Transport Issues discussed at JAAP Inquiry

I attended a short (just over an hour) session this afternoon where the Government Inspector led a discussion on Transport issues arising from the JAAP plans.

There were 13 round the table, representatives from both Rochford and Southend Councils, as well as Essex Highways.  Also two from Friends of the Earth ("FOE") but no resident participation this time.  Interestingly, Cogent (think "Coombes Farm") were absent.  They had raised better East/West transport connectivity across the District as their requirement for supporting JAAP but I guess they did not feel that strongly about it after all.

The main points to come out from the discussions were the focus on required improvements to the local road network to support forecast traffic growth.  All agreed that the intention was for the A127 to take the brunt of the additional load and junction improvements, particularly at Kent Elms and The Bell junctions were discussed as essential, with work planned to start in the near future.

The new Saxon Business Park will have a main access from Cherry Orchard Way.  When discussing this, there was disagreement between Southend, Essex Highways (supported by a Consultant from "Atkins") and Rochford.  Atkins had undertaken traffic modelling to support a new roundabout  in Cherry Orchard Way to provide access to the Business Park.  They claimed that by doing so, there would no adverse impact on traffic flows on Hall Rd.  However, Rochford Councillor, Keith Hudson (who holds a Planning remit), supported by his Planning team, argued that, regardless of the traffic modelling, a "no right turn" (towards Rochford) would be their preference.  He made a strong case, saying that drivers always prefer the "easy option" and if it was easy for them to head East through Rochford (which a Roundabout would provide) then more would do so.  He wanted the JAAP plans to discourage traffic flowing through the centre of Rochford as far as possible.  This presents the Government Inspector with a dilemma, he has authoritative evidence from Atkins that a roundabout wouldn't worsen the situation versus reliable local knowledge that it would.  I know whose side I'm on!

East/West Connectivity was also discussed briefly, though the JAAP states that this is not an urgent requirement.  The Inspector asked, however, where a proposed route was intended to go.  Southend Council explained that the focus was on extending the newly built St Laurence Way towards Warners Bridge.  However, it was admitted that this would be a challenging project and require substantial demolition of existing housing, etc.  I think it's worth reiterating that there appeared to be no appetite by the Councils for making this a priority and, thankfully, the outer Southend bypass wasn't raised.

I was interested to hear about the provision of cycle routes through Rochford, given the District has barely any. JAAP provides for new routes to Saxon Business Park but Southend and Rochford advised that they are currently discussing additional routes, not already included in the plans.  I'll be following any developments in this area keenly. My personal wish is for the Prittle Brook route from Priory Park towards Rochford to be be invested in, and I know that this is on Sustrans "wish list" as well.

New bus routes were also discussed but Southend Council admitted that these were aspirational and nothing concrete had been agreed with the bus operators.  There was an admittance that this Country has a long standing history of minimum public funding for public transport.

Other items that came out of the afternoon included the fact that the Airport believes it has sufficient car parking capacity to support growth up to 2m passengers, so I don't know what will happen if growth ever exceeds this figure.

Southend Council stated that it did not believe there was a big problem with on street parking by Airport users at present and therefore no requirement for a Residents Parking Scheme or similar at this time.  The situation is reviewed annually, around August time however.

Park and Ride arrangements were initially included in an earlier iteration of JAAP.  Southend Council, however, admitted that such plans have now been withdrawn as the site identified for such plans falls within the Public Safety Zone, where no new building would be permitted.

The JAAP hearing continues next week and all relevant documents can be found from the home page of Rochford Council's home page.