Travel plan and transport

A Travel Plan is a package of measures tailored to the individual needs of a Site. The key aim of a Travel Plan is to inform residents (and visitors where possible) of the alternatives to driving their cars to the Site, to increase awareness of and promote greener, cleaner modes of travel, and to reduce the overall number of single-occupancy car trips to and from the proposed development. This Travel Plan relates to residents and visitors to the Site; however, it is noted that although visitors can be influenced to some degree by the Travel Plan the focus will mainly be on resident travel behaviours as there is more potential to change travel patterns.

2.4.2 Policy HD5 states the following parking standards should be used:

• 1 bed - 2 spaces per unit
• 2 and 3 bed -3 spaces per unit
• 4+ bed – 4 spaces per unit

Within a 15-minute walk of the Site a number of amenities can be accessed including:

• Chilbolton Village Hall
• Chilbolton Village Shop and Tea Room
• Post Office
• Abbots Mitre Pub
• Bus Stops on Village Street and Branksome Avenue
• Chilbolton Recreation Ground

There is no scheduled bus service. There is a Test Valley ‘connection service’ which operates 7 passenger seat MPVs on a demand led basis from 7am to 7pm which would be completely overwhelmed by the number of people in this proposed developed. It offers no useful connection for commuting purposes, is unreliable, is not practical for families, especially those with dogs and pets (which are not permitted to travel) - and does not connect with wider Hampshire or South East travel infrastructure in a planned, reliable or sustainable way. The Test Valley connect service does NOT connect with Winchester or Romsey station as stated. It is for North Test Valley only and offers a connection simply to Andover station if one can make a booking and get space and doesn’t need to be in London or anywhere else for community or other purpose early or late, Additionally, the rules of this service note ’each passenger can make up to 12 trips a week (two singles per day of service)’ and ‘Journeys are on a first-come, first-served basis, so please bear this in mind when booking’. This is not comparable to a bus which has no such restrictions or reliability concerns (it may simply not be available unlike a timetabled service) and it is not possible to rely solely on this service for work and leisure.

• Chilbolton has virtually no functional public transport.
• The nearest railway station is miles away, and bus services are non-existent, leaving residents entirely dependent on private vehicles.
• Adding 75 new homes would lock new residents into car dependency, directly contradicting goals for sustainable transport and further exacerbating the village’s already severe traffic and parking problems.

I walk my dog every day along Coley Lane and usually pass other pedestrians on the road as it is the only access route to the safe recreation zones in both West Down and Cow Common. At least twice a week I am frightened by passing road traffic leaving less than metre from me, particularly large lorries and delivery vans. The current road network barely meets the existing needs, so I am incredulous at the concept of increasing traffic by up to 20% without any improvement to road infrastructure or capacity.