brentwood.gov.uk

I would like to start by saying that I neither support nor oppose the Park and Walk scheme. The reason for this being that I have been unable to find out any information about the exact location of the proposed site, I am therefore unable to make an informed choice. I am immensely frustrated that the most information I find out about the scheme is via the Brentwood Gazette.

I have been told on numerous occasions by a member of the council that the exact location of the site is not important in making a decision about Park and Walk. When in fact the location should be an intrinsic part of an informed decision. Which leads me to my next point. The diagram figure 3.4 shows the proposed site as a very large parcel of land somewhere in between Chelmsford road and Alexander Lane. As it stands, the map does not mention the fact that some of this land is greenbelt, that there is a school playing field in close proximity and merely depicts Shenfield High School as an 'urban area'. This map is entirely misleading. Given the large area shown, its mixed usage, categorisation (in terms of greenbelt/brownfield), the varying distances from the station and access issues to and from different points of Chelmsford Road and Alexander Lane on foot and by car; it is impossible not to take these 'considerations' into account prior to choosing the site.

One of my biggest concerns is the extra flow of traffic and it's management on Chelmsford Road. Chelmsford Road is a very busy road, even more so at peak times, when the commuting public are most likely to be using the car park. What extra traffic measures would be put in place to ease the flow? Whilst this may not be a problem when people are turning into the proposed car park from the A12, exiting right to return to the A12 would mean a queue of cars waiting to exit onto a busy road or traffic lights/roundabout holding traffic back down Chelmsford Road in both directions. As it stands the traffic comes to a slow crawl as soon as there is an incident on the A12 heading west-bound whilst people exit the A12 and cut through Shenfield and Brentwood. Have any thoughts been given to how the road will support the extra traffic in the case of such incidents?

The proposal also mentions a time of 10 minutes to walk to the station. This again is somewhat misleading, as it would depend entirely on the exact location of the car park. If it was on one of the fields adjoining Alexander Lane then this would be a reasonable time, however if it were another area it could take 15 to 20 minutes. I wonder how many people would want to park in a location where they have to then walk so far to the station?

My proposal would be to change the scheme to a Park and Ride and change the proposed location to the site shown on the map below at the end of Wash Road. I would like to note now that I do not own this land and do not know who does. I believe there is great potential for this site. First and fore mostly because the access would be far easier to control than on Chelmsford Road; traffic could leave the A12 at the Brentwood Bypass and head down Roman Road and turn right onto Lower Road (a far less congested route, which would not be affected by west-bound incidents on the A12). A bus service could then shuttle commuters down Wash Road, onto Rayleigh Road and drop at the station in around 5 minutes. If you wanted to help keep inline with your sustainable transport policy you could offer bikes for hire similar to the scheme in London or encourage commuters to bring their own. (I would however like to point out that there would need to be a marked improvement to the current cycle racks that the council provides as my husband is one of several people I know who have had their bikes stolen due to the poor quality if the racks currently provided, and thieves quite literally ripping them from the ground). A possible way to incentivise this initiative would be to charge commuters for the shuttle service rather than the car park itself. This land is also located next to an industrial estate and therefore would minimise the impact to local residents.

Another potential during the development of this site would be to develop the land between the Brentwood Bypass and Lower Road. This is currently empty and could be used for another petrol/service station. The current BP garage on the Bypass/Chelmsford Road is dangerously busy at times with traffic spilling out onto the bypass and down the slip road of the A12. With any new car park in Shenfield there must be a consideration for a new service station to alleviate the stress on the current one. I have witnessed several accidents at this spot and believe such incidents would increase inline with the increase in traffic.

I understand that a Park and Ride may not sit as well with the sustainable transport policy, however I strongly believe that the site that I have proposed deserves serious consideration. It is far better suited from a traffic and safety perspective and also has the option to include a Park and Ride, albeit on bike not on foot.