Darlings of Chelsea (former Racing Green building), Ash Vale

Client
Darlings of Chelsea
Location

Alton

REMIT

To support a planning application for a store extension for a bespoke high-end furniture retailer.

BACKGROUND

RGP has been involved with this site since 2014 on behalf of Darlings of Chelsea who took on the building after Racing Green Cars vacated in 2014.  RGP assisted with the change of use application initially in 2014, using an on-site traffic survey of the existing car showroom use as the basis for the transport planning strategy.

In 2018, Darlings of Chelsea requested RGP to help them with the transport planning aspects of an extension to the existing store.

RGP’S APPROACH

RGP took the decision to re-survey the site to establish the level of vehicle trips associated with the use to compare with the forecast level in 2014.

These forecasts allowed detailed parking accumulation to be established across a Saturday for both the existing and an extended store which allowed RGP to provide information to assist with determining the size of extension possible using the car parking levels required along with swept path analysis of various delivery vehicles.

The 2018 traffic survey results also showed that there were fewer vehicle trips associated with the store compared to the 2014 forecasts and indeed the previously permitted car showroom use. Therefore, an opportunity arose that meant RGP could demonstrate that the proposed store extension would not generate any additional trips above those that had been permitted on the site with the 2014 application.

The approach was accepted by Surrey County Council as Local Highway Authority and the application was approved by Guildford Borough Council in August 2018.