Weymouth Action

URGENT: Object to the Planning Applications for the Weymouth Relief Road - deadline now extended indefinitely


A Planning Application for this scheme has just been published. To help get it withdrawn please send a letter or email to:


Planning Department
Dorset County Council
County Hall
DORCHESTER
DT1 1XJ


c.groves@dorsetcc.gov.uk


An objection should arrive at County Hall as soon as possible.


The letter or email should be headed:


OBJECTION TO PLANNING APPLICATIONS WDCC 1/E/2005/1840 and W&PBC 05/666/DCC3 or OBJECTION TO THE PROPOSED WEYMOUTH RELIEF ROAD


Suggested reason:


It would cause unacceptable damage to the natural environment. This is unnecessary because there are alternative, more sustainable measures that would reduce journey delay times to acceptable levels.


Other things that can be mentioned:


1. The amount of traffic on the stretch of road proposed to be bypassed is not exceptional. The average flow throughout the year is 23,000 vehicles per day. It has been estimated that over 1,000 communities in Great Britain suffer this level of traffic or more. Most of these communities are in urban areas, similar to Upwey and Broadwey, where a bypass has long been abandoned as a sustainable solution to traffic problems.


2. The proposal contradicts Government, Regional and Local Policies that protect biodiversity, the Dorset AONB, Ancient Woodland, the Lorton SSSI, the Dorset Wildlife Trust Lorton Meadows Nature Reserve and the Area of Local Landscape Interest south of the Ridgeway.


3. It would give rise to ugly gashes through the Ridgeway (19 m deep) and Southdown Ridge (16 m deep) reminiscent of that through Twyford Down and a dominating embankment (19 m high) across the Bincombe Valley.


4. The high-speed traffic noise it would generate would flood the countryside and destroy the tranquillity of the Bincombe Valley and Two Mile Coppice.


5. The Ridgeway is part of a potential World Heritage Site because it is part of a much larger area that contains several thousand barrows, the largest concentration in Europe. It is clear that the setting of these barrows must be conserved. This is not possible if the road is built.


6. It is forecast to give rise to traffic induction and thereby increased carbon dioxide emissions, contrary to Government policies.


7. Residents of Littlemoor, Bincombe, Greenway Road and Greenway Close will be subject to increased noise levels and air pollution.


8. The cost of the bypass (£46.95 million at Quarter 1 2002 prices) represents a very high proportion of the transport funds Dorset County Council can expect from the Government over the coming years. It follows that, if the bypass were to be built, the Council would be unlikely to have the funds to enable it to address the more pressing transport problems it faces throughout the county.


9. It does nothing to solve the traffic problems of urban Weymouth and Portland.


10. It does nothing to help solve the transport problems suffered by residents of rural Dorset.


11. It has not been accepted by the vast majority of Dorset residents.


12. It is forecast to cause serious congestion at the junction of the A354 Dorchester Road with the A35(T) Dorchester Bypass.


13. It is forecast to give rise to significant increases in traffic on:


14. Dorset County Council·s policy not to implement integrated transport measures until after the bypass is built is unacceptable. Our consultant·s assessment is that if such measures were to be put in place there would be no need to increase road capacity.


15. Public transport in the area is under utilised and there should be more sticks and carrots to encourage travellers to use it. Between 0700 and 0900 hours on a weekday, northbound buses and trains between Weymouth and Dorchester are running 83% empty. The corresponding figure for southbound buses and trains between 1600 and 1800 hours is 73%.


16. There are no bus lanes, no bus priority measures and no formal Bus Quality Partnership.


17. Bus and train services remain uncoordinated.


18. Buses remain unable to deliver passengers to and pick up passengers from the forecourt of Weymouth Railway Station.


19. There is no plan to replace the Dorchester Road/Littlemoor Road T-junction with a roundabout to smooth flows and reduce delays.


20. Dorset County Council·s transport policies have failed to bring about significant increases in walking and cycling. The Council must introduce effective policies and provide the resources for their implementation.


21. To reduce delays and bring about a significant improvement in road safety, on-street parking on the Dorchester Road through Upwey and Broadwey should be banned except at times when traffic is light.


22. A significant proportion of journey delays at commuter times is caused by Dorset County Council employees travelling to and from work by car. It must have a comprehensive and enforced Workplace Travel Plan before it considers increasing road capacity to accommodate its employees.


23. Once it has put its own house in order, the Council must put more effort into persuading and helping all large and medium sized businesses and organisations in Dorchester and Weymouth to devise and implement Workplace Travel Plans. In particular, the Council should engage with Dorset County Hospital and West Dorset District Council to reduce their contribution to morning northbound traffic and evening southbound traffic on the A354.


24. There is a significant contribution to traffic at commuter times by cars on school trips to Wey Valley Secondary School, Saint Nicholas & Saint Laurence Primary School, Saint John's Primary School and Radipole Primary School. These trips could be reduced through School Travel Plans agreed between the schools and Dorset County Council. The Council must be more determined in its efforts to bring about modal shift through School Travel Plans.


25. The introduction of safety measures to reduce casualties on the Dorchester Road through Upwey and Broadwey has been neglected. For example, the Council should have considered by now a reduction in the speed limit over the Ridgeway and round the hairpin bend from 60 to 40 or 50 mph and a reduction in the speed limit from Nottington Lane to Manor Roundabout from 40 to 30 mph.


26. Dorset County Council has failed to put forward any evidence to support its claim that peoples· lives have been put in danger as a result of emergency services being delayed on the A354 through Upwey and Broadwey.


27. A Weymouth Relief Road is not needed for a successful Olympic Games. London 2012 convinced the International Olympic Committee that the 15,000 spectators (maximum) 12,600 (average) expected on each of the 14 days of sailing events to be held at Weymouth could be catered for by three measures: a temporary 1,000 car Park & Ride (costing £1 million), a reduction from 7,000 to 500 car parking spaces in urban Weymouth and Portland and expenditure of £496 million (to be spent between 2003 and 2006) to improve rail services between London Waterloo and Weymouth.


28. If the road were to be built for the Olympics it would run counter to the transport strategy for the Games which calls for 100 per cent of spectators to arrive by public transport.


29. Since the economy of the area has been described as both booming and successful, any claim that the road is necessary for the economy of the area is not credible. The County Council·s more recent argument that it is needed to offset any future downturn in the economy has the ring of desperation.


30. Since unemployment is low (close to half the rate for the UK) it is similarly not credible for there to be a claim that a Weymouth Relief Road is needed for the reduction of unemployment.


31. The Indices of Deprivation 2004, together with unemployment data, provide the evidence that Dorset County Council no longer has any justification for promoting the Weymouth Relief Road on socio-economic grounds. Further, on the basis of the same evidence, South West Regional Assembly Officers have concluded that the Special Need status of Weymouth & Portland is no longer justified.


32. The proposed road is not a regional priority so that, because of limited funding, there is doubt that, even if approved, it could be built within the period of the South West Regional Spatial Strategy 2006-2026.