Stilwell Highway Evidence leads to rejection of Lightwater Tesco appeal

A BID to build a Tesco supermarket in Lightwater, which triggered hundreds of objections, has been thrown out by a planning inspector. The applicants appealed against Surrey Heath Borough Council’s refusal of permission for the store, in Guildford Road, which would have been turned over to Tesco after being built. The application was to knock down the DIY shop, Lightwater Homecare, to make way for the new store and flats above it. The Stilwell Partnership were appointed by the Lightwater Business Association to provide traffic and highways advice in respect of the highways related refusal.

Surrey County Council, the highway authority, provided little guidance to the LPA and had no observations on the proposal despite the significant existing issues in Lightwater in relation to parking and highway safety. Our evidence showed that there is a significant shortfall in customer parking, as well as the significant omission of any staff parking or provision for the first floor flats. There would be a significant increase of potentially illegal and unsafe on-street parking. The potential intensification of the land use, longer opening hours and increased staff numbers were also serious cause for highway concern.

The likely service vehicles which will attempt to service the site would have to use a shared car park and service area. There is insufficient space for a servicing vehicle to turn, forcing hazardous manoeuvres such as reversing into the main road.

Taking on board the analysis in our evidence, The Planning inspector said “I consider that on balance my conclusion on the effect on highway safety warrants dismissal of this appeal."

Impact of new sewers legislation on Building Developments

In the years following the privatisation of the water companies, design and construction of drainage networks for private developments has become less rigorous. These “private” networks were built to less exacting standards and their long term maintenance remained the responsibility of the individual properties on the development. Legislation developed following the floods in 2007 has dramatically reversed this trend.

The Flood and Water Management Act 2010 requires that all new sewers/lateral drains are adopted by the Water Companies. Existing private drains and sewers were adopted from 1 Oct 2011. Developments with new sewers are now required to enter into an adoption agreement under the Water Industry Act 1991.

Developers are expected to produce detailed drawings, manhole schedules and sections together with drainage calculations to the Unified Build Standard issued by DEFRA. This standard is expected to be incorporated into the forthcoming Sewers for Adoption 7th Edition which will also cover pumping stations.

The Water Company will have the right to inspect the construction, and are likely to require CCTV surveys and detailed as-built drawings compatible with their existing computer-based records.

Sewers should include adequate clearance from adjacent buildings to allow for future access for maintenance and structural integrity of the sewer. Careful routing of the drainage network would minimise the requirements for Easements and Building-Over agreements.

Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS) are expected to be covered by a new standard currently being produced for DEFRA. Approval of these SUDS will fall under the Local Flood Authority

Avoid time consuming negotiations with the authorities, The Stilwell Partnership drainage engineers have extensive experience in working to these adoption standards.

We will also be able to advise you how to cost effectively deal with this transitional period

“Signing the Way” – getting to grips with traffic sign design, implementation and use

Government recognises the amount of money poor signage costs Local Authorities and the inconvenience and frustration it causes road users. "Signing the Way" is the Governments latest policy review paper on the design and implementation of traffic signs.

It allows Local Authorities more freedom to adapt to local circumstances and issues, encourages a common sense approach to the design and implementation of signage. Six overall recommendations have been set out:

• Provide more flexibility for local traffic authorities – The Government intends to produce a less prescriptive Traffic Sign Regulations and General Directions, where signage can be designed depending on local circumstances.
• Reduce traffic signing on the road network – too much signing can be a hindrance. The Government intends to regulate against or discourage the use of unnecessary signage.
• Deliver effective enforcement – The Government intends to streamline lengthy procedures for implementing Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO’s) and make it more understandable to the public.
• Traffic signs for all road users – the Government intends to increase the use of signage which supports sustainable modes, such as electric cars, cyclists and pedestrians.
• Provide road users with better information – The Government intends to make further use of Active Traffic Management (ASM), Variable Message Signs (VSM) and Variable Speed Limit (VSL)
• Develop local solutions built on local knowledge – local politics is often a major issue in the design and implementation of traffic signs and the public often feel that they are not properly involved in the decision making process. The Government intends to provide guidance on making the consultation process clearer, relevant and more targeted.

