Report
to:
Lead Member for Transport & Environment
Date of
meeting: 24 October
2022
By:
Director of Communities, Economy and Transport
Title:
Proposed Ersham Road/Diplocks Way/South Road roundabout, Hailsham
– consultation and next steps
Purpose:
To advise the Lead Member on the proposed Ersham Road/Diplocks
Way/South Road roundabout consultation outcomes and to seek
approval to progress to detailed design and
construction.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
The Lead Member is
recommended to:
(1)
Note the outcome of
the public consultation to introduce a four-arm roundabout at the
Ersham Road/Diplocks Way/South Road junction in Hailsham;
and
(2)
Agree that the
scheme progress to detailed design and construction.
1
Background Information
1.1.
The South Road/Ersham Road mini roundabout and South Road/Diplocks
Way priority junction lie next to each other and are located less
than half a mile southwest of Hailsham town centre. Locally, both
junctions are on an important part of the road network serving the
south of Hailsham and the town centre that experience high levels
of traffic and congestion, particularly at peak times.
1.2.
In November 2012, the Movement and Access Strategy for Hailsham and
Hellingly (MASHH) identified the transport infrastructure required
in the Hailsham and Hellingly area to support development up to
2027 within Wealden District Council’s adopted 2013 Core
Strategy. MASHH identified that there was a clear need for
improvements at these junctions and forecasts suggested that
without improvement the junctions would not be able to cope with
anticipated future traffic growth, resulting in:
·
increasing journey times and congestion
·
restricting access to and from Hailsham Town Centre and Diplocks
Industrial Estate
·
cause traffic to divert on to local roads which are unsuitable for
higher levels of traffic
·
impact on journey time reliability of bus services passing through
the junction linking Hailsham to Polegate and Eastbourne
1.3.
The 2018 Wealden Local Plan Transport Study undertaken by the
County Council and Wealden District Council in support of the
development of the then emerging Wealden Local Plan reaffirmed the
need for improvements to these two junctions to support the planned
increase in housing and employment growth in Hailsham.
2
Supporting Information
Proposals
2.1 As part of the wider
package of transport improvements identified to support the housing
and employment growth in the Hailsham area proposals have been
developed to provide a single roundabout junction as a replacement
for the existing South Road/Ersham Road mini-roundabout and South
Road/Diplocks Way T-junction. As shown as Appendix 1, the
design comprises:
·
Two lane entry and exits on the
South Road arms (northbound and southbound) to the roundabout with
two lanes on the entry from Ersham Road with a one lane exit. The
entry and exit from the Diplocks Way arms would be one lane. The
roundabout has been designed to ensure that all sizes of vehicles
up to heavy goods vehicles and low loader trailers can move safely
around the junction
·
pedestrian and parallel cycle
crossings on Diplocks Way, Ersham Road and South Road (north only)
to provide increased access through the junction for non-motorised
users and allow connection to other pedestrian and cycle routes in
the town, including the Cuckoo Trail
·
realign the access to The Old
Bricklayers residential properties onto the roundabout which would
allow access to all properties from all directions
·
access to the petrol station would
be retained and through the access to the east, allowing for both
right and left turn access. The existing exit onto South Road will
be retained as a left-out only, with southbound traffic directed
through the existing exit onto Diplocks Way
·
the relocation of the existing
electricity sub-station which is currently adjacent to the Ersham
Road/South Road mini roundabout
2.2 The introduction of the
proposed roundabout requires the land adjacent to the two existing
junctions which was previously designated as the Ersham triangle
village green. Following submission of a joint application by
Wealden District Council, Hailsham Town Council and the County
Council, the Planning Inspectorate confirmed the deregistration of
this land as a village green on 25 May 2022 with alternative
provision having already been provided by a development site in
south Hailsham immediately adjacent to the Cuckoo Trail. Wealden
District Council are proposing that the former village green land
is transferred to the County Council.
2.3 The scheme will help to
reduce carbon emissions by reducing the current level of idling and
queuing traffic at the junction, thereby reducing congestion.
In addition, the improvements for pedestrians and cyclists on the
approaches and through the junction will seek to encourage shorter
journeys, which otherwise might have been undertaken by car, to be
undertaken by non-motorised modes. The design of the scheme has
considered equalities characteristics and an Equalities Impact
Assessment (EQIA) has been carried out for the proposals. The EQIA
is a live document and will continue to be reviewed and updated
during the detailed design and construction stages, ensuring any
issues that arise are addressed.
2.4 The scheme would be
delivered using £1.5m from Wealden’s Community
Infrastructure Levy receipts. The scheme will be added to
county’s highway asset register and the ongoing maintenance
costs will be included in the County Council’s future highway
maintenance programme.
Public Consultation
outcomes
2.5 Public consultation on the
proposals was undertaken between 25 April and 20 May 2022.
