Old Malling Farm Planning Application Update - January 2024

Old Malling Farm is situated off the Old Malling Way, and is a green field site with an application for the erection of up to 226 new dwellings.

Cycle Lewes reiterates its previous objections to this development, with particular regard to the proposed pedestrian/cycle access from the site to the town centre. The SDNPA Access Team and ESCC Highways have called for the application to fully address the delivery of a walking and cycling infrastructure which is essential to ensure sustainable access to the town centre as a meaningful alternative to car travel. The current proposals fail to achieve this objective for the reasons set out below:

• The proposed pedestrian/cycle route, although sensibly located at the southeast corner of the site, is far from intuitive - indeed 80 metres of the route heads northwest, away from the town. It does not follow a natural desire line, which means that it is less likely to be used by pedestrians and cyclists.

• We question whether cyclists will be prepared to push their bikes 237 metres up and down 15 ramps, 14 landings and two 180-degree doglegs – this is the distance up School Hill from Eastgate Street to the War Memorial. It is more likely that they will choose the new vehicle access at the northwest of the site onto Old Malling Way. This will be a significant disincentive to cycle use.

• As currently designed for shared use, the ramps do not meet inclusive mobility or cycle infrastructure standards, being both too narrow (1.5 metres) and too steep (1:15).

• As illustrated, the ramps are constructed as separate structures above the ground on legs. These will be expensive and visually intrusive as well as harder and more expensive to maintain. Leaf fall will be a particular problem.

• Cycle Lewes’ view – endorsed by John Grimshaw (founder and former chief executive of Sustrans) and Shane Snow (a transport professional at the Department of Transport who now leads Active Travel England’s Rural Design Guidance project) – is that as a principle, a link should be created through earthworks with gentler and less steep ramps. By balancing cut and fill to minimise costs, a relaxed 1:20 hard-surfaced ramp 3 metres wide can be achieved that closely follows the desire line from the site to the town centre. This has the advantage of a large part of the works being carried out within the developer’s site. This is far more likely to be used by pedestrians and cyclists than the current proposed scheme and will therefore deliver the “suitably designed access for pedestrians and cyclist…from the site to the disused railway line” required by SDNPA Policy SD76 (Land at Old Malling Farm, Lewes).

• Other engineering solutions may be possible. This vital link to the town needs to be resolved before the housing layout can be approved. It must not be an afterthought.

• Some modification of the house layout at the bottom of the site will be required but this should not be difficult to achieve given the low density of the overall development.

• We strongly support a meeting of all those concerned – developer, planning authority, local councillors and relevant organisations – as suggested by John Grimshaw and Shane Snow, to which Cycler Lewes would happily contribute.

Above: The indicative sketch proposal was prepared by Civil Engineer, John Grimshaw and active travel expert Shane Snow who have toured the site and reviewed the current proposals. This radically different design uses an earthworks-based approach which cleverly manipulates contours which better responds to natural ‘desire lines’ that one might try to provide for, avoids tedious and wasteful switchbacks and complies better with the gentle gradients befitting accessibility standards. Moreover, the earthworks based approach is a more durable and safer design response with less ongoing maintenance requirements.

SDNP/23/04659/REM | Reserved Matters application for approval:

This note has been prepared by John Grimshaw, CBE and Civil Engineer who retired as Chief Executive of Sustrans an organisation he was with for 30 years and Shane Snow, a transport professional at the Department of Transport who has worked on HS2 active travel benefits and now leads Active Travel England’s rural design guidance project.

It follows a site visit made in December, 2023. Drawing credits: John Grimshaw. It is our view that links should be created through earthworks with gentler and less steep ramps (and not as a separate structure that would have climb a full 10+ meters in height).

As currently designed the ramps (See note 1) do not meet inclusive mobility or cycle infrastructure standards. If earthworks ramps can’t be achieved it is probably not worth doing because:

1. separate structure ramps are harder and more expensive to maintain.

2. have more changes in levels (up and down – the cutting depth is > 10 meters so very long make them longer ramps if they are 1: 20 or less - which they need to be to achieve accessibility standards – this all means separates ramps double back increasing cross fly distance (by at least 150 meters)

3. separate ramps structures would be significantly more expensive to build. The earthworks approach is set out in the diagrams below, and would need some good will from developer as there would be a need to rearrange the site layout – move some properties to Deanery corner for example as set out below.

If agreed this is an important detail - after all the routes’ ease (and distance) from new houses along railway by bike or on foot cutting will affect the propensity to cycle and walk.

Then there would need to be a trilateral discussion SDNP, LDC and developer to achieve something like what is shown. It could also be an interesting test case for SDNP to demonstrate detailed planning decisions can support non-car travel.

Note 1: This refers to the “The Malling Cutting Concept Plan for Access Ramp/Stairs” by

Kaner Olette architects found on SDNPA planning portal for Old Malling Farm application

SDNP/18/06103/OUT and submitted 07 March 2023