Response to the Wimpey Planning Application (September 2001)

Traffic and Access

Local Plan policy TRN 11: DEVELOPMENT AND TRAFFIC

Kentwood Hill and Armour Hill are both roads with steep gradients, bends and a relatively rural appearance. Armour Hill in particular is narrow and already substandard for modern conditions making It impossible for two large vehicles to pass one another. The footpath down to the junction with Kentwood Hill is on one side only, necessitating a hazardous crossing for pedestrians at the junction. Higher up Armour Hill, a lack of garage provision results in extensive on-road parking, which makes the junction with Lower Armour Road congested and dangerous. Concern has already been expressed about heavy traffic on Kentwood Hill, and the road is included in the lorry cordon around Tilehurst.

Armour Hill Kentwood Hill

There are currently a number of existing access roads off Armour Hill that are not particularly safe. The gradient at the entry to Dudley Close is difficult to negotiate and dangerous in icy weather conditions. The proposed new access road to the seven four-bedroom houses will be on an incline and a bend, with similar problems. This scheme, that could well encourage more vehicles to park on the roadside, should not be permitted. Safe access to Kentwood Hill would similarly be extremely difficult if not impossible to achieve.

Policy TRN11B is relevant in the present case as the council will normally resist development

Local Plan Policy TRN6: PEDESTRIANS is relevant here stating that the

Consideration would need to be given to the needs and safety of elderly or disabled people as parts of both roads are very steep.

Although there is no official right of way across the site, many local people and school-children regularly use the path linking Polsted Road with Armour Hill as a pleasant short-cut from the shops and bus stops. This route avoids traffic pollution and noise as well as some of the steep hills involved in using the main roads. There was some use of other paths, particularly through the Kentwood Hill gateways, before this side of the site was fenced off.

Plot- holders do not seem to resent this public use, and there have been few problems involving loss or damage to crops.

The Wimpey proposals provide a footpath link between Kentwood and Armour Hills. It would be circuitous, with steep gradients and useless for all except the physically fit and able. This is no substitute for the current ‘unofficial’ footpath.

The Boyer Planning document considers the site ‘falls within an exceptionally sustainable location’. Certainly it is near the shops and facilities, but public transport is currently stretched with buses at capacity and no prospect of more bus or train services in the near future. The result will be a large increase in the number of private cars attempting to get into Reading or to reach the motorway, adding to more congestion on local roads.