Proposed Lidl Food store West Hendford, Yeovil

Proposed Lidl Food store West Hendford, Yeovil Lidl Travel Plan October 2015

CONTENTS Page 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Aim of Travel Plan 1 1.3 Contents 2 2.0 TRANSPORT CONTEXT 3 2.1 Site Location 3 2.2 Footways and Cycleways 3 2.3 Public Transport 4 3.0 PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT 5 3.1 Scheme Proposals 5 3.2 Site Access 5 3.3 Parking Provision 5 4.0 TRAVEL PLAN MANAGEMENT 6 4.1 Travel Plan Coordinator 6 5.0 TRAVEL PLAN MEASURES TO BE PROVIDED 7 5.1 Travel Notice boards 7 5.2 Cycle Measures 7 5.3 Car Sharing 7 5.4 Personalised Travel Planning 8 5.5 Customer Information 8 7.0 TARGETS AND MONITORING 9 7.1 Targets 9 7.2 Monitoring 10 7.3 If Targets are not Met 10 8.0 ACTION PLAN 11

APPENDICES Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 Appendix 4 Site Location Local Cycle Map Bus Service Summary Proposed Site Access and Layout This report is submitted to Somerset County Council specifically in respect of the planning application for a Lidl Food Store and is not to be distributed in whole or in part to third parties without the written consent of a Director of Peter Evans Partnership Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any material form (including photocopying or storage in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transient or incidental to some other use) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner except as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. U:\Projects\2757 Yeovil, West Hendford\2757 Reports\2757 PEP Reports\2757 TP Oct 15\2757 TP Oct 15 final.docx

1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1.1.1 This Travel Plan is submitted with a planning application for the provision of a Lidl food store on land at West Hendford, Yeovil. This Travel Plan sets out the Lidl s commitment to provide measures to encourage staff, and customers where possible, to travel to the site by alternative means to the private car. 1.1.2 Based on the types of uses proposed it is understood that a large proportion of staff would typically work part time and are also likely to live in the local area. Therefore many staff would be able to and would choose to walk to work in any event. A limited number of staff are also proposed to be on site at any one time giving less opportunity for group travel measures to be implemented. 1.1.3 Many of the customers visiting the site would do so by car. However vehicle trips to retail stores are typically linked with other trips and therefore the ability to change the mode of travel is more difficult. Trips to food stores are also typically by car due to the bulky nature of the purchase. It would therefore be difficult for customers to change their mode of travel. 1.1.4 Based on the South Somerset Local Plan adopted in March 2015 a Full Travel Plan is required for retail uses greater than 800sqm. Therefore a Full Travel Plan has been prepared for the proposed Lidl store. 1.2 Aim of Travel Plan 1.2.1 This Travel Plan sets out both the physical measures proposed as part of the development of the site and details of the management of the ongoing publicity of the travel options available. 1.2.2 The key aims of the Travel Plan are: provide advice to staff on the travel options available; reduce the traffic generated by the food store development; and promote healthy lifestyles and sustainable travel. Page 1

1.3 Contents 1.3.1 The Travel Plan continues: in Section 2 with details of the site location and existing accessibility; in Section 3 setting out details of the proposed development; in Section 4 describing the management of the Travel Plan; in Section 5 discussing the proposed travel measures to be provided; in Section 6 setting out the targets and monitoring process; and in Section 7 with the proposed Action Plan for implementation of the Travel Plan. Page 2

