Goodwill Hunting - A Little More News of the A303 Feasibility Study

As we said a couple of posts ago, there seems to have been very little activity over the summer regarding the A303/A30/A358 corridor feasibility study, which, given the Parliamentary recess, summer holidays and, for once, a half-way reasonable summer, isn’t all that surprising.  That isn’t to say nothing has been going on.  It seems the study is a bit like a swan on water – not much going on above the surface, but some furious (?) paddling going on below.

Robert Goodwill MP

We are a bit disappointed though.  Back at the start of the year, we (STAG) wrote to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, Robert Goodwill MP, expressing our interest, as a local pressure group in the Stonehenge area, in getting involved in all stages of the study.  Back in January, Goodwill’s Assistant Private Secretary came back with the following response:

A Minion, but maybe not the correct DfT Minion?

“…We are also conducting national events to gather views from environmental organisations and other motoring and business groups.

We understand your interest in the study and rest assured, we plan to engage more widely with local groups in the next few weeks. I will ensure that you are kept informed”.

An apparent show of goodwill by Goodwill and his trusty minion.   Unfortunately, these were hollow words and there has been no engagement or even contact as promised.

We do get a few snippets from the meetings that are going ahead though.  The latest was held in Taunton just over a week ago. John Glen MP (Con – Salisbury) was the only MP there at the start of the meeting.  Wiltshire Council were represented by Cllr Fleur De Rhe-Philippe and Mr Parvis Khansari.  David Heath MP (Lib-Dem - Somerton and Frome) represented Somerset interests.

John Glen MP

John Glen pressed home the well-considered view that they realised that any solution without a bypass for Winterbourne Stoke, and a deliverable solution at Stonehenge, was not going to make the A303 a reliable strategic route to SW.

David Heath MP

 David Heath seems to have suggested that the DfT should press ahead with improving other bits of the corridor, even if a solution at Stonehenge is too expensive.  To us that smacks of selfish-self-interest and is profoundly illogical; spending lots of public money to improve roads that the majority of users at peak periods will still have to queue to join and to leave.  A case of blinkered vision!  Let’s hope he is taken to task by Salisbury Lib-Dems when he visits the city this week.

All in all, it seems that the officials at DfT don’t want too much detailed information out in the public domain until they have got all the costings sorted out.  It is clear that they are considering more than one potential solution and options for solutions that both involve and don’t involve tunnels of varying lengths, along various routes.   Superficially, at least, it seems they have kept open minds and haven’t yet been forced to accept historic solutions.

In typical government fashion, when some detail does emerge, we might expect to see costings for several different options with a “Do Nothing” option (there are significant costs attached to doing nothing in terms of lost tourist and business) and a “preferred” option or two.  Time will tell.

The good news is that English Heritage and the National Trust seem to be being a little more open-minded than they have been in the past.  On the down-side, the Stonehenge Alliance seem to be less willing to compromise.   Sadly, that is what it will need to come down to, negotiation and compromise by all parties.  

John Hayes MP

 In a further development on Monday this week, John Glen MP took the opportunity to press his case for the A303 improvement with the new roads minister the Rt Hon John Hayes MP (Con - South Holland and The Deepings).  Mr Glen particularly stressed the need to produce a solution for the whole of the A303 corridor and that to improve parts of the A303 without solving the Stonehenge conundrum would be a failure .

The Department for Transport Set The Scene

So, what's been happening with the A303/A30/A358 Feasibility Study since January 2014?  There was a meeting on 20th May 2014 in Taunton and the Department for Transport provided some useful background information.   Clearly, not everyone can attend these meetings, but there are an awful lot of people who have an interest in the process that is now underway and in the final outcome.  It seems only sensible to allow people to see the information for themselves and give them the opportunity to question and comment.

Rather than give you our impressions and opinions, here is what the Department of Transport presented.  It's the sort of thing that, given the level of public interest, the DfT really ought to be publishing on their own web-site. Please make your own minds up and let us know what you think.

140429 A303 Feasibility Study Reference Group Meeting Final 200514 v1 by Blonini1

The Fragile Routes to the West of England - Wessex Sub Aqueanus

Over the last month, we have seen the fragility of the transport infrastructure through Wessex.  First we had the closure of the A303 in Somerset A303 between the Podimore and Cartgate Roundabouts on Christmas Eve when the River Yeo burst its banks.

Then we had a second closure of the A303, at the Deptford Junction with the A36, caused by rising groundwater levels on the western edge of Salisbury Plain.  Even after the initial flood subsided a wee bit, we still had a contraflow working for some time as it took some time for all carriageways and the slip roads to clear.  Even this week, the A303 westbound has been closed at night to allow the damage caused by the flooding to be repaired.

