Parish Cake Autumn 2020

NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN
Access &
Movement
Safe Travel
Is safe travel a pipe dream?
asks June Bell
‘SAFE TRAVEL to places that people want
to go’ is the very latest health initiative
launched by the government entitled Gear
Change 1 .
The challenge is how, when
the glaring consequence of
building more homes is
the increase in traffic
generated from new
sites onto an already
congested road network.
How many times do
you get in the car to just
achieve the essentials to
living: employment, shopping,
child-care, school, or visiting family
or friends?
People need to leave their homes and go
places. Planners estimate 10 daily trips for a
development of two three-bedroom dwellings
at Hartley. Now multiply that by:
• 400 dwellings proposed for the Crane
Valley (Brick Kiln Farm, Corn Hall, Turnden
Phase 1 and 2)
• 90 for Hartley
• 417 dwellings plus a care home and a
medical centre feeding onto the A229 from
the proposed relief route traversing the
Hawkhurst Golf Club.
Then add on all the construction traffic for
developments of this scale.
HELP OR HAZARD?
In Cranbrook, proposals to improve
road safety between the junction with the
High Street and access to Turnden Phase 1
include reducing the speed limit to 30mph
and adding nine new traffic/pedestrian
control measures, including filter lanes,
uncontrolled pedestrian crossings and refuge
islands - all within less than 300m.
Hazard perception skills will indeed be
tested and there’s little reassurance
that drivers will observe speed
limits – 2018 transport surveys
recorded 115 vehicles travelling
in excess of 70mph along this
40mph zone and residents
along the A229 can testify
the 2020 lockdown may have
reduced numbers on the road but
not the excessive speed of those
using it.
What else can be done? Reducing the
impact of development on road safety
requires substantial investment into the
public transport network serving the parish.
Safe crossing from new sites to access the
High Weald Academy is yet to be resolved.
Inadequate cycling infrastructure direct
from home to destination will deter
adoption of this healthier alternative to the
car.
Let Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
know your own expectations for safer travel.
1
www.gov.uk/government/publications/
cycling-and-walking-plan-for-england
Air Pollution
We are breaching an
acceptable level of air
pollution says Nancy
Warne and June Bell
SURELY NOT us, lucky enough to
be living in the Garden of England
surrounded by an outstanding
landscape of natural beauty! But
shockingly in 2018, Cranbrook
Road in Hawkhurst was identified
as one of England’s 1,360 Air
Pollution Hotspots 1 .
Air pollution is responsible for
an estimated 36,000 premature
deaths each year and is one of
the UK’s biggest killers1 and the
predominant cause is road traffic.
These are frightening facts,
as our parish faces an increase
in excess of 800 new homes in
the next 10 years, in addition to
the large numbers proposed in
Hawkhurst. Assuming one to two
cars per household, due to our
rural location, the consequence
will be significantly more vehicles,
adding to the pre-existing
polluting congestion.
LESSONS LEARNT
Research 2 showed that air quality
in the UK improved during the
unprecedented lockdown and lives
12 Parish Cake • Autumn 2020