National Highways puts plans for 800 new homes north of Telford on hold

National Highways has put a hold on plans for 800 new homes north of Telford as officials state that traffic generation from the development may have been 'underestimated.'

The body looks after the M54 as part of the national strategic road network and its officials have been poring over figures produced as part of a planning application for land off Humber Lane in Donnington.

"National Highways recommends that planning permission not be granted for a further period of three months to allow the applicant time to submit additional information," reads the submission to Telford & Wrekin Council.

The outline plans include a mixed-use local centre and community hub, vehicular access points, land for a primary school.

The site is 7.3 km from M54 Junction 4 (Castle Farm Interchange), 7.8 km from M54 Junction 6 (Ketley Dingle Interchange) with the Hollinswood Interchange at Junction 5 approximately 8.5 km away.

Officials have noted plans for a 20 per cent shift from the private car and say this target "appears ambitious". They have asked for clarification on the timeframe over which this modal shift is expected to be achieved.

Highways officials have recommended that the council 'monitors and manages' this to "ensure it is being implemented and that the transport-related impacts of the proposed development are reduced inaccordance with the Travel Plan."

Highways chiefs have also spotted that date includes from the covid-19 period and "therefore may not be fully representative of travel patterns associated with the proposed development."

Officials state that "based on our review, it appears that the trip generation may have been underestimated."

It has recommended a review to make sure that the data us "robust and representative of the proposed development."

The Highways Agency has also recommended that other proposed land uses - in addition to residential developments - are included in an assessment of how many travel trips would be generated.

They add: "This will provide a more realistic representation of the total trips generated by the development and enable a comprehensive assessment of its transport impact.

"We will be in a better position to provide further comments once the trip generation has been recalculated to include all proposed land uses and a cumulative trip generation assessment has been submitted."

They have also asked for the potential impact of the development on M54 Junctions 4, 5 and 6 to be specifically assessed.

This is because there may be a need for an assessment of junction capacity to be made.

No date has yet been set for the council to make a decision on the application.