Submission of travel plan details pursuant to condition 7 of appeal permission 19/02269/F. Change of use to an independent special school for children with autism and related special educational needs and disabilities, with the provision of ancillary facilities. As amended on 06/07/2021 and 04/11/2021. Awaiting a decision.

To fulfil this condition, the final travel plans for the school were to be submitted prior to its opening.  Unfortunately, SCC advise that the school opened on 6 September, although the travel plan has not been agreed and therefore it would appear that the applicant is already in breach of this condition.  This application has just been submitted to fulfil the condition.

The travel plan states that 25-30 of the prospective 50 students at the school will be travelling by taxis funded by the various local authorities.  However, there are still no details of exactly how many vehicles will be delivering students to the site in addition to the school buses and the school’s other vehicles. There are 13 parking spaces indicated on the plans as drop off/pick up points, leaving a route in and out for the school minibuses.  This would indicate a number of vehicles visiting the site at the start and end of the day as well as the school’s vehicles.  This does not appear to be the sustainable travel plan reliant upon school transport that the school indicated that it would have. 

There would appear to be an acceptance in the plan that initially and for some time that there will be a higher level of traffic to the site that may gradually reduce in time.

Whilst it is recognised in the plan that communication of the sustainability aims of the travel plan is essential in order to gain the support and compliance of staff, students and parents/guardians, however, there is no indication that there is or will be any sanction where the principles of the plan are not followed.

Although it is noted that the staff driving the school vehicles will take these home at night, there is no indication of where the mini-buses and the other school vehicles will be parked during the day on the school site and whether this will conflict with the number of separate vehicles coming to the site to drop off and pick up students.