Timetable for improvements to town roads announced

THE number of people living at the development at The Racecourse Newbury will determine just when improvements to Newbury’s roads will commence.

Extra vehicles on local roads as a result of the development will be seen as early as this month, with 15 of the 1,500 houses set to be occupied.

More than £2m of improvement works in the town centre has been agreed as a condition of the planning permission to help mitigate the impact of traffic triggered by the new development.

The plans include lane-widening on the London Road approach to the Robin Hood roundabout.

No more than 801 houses can be built until these works are complete.

In addition, no more than 710 houses can be occupied until lane-widening and new signalling on the A339 and Bear Lane roundabout is complete, or the council is paid £900,000 towards these improvements.

The project manager for the development by David Wilson Homes, Daniel Pavely, said: “The Bear Lane and Robin Hood infrastructure enhancements will be implemented by the local authority, although these will not be undertaken until completion of the requisite plots has been reached, as stipulated within the Section 106 agreement.

“We also continue to work in partnership with the local authority to implement suitable calming measures as part of the project, and especially during peak periods when racing is taking place.”

Again, the calming works will be carried out in phases, depending on the number of homes occupied.

A spokesman for West Berkshire Council, Keith Ulyatt, said: “The triggers for S106 highways contributions are based on the number of occupations of properties. So any timings are dependent on the actions of the developer and how they market and sell their homes.”

Local residents have previously voiced concerns over the expected increase in traffic saying that the already busy roads will be gridlocked without appropriate measures.

The chairman of Greenham Parish Council, Tony Forward, said that there was still concern among Greenham residents, chiefly that there would be a huge amount of on-street parking on race days, that the initial traffic survey data on Westwood Road was flawed and that the already poor air quality on the Burger King roundabout would be further diminished.

Further plans to re-route traffic include the construction of a bridge connecting Hambridge Road to the racecourse over the railway line, with work expected to begin in 2014 and take one year to complete.

A new, two-way junction at Stroud Green has already been completed, along with a mini- roundabout at the junction of Racecourse Road.

The mini-roundabout was part of the agreement that stipulated that no more than 168 houses could be occupied before its construction, along with signal improvements on Hambridge Road and improved access for walkers and cyclists around the site’s western end.

A series of traffic surveys are also set to be carried out on completion of the road works, with more than £600,000 to be paid by David Wilson Homes if traffic has not improved at the St John’s roundabout and Hambridge Road.

The racecourse has also launched a number of initiatives to reduce traffic, such as encouraging would-be residents to use public transport, providing free bicycles and helmets on the completion of cycle training, and the introduction of a car-sharing scheme.

Another condition for the development is a £40,000 allocation for sustainable school travel, but only £11,000 has been received by the district council so far, according to Mr Ulyatt.

However, he said that pre-development payments had been made and that other payment schedules were on track.