2.0 TRANSPORT CONTEXT 2.1 Site Location 2.1.1 The proposed food store is approximately 1km to the west of Yeovil town centre, Somerset, as shown at Appendix 1. The site is bounded by West Hendford to the north and west and by the A3088 Lysander Road to the south. Adjacent to the eastern boundary is a car mechanics, sub station and industrial units. 2.1.2 The area to the east of the site contains some industrial units but is predominantly residential in nature. To the west and south there are a number of industrial and retail units including a Morrison s food store, B&Q DIY store, B&M Home Stores, and McDonald s Restaurant. 2.1.3 West Hendford meets the A3088 Lysander Road some 90m to the south west of the site access at a signalised junction. To the north West Hendford provides access to residential properties. The A3088 provides the main strategic route into Yeovil town centre from the west. 2.1.4 Some 400m to the east the A3088 meets the A30 Queens Way at a roundabout junction. This roundabout provides access to Yeovil town centre to the east with Queens Way continuing north forming a bypass around the town centre. The A30 continues south from the junction meeting the A37 at a roundabout approximately 1km from the site. The A30 continues west out of Yeovil towards Crewkerne with the A37 continuing south to Dorchester. 2.2 Footways and Cycleways 2.2.1 Footways are provided adjacent to all roads in the area. 2.2.2 Pedestrian crossing facilities are provided across West Hendford and Lysander Road at the traffic signal junction with Lysander Road some 90m to the south west of the site. Pedestrian crossing facilities are also provided at the Lysander Road signal junction with Morrisons and Pine Tree Avenue to the west of the site. 2.2.3 A segregated footway/cycleway is provided adjacent to the southern side of the A3088 Lysander Road to the west of the West Hendford signal junction connecting to the residential areas of Preston Pluckett and Houndstone. To the east of the junction the route continues as an off-road footpath/cycle path along the route of an old rail line through the Yeovil Country Park east to Yeovil Pen Mill train station. 2.2.4 Pine Tree Road is categorised as a link route on Somerset County Council s cycle map of Yeovil. The route continues south for 1.8km along Sandhurst Road and Yeovil Road before it joins national cycle route 26 which continues east to Sherborne and south to Dorchester. Page 3

2.2.5 West Hendford is also categorised as a link route on the Somerset County Council cycle map. The route links with other link route roads and provides a strategic cycle route into Yeovil town centre. 2.2.6 An extract of the Somerset County Council Yeovil cycle map is provided at Appendix 2. 2.3 Public Transport Bus Services 2.3.1 Bus services operate along West Hendford and Lysander Road. Full details of the services are provided at Appendix 3 with a summary of frequent services provided below: Services from West Hendford Service Frequency (minutes) Service Route Monday - Friday Saturday Sunday Day Eve Day Eve Day Eve 11 Town Centre Larkhill - Whitemead 60-60 - - - Services from Lysander Road N8 West Coker Lakefield - Yeovil 60-60 - - - N9A Yeovil - Martock 60 - - - - - 2.3.2 The nearest bus stops are provided on West Hendford immediately east of the site for services in the directions. A westbound bus stop is provided on Lysander Road to the east of the West Hendford junction adjacent to B&M Home Stores. Train Services 2.3.3 Yeovil Pen Mill train station is some 2.7km to the east of the site. Services operate north to Gloucester and south to Weymouth with eight services a day in each direction. Yeovil Junction station is 4.7km to the south east of the site providing services further afield between London Waterloo and Exeter. Page 4

3.0 PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT 3.1 Scheme Proposals 3.1.1 The proposals comprise a Lidl food store of 2611sqm on land south of West Hendford, Yeovil. 3.1.2 A total of 40 staff would be employed at the store with around six on site at any one time. 3.2 Site Access 3.2.1 The vehicular and pedestrian site access will be from West Hendford to the north. The proposed site access priority junction provides a vehicular access road width of 7.3m with a 3m wide footway/cycleway to the west and a 2m wide footway to the east connecting with the existing footway provided along West Hendford. 3.2.2 A potential additional pedestrian entrance to the site is also suggested from Lysander Road to the south. This is a matter for further discussion with the highway authority. 3.2.3 The proposed site layout and access is shown at Appendix 4. 3.3 Parking Provision Car Parking 3.3.1 Some 109 car parking spaces are proposed as part of the development. Of these spaces six would be allocated for disabled use and six would be allocated for parent and child spaces. 3.3.2 All of the disabled spaces would be provided adjacent to the entrance of the store. The parent and child spaces would be to the north of the disabled spaces adjacent to the front of the building. Cycle Parking 3.3.3 Cycle parking is proposed to the south of the store with provision of 10 Sheffield stands able to accommodate 20 cycles. A further nine butterfly style cycle loops are proposed on the rear of the trolley bay in the centre of the car park. These spaces would be available for use by both staff and customers to the store. Page 5

4.0 TRAVEL PLAN MANAGEMENT 4.1 Travel Plan Coordinator 4.1.1 Lidl will appoint a Travel Plan Coordinator for the site prior to the opening of the store. The Travel Plan Coordinator will be the point of contact for staff at the site and also Somerset County Council for all Travel Plan related matters. 4.1.2 The Travel Plan Coordinator will be responsible for making sure that all staff at the site are aware of the travel options available to them. The Coordinator duties will include: Providing staff with all relevant travel information prior to starting work at the store; Updating travel noticeboards as required; Issuing an annual travel newsletter to staff; Offering PTP to all staff; Setting up a car share scheme for the site; Liaise with local cycle shops seeking staff discounts; Undertaking annual staff travel surveys and reporting back to Somerset County Council; and Monitoring use of cycle parking. Determining if additional cycle parking can be added if required. Page 6

