Mountfield Park Canterbury, Planning Application

The site is the largest site to be allocated within the emerging Canterbury District Local Plan (draft 2014) and RGP has previously negotiated with the relevant Highway Authorities to reach a Statement of Common Ground which nullified the concerns of third parties with regard to the deliverability of this site coming forward. Prior to the adoption of the Local Plan, RGP was commissioned to prepare the necessary technical reports to support a hybrid planning application for the site to include 4,000 residential units.

RGP continued its discussions with Officers at Highway England, Kent County Council and Canterbury City Council to agree the scope of the necessary Transport Assessment a detailed modelling which would be required to demonstrate the impact of the proposed development. Given that the application was the largest ever considered within Canterbury and given that the site had attracted much local interest from residents, action groups and the media RGP wanted to ensure that the Transport Assessment was transparent and the results of the impact assessment would be understandable to the layperson. Despite the significant scale of information required to demonstrate the impact of 4,000 units and the associated mitigation work a clear methodology was devised to express the impact to local residents on actual physical journeys made across the city.

RGP also developed a working relationship with many of the local action groups through a series of public exhibitions and workshops which helped those interested parties fully understand the impact of the proposals and the infrastructure improvements which were proposed to mitigate its impact. RGP was therefore able to ensure that the transport documents submitted addressed the concerns of third parties without last minute issues being raised.

RGP also, together with the client committed to promoting sustainable travel, developed a bespoke Travel Plan which will deliver the necessary modal shift away from the car with effective physical infrastructure, investment and promotion of sustainable modes for many journeys. The Travel Plan was highly commended by the Authorities.

RGP worked tirelessly during the application process to ensure that it achieved a prompt decision within a very short timeframe considering the size and complexity of the application.

In addition, early liaison with Kent County Council, Canterbury City Council and Stagecoach allowed RGP to negotiate agreement relating to the significant public transport package of measures to support the development which included fast bus infrastructure and a bus strategy which delivered frequent and reliable buses for new residents from day one through a combination of existing provision, re-appraisal of existing Park & Ride services and some new investment.

RGP’s work culminated in a Statement of Common Ground on Highway and Transport Planning matters and attendance at the relevant sessions of the EiPwhich nullified the concerns of interested third parties with regard to deliverability.