Planning – Application Comments

Consultation Date: Mon 31 Oct 2022

Consultation Date: Mon 31 Oct 2022

Consultation Date: Mon 31 Oct 2022

Consultation Date: Mon 31 Oct 2022

Consultation Date: Mon 31 Oct 2022

Consultation Date: Mon 31 Oct 2022

Comment Date: Wed 30 Nov 2022

The proposals seek to demolish the existing property at 843 Wolseley Road and construct 2x, 3-bed dwellings in its place. The Highway Authority would be unable to support the proposed development due the lack of off-street parking and on-site turning provision.

The site is located on Wolseley Road which is a busy, classified road and bus route. There is a bus stop located directly to the property frontage and uncontrolled, on-street parking takes place on the southern side of the carriageway which results in the carriageway being reduced to a single-track with intermittent passing spaces.

The submission details inform that the existing property is benefitted with 1x off-street parking space in the form of a segregated garage. However, it is apparent that there is no lawful right of vehicular access into the garage from Wolseley Road. Therefore, the existing property is not considered to be served with any off-street parking provision.

Parking
Each new dwelling should be served with 2x off-street parking spaces in accordance with the requirements as detailed within the SPD. The submission details inform that each dwelling will be provided with 1x space in the form of integral garage which is proposed to satisfy the associated parking demand.

As detailed within Manual for Streets (MFS), garages are not always used for car parking and determining the acceptability of the use of garages to satisfy off-street parking requirements should be decided on a scheme by scheme basis. Table 29 of the SPD sets out the minimum required internal dimensions in order for a garage to be considered as a positive contribution to off-street parking and to include for the provision of EV charge points (6.5mx3.5m).

Whilst each of the proposed garages does measure at 6.5m long and 3.5m wide internally, the provision of the bin storage along the rear of the garage impacts on the length available for parking. This reduces the usable length of the garage to approx. 5.4m when allowing a level of clearance for adequate access to the bin store. Therefore the proposed garages would not be considered as a positive contribution to off-street parking at the property. As such, neither of the proposed dwellings is served with any level of suitable off-street parking provision, resulting in a shortfall of 4x spaces. The proposed development would therefore lead to unacceptable, overspill parking on the surrounding streets at a detriment to local residents which gives rise to concerns of highway safety.

On-site Turning
As detailed in paragraphs 13.72 and 13.87 of the SPD, where access is taken from classified road there should be room within the site for the vehicle to enter and exit the public highway in a forward gear.

There is no provision for on-site turning as part of the proposal and vehicles would therefore be required to reverse in to/out of the garage, potentially between parked cars which restricts the level of available visibility, which would give rise to concerns of highway safety for all road users. These highway safety concerns are exacerbated due to the location of the bus stop directly adjacent to the proposed vehicular access for the western property, where unacceptable conflict with bus operators and bus users waiting at the stop could occur when vehicles are accessing/egressing the property.

Vehicular Access
As stated previously, there is no lawful vehicular right of access into the site from Wolseley Road, therefore the proposal seeks to create 2x new vehicular access points to serve each of the new dwellings.

Additional consent from Network Management is required in order to facilitate the vehicular crossing and associated dropped kerb. The current arrangement would be unsupported as the proposed access point for the dwelling to the west of the site would not accord with the Domestic Vehicle Crossing guidance due to the close proximity of the telegraph pole and bus stop to the crossing.

In conclusion, the development seeks to demolish an existing property and erect 2x new dwellings which would need to comply with current planning standards. For the reasons as set out above, the dwellings are underserved in terms of off-street parking provision which would lead to unacceptable overspill parking on the surrounding highway network, where on-street parking is already at a premium. The lack of on-site turning provision at the site gives rise to concerns of highway safety for all road users due to the requirement for vehicles to reverse into/out of the site from a classified road where visibility could be obstructed by cars parked on-street, and in some cases where the presence of an existing bus stop gives rise to risk of conflict with bus operators and bus users. For these reasons the Highway Authority would recommend the application be refused.

Recommendations:

Support
No objection
No objection subject to appropriate mitigation (as identified below)
Object to application X

If 'object' on what grounds?

Reasons for refusal:
Inadequate Provision of Parking:
No adequate provision is proposed to be made for the parking of cars of persons residing at or visiting the development. Vehicles used by such persons would therefore have to stand on the public highway giving rise to conditions likely to cause:-
(a) Damage to amenity;
(b) Prejudice to public safety and convenience;
(c) Interference with the free flow of traffic on the highway.
The proposal(s) are therefore contrary to Policy DEV29 of the adopted Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan adopted March 2019.

Lack of On-site Turning Provision:
No adequate provision has been made within the site in order to allow a vehicle to turn so that it can enter and exit the highway in a forward gear. The lack of such provision is likely to result in vehicles having to reverse back out onto a busy classified road (Wolseley Road) giving rise to conditions likely to cause:
(a) Prejudice to public safety and convenience;
(b) Interference with the free flow of traffic on the highway;
(c) Unwarranted hazard to vehicular traffic.
The proposal(s) are therefore contrary to Policy DEV29 of the adopted Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan adopted March 2019.

Sub-Standard access:
It is considered that the proposed access arrangement is unsuitable for its intended use and is therefore likely to give rise to issues of personal and highway safety. Vehicular movements arising from the development would give rise to conditions likely to cause:-
(a) Prejudice to public safety and convenience;
(b) Interference with the free flow of traffic on the highway;
(c) Unwarranted hazard to vehicular traffic.
The proposal(s) are therefore contrary to Policy DEV29 of the adopted Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan adopted March 2019.




The proposed development has been considered in accordance with the Councils current Development Plan Policies and having regard for the National Planning Policy Framework.



Abbie Perry

Transport Planning Officer
Officer authorised to sign on behalf of the
Director for Strategic Planning & Infrastructure

Comment Date: Wed 23 Nov 2022

221123 2201600FUL NI Response.pdf

Comment Date: Tue 22 Nov 2022

843 Wolseley Rd EDG22.001.FRSR.067.pdf