:

(i) A short section of new road (roughly 0.5km) between Rowden Hill and Avenue La Fleche;

(ii) A longer section of new road between Melksham Road and Pewsham Way (possibly 1.5km or more).

Both alignment options would involve a new bridge over the River Avon. (Note: These options correspond to Routes D and C respectively, in modelling work for the Chippenham Traffic Model that was put out to tender by North Wilts DC in 2007, as part of the evidence-gathering process for the North Wilts LDF).

Of these two possible alignments, option (i) – a shorter link between Rowden Hill and Avenue La Fleche – is recommended, for the following reasons:

1. It will provide greater benefits for local travel (as opposed to longer-distance travel), as it would improve the links between south-west and south-east Chippenham. (A new road between Melksham Road and Pewsham Way would, on the other hand, be mostly used by through-traffic, and would be of only limited benefit for local travel).

2. It would have significantly less environmental impact on the River Avon corridor.

3. It would reduce traffic at the Bath Road / Bridge Centre roundabout, and facilitate the proposed retail extension to the town centre.

The south-west Chippenham strategic site is located on both sides of the railway. However, there is only one access point between the two halves along the entire 1.5km length of the site, from the A4 Bath Road to the A350 (this is the rail bridge where Saltersford Lane connects to Melksham Road).

If the south-west Chippenham strategic site option is progressed, then several underpasses / overbridges should be provided across the railway, to ensure that the new communities are inter-connected, and to facilitate local movement throughout southern Chippenham.

Appendix 1: Sustainable Transport Objectives in the Wiltshire Local Transport Plan, 2011-2026

Ten out of eighteen strategic transport objectives in the Wiltshire Local Transport Plan are related specifically to sustainable transport. In summary (paraphrased), these are:

SO12 To ensure new developments adequately provide for their sustainable transport requirements

SO16 To improve the resilience of the transport system to adverse events (e.g. peak oil)

(adapted from Working Paper 2, ‘Sustainable Development Challenges’, OMEGA Centre, UCL, 2011)

· The 2008 Climate Change Act makes it a requirement to reduce the

’s emissions of greenhouse gases by 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

· Globally, the transport sector currently accounts for nearly one-fifth of energy use, and even if ‘aggressive’ carbon reduction strategies are adopted, it is the one sector worldwide in which carbon emissions are likely to rise in future, due to steadily increasing demand and fewer ‘green’ alternatives.

· In the

, transport emissions are increasing particularly due to increases in road freight and air travel.

· Peak oil: there are abundant reserves of natural gas, coal, and oil from unconventional sources (e.g. heavy crudes, tar sands). Oil is not likely to run out for the foreseeable future – however, its cost of production is likely to rise substantially, and also the emissions and environmental damage associated with extracting and producing the oil.

· There are two main ways that reductions in transport emissions (and oil dependency) can be achieved: (i) through technical solutions (such as improved energy efficiency and ‘cleaner’ fuels); (ii) through behavioural changes (particularly modal shift and reductions in travel demand).

· There is considerable scope to improve vehicle fuel efficiency, though on current trends the savings will be vastly outweighed by increasing travel demand. Moreover, replacing the vehicle stock takes time – typically 13 to 17 years in developed countries (and longer for buses, lorries and trains).

· With regards switching to greener fuels, second generation bio-fuels have some potential, and likewise electric vehicles (provided the electricity supply is renewable), but the capital and operating costs will be significantly higher, and transport will have to compete with other sectors for the scarce energy.

· Overall, ‘technical solutions’ will only slow the growth in carbon emissions from the transport sector, and if global CO2 targets are to be met, much more significant action is needed, in terms of behavioural change.

· In the transport sector, the main behavioural changes will have to be: (i) reducing the need to travel; (ii) increasing the cost of travel; (iii) switching to more sustainable modes of transport.

· In terms of land transport, the biggest impact (of behavioural change) will come from reducing longer-distance car-based trips. Currently, 63% of total emissions from car travel come from trips that are 10 miles or longer, though they are a minority (23%) of total trips.

This is the response from Chippenham Civic Society to the Core Strategy for Chippenham published by Wiltshire Council, viewable at http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/planninganddevelopment/planningpolicy/wiltshirecorestrategy/wcsconsult2011.htm ).