5.0 TRAVEL PLAN MEASURES TO BE PROVIDED 5.1 Travel Notice boards 5.1.1 Travel information boards will be provided in the staff room and also close to the main customer entrance to the store. The boards will promote travel by alternative modes of transport and display the following information on either the staff (S) board or customers (C) board: details of pedestrian and cycle routes in the local area (S & C); information regarding general pedestrian and cycle safety (S & C); details of any discounts available at local cycle shops (S); bus service maps and timetable information including bus stop locations (S & C); details of car sharing and sign-up sheet (S); sign-up sheet for PTP (S); Moving Somerset Forward website (S & C); and Adverts for local and national travel events (S & C). 5.1.2 The staff information board will provide a point of reference for all staff members in all respects of the Travel Plan and identify Lidl s commitment to the Travel Plan. The customer board will aim to promote sustainable travel in general and not necessarily just to/from the site. The boards will be used for information, relevant promotion and advertising. 5.1.3 The Travel Plan Coordinator will be responsible for updating the Travel Information on the boards. This information will be reviewed monthly and updated as required. Therefore continued promotion of alternative means of travel to the site will occur. 5.2 Cycle Measures 5.2.1 Covered cycle parking for customers and staff to share will be provided. 5.2.2 Staff changing areas will be provided as part of the building fit out, along with lockers for the safe storage of cycle equipment whilst at work. 5.3 Car Sharing 5.3.1 Car sharing involves commuter and business related trips where two or more persons share a vehicle rather than drive separately. 5.3.2 Car sharing will be promoted amongst those staff who are unable to walk, cycle or travel by bus to work. An informal car sharing scheme will be set up at the site by the Travel Plan Coordinator with sign-up sheets on the staff travel information board. Those staff willing to car share will be able to provide their details on the sheet to inform other staff they are looking for or can offer a lift to/from work. Page 7

5.3.3 The Somerset wide car share scheme www.carsharesomerset.com will also be promoted on the staff travel information board. This will enable staff to search a wider group of people to see if a car share partner is available. 5.4 Personalised Travel Planning 5.4.1 During the recruitment process Lidl managers will promote the travel options available to potential staff working at the site including providing details of travel options at the interview stages. This will include providing staff with the relevant cycle or bus maps depending on their location of residence. 5.4.2 Once the site is operational the Travel Plan Coordinator will advertise a Personalised Travel Planning (PTP) service on the staff notice board. Staff will be able to sign up to an appointment time where they will be able to discuss the travel options available to them with the Travel Plan Coordinator. The Travel Plan Coordinator will aim to assist with travel arrangements where needed and issue travel incentives including items such as pedometers, high vis vests etc. where suitable. 5.5 Customer Information 5.5.1 Given the bulky goods nature of a food store the majority of customers to this use are likely to drive. It is therefore unlikely that customers will be able to be encouraged to change their mode of travel. 5.5.2 To encourage sustainable travel in general details of local walking and cycling routes will be provided on the customer notice boards. Details of how to specifically travel to the site on foot, by cycle and public transport will also be provided on the boards. Page 8

7.0 TARGETS AND MONITORING 7.1 Targets 7.1.1 Modal share targets are crucial to driving the success of the Travel Plan. Lidl commits to delivering these targets, implementing further measures to those set out if it becomes apparent through modal split monitoring that the targets put forward are not being met. Staff Travel Target 7.1.2 As the future staff are unknown at this stage a review of the 2011 census data for employees in the local area around the site has been undertaken to determine existing travel habits of staff travelling to the area. The workplace zones of E33046763 (contains B&Q), E33046761 (contains Morrisons), E33050314 (area of the site), and E33050328 (B&M) have been reviewed. The average modal split of staff working in these workplace zones is set out below: Mode of Travel to Work Percentage Modal Split Bus 1% Motorcycle 2% Car Driver 71% Car Passenger 4% Cycle 8% Walk 14% 7.1.3 Based on the existing modal split of employees in the local area the following single occupancy car trip targets for commuting staff proposed are proposed: Employee Single Occupancy Car Driver Target At opening = 65% Year 1 = 62% Year 2 = 59% Year 3 = 56% Year 4 = 53% Year 5 = 50% Estimated number of solo occupancy staff travellers 26 ( 4 on site at one time) 25 (4 on site at one time) 24 (3-4 on site at one time) 22 (3 on site at one time) 21 (3 on site at one time) 20 (3 on site at one time) 7.1.4 As the travel measures will be in place from day one the starting target for single occupancy car travel is estimated to be lower than the average for the local area. However all of the targets above will be reviewed based on the outcome of the first travel survey to determine if the future targets remain realistic. Customer Travel Target 7.1.5 It is not appropriate to set a customer travel target as the mode of travel used by customers will depend on the level of groceries purchased as well as the travel options available to them. Page 9

