There are many detailed points below, including policy references to evidence the reason for objections related to your streets. Remember in your letter to include the council planning reference number and to state that you OBJECT to the planning proposal, otherwise your letter won’t be counted. You can use our template to help you to compose your letter (link).
Ilke homes updated consultation documents do not meet key material objections already raised. Further objections are made below.
Construction Access and Abnormally Wide Loads through Higham Ferrers, Queensway, Manor Way and The Hedges to Prospect Avenue Site Access (Eight abnormal loads per week for 4 years!)
Whilst some tweaks have been made to the design of the development, previous material objections are still relevant and further objections are now being raised because of the detrimental impact to a set of residential streets. There is No access to the site without street wide parking bans and removal of vehicles parked on pathways. In-fact the only logical and safe access is from John Clark Way. (Indeed the owner of the land between John Clark Way and the Development in their planning application documentation (NE_21_00518_OUT-PLANNING_STATEMENT-496278.pdf) states that they would work with Ilke Homes and The Co-OP to give access to the development from John Clark Way and that this would be an “Opportunity”. They say they could deliver an access road with capacity to serve the development and are eager to work with Ilke Homes.)
Further material objections to the application include;
- There is no mention of a swept path analysis of how they will get the construction vehicles to site. What they have mentioned will negatively impact Higham Ferrers and Rushden residents. This proposed construction vehicle access route will put children, pedestrians and car owners at risk and does not seem logical or safe.
- School children on their way to The Ferrers school and traffic coming and going to the school will be put in danger as the abnormal loads are moved during the day. The 5-Meter-wide loads will overhang pedestrian paths or completely block the two way roads as they try to traverse up the middle.
- It is not possible to get wide loads of 5 meters plus through these streets there is just not enough space.
- The roads are narrow and cars are parked throughout the streets. In most streets there is only a single track of 3 meters available due to parked cars, thus construction vehicles could not make the journey.
- On The Hedges the total width of the street for two way traffic is 5 meters at some points. Making the road impassable for traffic for many hours a week.
- Parked cars moved onto the pavements particularly in The Hedges cannot be moved to driveways as these are older properties many of which do not have access to driveways.
- Many of the turns are 90degrees, and there are real concerns about how a 13-meter long truck will navigate these past parked cars. It will mean that pavements are mounted.
- There are telephone poles, trees (lovely rowan tree near the bottom of The Hedges), and lamp posts abutting the road which would not allow wide loads to pass in combination with any street parking. These can be found throughout the Queensway, Manor Way and The Hedges.
- Trees on Higham Main Street across from the Co-Op will be destroyed unless the abnormal loads travel down the middle of the road. Causing roads to be blocked. (This will happen along the main road from the roundabout to the site as well. (More chaos to add to ongoing roadworks at Chowns Mill roundabout.
- Car parking bans will be introduced for multiple streets for multiple years for this to go ahead which is illogical when they could gain access from John Clark Way.
- Taking abnormal loads through Higham High Street on such a frequent basis past parked cars and past Chicheley College will put these buildings at risk.
- Constant large trucks going by school children and through narrow streets with parked cars will be a significant safety issue.
- No engagement with residents has been had with regard to these construction access routes.
- There is no safe left turn to the site without blocking the road for long wheel-based construction traffic on a sharp bend. Causing risk to cars entering The Hedges.
- There will be extra cars parking on The Hedges, Manor Way and Queensway from the car spaces that are being removed from Prospect Avenue (11 spaces) and the extra cars from the development itself. Car parking issues will filter up the streets.
- Pavements and soft grass verges are likely to be damaged as construction traffic and cars try to pass by going up on the pavements along The Hedges.
- The car parking beat survey that was carried out on Prospect Avenue was invalid (not at night and on a weekend) and the journey analysis was undertaken during school holidays on a date that does not exist. (There is no Wednesday the 5th of August!) They did not account for school run traffic. This will mean extra journey times to reach The Hedges and potentially school run traffic having issues trying to pass on The Hedges.
- They have not considered queuing traffic at the junction of Queensway from The Ferrers school and how this will be impacted by abnormal loads and construction vehicles.
- Bringing more traffic around Queensway will increases congestion and air pollution. Already the worst area in East Northants for this and flagged up by the Rushden Traffic Survey (2014), this should be avoided. Especially as many children are walking to school here.
- Children’s safe walking routes are being impacted as many children walk along Queensway and The Hedges to get to school.
Prospect Avenue access junction and turn to the new development
This has not been addressed at all when there are so many safety issues with the turn. There is not the required visibility, no safe turn for construction traffic that would not impact children using this route for school and fundamentals that are not being addressed. Ilke say that they have undertaken a Stage 1 Road Safety Audit in respect of the site access from Prospect Avenue, but this is a poor approach when this is only a basic level analysis. A Stage 2 Road Safety audit will immediately show the lack of viability because of the house at the end of the street.
- The technical issues that have been raised by residents and Highways have not been resolved with regards to access from Prospect Avenue to the site. They admit this in their own justification paper ‘technical matters are being discussed with and liaised with Highways’ they just do not say they are resolved.
- There are still dangerous limitations to the site entrance, drives backing onto the junction, not the 43 meters required visibility, land not being controlled by highways, mature street trees being felled, loss of parking and access to 5+home’s drives, unsafe manoeuvres having to be made to access and egress properties.
For more material objections to include, see the sections in ‘News: Material Objections’ labelled ‘Highway Safety’, ‘Children’ and ‘Safety and Crime’ (link). You can download the template letter to insert your objections using link above.
