A planning application has been opened for new services on the A34 at the Chilton Interchange. The services will be built off the first roundabout, from the Campus direction, on the land in-between the northbound slips and the A34 northbound lanes.
The services will have a petrol station, shop, cash machine and a drive through food / coffee outlet of some sort.
You can view the planning application, plans and reports from the council planning website: P18/V1755/FUL.
There is also a website from the developer: a34chiltonservices.co.uk
In the planning statement they point out, with respect to the Harwell Campus; ‘the service area will provide a new retail shop and drive-through facility for the more than 6,000 people who work at the nearby Harwell Campus, which will be accessible by foot, cycle or car’.
The services would be within a ‘lunchtime walk’ distance from Fermi Avenue based organisations and cycling distance from all on the Campus. They have even included cycle parking at both the shop and drive through. However there are no plans to upgrade or provide any pedestrian / cycle access from the Campus direction (or Chilton residents on the west side of the A34). Unless you cycle on the roads and the roundabout you will need to drive to the services.
The plans do not appear to meet the walking and cycling provisions of; the Oxfordshire Local Travel Plan 3, Vale of White Horse Local Plan or the National or the National Planning Policy Framework.
Clearly the main customer base for the services will be vehicles on the A34 but there will be a reasonable regular custom from people based at the Campus. If access for pedestrians and cyclists are not included in the planning application it is a reasonable assumption that they will need to be built in the future at Council Tax payers expense.
HarBUG is minded to object to the application on these grounds as well as the services increasing the traffic on the roundabout making it less safe for cyclists crossing the junction.
If you have any comments please contact chair@harbug.org.uk