Planning application - must road also be improved?

[Atomic12C]

Quick question to any of you guys who have knowledge in planning applications and the like....

If a new housing development were to be built on the outskirts of a small rural village, where the road from the development site to the local school has no footpath or street lighting and which is also quite narrow.... would the development have to include plans and funding to improve the road to allow new residents safe access to and from the school ?

[joshleb]

Size of development/ no of units?
Benefit housing to be included?
Greenfield site?

[iphonedyou]

Not necessarily, though very often yes.

The developer will have been required to consultant with Highways England / Department for Transport, provide a Transport Assessment Form (or similar depending on region) and ultimately they'll take a view on it that planning will take into consideration when making their decision.

Basically a statutory consultation process will take place and that'll feed into the planning application.

ETA: I'm in Northern Ireland so the terminology will differ but the process is by and large the same.

Edited by iphonedyou on Thursday 20th July 15:32

[Atomic12C]

joshleb said:

Size of development/ no of units?
Benefit housing to be included?
Greenfield site?

14 properties, mainly family sized 3 and 4 bedroom.
Including 2 'affordable' and 2 'accessible housing.

Not greenfield (but possibly brownfield) as it is a change of use from land that had a business on it to the owner selling that land for housing builds.

[Atomic12C]

iphonedyou said:

Not necessarily, though very often yes.

The developer will have been required to consultant with Highways England / Department for Transport, provide a Transport Assessment Form (or similar depending on region) and ultimately they'll take a view on it that planning will take into consideration when making their decision.

Basically a statutory consultation process will take place and that'll feed into the planning application.

ETA: I'm in Northern Ireland so the terminology will differ but the process is by and large the same.

Edited by iphonedyou on Thursday 20th July 15:32

Thanks for the reply.
Would there be any set criteria to trigger a road improvement as part of a proposed development?
It would be interesting to see if there are presidential cases by which planning boards must follow? If the system works like that of course!

I'm not too 'up' on my planning knowledge or the system by which it operates.

[iphonedyou]

Atomic12C said:

Thanks for the reply.
Would there be any set criteria to trigger a road improvement as part of a proposed development?
It would be interesting to see if there are presidential cases by which planning boards must follow? If the system works like that of course!

I'm not too 'up' on my planning knowledge or the system by which it operates.

Full disclosure: I'm not a planner - Chartered Surveyor and PM, but work with planning consultants to get our schemes through.

In terms of enforcing road upgrades specifically as a condition precedent for planning approval, planning will consider the DfT's consultation responses. Here in NI the equivalent body (Transport NI) considers traffic surveys showing existing situation, traffic assessment forms which note the anticipated new situation in terms of people movements by foot, car, public transport etc.), service management plan (detailing vehicle movements associated with the development in question specifically - bin lorries, deliveries access requirements etc.), parking strategy document and similar. Equus / blueg may be able to comment on the English documentation specifically.

The short answer is that there isn't a single, absolute criterion - rather it's a more holistic view that's taken in determining whether to require road upgrades.

Edited by iphonedyou on Thursday 20th July 17:17

[PAUL500]

In other words how much of a section 106 bung the developer is prepared to pay the local authority to get the planning approval inc paying for such upgrades to sweeten the deal.

Every local authority is different, some are reasonable where as some operate like Dick Turpin.

Edited by PAUL500 on Thursday 20th July 20:45

[iphonedyou]

PAUL500 said:

In other words how much of a section 106 bung the developer is prepared to pay the local authority to get the planning approval inc paying for such upgrades to sweeten the deal.

Every local authority is different, some are reasonable where as some operate like Dick Turpin.

Edited by PAUL500 on Thursday 20th July 20:45

OP's request here doesn't, I feel, necessarily concern S106 - which by nature tends to be a considerable sum covering a package of infrastructure works. I read it as OP is unhappy that planning permission has been given without upgrading a single road, which can be (and often is) demanded outwith wider S106 obligations, including where no S106 exists.

Your point stands more widely, though.

We're at pre-application discussion stage with a primary school just now; our architect had proposed maintenance and staff parking access to the rear of the site, off a very narrow road. The rationale being it keeps much of the vehicle movement away from the front of the site and obviates a need to bisect the site. It didn't take long for T-NI to indicate they'd be requiring road widening, footpaths either side, road lighting and sight-lines both side - all fair enough.

Maintenance and staff are going through the front entrance now.