Kemble - station, facilities, improvements, events and incidents - merged posts

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

Definitely not Taunton. 

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard:

Standard launches petition for more car parking spaces at Kemble railway station


The car park at Kemble which is often at capacity

For years, commuters using Kemble rail station have struggled to find a space in the car park at peak times because there are simply not enough to meet demand.

As a result, commuters are parking in streets near the station, causing congestion and road safety issues. And with thousands of new homes set to be built across the Cotswolds in the next few years, parking at the station will become an even bigger problem.

After being contacted again and again by people who are fed up with the situation, the Standard has launched a petition demanding action.

There are currently 220 spaces in the car park, and it is generally felt that around 100 more would be sufficient.

Supported by Cotswold MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Geoffrey Clifton-Brown and Cotswold District Council leader Cllr Lynden Stowe, our petition calls for First Great Western (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) to create more parking spaces.

But to make this happen, we need you to sign the petition too, and the deadline is Saturday February 28.

You can add your signature at change.org/p/first-great-western-create-more-parking-spaces-at-kemble-rail-station A hard copy of the petition will be available at Kemble post office in Windmill Road, near the station. Once all the signatures are in, Mr Clifton-Brown will hand the petition to FGW, which is responsible for the car park, and raise the issue in Parliament.

Mr Clifton-Brown, who has been campaigning for more car parking spaces at the station for years, said: ^I will continue to press First Great Western, Network Rail and the government on this, and other issues relating to Kemble station.^ Mr Clifton-Brown has raised the issue with MP Claire Perry, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport.

He said: ^She has responded by saying that First Great Western have presented plans for an additional 2,500 car park spaces across the entire franchise. I have asked her to provide some more specific information about this when it is available.^

Cllr Stowe is equally determined to see the petition succeed. ^Anything we can we can do to increase car parking capability at Kemble station has to be good for the Cotswolds,^ he said.

He said the recent redoubling of the Kemble to Swindon rail line will lead to more traffic in the future so it is important that parking is improved.

Camlefh Khudusam , postmaster at Kemble post office, said cars parked in the road are driving trade away from his business. He said: ^If there are two or three cars parked on the front, customers cannot stop anywhere. They cannot stop to get a newspaper or a pint of milk. We need more car parking spaces. It is causing congestion and bad feeling throughout the village.^

Bob Williams, who lives near the station, explained that cars parked all along the Station Road and Windmill Road sides could cause an accident. He said: ^When the car park is full there is an accident waiting to happen at the bottom of Station Road and Windmill Road because you cannot see around the corner coming out of Station Road.^

Mr Williams explained that the car park side of the village is worst affected by congestion. He said that if plans to build 2,350 new homes in Cirencester are approved there will be an even greater need for more spaces at the station.

Find the petition at change.org by searching for ^Create more parking spaces at Kemble rail station^.

[Sapperton Tunnel]

The Chairman of Kemble Parish Council has noted the following in his column in the lastest Kemble Parish News:

News too from Last Great Western. Negotiations on the lease of the extra land for the station car park extension remain very much alive, albeit at a finely balanced point.

Meanwhile, the railway company is pressing ahead with preparations toward achieving planning consent, including preliminary design and an architectural survey which is a pre-requirement.

Not only that, the architectural surveyor has been spotted carrying out his labours in the field.

I realise that the saga makes reporting of the Chilcot Enquiry look like a rushed job but it does now look as though events are coming to a head.

At least no one has taken a pot-shot at the surveyor unlike in times past......


ST

[Sapperton Tunnel]

Plans for a new Car Park at Kemble Station were submitted for Planning Approval on 20th February and are now out for comments:

http://publicaccess.cotswold.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=NK2V91FIM6H00

The new car park will have 333 spaces, making a total at the station of 553 when added to the existing 220.

Campaigns such as the Wilts and Glos Standard one were just jumping on the bandwagon when the real work had more or less been completed between the combined efforts of the Parish Council, the MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) and FGW^▸ (First Great Western).

ST

[IndustryInsider]

The new car park will have 333 spaces, making a total at the station of 553 when added to the existing 220.

Blimey, 553 spaces.  Not bad for a village!  Just shows how important these railheads can be in rural locations with larger settlements that don't have stations nearby.  Hanborough is another such location.

[patch38]

From the Wilts & Glos Standard:

http://www.wiltsglosstandard.co.uk/news/14228999.Dramatic_increase_in_spaces_at_Kemble_could_spell_end_to_parking_crisis/

YEARS of fervent calls to improve parking at Kemble train station may finally be coming to fruition.

Previous plans to upgrade the 220-space car park with an additional 333 spaces were submitted last March but were deemed ^unworkable^ because of the village^s one-way road system which has now been revised.

The news could spell an end to commuters struggling to find parking spaces at the station and cars being left parked haphazardly around the village.

Residents, councillors, Cotswold MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Geoffrey Clifton-Brown and a Standard petition signed by more than 1,000 people have all called for more parking.

^The road plan was completely unworkable,^ said Cllr Tony Berry, of Kemble Ward. ^There was a one way system that meant you wouldn^t get half of the agricultural machinery over the bridge.

^We got around the table and found the problem was having to put a footpath from the car park to the station, without that they wouldn^t need a one way system.^

Great Western Railway (GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)) has now brokered a deal with brewery Arkells to run the footpath alongside the Tavern Inn, which will mean the one-way system can be scrapped.

Commuters will breathe a sigh of relief if the plans make it through CDC^s planning committee in March, especially with thousands more houses looming on the horizon.