The rain has continued at a lower intensity for the last couple of weeks, and the A303 seems to be safe for the moment.  That said, groundwater levels haven't dropped at all on Salisbury Plain, even though the levels in the River Till, through Winterbourne Stoke have dropped around 5-10 cm.  Today, the Tilshead borehole levels look like this:

Of course, yesterday, we had yet more rain and storm surges throughout the Wessex region.  We had 14.7mm here in Winterbourne Stoke, but that was trivial compared to levels further West.  The Somerset Levels,  already suffering for over a month from the floods, exacerbated by the abject failure of the Environment Agency to effectively dredge blocked water channels, has water levels rising yet again.  King Canute couldn't hold back the water and sadly, it seems, neither can Prince Charles - but at least he took the time to go, showed REAL understanding of the issues and concerned for those he met.

The rain and the spring tides and high winds wrought damage further west in Dawlish, tearing out the ballast under the main line from Exeter to Penzance, ripping out the adjacent road and threatening houses and businesses.

This morning on  TV,  a Network Rail spokesman was suggesting that it might take 6 weeks and tens of millions of pounds, if not one to two hundred million pounds,  to put right the damage caused in an hour of nature at its most furious.  And still more rain and high winds are predicted in the coming days - with rain levels on high ground predicted to be up to 20-40mm per day - higher than anything we have seen this winter by a good margin.

This all raises a number of very important questions for the Wessex transport infrastucture.  We have lost the major rail line for a number of weeks - assuming there is no further damage.  Passengers and freight are going to have to transfer to the roads - the A303 and the M4/M5 further north.  With the additional predicted rain, there seems to be a possibility that further flooding of the A303 might occur this weekend or early next week - pushing all that traffic on to the northern route.  

Engineers talk of a "single point of failure" (SPOF!), which is the part of a system, that if it fails, will cause the rest of the system to fail.  With multiple means of transport through Wessex, there was no SPOF, but it is possible that within hours or days, there will only be one point in the transport infrastructure left and only one to fail - the M4/M5 corridor.  A single minor incident on the motorway could stop traffic in any numbers getting through Wiltshire/Avon and in to Devon and Cornwall. Diversionary routes south through the Somerset levels are simply not viable.

I hope politicians locally and nationally are looking at this and thinking of the consequences.  In our campaign to improve the A303 west from the Hampshire border, we are often told that it will be the economic case that decides whether the A303 is improved,  rather than providing yet more roads/extra carriageways  in urban areas.  Somerset Council are pretty much on the ball and have made an excellent financial case for improving the A303/A358/A30 corridor.  Wiltshire Council seem to be riding very much on their coat tails - or worse.  Their level of engagement and activity has been described to me in very graphic terms:  "Thumbs up bums - brains in neutral!"  Certainly, trying to get a response from those with a transport brief on the Council is nigh on impossible - Wiltshire Council - where people mutter.

Perhaps Mother Nature has done us a major service by pointing out the real economic issues involved here.  From Stonehenge westwards along the whole of the A303/A358/A30 corridor, tourism is the major industry - and to take advantage of tourism, there is one over-riding priority - to get the tourists to the places they want to visit.  No means of the tourist getting there, no tourism.  No tourism, no jobs.  No jobs - no economy.

To support the tourism, goods need to be shipped in.  No rail and no road, no goods shipped in.  No goods, no tourists, no employment, no economy.  And, of course, everything that goes in has to get out again - along the same. limited routes.

For the Wessex region, it really is that simple - the transport infrastructure is its life blood - and with so few alternatives, it really is a unique situation that must be addressed as such.  Perhaps even Wiltshire Council can be encouraged to de-digitate and get on with it!

English Heritage: Give Them An Inch And They Take a Mile

You never quite know what is going to arrive in the post.  Usually, it's just bills and the usual advertising rubbish that is of no interest and only serves to kill off a few more trees.  Sometimes though, it can be a real pleasure.  Today was one of those days.

I got a letter from a lovely chap, a long time opponent of the A344 closure and proponent of dualing the A303, who goes by the name of "Vexatious Alan".  The epithet isn't because he really is vexatious - it's a bit of a badge of honour in Freedom of Information Act circles that he has got so far up some august body's nose, probably because he was close to exposing some sort of misdoing, they have decreed his FOIA requests are "vexatious" and so they don't need to answer them!