7.1.6 However the target for customers is to make sure that customers are aware of the travel options in the surrounding area by keeping the customer travel noticeboard up to date. 7.2 Monitoring Online Monitoring 7.2.1 Once approved, the information in the Travel Plan will be uploaded on to Somerset County Council s online monitoring system, iontravel, to report on all aspects of the implementation of the Travel Plan as required by the County Council. 7.2.2 The results of future travel surveys will also be uploaded to the database. Annual Travel Surveys 7.2.3 Within three months of opening the Travel Plan Coordinator will conduct a staff travel survey. Follow up surveys will be undertaken on an annual basis for a period of five years after opening. Each year the surveys will be required to achieve a minimum 40% response rate. 7.2.4 Given that the majority of staff do not have regular access to computers whilst at work hard copies of the travel survey will be issued to staff. Staff will then be requested to complete the survey and hand in to the management office at the store when complete. 7.2.5 The results of each of the travel surveys will be uploaded to iontravel and a short monitoring report will be prepared and submitted to Travel Plan Officers at Somerset County Council for review and discussion. The results will be compared against the targets set to see if these have been met. 7.3 If Targets are not Met 7.3.1 If targets are not met the Travel Plan Coordinator will review the travel measures in place and add additional measures where necessary. This will be in discussion with Travel Plan Officers at Somerset County Council. The additional measures, if required, will also be determined by feedback from staff surveys. 7.3.2 Suggested additional measures that could be considered are set out below: increased marketing of Travel Plan and enhance PTP; provision of free bus taster tickets for staff; or implementation of cycle to work scheme (if not already in place). Page 10

8.0 ACTION PLAN 8.1.1 A summary of the measures proposed and timescales for implementation is set out below: Measure Timescale Implemented Continuation period by Cycle parking Prior to opening Lidl Contractor Ongoing Changing facility and Lidl Contractor/ Prior to opening lockers Management Ongoing Marketing From job advert Lidl Management Ongoing for 5 years after occupation Travel notice boards Upon opening TPC Update monthly for 5 years after occupation Car sharing Upon opening TPC Ongoing for 5 years Personalised Travel Planning Staff Travel Survey Travel Plan Monitoring Report for SCC Upon opening Within 3 months of opening After travel survey TPC TPC TPC after occupation Ongoing for 5 years after occupation Annually for 5 years after occupation Annually for 5 years after occupation Page 11

1 : 50,000@ A4 A37 A359 NOTE: REPRODUCED FROM THE ORDNANCE SURVEY MAP WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE CONTROLLER OF HMSO. CROWN COPYRIGHT LICENCE NO. 100009597 Lysander Road SITE A30 A37 APPENDIX 1 Site Location

Peter Evans Partnership 2563 - Yeovil, Fusion Park 05.08.15 Bus Route 11 Town Centre - Larkhill - Whitemead Operator: South West Coaches Monday - Friday Saturday Sunday First Last Early - - - Garage NE Bound 08:17 18:17 Peaks 60 60 - Garage SW Bound 07:05 17:35 Daytime 60 60 - Evening - - - Approximate bus frequencies in minutes Bus Route N8 West Coker Lakefields - Yeovil Operator: Nippy Bus Monday - Friday Saturday Sunday First Last Early - - - PC World W Bound 09:07 17:22 Peaks - - - Daytime 60 60 - Evening - - - Approximate bus frequencies in minutes Bus Route N9A Yeovil - Martock Operator: Nippy Bus Monday - Friday Saturday Sunday First Last Early - - - PC World W Bound 08:30 16:40 Peaks - - - Daytime 60 - - Evening - - - Approximate bus frequencies in minutes APPENDIX 3 Bus Service Summary

APPENDIX 4 Proposed Site Layoutand Access BASE DRAWING PROVIDED BY LIDL DRAWING NO. 151029_14069 AD 110PROPOSED SITE LAYOUT - 1, DATED OCTOBER '15, RECEIVED 29.10.15 N. T. S @ A3