{"id":4945,"date":"2020-06-17T09:50:43","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T09:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/harbug.org.uk\/?p=4945"},"modified":"2020-06-17T09:50:45","modified_gmt":"2020-06-17T09:50:45","slug":"valley-park-roundabout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.harbug.org.uk\/?p=4945","title":{"rendered":"Valley Park Roundabout"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We have another opportunity to stop a monstrous five arm roundabout being built on the cycle route between Didcot and Harwell Village. Sustainable Harwell are spearheading a campaign to get a re-design of this roundabout. HarBUG objected to the design in 2015 and we need to do the same again today. Please support the campaign to change the roundabout.\u00a0 You can download the design drawing here: Valley Park Roundabout<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Valley Park planning application proposes changes to the roundabout at the bottom of the Harwell bypass that would make it very poor for pedestrians and cyclists. The outline planning application for Valley Park is due to be considered soon so we urgently need as many people to raise concerns as possible. Please do the following if you agree that walking and cycling should be promoted.<\/p>\n

We need as many people to raise objections as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Comment on the planning application<\/h4>\n

The page to comment is here: http:\/\/www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk\/java\/support\/Main.jsp?MODULE=ApplicationDetails&REF=P14\/V2873\/O#exactline<\/a><\/span><\/span>

We suggest you comment along the following lines:<\/em>
As someone who works on the Harwell Campus, I object to the proposed design of the roundabout on the B4493 east of Harwell. The design prioritises cars over pedestrians and cyclists. Please ensure the roundabout is redesigned to make it faster and safer for pedestrians and cyclists to journey in any direction, but particularly between Harwell Village and Didcot.<\/p>\n

The current design would increase the likelihood that I would drive a car rather than walk or cycle. Please make sure that the design follows Oxfordshire County Council\u2019s Design for Cycling Standards and its aim for \u2018good highway design, which prioritises and creates dedicated space for cycling and walking\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Contact County Councillors<\/h4>\n

Email to Oxfordshire County Council\u2019s Cabinet Member for Highways delivery and operations, Councillor Liam Walker<\/a><\/span><\/span>, copying in our councillor, Mike Fox-Davies, and the council\u2019s cycling champion, Suzanne Bartington.
liam.walker2@oxfordshire.gov.uk<\/a><\/span><\/span>
mike.fox-davies@oxfordshire.gov.uk<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

suzanne.bartington@oxfordshire.gov.uk<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Suggested subject:<\/strong> Please take action on Valley Park roundabout design

Suggested content:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Councillor Walker<\/p>\n

As Oxfordshire County Council\u2019s Cabinet Member for Highways Delivery and Operations, please do not accept the current Valley Park planning application for the roundabout on the B4493 east of Harwell. The current design will deter cycling and walking. The roundabout does not follow the guidance in Oxfordshire County Council\u2019s Cycling Design Standards and should be radically amended to make it better for walking and cycling.<\/p>\n

Oxfordshire County Council\u2019s corporate plan 2020-24 clearly states that increased walking and cycling will help to meet its Climate Change Commitment. The proposed roundabout design will undermine this by making it unlikely that commuters will abandon motor vehicles in favour of cycling. As this roundabout is on Route 5 of the Science Vale Cycle Network, any feature that puts off cycling could severely reduce cycling.<\/p>\n

I would like to cycle rather than using my car but the current design would force me to use my car more frequently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Contact District Councillors<\/h4>\n

Email the Vale of the White Horse District Council\u2019s Cabinet Member for Planning, Catherine Walker, copying in our two local councillors, Sarah Medley and Hayleigh Gascoigne, and the Vale Cycling Champion, Eric De la Harpe.

catherine.webber@whitehorsedc.gov.uk<\/span><\/span><\/a>
Sarah.Medley@whitehorsedc.gov.uk<\/a><\/span><\/span>
Hayleigh.Gascoigne@whitehorsedc.gov.uk<\/a><\/span><\/span>
eric.delaharpe@whitehorsedc.gov.uk<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Suggested subject:<\/strong> Increasing cycling and walking

Suggested content:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Councillor Webber<\/p>\n

I work on the Harwell Campus and am writing to you in your role as Head of Planning at the Vale of the White Horse. I am complaining that the changes proposed in the Valley Park planning application for the roundabout on the B4493 east of Harwell will deter cycling and walking. The roundabout does not follow the guidance in Oxfordshire County Council\u2019s Cycling Design Standards nor will it meet the aims of the Vale to encourage cycling.<\/p>\n

The proposed roundabout design will deter commuter and other non-leisure cyclists so that they will increasingly favour motor vehicles over cycling. As this roundabout is on Route 5 of the Science Vale Cycle Network, any feature that puts off cyclists could severely reduce cycling.<\/p>\n

Please do not accept the planning application for Valley Park with the current roundabout plan. The design must be improved to meet the needs of all road users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Please use your voice to encourage our councils to represent our wishes. We need to make a lot of noise because recent correspondence from the Vale shows that our concerns have been ignored in the past: \u201cThe plan for this roundabout and concerns about its design being unsuited to pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders was expressed by HarBUG, Harwell Parish Council and local residents and were considered by the planning committee in April 2016. The highways officer had no objection and the plan forms part of the resolution to approve.\u201d We need to make sure the highways officers object this time<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Please object to the five arm Valley Park roundabout inbetween Didcot and Harwell Village. We need to stop this monstrous traffic junction in it’s current design.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.harbug.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.harbug.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.harbug.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.harbug.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.harbug.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.harbug.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4945\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.harbug.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.harbug.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.harbug.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}