As we formulate our objections to Taylor Wimpey’s inappropriate plans for development in Edenfield we’ve spotted the following buried in the “Statement of Community Involvement” produced by Taylor Wimpey.
The document will prove uncomfortable reading for residents who were consulted only briefly by Taylor Wimpey via a webinar (excluding many older residents) during peak summer holiday season at the start of school holidays in summer 2022.
On transport (page 13), it mentions that a common concern of residents is that, “the proposed development would cause a high level of traffic congestion and that the current roads of Market Street and Exchange Street could not cope with more on-street parking.”
It goes on to state that, “Mitigating traffic congestion is a key aspect of the masterplan.” and states that each developer will “have separate access points, meaning each phase is self-sufficient to allow traffic flow.”
It states that the Taylor Wimpey site will be accessed via Market Street and that the Anwyl Land site will be accessed from Exchange Street. Taylor Wimpey goes on to say that, “As this is currently a masterplan, the full details of access, including the individual access points, will be determined through the Transport Assessment work supporting each application and agreed with the Local Highway Authority.”
The statement, “this is currently a masterplan” is obviously false. Masterplans by their definition should include all developers and all planned phases of development.
It goes on to state that “the developers will be submitting a Transport Assessment alongside each subsequent planning application once the masterplan and design code have been agreed. These will include traffic mitigation measures for Market Street.”
In this paragraphs, they seem to agree with Edenfield residents. They suggest that a masterplan and design code should be agreed before planning applications can be made and that planning applications should be supported by transport assessments including traffic mitigation measures.
Since none of the above requirements are in place, the current masterplan (not yet agreed and excluding the other developers for Edenfield) as well as the associated planning application should be rejected by the council. A comprehensive masterplan from all developers with detailed plans for traffic mitigation agreed with residents and the council highways department should be in place before planning permission can be considered.
