Highways team objects to Aldi’s Keynsham store plan

COUNCIL highways officers have objected to Aldi’s plans for a store in Keynsham, warning of significant delays on nearby roads.

The supermarket chain wants to develop the former Brincliffe Nursery site on the A4 Bath Road.

In a response dated May 7, Bath & North East Somerset Council’s highways team says the applicant has submitted more information that addresses earlier concerns about the site layout and parking arrangements, with the plans now offering the number of spaces “appropriate for a typical daily demand”.

But officers have decided to formally object to the scheme following a “comprehensive” traffic modelling exercise it commissioned.

The modelling focuses on the weekday afternoon peak period for an opening year and a future year (2032). It works on the assumption that left turns from World’s End Lane to Pixash Lane (currently banned) would be allowed. It excludes any predicted effects of the A4 travel changes being considered by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, because details have yet to be finalised.

The modelling indicates that, in the opening year, significant queues are likely to form on the Broadmead Lane approach to the A4 Broadmead roundabout, as well as on Pixash Lane, with queues extending back from the A4 junction to the World’s End Lane junction. Similar delays are likely to occur during other busy times, including weekends.

Officer say the queues would cause substantial delays for all motorists using Broadmead Lane and Pixash Lane, potentially affecting access to the police centre on Ashmead Road and the recycling centre accessed from World’s End Lane and Pixash Lane.

There is also concern that the delays would encourage drivers to undertake “pressured” turning manoeuvres at both junctions with the A4 Bath Road, with the risk of accidents.

But the highways team says the development is unlikely to have a “material impact” on the operation of the A4 Bath Road itself, with journey times showing only marginal changes.

It adds that if the planning authority is minded to grant permission, the highways authority requests the opportunity to recommend planning conditions.

Meanwhile, Lidl’s plan to build a supermarket on the Jewson site in Broadmead Lane has prompted B&NES Council to reassess the “sequential test” for Aldi’s proposals on the Bath Road.
Lidl argues that its proposed site is much closer to the town centre than Aldi’s.

But a report prepared for the council by Nexus Planning says the Jewson site lies more than one kilometre from Keynsham’s main shopping centre and so should be classed as out of centre, the same as the Bath Road site.

The report states: “There is no material difference between these locations in relation to connectivity and accessibility associated with Keynsham town centre. Therefore, the sites should be considered to be sequentially equal.”