 Receiving the letter was a real pleasure as I so rarely get them - letters written by real living and breathing human beings that is.  I normally operate in cyberspace, grabbing information here there and everywhere - cutting and pasting it into new documents and blasting them back out into the ether.  Having to deal with a typewritten letter was something of a novelty...

...anyway, let's cut to the chase and look at the information "Vexatious Alan" provided.  Since November 2010 he has been pursuing English Heritage in relation to pedestrian and cycle access along the route of what has now become the former A344.  Back on the 24th November 2010, Loraine Knowles of English Heritage wrote to "Vexatious Alan" to explain the rationale behind the Stopping Up Order for the section of the A344 from Stonehenge Bottom on the A303 and the intersection of the A344 with Wiltshire Byway 12.   Loraine Knowles wrote the following on behalf of English Heritage:

"...there was a firm consensus that a stopping up order was more appropriate... 
...in view of the clear intention to return the surface to grass. However, the need to provide access for non-motorised traffic had been recognised at that time, and for this reason it had been proposed that a permissive route be provided for pedestrians and cyclists between Stonehenge Bottom and Byway 12."

"We would note that the commitment to provide a permissive route between Stonehenge Bottom and Byway 12 is a requirement of the Section 106 legal agreement signed by the National Trust, DCMS, EH and Wiltshire Council."

Now that is both interesting and puzzling.  I'm not a legal eagle but common sense dictates that if the right to drive a motorised vehicle along a stretch of road are removed through the implementation of a stopping up order and a TRO, as were used in the case of the A344, then the right to move along that route on foot, on a bike or on a horse still exist as they weren't specifically removed.  So, in one sense, I don't see why a permissive byway was needed as a de-facto substantive byway already existed along the route and continues to exist.  But, until someone comes along and can provide the legal view on all this, let's play the English Heritage game for the moment - they have a legal obligation to provide a permissive route between Stonehenge Bottom and Byway 12.

Wiltshire Council in the planning consent for the recently opened visitor's centre imposed a series of conditions that English Heritage were obliged to sign-up to.  According to the information provided to me by Vexatious Alan, the last of these, Condition 27 reads as follows:

"No development shall commence until

         (i)  details of the pedestrian and cycle route along the whole of the A344, including the crossing
               arrangements at the A303 (Stonehenge Bottom) and

        (ii)  a scheme for reviewing such access and crossing arrangements

have been submitted and approved (in consultation with the Highways Agency) in writing by the local planning authority".

"The development shall not be occupied until the agreed works have been completed".

"The scheme for reviewing the access and crossing arrangements...

...shall detail how recommended remedial action will be funded and implemented, including arrangements to provide for alternative crossing points on the A303 and associated access links."


Wiltshire Council recently provided "Vexatious Alan" with a map of what the A303 junction and paths at Stonehenge Bottom should have looked like, before the new visitor's centre was allowed to open.  You WILL need to click on this to see it.

"Vexatious Alan" has helpfully highlighted the length of new path that English Heritage were supposed to install and a pre-existing path that English Heritage seem to have removed.

Anyone who has tried to cross the A303, use the new gate and ride a bike up to Byway 12 knows that English Heritage have not done what they were supposed to do.

UPDATE:  Having read the original version of this post, an up-to-the-minute STAG member sent me a photo, taken only yesterday, looking back down the stopped up A344.  Note the high quality footpath and cycle path - NOT!  Interesting to see that the byway - permissive or substantive - with its steel fencing across it, gives the impression of not being a byway at all!  Anyone would think that English Heritage were trying to convince people it didn't exist and deter them from trying. 

I think that both English Heritage and Wiltshire Council Planning Department have a few questions that they need to answer pretty sharpish and as a matter of public interest.  This isn't only important in the context of the A344, but also of considerable importance when it comes to what might happen with the A303 after the planned feasibility study reports.

It seems, if the information above is to be believed and I have no reason to doubt it, that English Heritage cannot be trusted to comply with legal agreements it has willingly signed up to and legal conditions to which it is subject by virtue of the planning process.  Furthermore, Wiltshire Council seem to have failed to monitor compliance with the Conditions of the planning consent that THEY imposed.

None of this fills me with a sense that either organisation is to be trusted.  With English Heritage it really does seem to be a case that if you give them an inch, they will take a mile. It actually makes me feel somewhat...

The A303/A30/A358 Corridor Feasibility Study

I've just received the following information on the A303 feasibility study from John Glen MP.  I thought it important enough to flag up as it is, without any comment from me, at least at this stage.   Robert Goodwill, the Transport Minister, writes:

I want to give as may folk as possible the chance to read it.  If you have any comments, please send them to me and to John Glen.