^There^s still a few things that will need to be ironed,^ said Cllr Berry. ^People will want this built tomorrow. Along with the station in Moreton-in-Marsh this is the gateway to the Cotswolds^

The long, thin car park will lie to the south of the pub along Station Road.

A GWR spokesman said: "Recognising the key role that rail plays in supporting the national and local economy, we are delighted to announce our proposal to expand car parking capacity at Kemble Station.

^Subject to planning approval, the ^1.4million project will deliver an additional 333 spaces.^

Mr Clifton-Brown said: ^I have been personally campaigning for what seems like an awfully long time for extra car-parking spaces at Kemble Station.

^We desperately need extra spaces and I hope that the CDC will now get behind this application so that the necessary engineering works can be prepared and the spaces can provided as soon as possible.^

To comment on the application use reference code 15/00786/FUL

It looks as if the access issue is resolved.

But that poor man in the Land Rover is still driving round looking for a space over a year on...

[Sapperton Tunnel]

It^s getting there. This is actually the third iteration of the plans and at long last is something sensible. The original scheme was actually better than the second, but seemed to depend on using redundant signal gantry platforms to create a steel walkway from the new car park and totally ignored the size of modern agricultural machines, or indeed the access required by HGV^s bringing in the various Network Rail road/rail machines.

When the original scheme was announced there was a sharp intake of breath locally at the quantity, (332 or 333 new spaces depending at which drawing you looked at) but after it was explained how usage has doubled, a probable latent demand due to lack of parking, and forecast increases the figure was accepted as being in the right ball park.

However, the designers showed a complete lack of awareness of how the village road network actually operates; a failure to understand that Kemble is still a country village and that trying to plonk an industrial type car park on to this is simply not on. 

Nevertheless, the Parish Council and Cotswold District Planners have stuck to their guns, and give GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) their due as well in making changes, a good a scheme as what you can expect has evolved and should pass at the March 2016 planning meeting. Much better landscaping and more but lower lighting columns have been agreed as part of this. If they has listened to local opinion in the beginning and talked to Mr Arkell earlier a good six to nine months could have been saved.

The main issue to resolve is that of a Parking Scheme for the village with a permit system for residents to minimise fly parking. 

Sapperton Tunnel 

[Sapperton Tunnel]

It looks as if the plans for the new car park will not now be discussed at the Cotswold District Council's March Planning Meeting, but may be delayed until the April one. Amendments have been made with due regard to Landscaping and Lighting, causing the delay, and are out for comments; they are now much better, but have been a long time about.

It also appears that FGW^▸ (First Great Western)/GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have found a new source of passengers:

(From the Design and Access statement)

An unobtrusive but efficient lighting scheme is to be provided. Low spillage luminaires with recessed LED lamps have been chosen to minimise light pollution.

They are to be mounted on 6 metre high columns and will be fitted with time clocks, daylight sensors and an automatic dimming function to ensure that the area is not over illuminated.

Special care has been taken to avoid light spillage onto the perimeter hedges in order not to be detrimental to commuting bats.

!!

Sapperton Tunnel

[ellendune]

Sapperton Tunnel

I assumed that might also be where the bats are commuting from!

[Sapperton Tunnel]

Sapperton Tunnel

I assumed that might also be where the bats are commuting from!

Sadly, not. They are tree and hedgerow inhabiting Bats.


Contrary to my previous post and just to be precise, the new Car Park at Kemble will be discussed at the next Cotswold District Council planning meeting on March 9th.

The Planning Officers have recommended approval of the scheme, with delegation of the final details, which are still out for public consultation, to the Planners, providing there are no significant objections. If there are unresolved objections, then it is back to the full committee for probable refusal, although this is unlikely.

I'm afraid that this is just another example of the convoluted and tortuous path that this application has been through.

I'll bet the Bats don't have a clue of all the discussion and reworking carried out on their behalf. Bet the little b*****s migrate elsewhere!! 

Sapperton Tunnel

[Sapperton Tunnel]

Well, Cotswold District Council Planning Committee voted in favour of the new Car Park at Kemble Station at their Planning Meeting today, 9th March.

The new Car Park will have 333 spaces and doubles the existing capacity. It will have its own access road to the main A429 road and should reduce a little bit of traffic on village roads.

The principle of more car parking has always been accepted by the village and the new park does encroach onto open agricultural land but I think most people involved understand that a bit of a sacrifice has been made.

This is not quite the final hurdle as iteration 4 is still out for Public Consultation and the Highways Engineer and Natural England still have to report back with their comments.

What the Planning Committee actually did was to delegate authority to the Council Officers with a recommendation to 'Approve' providing that Iteration 4 comments from the Public and the other consultees are not materally significant. If there are major changes then it is back to the Planning Committee and a probable refusal. It is not thought that this will happen, though.

A final decision by the Officers will likely be around Eastertime.


Sapperton Tunnel

[Stroud Valleys]

Is there a link to the planning application to see what the plans/map of the site will be once completed?

[stuving]

Is there a link to the planning application to see what the plans/map of the site will be once completed?

I think it is this one (at least, it was on the committee agenda for yesterday):
15/00786/FUL (Alternative Reference CT.6491/M)
documents at:
http://publicaccess.cotswold.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=NK2V91FIM6H00

[Stroud Valleys]

Thank you. It's interesting to see just how much the plans have changed over the years, but it will bring lots of benefits to the already overcrowded car park at kemble.

I'm surprised they haven't looked at developing bus services to cirencester. The existing service is poor and has lots of potential if linked to various housing developments in cirencester.

[Chris from Nailsea]

I'm surprised they haven't looked at developing bus services to cirencester.

... or even reopening the branch line.