It seems that a new traffic survey was been set up along
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| Traffic survey cameras at Bush Road (by football pitch and by junction with A228) |
Almost needless to say, it is half term this week. There will be no school run traffic to measure. The second data point by the social club is also to the west of the school, the club entrance and the shops where most of the
The proposed new winery at
Vineyard Farms have always been well aware that any access along
They know that their desire to funnel at least 70,000 tourists a year (and probably many more) plus all of the HGV winery construction and subsequent operational traffic down little Bush Road, past people’s houses, the access to the GP surgery, the shops, the library and the busy, busy school, will worsen what is already a traffic nightmare and will cause huge damage to the quality of life of Cuxton residents.
Right back in 2019 in their early planning exercise, Vineyard
Farms knew that
So they commissioned a traffic survey, which (lo and behold)
gave them answers they liked and furnished them with some favourable data to
show Medway’s Planning department that traffic wasn’t an issue in
The poor quality of that survey has been discussed elsewhere.
Despite both Medway Council and Vineyard Farms insisting
that there is no real traffic problem in
Cuxton Parish Council even commissioned its own survey, which showed west-bound traffic flow into the village to be FOUR TIMES higher at peak times than the “data” gathered by Vineyard Farms’ pet consultants, Meyer Brown.
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| Parish Council traffic data for Bush Road; 500 cars per hour at peak times! |
As it turned out, the first planning meeting told Vineyard Farms to go away and sort out their act, much to the chagrin of both them and Medway’s Planning department, the latter of whom proved themselves at the meeting to be enthusiastic supporters of Lord Foster’s vainglorious Xanadu.
We know that Medway Council’s planning department are working hand-in-hand with Vineyard Farms. They have even been parroting Vineyard Farms unbelievably self-serving propaganda on the council webpage, saying:
“The proposal would
bring significant economic and social benefits both locally and nationally.
This would be through the creation of jobs and additional spend in the local
area through linked trips and associated tourism as well as providing
apprenticeship and educational opportunities.”
“Given the benefits
identified above, along with the proposed mitigation measures, the proposed
development would result in a sustainable form of development that would outweigh
any residual harm and as such planning permission should be granted.”
But somehow, I just can’t believe that Vineyard Farms or Medway Council’s Planning department are behind this latest traffic survey.
After their last debacle, surely they would want to gather data from a time and place that was as representative as possible? Surely they learned their lesson from last time?
Who could possibly want to gather data that almost
deliberately seems to want to hugely underestimate traffic along
Why would they want to conduct a survey that (once again) is
timed and positioned to miss school run journeys, as well as all of the
residential traffic into the village from that comes down from
Why would they want to disguise the underlying traffic safety risks? What use would that be?
Let’s wait and see…
