A CAMPAIGN group has slammed traffic data from developer David Wilson Homes, saying it is ‘deliberately misleading’.
The North Redditch Communities Alliance (NoRCA) has been campaigning against the proposed development of more than 200 houses on the Abbey Park golf course.
They say the development will pour hundreds of extra car journeys on to Dagnell End Road and its already congested junction with the A441 Birmingham Road.
To prove their point, NoRCA requested traffic data from David Wilson Homes.
However they say the data, taken on November 15, 2022, was at a time when major road works had been diverting motorists away from the area as commuters sought alternative routes to avoid the congestion, resulting in a traffic reduction of at least 30 per cent.
Mark Jacobs, chair of NoRCA said: “After many, many months of asking for this data, when it eventually was produced, it clearly misrepresented the situation.
“Whether this is by accident or design, I will leave others to judge.
“We are fortunate as NoRCA has the expertise of a traffic and transport consultant familiar with the routes in question.
“The analysis identified the flaws in the applicant’s submission. I’m aware that the council’s planning department has a significant workload but it’s unfortunate that something as clear and obvious as this was not flagged-up in the evaluation process.”
Alvechurch South Councillor, Adam Bailes has written a letter to council planning officer, Paul Lester objecting to the development.
He said: “Having undertaken a thorough and robust assessment of the transport and highway information, it is clear the data is totally misleading and therefore should be withdrawn.
“It is still my firm conclusion that the proposed residential development is contrary to both the National Planning Policy Framework and the Borough of Redditch Local Plan policies.
“For this reason, the planning application should be refused.”
A spokesperson for David Wilson Homes Mercia said: “The traffic assessment was carried out by an independent, specialist transport consultancy, in close collaboration with the local highways authority and to all the necessary standards.
“We have been assured that traffic flow data was obtained over a seven-day period when there were no roadworks at the junction at the time.
“This data was also reviewed and approved by the highways authority.
“We are confident that proposed traffic mitigation scheme at the Dagnell Road End junction, devised following this assessment, will not result in an increase in traffic.”
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