Looe Strategy Group: TESCO - Transport Assessment

Dear Sirs, we write because we have concerns about the highways situation and the conclusions arrived at in the applicant's Transport Assessment as follows:

SCOPE OF THE TRANSPORT ASSESSMENT

Tesco's Transport Assessment appears to focus solely on the use of the Barbican Road and the junctions with the proposed site entrance and with St. Martin's Road without examining the capacity of the road network at critical locations in the wider area beyond about 800 metres of the site.

NUMBER OF VEHICULAR MOVEMENTS

There is no mention or recognition within the 123 page document of the affect that fuel sales would have on vehicle numbers attending the site, either linked to a food shopping trip or solely to purchase fuel. Based on data from similar developments it is likely that fuel related trips would represent around 25% of total and none of these would be possible using another a more sustainable form of transport other than the vehicle that is to be refuelled.

Due to the very hilly topography of Looe and dangerously narrow roads cyclists are rarely seen in Looe, and it is unrealistic to expect many to be able to carry home shopping on their shoulders or handlebars. No-one whether on foot or by cycle, unless they were Olympic athletes, would contemplate climbing the 350 ft hill from other parts of town to the Barbican Road for this purpose, therefore the modal analysis is meaningless and targets to reduce car usage would not be met.

The total number of vehicular trips stated as between 476 to 510 in and out of the store hourly appears to underestimate the levels likely to be expected and does not reflect the situation at Morrisons Liskeard, which has a similar net sales area of 26,500 sq ft and a petrol filling station, which together attracts more than double the number of vehicles, counted at around 1,000 to 1,200 per hour, entering and leaving the site.

The report states that Tesco expects to draw 25% of its custom from the Sunrising/ Barbican/ Plaidy direction and 50% from the rest of Looe. The remaining 25%, it states, would come from outside the Looe area but already be in the local road network, calling in to the store as it passed by, and as such would have no impact on overall vehicle numbers in the network. However it is unlikely that this level of traffic would already be in the network because Looe is not on a through route to anywhere and it ignores non pass-by traffic coming from outside the study area.

NON PASS-BY TRAFFIC

The Transport Assessment does not include Polperro in the catchment area and fails to recognise that custom would be drawn from the vicinity of Liskeard and further afield. Liskeard itself is a nearby population centre of around 9,000 just 7 miles from the site and those wishing to shop at a Tesco would choose the Barbican Road as being within 17 minutes drive time and around 2 miles closer than Callington.

This additional traffic would add to congestion along the only three viable routes open to road users from Liskeard. The two most direct and frequently used routes by Looe Golf Club or through Widegates past Trenode School are narrow lanes containing sections of single track with passing places, while the slightly longer route via Sandplace Road is still relatively narrow and contains a difficult junction at the foot of St Martin's Road where it is virtually impossible to turn left up the hill (see attached photos). To use any other route requires an enormous detour say via Trerulefoot or East Taphouse.

TRIPS REMOVED FROM THE ROAD NETWORK

With regard to the number of trips removed from the local road network, it is presumptuous of Tesco to assume in their calculations that - "the trips which would have been made to alternative stores will no longer be made once the proposed Tesco is open". This is clearly a false assumption as it does not take account of brand loyalty and that trips are currently often linked with say a visit to the recycling centre at East Taphouse or perhaps Trago Mills Doublebois before calling in at Morrisons Liskeard on the way back to carry out a weekly food shop.

A shorter travel distance would, in practice, tend to result in trips being undertaken more frequently with less likelihood of them being combined for another purpose. Because trips out of the immediate area would continue to be made and trips to the proposed Tesco store made more frequently, there would be no net removal from the road network.

ACCURACY OF DATA PROVIDED

It is a concern that Tesco's Travel Impact Assessment is based Tesco's own Retail Impact Assessment whose inadequate scope and incorrect assumptions only provides the story that the authors seek to promote. It hides any negative material and puts the integrity of the document in question.

CONCLUSIONS

The above findings lead to the conclusion that the development would result in much more traffic being introduced to the local road network whilst little if any would be removed from the system and measures to promote more sustainable modes of travel would be ineffective leading to congestion noise and air pollution.

The inclusion of a petrol filling station, not covered in the report, would account for an unnecessary extra component of traffic growth. Looe is already adequately served by two petrol filling stations, one adjacent Looe Railway Station and the other towards Talland, so there is no local need for another.

Because of the poor standard of road building locally and lack of primary routes, the local network has limited capacity for increases in usage. Such capacity that it does possess would be better used serving the requirements of Looe's core activities rather than introducing a new demand that is unrelated to tourism, the fishing industry, access to schools, health care or leisure activities.

There are other more suitable locations for a superstore in nearby towns such as Liskeard or Bodmin which have the connections and infrastructure to cope. Cornwall as a whole relies heavily on tourism generated from within a limited number of coastal attractions. To continue benefiting from this resource, towns such as Looe need to be safeguarded from the adverse impact of traffic and inappropriate development.