Agenda item

Verbal update from Steve Bambrick Director of Planning and Environment

Steve Bambrick, Service Director for Planning and Environment gave the following update to the Group as follows:-

·       Pinewood Road connected with the A412 Uxbridge Road, the A412 Church Road, the A4007 Slough Road and Wood Lane at the Five Points Roundabout. This junction provided access to Slough to the west on A412 Uxbridge Road, Iver Heath and Uxbridge to the east on A4007, and Iver Heath and the M40 Junction 1 to the northwest on A412 Denham Road.

·       Sevenhills Road connected from Pinewood Road to the A412 Denham Road. It is a narrow single-track road that routes north-eastwards from Pinewood Road around the Pinewood East site boundary. It then widens to accommodate two-way movement more readily, and routes southeast over the M25 to the A412 Denham Road. There is no street lighting, and the road is subject to the national speed limit.

·       Pinewood Studios have an existing planning permission for expansion of the studio (13/00175/OUT). To mitigate the impacts arising from that development a number of highways/traffic improvements were required and secured via a Section 106 agreement. This included proposed works to Five Points Roundabout (FPR). This was part of the mitigation of the Pinewood Studios Development Framework which was submitted to the legacy South Bucks District in 2014.

·       The proposed works to Sevenhills Road were presented as an alternative to the Five Points Roundabout FPR scheme. The application had been assessed by the Highway Authority who considered that the Sevenhills Road scheme presented an acceptable alternative given the wider network benefits that were derived through traffic reassignment resulting in the release of capacity

·       Since the granting of the existing permission for the FPR scheme there has been local resident and political support for a revision of this requirement in favour of an alternative mitigation scheme to be delivered on Sevenhills Road. Recognising the strength of objection to the permitted FPR works, it was accepted by all parties to delay works which were required by the signed S106, in order to allow Pinewood to explore alternative options for development mitigation, recognising that, if no such alternative option was available, works to FPR would need to be implemented.

·       Pinewood’s preferred scheme is Five Points Roundabout. The Planning application for the roundabout would need to be resubmitted as the previous application had lapsed and the new planning application would be submitted imminently.

·       A legal agreement was signed by the Council and Pinewood in August 2021.

During discussion the following points were noted:-

·       With regard to Design Guidance this had changed since the original scheme was agreed. However, it had not changed materially but had been updated.

·       Walking and cycling improvements would be implemented as part of the Five Points Roundabout traffic scheme.

·       Some Local Members expressed disappointment at the choice of traffic scheme and expressed concern that there had not been adequate consultation. The Service Director of Planning and Environment reported that this had been discussed at the Strategic Sites Committee on 3 September 2020 and had been open and transparent. The next planning application for Five Points roundabout would follow the normal process and necessary statutory consultation period. The Service Director would alert the Group when the application had been uploaded onto the planning portal.

·       Concern was expressed regarding sewers at Five Points Roundabout and flooding and whether the new planning application would include replacement of the water system. The Transport Consultant reported that they were undertaking CCTV surveys over the next few weeks to understand what state the drainage was in and then would liaise with Buckinghamshire Council over what works may be required to rectify any deterioration. The responsibility for this lay with the Council rather than the developer.

·       A representative of the Residents Association and Parish Councillors expressed disappointment at the choice of the Five Points roundabout scheme and commented that this would not help traffic issues and that traffic would still come to a standstill in Iver Heath. They preferred the Sevenhills Roundabout Scheme. The traffic along the A412 was heavy and buses could not run to their current timetable because of this. The Transport Consultant referred to the 2014 Planning Appeal where there had been considerable scrutiny by the Planning Inspectorate and Buckinghamshire County Council. A technical analysis undertaken at that time concluded that the Five Points roundabout was appropriate mitigation for the Pinewood Studios Development Framework.

·       They would obviously try and minimise disruption in construction work.

·       In answer to a question the Transport Consultant reported that they would not revisit the PSDF as Five Points Roundabout was an appropriate mitigation. The Corporate Affairs Director at Pinewood Studios reported that the Strategic Sites report 3^rd September 2020 made it clear that the decision rested with Pinewood Studios (paragraph 5.70) and this was confirmed at the meeting.

·       Information on the CCTV surveys would be provided to Buckinghamshire Council as part of the detailed design process.

·       If the planning application for the Five Points Roundabout was not agreed this did not mean that the Sevenhills Roundabout Scheme would be an option. It would mean that Pinewood Studios would be unable to fulfil their obligation and therefore no scheme would be delivered as part of the mitigation.

·       With the Screen Hub UK application both Sevenhills Road and Five Points Roundabout improvement schemes would need to be delivered. The Five Points Roundabout Scheme would have to be delivered before Screen Hub UK commenced.

·       Another Parish Councillor said that villages to the North were happy with the Five Points Roundabout Scheme although traffic in Iver Heath was far heavier than their area.

The verbal report was noted.

[Post meeting note from the Service Director Planning and Environment : When Pinewood were originally looking to implement the scheme at FPR in 2017, it was agreed that TfB would conduct some drainage remedial works as required under Pinewoods Traffic Management. The updated detailed design would be informed by an updated drainage survey (see above) and would be subject to review by Transport for Buckinghamshire. This would help determine whether such an arrangement remained possible]