A transport assessment that suggests Persimmon Homes’ 181-home development on Kingsley Drive will not significantly increase traffic in the area has been called ‘fundamentally flawed’ by a Harrogate building surveyor.
The housebuilder submitted its latest proposal for the site this month after a larger development for 217 homes was rejected by councillors last year.
Persimmon commissioned transport consultant Bryan G Hall to undertake a transport assessment to assess how the homes would impact nearby roads.
At over 500 pages long, his report includes measurements, surveys and conclusions about traffic in the area.
It found the impact of the extra homes on local roads would not be ‘severe’.
The report concluded:
“The residual cumulative impact of the proposed residential development on the road network cannot be considered to be ‘severe’ and there are therefore no traffic or highways related reasons why planning permission should not be granted for this site.”
Visuals of the Persimmon Homes plan for Kingsley Drive.
However, Steve Marshall, owner of surveyors Airedale Surveys and a member of Kingsley Ward Action Group, spent five days reviewing the document, which he called on the council to reject.
Mr Marshall said this was because one of the traffic surveys took place when part of Kingsley Drive was closed due to roadworks.
He also said the report ignored how the extra homes will impact the nearby Empress roundabout.
Disputed surveys
Mr Marshall disputed a claim in the report that Rydal Road, Birstwith Road and Leyland Road, which all have junctions with Kingsley Drive and Knaresborough Road, were not being used as ‘rat runs’.
North Yorkshire County Council, which is in charge of roads in the district, had specifically asked Persimmon to look at the rat run issue in the transport assessment, as well as how fast vehicles were travelling on the three roads.
Persimmon undertook traffic surveys on the roads from July 31 to August 6 2020 but Mr Marshall said this took place when part of Kingsley Drive was closed.
“The bottom half of Kingsley Drive was shut due to road works during the whole period of the survey. This means no one had access to the three surveyed roads along the rat run route.”
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Mr Marshall criticised the report for not taking into account trips generated at two nearby housing developments of 165 homes.
He also said the surveys did not factor in how the homes would impact the Empress roundabout and the Granby Road/Skipton Road junction during rush hour.
Mr Marshall wrote:
“This roundabout causes massive queues at rush hour despite Harrogate Borough Council’s Transport Background Paper of August 2018 saying it is not a problem junction.
“There cannot be any justification for allowing this development as it stands if one of the key assessments and the subject uppermost in the minds of local residents, ie the traffic assessment, is fundamentally flawed.”
Persimmon’s response
In February, representatives from Persimmon, as well as highways consultant Geoff Bowman from Bryan G Hall, fielded questions from residents in Starbeck about the plans, which included the transport assessment.
Residents queried Mr Bowman about the traffic surveys and suggested they did not give an accurate picture of how many cars use the area.
Mr Bowman said:
“There has been very extensive surveys of traffic in the area. There is a perception that we are nasty developers and it’s dead easy to get through planning, but the highways authority are rigorous.”
The Stray Ferret asked Persimmon Homes for a response but we had not received one by the time of publication.