Transport Planning and our Communities

There have been updates to the transport planning across our local communities.

Chippenham and Trowbridge are in an area of high levels of future housing demand, according to a group called ConnectedCities who campaign for growth with sustainable travel, and only by increasing rail travel can this be achieved. The draft Local Plan 2020-2038 allocations, and already granted permissions, at the two towns come with proposals for road based developments. These have a knock-on effect on the surrounding villages, large and small.

The current population of Greater Chippenham is 75,000 and of Greater Trowbridge is 100,000 and an increased population of some 75,000 being contemplated over the next 40 year period.

Earlier this year it was revealed that ConnectedCities had hosted a Conference in Chippenham to discuss the MetroWest Bath & Wiltshire proposal. It was attended by the then Leader of the Council Richard Clewer and other Wiltshire Council representatives.

The conference began by noting that the Government’s latest policy for rail is for Great British Railways to unite track and train to make it more responsive to the needs of local areas, and ensure the railway delivers for local users and communities, rather than focusing solely on the national level.

The existing network is constrained by the long-distance services to London and by freight. The recent Network Rail Strategic Study for Wiltshire primarily focusses on long-distance passenger journeys (primarily to/from London) and does not adequately consider the opportunity or the demand for local services. New stations could be funded by housing developments in their catchment area.

For between £20 million and £30 million, this Metro system plan would create multiple new stations in and around “hub towns” like Chippenham and Trowbridge.

ConnectedCities believes this plan, between Bath and Wiltshire, could be established by restoring disused platforms and re-altering junctions.

Wiltshire Council has since confirmed its support for the project and new Council Leader Ian Thorn will be attending an upcoming meeting, organised by Melksham and Devizes MP Brian Mathew, to help move it forward.

Connected Cities wants rail connectivity to be the way to unlock new housing in and around towns, creating something like a Greater Chippenham and a Greater Trowbridge. They claim they could create thousands of new homes within 1km of new or existing stations.

A map of the project suggests new stations could be created at Corsham, Christian Malford, Lackham, Staverton, and the White Horse Business Park in Trowbridge.

He said, ‘For people to be able to rely on the railway for their commute, you need a minimum of 2 trains an hour. A true Metro comes when there are 4 or more trains an hour – then people can just “turn up and go”.’

Ed Leahy, Director of Create Streets showed how an approach of Gentle Density development could be applied to Chippenham, to build the same number of homes as the current plans – which need a new £75M distributor road – but on less land.

Land take would be reduced from 350 hectares to 120 hectares. Almost all the new homes will be within 2.5km of Chippenham Station and half will be less than 1.5km away.

The density will be 40 to 60 dwellings per hectare – the same as already exists in central Chippenham, not the 35 dwellings per hectare currently rolled out by the volume developers. The number of new and existing homes within 10-minute walk of countryside will double. Land for car parking will more than halve.

An integrated approach to homes and transport planning and Land Use is essential.

Rail, bus and metro travel could replace the car for nearly all journeys.

The money that would have been spent on the new road can be spent on town amenities, active travel and public transport. A process called Vision Led Planning…

Councillor Richard Clewer summed up the Conference by saying that the current planning system and 5-year land supply rules make strategic rail-focused development difficult, but Mayoral Combined Authorities are on their way, and they will have the ability to deliver integrated transport/planning at required scale. Cross-boundary cooperation will be essential given the economic geography of the area.

None of this of course considers the implications of a possible new town in Wiltshire…