Paul Basham Associates’ Oxford Office assisted in supporting a partial retrospective planning application for the change of use of existing agricultural buildings used for the packaging of fruit to an open B8 storage facility which was permitted by South Downs National Park in March 2019.
The Brief
Paul Basham Associates were approached by Murray Planning Associates to undertake a site visit and subsequently produce a Transport Note to support the change of use planning application. The agricultural buildings in question measured a total of 2,164m2 and were previously used for the packaging of apples for distribution.
Our Approach
A site visit was carried out to understand the existing conditions of the site and surrounding area which later informed the highway report. A Transport Note was produced which included details associated to accessibility, existing conditions of the site, access and parking arrangements as well as a review of the current, proposed and net trip generation. It was important for the Transport Note to properly assess the modest increase in trips across the AM and PM peaks and across the 12-hour day as well as emphasise that some of the floor space had already been operating informally for its intended purpose, as well as demonstrating appropriate routing for HGVs between the site and the A3.
Given the specific nature of the packhouse site usage, traffic data was obtained from the client to inform the current trip generation. Traffic data for the proposed trip generation was obtained from the prospective occupiers which was based upon past experience. A sensitivity test was then performed using the Industrial Unit land use on the TRICS database which contains a series of surveys undertaken on various sites across the UK to inform the trip generation of new developments, as a worst case B8 use.
The Result
South Downs National Park and Hampshire County Council were both satisfied with the proposals and the scheme subsequently received planning permission in March 2019.