General Discussion
This link road should ultimately lead to/from the Sainsbury's roundabout through what is the Persimmon site, then Secmaton Farm and then Gatehouse Farm to the top end of Elm Grove Road. A bridge is needed on the Secmaton Farm site to enable the road to cross over Shutterton Brook. See https://dawlish.com/thread/details/47119 for background info.
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Bus Service and the Link Road.
I understand it is planned there should be a bus service running along the link road (whenever it finally gets completely built that is).
I imagine that buses would only be able to access/egress the southern end of this link road (Gatehouse area) by way of travelling along Elm Grove Road. Do residents of Elm Grove Road want this? Have they been consulted?
I have no problem, in theory, with the provision of a bus service, on the contrary. However, I do have a problem if, in providing a bus service along the link road (and then also presumably along Elm Grove Road?), other locations that presently have a bus service would lose out.
For example, the numbers 2 and 2b buses run along Exeter Road. If either of these routes were to be diverted to provide a service to those living in the link road area (from Sainsbury's roundabout to junction Elm Grove Road/Exeter Road) then that part of Exeter Road between Elm Grove Road and Sainsbury's Roundabout would no longer have a bus service.
The 186* presently weaves in and out of lots of roads and side streets on its journey back and forth from Sainsbury's to John Nash Drive. This includes Elm Grove Drive, Lower Drive, Higher, Drive and the Pidgely Road areas of the town. If it were to be diverted along this new link road then would those residential areas lose their 186 service?
I may be seeing complications where none would exist. If so, I'd be really obliged if someone could point out how a bus service can be provided along the link road without other areas of the town losing what they presently have.
* Before anyone tells me I know the 186 already goes along Elm Grove Road up as far as Gatehouse Farm (before it turns around and goes on its merry way to Sainsbury's via Elm Grove Drive, Sandy Lane, Lower Drive, Higher Drive, and Pidgely Road. It has bus stops along those same residential areas when going the other way from Sainsburys to John Nash Drive.)
Re the numbers 2 and 2b bus routes. If they were to stick to their present routes but at the Sainsbury roundabout go down one way along the link road, turn around at the Gatehouse end and then go back up again on the opposite side of the road to get back to the Sainsbury roundabout, that would be one way of keeping the present route as tis but adding in the link road. Mind you, this detour would add to the length and thus time of any journey with perhaps an increase in fare prices to boot?
Have to declare an interest here. I am a bus user. Not that often I have to admit but I have been known to use the number 2 to get up to, and back from, Exeter. I stopped using it to get back and forth from Newton Abbot as its detour around the houses in Kingsteignton for what seemingly felt like hours (but probably 20 mins or so) drove me nuts! I appreciate the residents of Kingsteignton need a bus service just as the residents of the new estates either side of the link road should have a bus service. Trouble is, for the rest of us bus users that is going to add on what? 15/20 mins or so to the journey? And the journey time has recently been extended anyway because now the number 2 (and 2b along with the 186) go right down to Sainsbury's. Not saying that they shouldn't do so but am saying that all this diverting off here and diverting off there causes extra journey time.
Back in the summer when the Part II of the future Local Plan was out for consultation I sent in this: "Buses quite often, quite literally, go around the houses to get from A to B. Whilst that might encourage some living in houses near bus stops to use the bus I suggest that it equally puts others off as it makes journeys longer than they need be."
So even though I don't have to pay on the bus I think I'll cough up and go by train instead or even........wait for it.........go by private car. (and I don't think that's the outcome that the powers that be want, is it?).
The Environment Agency is presently objecting to this link road bridge planning application at Shutterton Brook/Secmaton Farm on flood risk grounds.
The following is an extract from the minutes of Devon County Council's Cabinet meeting held in July 2021. Note item B. To me that reads that no negotiations to puchase the land or, if necessary, acquire it via a Compulsory Purchase Order, will be implemented unless and until planning permission is granted for the bridge to be built. The Environment Agency is presently objecting to both the bridge planning application and the planning application for Secmaton Farm to be developed for housing because of flood risk.
Here is the extract. My emphasis in red.
"(a) that approval be granted for a scheme in Dawlish connecting Elm Grove Road and the A379 Exeter Road, including provision for cycle lanes and footpaths, as identified in the Local Plan, to proceed towards securing planning consent;
(b) that subject to planning consent, approval be given, if necessary, for DCC to acquire land through negotiation and/or Compulsory Purchase Order powers;
(c) that delegated authority be given to the Head of Planning, Transportation and Environment, in consultation with the County Treasurer, to enter into any necessary funding agreements to undertake the planning and land acquisition; and
(d) that delegated authority be given to the Head of Planning, Transportation and Environment, in consultation with the Local Member and Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment and Transport to make minor amendments to the scheme design."
Now Devon County Council is also objecting to this planning application on flood risk grounds.
" At this stage, we object to this planning application because we believe it does not satisfactorily conform to Policy EN4 (Flood Risk) of Teignbridge District Council's Local Plan (2013-2033). The applicant will therefore be required to submit additional information in order to demonstrate that all aspects of the proposed surface water drainage management system have been considered."
Here's a good idea. Dont build a road but make access to any new housing developments restricted to a cycle path only. Oh and make sure the path is made of a suitable material for road bikes, has a 5 mph speed limit, and is just wide enough to give pedestrians 1.5 metres of passing room. That should keep all the minority groups happy.
The building of the bridge is scheduled to start in 2023 ( and hopefully the front end of 2023!).
It will link the Persimmon side of Shutterton Brook with the Secmaton Farm side (which is scheduled to be developed for housing but as I write this has no planning consent). A road will then be built across Secmaton Farm up to the boundary with Gatehouse Farm even without any of the houses scheduled for Secmaton Farm being built. The developers of Gatehouse Farm will provide their bit of the link road.
And then the through link road and the bridge will be in situ. Phew! (We hope!)
By when will all the road be completed I hear you ask? I dunno - let's say sometime in 2024 at the earliest?