Agenda item

Report of the Corporate Director, Community.

The Panel received an information report of the Corporate Director, Community which set out the Transport Assessment, the School Travel Plan and proposed transport mitigations for the proposed secondary school at Whitchurch Playing fields, Wemborough Road, Stanmore.

An officer advised that the application had been approved by the Planning Committee at its February 2016 meeting, subject to satisfactory completion of the S106 Planning Obligation and further detailed consideration of the STP and the Community Use Agreement at a subsequent meeting of the Planning Committee.

Following consideration of the STP at its 25 May 2016 meeting, Members of the Planning Committee had expressed a number of concerns regarding the STP and the traffic and transport mitigations to be undertaken.  The Committee referred these areas of concern to the Traffic and Road Safety Advisory Panel (TARSAP) for further consideration, and requested that TARSAP feedback its conclusions to the 29 June 2016 meeting of the Planning Committee.

Following a brief overview of the report, the officer responded to the Panel’s questions and comments as follows:

·                     there would be significant works to widen the junction at Whitchurch Lane and Honeypot Lane and create additional lanes to improve capacity there.  This was an already busy junction and traffic surveys had indicated that it would exceed capacity in a few years time, notwithstanding any additional traffic arising due to the proposed school;

·                     the proposed junction widening works was unlikely to result in the loss of any trees;

·                     it was unlikely that the junction widening would lead to any bottlenecks or long tailbacks on other nearby roads as congestion problems tended to be concentrated at junctions rather than at linking sections of road between junctions. This improvement was intended to relieve congestion.

A Member stated that in her view, the proposed school expansion would inevitably lead to an increase in traffic, however, following the presentation from the deputees, and because of the school’s good reputation and past experience in implementing its STP, she was confident that the measures in proposed STP would be fulfilled.

An adviser to the Panel stated that he had been advised by TfL that the additional peak time 186 bus service, which would be an 87-seater, would run from Edgware to Harrow Bus Station.

In summary, the Chair stated that TARSAP welcomed confirmation of the following:

1.            the proposed mitigation measures and interventions;

2.            the confirmation from TfL that it would contribute to an additional AM and PM peak time service on the 186 bus route and that local bus provision would be monitored and reviewed;

3.            confirmation of further details regarding the private hire school coach service, which would be regularly monitored and responsive to any potential increase in demand;

4.            the staggered school start and finish times which had been agreed between Avanti House, Whitchurch and Stanburn Schools and the schools’ intention to work closely together when co-ordinating events;

5.            the implementation of a sustainable School Travel Plan that was focussed on the minimisation of car journeys and on attaining STARS ‘Gold’ accreditation within 2 years of occupation by Avanti House School.

The Chair added that the Panel still had concerns regarding the capacity at the roundabout at Abercorn Road and Wemborough Road and that this issue would require further investigation by traffic officers.  The Panel agreed unanimously that these streets be included in a parking review in the near future.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted and a Reference be sent to the Planning Committee meeting of 29 June 2016 setting out the Panel’s comments.