The Stilwell Partnership has undertaken many projects to rationalise and consolidate traffic orders and signing, resolving confusing and ambiguous situations for the road user.

Contact us for details of how these services can save your authority time and money.

The Stilwell Partnership are Managing Carbon

Managing Carbon saves money now and reduces carbon emissions from future developments

With our Carbon Trust Accredited partners we have produced these free tools, designed to help save energy costs and reduce carbon emissions, follow the links for:

The Householder’s Home Energy Saving Calculators
The Schools Energy Benchmarking Tool
The Property and Estate Managers Office Energy Benchmarking Tool
Can Combined Heat & Power (CHP) save you money? Use our highly regarded and proven CHP Feasibility Calculator

Events Managers:Meet ISO standards and Make your events more Sustainable

Planners, Architects & Developers

Use our Sustainable Energy Assessments to meet Planning Sustainability targets

Earn valuable credits for Code for Sustainable Homes Assessment with the Ene7 Low Carbon Feasibility Study

Find out more about Managing Carbon

Highways Agency use Stilwell’s proven Tracked Roundabout technique to deal with notorious accident blackspot

It will come as no surprise to drivers using the Elmbridge Court roundabout on the A40 in Gloucester, particularly those who have suffered one of the countless minor accidents there over the years, that it has been branded one of Gloucestershire’s worst accident hotspot. See This is Gloucestershire from October 26, 2010.
The Highway Agency, who are responsible for the UK’s Trunk Road system, have decided that the most suitable solution is the Tracked Roundabout technique. This was first developed and pioneered in the UK in 1995 by The Stilwell Partnership on the A30 in Surrey and has been widely used ever since. If correctly applied, this technique has been proven to:
• Dramatically reduce road collisions and resulting injuries
• Significantly reduce delays for road users
• Increase the capacity of the junction to take more traffic
• Is low cost with an immediate return on investment

There has been great interest from the United States to adapt this technique for their congested urban highways. We will be shortly making available a documentary video, made at the time, on our website. We believe that there are countless international applications for this technique with a corresponding impact on improve road safety.

The Stilwell Partnership continues to pioneer innovative measures to improve road safety. Look at our website for details of our latest initiative.

On street parking charges in Surrey: Surrey Chambers of Commerce

Since before Christmas 2010 Surrey Chambers of Commerce has been in conversation with their members and Surrey County Council concerning the introduction of additional on-street parking across the county.

We fully support the role of the Chamber in this crucial activity. Parking Management and Strategy is recognised as a supporting factor to the growth of businesses in the region. The Stilwell Partnership are specialists in this field having developed and implemented a number of high-profile schemes in Surrey and Hampshire including the Guildford Controlled Parking Zone. In our experience, the pros and cons of additional on-street parking are;

• Structured ‘High St’ parking encourages increased custom for certain businesses;
• Well-organised parking arrangements in a Town Centre can encourage more people to visit;
• Dangerous parking, on bends and next to junctions, can be restricted
• Locations where demand is high provides revenue for more sophisticated parking control systems e.g. Pay and Display.
• Attractive parking schemes with adjacent landscaping, can create a calmed environment.
But
• Higher influx of traffic and inconsiderate parking often impacts on local residents in adjacent roads;
• High parking demand may cause congestion as cars wait for a space to come available
• Occasionally there are potential safety issues with drivers manoeuvring in and out of spaces.

Some important issues, not to be underestimated:
• Any signing and lining used should be simple and easy to understand;
• The cost of increased enforcement if parking restrictions are to be effective;
• The provision and location of disabled user bays
• The impact of future development proposals.
If your business is experiencing problems relating to Parking and Highway issues, contact us by phone or email. See our website for background information.

Walton-on-Thames High Street Improvement

We are pleased to receive acknowledgement from Elmbridge Borough Council for our contribution towards the Soul to the Street improvement of Walton High Street.

“A huge thank you ….. for all your help and expertise in delivering the Soul to the Street scheme. I had a lot of nice comments about TSP construction drawings which were up in the exhibition so I think it was appreciated how much engineering input was required.” Clare Smith, Heritage, Landscape and Tree Preservation Manager Elmbridge Borough Council