Contact: Hannah Baker, ext 6594 email:[email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 This report outlines the progress on recent transport projects in the New Forest area.

2. Demand Management

2.1 In January 2004 a working group met to discuss possible demand management measures that would benefit the New Forest. The group agreed that a pilot road closure between Emery Down and Boldrewood should be considered. After concerns from local residents regarding the local economy and the migration of traffic to the already busy Ornamental Drive it was decided that the working group should meet to establish the justifications of this closure. The group was unable to balance the environmental advantages against the disadvantages the closure might bring. It was therefore suggested that the working group be informed of the decision that work on this closure be stopped.

2.2 The New Forest Transport Strategy identifies the need to look at road closures and the creation of culs-de-sac. In order for the County Council to establish the positive or negative effects these may have on the Forest, there is a need to agree a way forward that the Panel supports.

2.3 The decision sought is that the Panel agrees with this course of action regarding Emery Down but also supports the continuing work on demand management in the New Forest to include pilot projects looking at road closures.

3. Operation of the New Forest Road Network: Sub Group

Progress

3.1 The sub-group, comprising district and local Members and Hampshire County Council officers, has now held two meetings which have covered a variety of road network issues.

3.2 To date the group has discussed a number of routes around Lyndhurst that could provide different levels of congestion relief for the village. Consideration of issues are at a relatively early stage. The advantages of travel time savings against the disadvantages to the environment have been debated but no significant conclusions have yet been reached. Local level traffic management improvements have been looked at in broad detail with reference to the A35 High Street and its junction with the A337 Romsey Road in Lyndhurst. Further investigations are likely to take place in the coming months to determine whether any reductions can be made to the length of traffic queues at this location and on the respective approaches.

4. Air Quality

4.1 An area encompassing Lyndhurst High Street and the junction with the A337 has recently been identified by New Forest District Council as an `Air Quality Management Area' (AQMA). This means that levels of pollutants attributed to vehicular emissions in specified locations are exceeding thresholds recommended by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The Operation of the New Forest Road Network sub-group will discuss ways in which these problems can be overcome or improved and these may be incorporated in the Air Quality Action Plan which will be prepared by the District Council after the formal declaration of the AQMA in February 2005.

4.2 An AQMA has also been identified for Totton Town Centre located at the level crossing on Junction Road.

5. Colbury Right Turn (A326/A35)

5.1 The sub-group has discussed the traffic patterns and implications for local settlements as a result of the introduction of this junction. Traffic surveys have recently been undertaken to determine the effects of the junction and will be reported to the sub-group at the next meeting in February 2005. The group will interpret the data and look towards a recommendation for a routeing strategy for the future. Such a strategy may interrelate with the air quality objectives for Lyndhurst and therefore serve a dual purpose.

Recommendation

That:

(i) This report be noted; and

(ii) The Panel agrees with this course of action regarding Emery Down but also supports the continuing work on demand management in the New Forest to include pilot projects looking at road closures.

9127/HB