In collaboration with Teynham, Tonge and Doddington Parish Councils we have now submitted a transport report which assesses the traffic impacts of the proposed Highsted Park development - which would see 7,150 houses built on the southern site and 1,250 on the northern site (land to the west of Teynham).
The report concludes that the applicant’s highways modelling is deficient and leaves too many unanswered questions, with numerous discrepancies in the technical work.
There has been no assessment undertaken of the poor highway safety record on Lower Road, Teynham (an accident rate four to seven times the national average). Lower Road is currently used as a rat-run for motorists seeking to avoid congestion on the A2 corridor. The predicted significant increases in traffic along the A2 east of the site means the proposed development will significantly increase traffic flows on Lower Road and thus exacerbate the poor safety record.
The A2 through Teynham and Lynsted is already congested. It is an Air Quality Management Area, cars park on footways and there are very limited safe pedestrian crossing facilities.
This stretch of the London Road is predicted to carry traffic flows that will lead to very severe congestion. The northern site will generate around 5,000 additional daily vehicle trips on the A2. This will cause London Road to exceed its capacity. Despite this, the assessments suggest that the impact will be ‘neutral or slight’. This conclusion is not justifiable since it does not reflect the sensitivity of this road to increased traffic flows.
The modelling work for the northern site also identifies a very significant increase in HGV movements (+56%) on the A2 leading to permanent moderate to large adverse impacts. Despite this, no mitigation is proposed.
There are already over 1,500 committed dwellings in this area. From the information that has been submitted it is not possible to confirm whether or not all of these have been taken into account in the traffic modelling work - meaning the impact could potentially be far worse.
The report from the four parish councils also highlights the poor bus provision and poor access to infrequent rail services at Teynham station, which will increase reliance on the car.
To read the full report, click HERE