It will also be interesting to see if STAG, as a local voice of stakeholders here in Wiltshire, will be invited to participate on the 24th in Taunton?

A303/A30/A358 Corridor Feasibility Study

Background
Following the 2013 Spending Review, the Government announced plans for the biggest ever upgrade of our strategic roads network. Government has also committed to carrying out a number of feasibility studies to tackle some of the most notorious road hot spots in the country.
The feasibility studies will look at these problems in detail and identify potential schemes to solve them. They will be progressed alongside the Highways Agency’s Route Based Strategy programme which is considering the current and future performance of the network. When taken together they will inform future roads investment decisions as part of the Roads Investment Strategy development process.

The A303/A30/A358 corridor
The A303 corridor provides an important role in connecting the South East and South West regions. It is dualled over much of its length but between the M3 motorway, A358 and A30 there remain several unimproved single carriageway sections which cause congestion, especially during summer weekends.
Given the history of progress with investment proposals in the A303 corridor, at the time of the 2010 Spending Review, the Government did not have sufficiently developed business cases for investment proposals to be able to confirm specific investment projects in the A303 corridor.
Somerset County Council held a summit with other relevant stakeholders in 2012 the outcome of which was a commitment by the region for further work on the relative prioritisation of potential interventions and consideration of possible funding avenues. The grouping of local authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships produced an initial analysis and business case for future improvements to the A303 corridor, to reiterate the importance of investment in the corridor, particularly the wider economic benefits to the South West economy.
The Department for Transport and the Highways Agency have worked closely with the South West local authorities on the details of the analysis and business case for potential investment, providing assistance and views on the methodology adopted and views on what further analysis may be necessary.

Study Aims and Objectives
The aim of the study is to identify the opportunities and understand the case for future investment solutions on the A303/A30/A358 corridor that are deliverable, affordable and offer value for money.

The specific objectives of the study are to:

•   Identify and assess the case, deliverability and timing of specific road investments that address exiting problems on the A303 corridor.
  
•   Understand the balance of benefits and impacts from potential individual investment proposals and any additional benefits or impacts from investment on corridor basis.
  
•   Evidence where possible, the wider economic benefits from the road investment in the corridor.
  
•   Understand the impacts of potential investment in the A303 corridor on the performance of other road transport corridors to the South West region.
  
•   Understand the impacts of the proposed investment in the A303 corridor on the resilience of the road transport network.
  
  Geographic and modal scope
  The proposed geographic scope of the study should consider the length of the A303/A30 corridor from the junction between the A303 and M3 in the east to the junction between the A30 and the M5 in the west. The geographic scope of the study would also include the A358 from its junction with the A303 at Ilminster to its junction with the M5. The Blackdown Hills are designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and as such we do not propose to consider large-scale road building in that area.
  

The modal scope of the study will be predominantly road-based and would need to understand the details of performance and current investment proposals for the identified parts of the strategic road network, as well as the local authority road network, particularly the A358.


Questions to be addressed
There are a number of questions that need to be addressed as part of the study work, and these are set out below.

•   Given the assessment of current and future performance of the A303 corridor are there specific priority location/problems that should be addressed?
  
•   Are there viable potential solutions to these problems which are deliverable, affordable and offer value for money?
  
•   What are the potential timescales for the delivery of the identified potential solutions?
  
•   Are there additional benefits or impacts from combinations of potential solutions over and above those for individual solutions?
  
•   Is there evidence of the impact of investment in potential solutions on the resilience of the road network?
  
•   What are the impacts of investment in the A303 corridor on other road transport links/corridors to the South West?
  
•   Have the potential solutions identified fully considered and optimised the environmental opportunities and mitigation that the potential transport investment could bring?
  
•   Are there any changes necessary to current responsibilities for the management and operation of the road network in the A303 corridor?
  
•   Is further work/analysis required for Government to be able to make specific investment decisions, and if so what are the timescale of such work?
  Phases of work
  The study will be completed in several stages which are set out below.
  

Stage 0:  Agreement to the scope, timing and management arrangements for the study
Stage 1:  Review of evidence and identification of problems along the corridor
Stage 2: Work to finalise the range of infrastructure proposals that could address the problems along the corridor
Stage 3: Work to assess the affordability, value for money and deliverability of prioritised infrastructure proposals

Governance Arrangements

A303/A30/A358 Reference Group
Given the wide range of stakeholder interest in the A303/A30/A358 study it is proposed to establish a Reference Group for the study. The main role of the Reference Group will be to ensure stakeholders’ views are captured and considered during the study process, particularly at key points in the study work and at times of the development of key outputs.