The consultation process was undertaken online via the County
Council’s consultation hub which included a brochure setting
out the rationale for the proposals, details of the design
proposals themselves and accompanied by a questionnaire which
included open questions to encourage qualitative feedback. Leaflets
about the consultation were distributed to over 1,300 properties
within approximately 1km of the proposed junction improvement.
2.6 A total of 215 responses
were received with 85% of these responses from residents in the
Hailsham area. Overall, there was a high level of support for
the proposals with 83.7% either supporting or strongly supporting
the scheme. A breakdown of the number of responses and the level of
support received is shown below:
Responses
received
|
Strongly Support /
Support
|
Oppose / Strongly
Oppose
|
Don’t Know / No
preference
|
Not
answered
|
215
|
83.7%
|
11.1%
|
4.7%
|
0.5%
|
2.7 Respondents were also asked
how strongly they agreed or disagreed with the importance of
improving facilities for specific users. 88.4% of responses
agreeing/strongly agreeing with the importance of improving
facilities for pedestrians public transport; with 63.3%
agreeing/strongly agreeing that it was important to improve
facilities for cyclists
2.8 In the comments provided
alongside the consultation responses, a number of issues were
raised. The issues and the response to these are set out
below:
Issue
|
Response
|
Loss of village green
would negatively affect the local area and would be missed if
removed
|
Following an
application to the Planning Inspectorate, the Ersham triangle
village green was de-designated in May 2022. As part of the
application process, there was the opportunity for local residents
and stakeholders to comment on the proposal which would have been
taken into consideration by the Planning Inspectorate. Alternative
village green provision has been made as part of a development in
south Hailsham adjacent to the Cuckoo Trail.
|
Larger roundabout to
replace the current roundabout and T-junction will not achieve the
desired objectives, especially reduce congestion
|
The modelling
undertaken as part of the design process identified that the
proposed roundabout design would reduce congestion in comparison to
a ‘do nothing’ scenario.
|
Could a traffic signal
control junction be introduced instead to help keep traffic
flowing?
|
As part of the
optioneering stage, the potential to introduce a traffic signal
controlled junction was considered. The signalised junction option
did not perform as well compared to the roundabout and therefore
was discounted.
|
Pedestrian crossings
were inappropriately located and likely to increase congestion
rather than alleviate
|
Whilst the
introduction of parallel pedestrian & cycle crossings on three
of the arms of the proposed roundabout will mean traffic has to
stop to enable these movements, they will help improve pedestrian
and cycle accessibility around the junction for movements between
south Hailsham, Diplocks Way Industrial Estate and the town
centre.
|
Improvements are not
value for money
|
Whilst a value for
money assessment has not been undertaken, on a qualitative basis
the proposed junction improvement will reduce queuing and
congestion as well as improve journey time reliability and
accessibility to the town centre and employment in the town. In
addition, it will improve active travel and public transport travel
choices as well as safety for all road users.
|
Impact of loss of
on-street residential parking on Ersham Road
|
It is recognised that
there will be some loss of on-street parking on Ersham Road as a
result on introducing the proposed new roundabout.
|
The scheme design
means that it is not able to accommodate longer vehicles
|
The
roundabout has been designed to ensure that all sizes of vehicles
up to heavy goods vehicles and low loader trailers can move safely
around the junction and in one movement. For some of these
movements, the vehicle will need to utilise both lanes around the
roundabout, but can all be accommodated within the
design.
|
3 Conclusion and Reasons for
Recommendations
3.1 The Movement and Access
Strategy for Hailsham and Hellingly (MASHH), and more recently the
2018 Wealden Local Plan Transport Study, identified the need to
improve the Ersham Road/South Road mini-roundabout and South
Road/Diplocks Way junction to support the planned housing and
employment growth in Hailsham.
3.2 Proposals have been
developed to replace the existing two junctions with a single four
arm roundabout in order to help reduce congestion and queuing in
the area, improve accessibility to the town centre and employment
areas, improve active travel and public travel choices as well as
improve safety for all users. To accommodate the proposed new
roundabout necessitated the de-designation of the Ersham triangle
village green. Following submission of an application to the
Planning Inspectorate by Wealden District Council, Hailsham Town
Council and the County Council, the village green was de-designated
in May 2022 with alternative provision being provided elsewhere in
the south of the town.
3.3 The results of the public
consultation undertaken in April/May 2022 show that there is a
strong level of support for the introduction of a single four arm
roundabout at the Ersham Road/Diplocks Way/South Road junction.
Therefore, it is recommended that the roundabout proposals are
taken forward to detailed design and construction. detailed design and construction, which would be
funded from Community Infrastructure Levy receipts allocated by
Wealden District Council to the scheme.
Director of Communities, Economy
and Transport
Contact Officer: Jon
Wheeler
Tel. No. 01273 482212
Email: jon.wheeler@eastsussex.gov.uk
LOCAL
MEMBERS
Councillor Fox,
Councillor Murphy
BACKGROUND
DOCUMENTS
Ersham Road/Diplocks
Way/South Road roundabout, Hailsham – consultation
report