Question

My question relates to traffic safety around Aldryngton Primary School and the proposal to expand the school by 105 places.

As you will be aware, the area immediately outside of the school is already extremely congested at pick-up and drop-off times.  There are over 2,000 children from two schools (Aldryngton Primary School and Maiden Erlegh School), parents, siblings, shoppers, visitors to the library and community centre all converging on a small site at these times.

A new Tesco Express is due to open within 50 metres of the school very soon.  When the proposal to build a Tesco Express was discussed at the Planning Committee, two local Councillors, Ken Miall and David Chopping expressed concerns about the impact on congestion and traffic safety.

Both schools share a narrow access road between the Silverdale Parade shops.  You will be aware that two primary school children were seriously injured on 17 January on the pavement of this narrow access road.  One of the children needed to be airlifted to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

In a feasibility report commissioned by WBC it is noted “the local highway network is very constrained during the start and end of the school day,” it is further noted that pupil drop-off and pick up is a “key issue” which requires mitigation.  It is strange that this report does not feature in the formal Planning Application to expand Aldryngton.  In a Council meeting on the 21st of July 2016, this report was discussed and Judith Ramsden noted, “credible measures to manage school run traffic are required.”

Respondents to the Planning Application are concerned that the Transport Statement that was published with the application is not based on the Council's own projection for surplus school places in Earley if Aldryngton is expanded and assumes that only 26 more children will be driven to school as a result of the expansion.  The Council itself projects an 11% surplus of places in Earley with the expansion of Aldryngton and Loddon from 2018.  The Transport Statement also fails to take into account the opening of Tesco.

The councillors of the Earley Town Council Planning Committee, who are residents of the local area themselves and have first hand experiences of how bad the exisiting situation outside of the school is, have voted unanimously to refuse the planning application of Aldrynton expansion as they found it extremely difficult to mitigate the impact of the expansion on local traffic situation. 

To summarise, there is a commonly held view by local Councillors that even without expansion congestion and traffic safety are a concern around the school.  This point is re-enforced by a WBC feasibility report and the report’s findings were highlighted by Judith Ramsden.  WBC’s own projections predict that with expansion many more pupils would travel from out of catchment.

Given these facts, how do you justify the statement you made on BBC Berkshire that congestion would be reduced by expanding Aldryngton?

Question

My question relates to traffic safety around Aldryngton Primary School and the proposal to expand the school by 105 places.

As you will be aware, the area immediately outside of the school is already extremely congested at pick-up and drop-off times.  There are over 2,000 children from two schools (Aldryngton Primary School and Maiden Erlegh School), parents, siblings, shoppers, visitors to the library and community centre all converging on a small site at these times.

A new Tesco Express is due to open within 50 metres of the school very soon.  When the proposal to build a Tesco Express was discussed at the Planning Committee, two local Councillors, Ken Miall and David Chopping expressed concerns about the impact on congestion and traffic safety.

Both schools share a narrow access road between the Silverdale Parade shops.  You will be aware that two primary school children were seriously injured on 17 January on the pavement of this narrow access road.  One of the children needed to be airlifted to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

In a feasibility report commissioned by WBC it is noted “the local highway network is very constrained during the start and end of the school day,” it is further noted that pupil drop-off and pick up is a “key issue” which requires mitigation.  It is strange that this report does not feature in the formal Planning Application to expand Aldryngton.  In a Council meeting on the 21st of July 2016, this report was discussed and Judith Ramsden noted, “credible measures to manage school run traffic are required.”

Respondents to the Planning Application are concerned that the Transport Statement that was published with the application is not based on the Council's own projection for surplus school places in Earley if Aldryngton is expanded and assumes that only 26 more children will be driven to school as a result of the expansion.  The Council itself projects an 11% surplus of places in Earley with the expansion of Aldryngton and Loddon from 2018.  The Transport Statement also fails to take into account the opening of Tesco.

The councillors of the Earley Town Council Planning Committee, who are residents of the local area themselves and have first hand experiences of how bad the exisiting situation outside of the school is, have voted unanimously to refuse the planning application of Aldrynton expansion as they found it extremely difficult to mitigate the impact of the expansion on local traffic situation. 

To summarise, there is a commonly held view by local Councillors that even without expansion congestion and traffic safety are a concern around the school.  This point is re-enforced by a WBC feasibility report and the report’s findings were highlighted by Judith Ramsden.  WBC’s own projections predict that with expansion many more pupils would travel from out of catchment.

Given these facts, how do you justify the statement you made on BBC Berkshire that congestion would be reduced by expanding Aldryngton.

Answer

Currently some Earley children are allocated school places outside their area, and these children are almost inevitably driven to school. Congestion can be reduced by additional capacity because it will mean that more children will be allocated schools within walking distance of their homes.

Looking at your list of specific issues I observe that some, such as the impact of the new Tesco Express are addressed in the planning application for the scheme. Without seeking to repeat the information provided to support the planning application I note that:

• after expansion I expect all children allocated a place at the school to live within walking distance of the site;
• that the incident on 17th January was not, as far as we know, related to congestion;
• that the two transport reports were for different purposes, both supported expansion but the second was written specifically to be part of the planning application;
• that I expect the planning consent, should it be granted, to condition traffic and transport management requirements, based on the Transport Statement recommendations; and
• that the views of Earley Town Council will be formally communicated to the Wokingham Planning Committee, who will give them proper and due weight when making their decisions.

More generally, I note that the Council’s traffic study recommends that the proposals are manageable and without substantial impact on local traffic. We will continue to work with the school and the community to address the problems associated with parents who wish to drop and collect their children at the school gates.

Supplementary Question

On the feasibility study.  It is very unfortunate that the feasibility study is not in the public domain, so we cannot test the statements which you have just made.  On my reading, the feasibility study flags a number of points which are ignored in the published report.  For example, the feasibility study acknowledges that most steps the school can take in the travel plan are already in place.  Similarly, the feasibility report states that the parking assessment methodology used in the published report is unsuitable when applied to narrow residential roads as it is in Earley.  WBC chose to ignore these points when instructing a different firm to run a second survey, something that Andy Couldrick, Chief Executive of WBC, has stated is, “far from standard practice”. 

Similarly WBC has chosen to ignore their own projections when running their assessment.  A proper and robust traffic survey is key to ensuring the safety of our children.  Do you understand that your actions look like the worst form of opinion shopping?

Supplementary Answer

I think your question deserves a considered reply.  Obviously, I am answering on behalf of Charlotte.  What I am going to do is go back and talk to her and we will provide you with a written response.