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<strong>Waterside</strong><br />
development<br />
will regenerate<br />
<strong>Chesterfield</strong><br />
“<strong>Royal</strong> <strong>Haskoning</strong>’s innovative and<br />
practical techniques to forecast<br />
future transport scenarios have led to<br />
<strong>the</strong> development of a truly impressive<br />
travel plan for <strong>Chesterfield</strong> <strong>Waterside</strong>.<br />
Their sustainable approach has<br />
correlated success<strong>full</strong>y with our<br />
vision for creating a vibrant new<br />
development that is environmentally<br />
friendly and uses renewable<br />
technology where possible.”<br />
Peter Swallow,<br />
Director, <strong>Chesterfield</strong> <strong>Waterside</strong> Ltd<br />
client > <strong>Chesterfield</strong> <strong>Waterside</strong><br />
<strong>Chesterfield</strong> <strong>Waterside</strong> is an inspirational £300 million scheme to create a vibrant,<br />
thriving community from a 60-acre site which is largely vacant situated on <strong>the</strong> edge<br />
of <strong>Chesterfield</strong> town centre, in Derbyshire, England.<br />
At <strong>the</strong> heart of <strong>the</strong> massive regeneration project will be a new canal basin, which<br />
will connect to <strong>the</strong> adjacent River Ro<strong>the</strong>r and <strong>Chesterfield</strong> canal to create a stunning<br />
waterside environment. Around 30 per cent of <strong>the</strong> surrounding site will consist of<br />
open space, including an outdoor event venue, an ecological park and play areas for<br />
children.<br />
The development, which will use sustainable technology where possible, will include<br />
30,000 square metres of office and business space, creating 2,000 jobs, as well as<br />
1,500 new homes, and shops, restaurants, galleries and leisure facilities.<br />
The scheme is a public private partnership between specialist urban regeneration<br />
company Urbo and <strong>Chesterfield</strong> Borough Council, who toge<strong>the</strong>r formed <strong>Chesterfield</strong><br />
<strong>Waterside</strong> Ltd in 2006 in order to deliver <strong>the</strong> development.<br />
<strong>Royal</strong> <strong>Haskoning</strong>’s Highway and Transport Planning group experts, were<br />
commissioned in 2006 by <strong>Chesterfield</strong> <strong>Waterside</strong> Ltd to provide advice and technical<br />
analysis around transport issues to support <strong>the</strong> project’s planning application. This<br />
included producing a Transport Assessment, Travel Plan Framework, and preparing<br />
<strong>the</strong> traffic and access input into <strong>the</strong> Application’s Environmental Statement. David<br />
Barker, Associate Director, Transport Assessment, Travel Plan, Traffic and Highway<br />
Engineering said: “<strong>Royal</strong> <strong>Haskoning</strong> was brought in to use its considerable experience<br />
of sustainable transport planning and travel infrastructure design. The development<br />
required careful planning to produce effective long-term transport solutions to<br />
manage access to <strong>the</strong> site, including traffic from ongoing phased construction<br />
work as well as business and residential traffic. It was also essential to develop a<br />
sustainable travel plan for transport flow within <strong>the</strong> site.”<br />
<strong>Chesterfield</strong> <strong>Waterside</strong>
Both images are courtesy of Bolsterstone Group plc<br />
client > <strong>Chesterfield</strong> <strong>Waterside</strong><br />
The Transport Assessment, Travel Plan Framework and traffic and<br />
access section of <strong>the</strong> environmental statement are all intrinsically<br />
linked and <strong>the</strong> team’s ultimate objective was to develop an<br />
innovative transport strategy for <strong>the</strong> whole of <strong>the</strong> site.<br />
This was based on <strong>the</strong> Department for Transport’s 2009<br />
Good Practice Guidelines: Delivering travel plans and, due<br />
to <strong>the</strong> size of <strong>the</strong> development, is one of <strong>the</strong> most complex<br />
transport plans <strong>the</strong> team has ever worked on. As <strong>the</strong> site has<br />
not yet been constructed, a flexible approach was essential, so<br />
a range of transport scenarios were forecasted and planned.<br />
Establishing access to <strong>the</strong> area was <strong>the</strong> first challenge and<br />
involved negotiation with local highway authorities who<br />
highlighted concerns about <strong>the</strong> primary road nearest to <strong>the</strong><br />
development, <strong>the</strong> A61, being close to capacity during peak<br />
periods. Detailed analysis was needed to gain a clear idea<br />
of how access to <strong>the</strong> area would be managed. It was vital to<br />
strike <strong>the</strong> right balance between sustainability and reducing<br />
<strong>the</strong> need for immediate off-site highway infrastructure costs,<br />
as well as introducing measures to accurately predict future<br />
scenarios to reduce <strong>the</strong> need for highway improvements in<br />
<strong>the</strong> future.<br />
It was decided that three separate junctions on <strong>the</strong> A61 dual<br />
carriageway would be used to access <strong>the</strong> site. High, median<br />
and low traffic prediction scenarios were integrated within <strong>the</strong><br />
strategy and checks were built in to keep traffic volume towards<br />
<strong>the</strong> low end of <strong>the</strong> scale. This was a sustainable solution as <strong>the</strong><br />
financial implications for <strong>the</strong> client were reduced, as was <strong>the</strong><br />
need to deal with transport issues in <strong>the</strong> future.<br />
O<strong>the</strong>r features to reduce <strong>the</strong> volume of traffic onto <strong>the</strong> site<br />
were included within <strong>the</strong> strategy, including a ‘car club’, which<br />
would offer financial incentives for car-sharing, and a car<br />
rental scheme which would be available within <strong>the</strong> site itself.<br />
As well as reducing <strong>the</strong> volume of traffic accessing <strong>the</strong> site,<br />
this would mean fewer car parking facilities were necessary<br />
onsite and free up more land for potential development.<br />
<strong>Royal</strong> <strong>Haskoning</strong> used expert techniques to model a range of<br />
scenarios forecasting differing transport methods required by<br />
business, leisure and residential site users. Their analysis was<br />
used to find ways to generate revenue by using <strong>the</strong> site’s travel<br />
plan measures to guarantee funds for dealing with future<br />
issues. Accurately predicting likely transport outcomes and<br />
how <strong>the</strong>y could be managed sustainably, meant that building<br />
large car parks at <strong>the</strong> outset could be avoided.<br />
The planning application for <strong>Chesterfield</strong> <strong>Waterside</strong> received a<br />
resolution to grant planning approval in April 2010, subject to <strong>the</strong><br />
completion of legal agreements and <strong>the</strong> initial construction works<br />
for <strong>the</strong> new canal basin have been completed. The detailed design<br />
and <strong>the</strong>n construction of buildings and infrastructure is due to<br />
begin after Planning Reserved Matters Approval is granted for<br />
aspects of <strong>the</strong> site subject to planning conditions. It is estimated<br />
that <strong>the</strong> site will take between 10-15 years to complete but<br />
<strong>Chesterfield</strong> <strong>Waterside</strong> will <strong>the</strong>n become a visually impressive,<br />
thriving and successful new part of <strong>Chesterfield</strong> centre.<br />
1042-cs-w-1011-<strong>Chesterfield</strong> <strong>Waterside</strong>-V01<br />
David Barker<br />
T: +44 (0)161 236 1018<br />
E: d.barker@royalhaskoning.com<br />
www.royalhaskoning.co.uk