Draft A27 Chichester Bypass Mitigation Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) Version 2 - May 2024

Comment

Representation ID: 6579

Received: 11/07/2024

Respondent: National Highways

Paragraph 1.1 Suggested text and changes:
The A27 is part of the Strategic Road Network and is therefore the responsibility of National Highways. All new housing development coming forward under the Local Plan is generating additional traffic impacts on the A27 Chichester Bypass junctions and the associated local highway network. These additional impacts require mitigation to ensure that the traffic growth associated with development in the Chichester Local Plan area to does not result in unacceptable road safety risk or is otherwise severe. This is consistent with the Governments National Planning Policy Framework. In the absence of any Government funding for improvements to the A27 corridor within Chichester, the Council is dependent on securing financial contributions from new development to fund the necessary works.

Comment

Representation ID: 6580

Received: 11/07/2024

Respondent: National Highways

We note that there are no circumstances precluding Council from obtaining contributions from employment sites.

Comment

Representation ID: 6581

Received: 11/07/2024

Respondent: National Highways

We note that there are no circumstances precluding Council from obtaining contributions from employment sites.

Comment

Representation ID: 6582

Received: 11/07/2024

Respondent: National Highways

5.2 Suggested text and changes
Under the 2016 SPD, where applicants were required to pay A27 mitigation contributions, the Section 106 Agreements required the applicant to enter into a Section 278 Agreement with National Highways. The s278 Agreement was then used to pay the contribution directly to National Highways. However, this practice has recently changed and to reflect current and future circumstances. The government has made it clear that there is no prospect of improvements to the A27 within Chichester through the nationally administered Road Investment Strategy (RIS) in the foreseeable future. In the absence of any solution that accounts for current congestion and additional traffic impacts of new development, Chichester District Council will now be collecting and holding the A27 mitigation contributions. Chichester District Council will be responsible for identifying the schemes necessary to accommodate traffic growth associated with the Local Plan, with the assistance of National Highways and West Sussex County Council. Agreed schemes will then be delivered by Chichester District Council or West Sussex County Council through a Section 6 Agreement under the Highways Act 1980. Therefore, the A27 mitigation contributions will be secured through Planning Obligations, either through a Section 106 Agreement with the Council or a Unilateral Undertaking by the applicant.

Comment

Representation ID: 6583

Received: 11/07/2024

Respondent: National Highways

5.3 Suggested change. Delete - The funding collected will be passed, either to National Highways or to their nominated delivery partner, at the time that the initial work on the relevant junction improvement works is due to commence.

Comment

Representation ID: 6584

Received: 11/07/2024

Respondent: National Highways

The identification and delivery of improvements to the A27, which are necessary to safely accommodate development which CDC permits through the planning system is the responsibility of CDC as owners of the Local Plan. NH and the local highway authority (West Sussex County Council) will work with CDC to identify acceptable transport solutions.
In terms of delivery of necessary schemes, the Highways Act 1980 provides a mechanism through a Section 6 agreement for National Highways to effectively delegate certain powers to enable Local Authorities to carry out schemes on the SRN. The A27 mitigation contributions, set out in the SPD, will therefore remain with CDC, and will not be passed onto National Highways in the absence of a RIS programme A27 improvement scheme.
NH would expect CDC or WSCC to be the ‘Scheme Promoter’ in agreement with NH and for CDC to provide clarity on how schemes will be developed and delivered on the SRN.
We note the statement in Paragraph 5.5 of the SPD that there is a need to ensure that sufficient funding is available at the point that it is required. How this is to be ensured is not clear and other parts of the SPD, eg paragraph 5.12, infer that sufficient funding will not be available for extended periods of time. As advised in NH’s letter of 6th September 2023, the SPD should include a forward funding mechanism, this would form a contingency to cover the eventuality that sufficient funding is not available at the point that it is required.