Planning Applications – Crab Hill and Tesco

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There has been recent planning applications which will affect cycle commuting to the Harwell Campus in the future.

 

Crab Hill, Wantage.

This outline planning application ref: P13/V1764/O, has just been submitted and ends on 2nd October. This development includes the Wantage Eastern bypass which should provide a shortcut from Grove onto Sustrans route 544 and / or the A417 for cyclists.

Please have a look at the planning documents, especially the the transport assessment and drawings for the roundabout junctions at the A338 end and the A417 end. You may find there is very little about cycling and when it is mentioned it is more about recreational cycling. The transport consultants, Glanville, mention all the design guides used in the report but no mention of the DfT Local Transport Note 2/08 about Cycle Infrastructure Design.

Please forward any comments to web@harbug.org.uk or respond on the forum and we will forward a HarBUG response. Remember we are concerned primarily with issues relating to cycle commuting to the Harwell Campus. We also comment on general cycle infrastucture in the development and links to the existing parts of Wantage and Grove. We are not concerned whether the development should be built or not.

There are public exhibitions of the plans on Thursday 12th September from 5 to 8pm at the Old Mill Hall in Grove and on Tuesday 17th September from 5 to 8pm in Wantage Civic Centre.

Tesco Dot Com, Milton Hill

Planning permission has been granted for Tesco to build a Dot Com centre at the Milton Hill Business Park. This will affect anybody using the A4185 to get to the campus, especially those who have to pass the entrance to Milton Hill. The Dot Com centre is not a main distribution centre but there will still be about 12 HGVs a day accessing the centre and lots of vans all using the A4185 north and south to get onto the A34. We missed the plannning application deadline so we are at a disadvantage but we should still comment on the plans.

The planning reference is: P13/V1139/FUL Again please look at the Transport assessment and Travel Plans. Also please have a look at the comments from Infinium as they point out the issues with cycle safety and the response from Oxfordshire C.C. Forward any comments to web@harbug.org.uk or respond on the forum A.S.A.P. as we should act quick on this whilst it is still current.

Element Six – Phase 2, Harwell Campus

Planning permission has been granted for an extension to the Element Six building on Fermi Avenue. Additional cycle parking is being added and showers on the first floor. 

The planning application is: P13/V1501/RM

 

Please keep an eye out on planning applications and bring them to HarBUGs attention if you think they may affect us.

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    • August 29, 2013 at 9:10 pm #1758
      admin
      Member

      Planning applications that will affect cycling to the Campus at Crab Hill, Wantage and Tesco Dot Com Centre at Milton Hill.
      Send your comments in.

      [See the full post at: Planning Applications – Crab Hill and Tesco]

    • August 30, 2013 at 7:08 am #1759
      Mike
      Member

      What are the Swale routes? Are these not possible cycle routes? The paths on the plans look to be about 2M wide. I will have a better look at the weekend as I want to write to local our councillors/MP (or better, support existing campaigns) for better transport infrastructure including cycling and busses and a re-opened Wantage train station. The new link road is important.

      Also see http://www.wantageandgrove.org. I cannot remember if this link has been posted before.

    • September 9, 2013 at 1:48 pm #1775
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      Some suggestions towards a HarBUG response:

      Dotcom centre:

      The description of local cycle routes is inadequate. They describe route 544 as 44 (understandable, but should be corrected) and as going along the Ridgeway (rather off-putting for a regular commute). They don’t mention the possibility of accessing Milton Interchange through Milton Heights, which avoids the need to use the A4130 and delivers you direct to the cycle path.

      These errors and omissions are worth highlighting before Tesco start promoting cycling to dotcom centre staff in line with their travel plan.

      I think we should also recommend that Tesco provide section 106 contribution to upgrading the surface of the bridleway from the Pack Horse to Rowstock, and from Rowstock south to route 544. This would link the dotcom centre and neighbouring business directly to route 544, and benefit the whole local cycle network by linking 544 to Milton Park via Milton Heights.

      Crab Hill:
      I would like to see us comment on roundabout design for on road cyclists. At the A417 in particular, the design looks fast, with no cycle lanes crossing this junction. I believe there are guidelines somewhere about not making roads worse for cyclists and I think this roundabout does make travelling along the A417 worse for cyclists. In general, the development’s junctions should seek to improve, or at least not worsen, safety for cyclists. In general tighter roundabout geometry (less lanes and wide splays) is better for cyclists.

      This is a massive development which will owe significant contributions to local infrastructure via section 106 money. This site is a few hundred metres at most from the National Cycle Network route 544, linking it directly to one of the main local employment sites, and yet these plans have NO proposal to link to it. That’s frankly rubbish. They absolutely must be pressed to build a link to it. The obvious place would seem to be a safe access across to the West Lockinge turn at the proposed roundabout with the A417 coupled with provision along the A417 from Wantage (this is partially there in the plans). The West Lockinge road becomes part of route 544 shortly after the A417 junction.

      I note that around the link road, and in some other places in the plan, there is proposed shared footpath cycleway 3.5 m wide. This could be greatly improved for cyclists and pedestrians by widening to 4m and properly physically separating the footway and cycle path, eg with a kerb, as is often done in countries with more comprehensive cycle provision. It allows cyclists to safely use paths at speeds closer to road speeds which is much more attractive for commuting.

      All the best,
      Sarah

      PS. I think swales are wide, shallow grassy ditches that allow surface water to soak away. They do however seem to run alongside the cycle / footpath routes in these plans.

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