Meeting documents

EEC/11/39/HQ

Cabinet

9 March 2011

Cranbrook Railway Station

Report of Executive Director of Environment, Economy and Culture

Please note that the following recommendations are subject to consideration and determination by the Cabinet (and confirmation under the provisions of the Council's Constitution) before taking effect.

Recommendations: It is recommended that:

(a) the layout plan for the railway station, carpark, bus facility and access road as shown on drawing HPE98275A_SK09 B be approved;

(b) a detailed planning application be submitted for the station, car park and access road.

1. Summary

A new railway station has from the outset been part of the planning concept for the new community of Cranbrook, East of Exeter. Outline planning consent has recently been granted for the new community, and it is now proposed to move forward with the detailed plans for the station.

2. Background

From the start of planning the East of Exeter growth area, the principle of promoting sustainable transport has been considered as fundamental. The growth area is situated in the corridor between the A30 trunk road and the Exeter to Waterloo railway line, and the Devon Structure Plan policy required a new railway station as part of the concept of the new residential community.

Outline planning consent was granted for the Cranbrook new community on 29 October 2010. The development includes, inter alia, some 2,900 dwellings, a secondary school, two primary schools and the railway station.

3. The Station Proposal

Over the past two years the County Council has been working with Network Rail and South West Trains to develop plans for the station. The County Council has been acting as the formal 'promoter' of the station, recognising that this will be a facility for the whole East of Exeter growth area, and not just the new community.

Following detailed study work, including a flood risk assessment and liaison with the Environment Agency, the location of the station, carpark and access road has been defined, as shown in the drawing attached as Appendix I. This drawing also shows the layout of the first 1100 dwellings at Cranbrook, for which a reserved matters application was submitted to East Devon District Council in January 2011.

At present the railway is single track between Pinhoe and Honiton, although the route was double track until around 1970. A single platform station will be provided, but in recognition of the scope for further enhancement to train services on the Waterloo to Exeter line, the station will be designed with a view to future reinstatement of double track and addition of a second platform.

The location of the station is in the Western 'neighbourhood' of Cranbrook. This comprises around 1,100 houses, and is the area which will be developed first. It is anticipated that construction of the main access route into Cranbrook will commence in spring 2011, and take a year to complete. Therefore the earliest that construction on the station could commence is Spring 2012.

Development at both Cranbrook, and the nearby Skypark business development, will take place over an extended period of up to ten years, and hence patronage at the railway station is expected to build up gradually. South West Trains, who are very supportive of the station, have now indicated that they do not envisage patronage in the early years to be sufficient to justify the station being manned from the outset. Hence it is logical that the facilities at the station should be developed incrementally with the eventual station building and car park planned from the outset but delivered in stages.

A plan of the proposed access road, car park and bus/taxi facilities is shown on drawing HPE98275A_SK09 B in Appendix II. The second stage is shown shaded.

The station is being designed to accommodate six coach trains, the maximum length normally operated on this route to Exeter, but the location of the platform is defined so as to enable it to be extended later for nine coach trains.

It is envisaged that the station will initially be un-manned, with two waiting shelters and a ticket machine. The design includes a station building, to be erected at stage 2.

The design provides for 102 parking spaces (10 disabled) of which 32 would be set out initially together with a bus and taxi set down area and cycle parking.

Approval is sought for the indicative layout shown in Appendix II, to be used as a basis for delivering a planning submission for the access road, car park and station.

4. Train Service Provision

The development of the new station was envisaged when the South Western franchise was tendered by the Department for Transport. The franchise specification includes a requirement for the train operator to call at the station once it has been completed. The present weekday timetable has 19 trains from Exeter (15 to London, 1 Honiton and 3 evening trains to Salisbury/Basingstoke). In the westbound direction there are 18 trains, (14 from London, plus 2 morning trains from Salisbury, 1 from Yeovil Junction and 1 from Honiton). In planning their timetable, South West Trains anticipate that all these services will call at Cranbrook.

5. Finance

The initial stages of technical work to plan the station have been funded by the County Council, from the Local Transport Plan and LPSA reward grant. The design has currently progressed to stage 4 development of a single option in the Guide to Railway Infrastructure Projects process (GRIP 4). A detailed cost estimate is not yet available, but indications are that it will cost some 4.5m from 2011/12, of which the first stage of construction is likely to be some 3.5m. The Section 106 agreements for Cranbrook and Skypark included contributions of up to 3.3m, index linked, to fund delivery of the station. Contributions are also anticipated from other developments and eventual expansion of the new community.

The Section 106 payments from the Cranbrook developers are to be staged, as the development progresses, with the requirement that the complete sum is to be paid by the occupation of the 1,000^th dwelling.

It has been intended that the station would be constructed earlier than this, using funding from the Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF) as a "pump priming" loan. Unfortunately, in the Comprehensive Spending Review, the Department for Transport withdrew from RIF projects, which were not contractually committed. Discussions with the Regional Development Agency and Homes and Communities Agency are being progressed, to explore the scope for "recycling" existing RIF funding to support the station, so as to deliver it in 2012 are continuing.

6. Carbon Impact Considerations

The station will be served by trains which are already passing the site. Hence additional passenger movements will be made to and from Cranbrook with minimal carbon impact.

7. Equality Consideration

The design requirements for new stations impose high standards of accessibility to accommodate all potential users. A full EINA will be conducted on the final detailed proposals.

8. Sustainability Considerations

Rail travel offers the most sustainable means of access to Cranbrook and the other East of Exeter developments for longer distance journeys. High proportions of public transport use both rail and bus and have been a fundamental design principle for the East of Exeter area.

9. Legal Considerations

Provision of the railway station is a core part of the Cranbrook outline planning consent and Section 106 agreement. In order to deliver the station appropriate legal agreements will need to be put in place with Network Rail and South West Trains.

10. Risk Management Considerations

Development of the station design under the rail industry GRIP process involves maintaining and reviewing a formal risk register. The most prominent risks relate to

• Securing acceptance from the Environment Agency in relation to flood risk;
• Escalation of cost.

Chris McCarthy

Electoral Division: Broadclyst and Whimple

Cabinet Member for Highways and Transportation,

Councillor Stuart Hughes

Local Government Act 1972: List of Background Papers

Contact for enquiries: Ian Harrison

Room No. Lucombe House, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter

Tel No: (01392) 382150

Background Paper		Date	File Ref
1.	None

ih221110cba

hak/cranbrook station

9 hq 280211

Appendix I To EEC/11/39/HQ

Appendix II To EEC/11/39/HQ