Planning Permission Refused on Highways Grounds?

[danieljlloyd]

Hi, we have submitted an application to carmarthenshire county council, initially we were hoping to gain outline planning permission, we put in for 2 dwellings as the planning department advised they would have no objection to this as the site is large, flat, lying within the development boundary and an infill site.

We have had a speed survey carried out as the access comes out onto a quite road and we were able to get the visibility down to 30 metres to the north and south. As you can see in our drawings the architect has defined our visibility line as the council advised they will take reading from 2.4 metres back as this is standard procedure.

Highways declined this, they were in agreement that we have the visibility to the south but have said that the reading to the north side should be taken from the nearside which only provides us with 15 metres visibility to the north. The architect says that the reading should be taken from the other side which would provide the visibility.

Also the neighbour to the north side has positioned a fence splaying out onto the verge of the highway which highways said would need to be removed as this is not allowed, this has restricted visibility. We contacted Carmarthen enforcement but they have refused to enforce them, even though the highways said it should not be there.

Could anyone advise us on this? we are considering taking this to appeal but would appreciate any feedback on the possibility of us winning.

Thanks

 

[jeds]

Can't see any drawings?

Did the neighbour splay the fence deliberately - i.e. in an attempt to scupper the planning. If not it might be worth approaching neighbour and offer to sort out fence at your cost plus a backhander for inconvenience.

 

[danieljlloyd]

Hi, it's in my album on my profile, the neighbour has put it up to cause problems with planning, they had tried to purchase the plot at the same time as us and I think there hoping we will give up and sell up so they can buy at a lower price.

The highways officer said that due to it being on the verge of the highway it should be enforced as it is causing a safety problem, but when we put in a enforcement notice to the council they have refused to do anything and are being very vague to why.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Drawing of Pentregwenlais Road

• danieljlloyd
• 28 Feb 2012
• 1

 

[Jackethangs]

Sorry if this answer is a bit late for the OP.

First, from a highway designer's point of view, placing an access on the inside of a bend is not ideal, the outside of a bend is always better.

Having said that, you could argue that Annex B of TAN18 'Transport' may apply (see link below). This states;

"Y-distance represents the distance that a driver who is about to exit from the minor arm can see to the left and right along the main alignment. For simplicity it is measured along the nearside kerb line of the main arm, although vehicles will normally be travelling a distance from the kerb line of the main arm. The measurement is taken from the point where this line intersects the centreline of the minor arm (unless, as above, there is a splitter island in the minor arm).

When the main alignment is curved and the minor arm joins on the outside of a bend, another check is necessary to make sure that an approaching vehicle on the main arm is visible over the whole of the Y distance. This is done by drawing an additional sight line which meets the kerb line at a tangent.

Some circumstances make it unlikely that vehicles approaching form the left on the main arm will cross the centreline of the main arm - opposing flows may be physically segregated at that point, for example. If so, the visibility splay to the left can be measured to the centreline of the main arm."

Specifically that last bolded section, if you can convince the it applies, may gain you sufficient visi without needing to take down any fences etc.

http://wales.gov.uk/docs/desh/publications/070301tan18en.pdf