Category Archives: Faversham Plan

20s Plenty, Congestion, Faversham Plan, Transport

Reject the inadequate proposals for the Junction of The Mall and the A2

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Proposals for the junctions of The Mall with the A2 and the A2 with the Ashford Road have been published by Kent County Council. 

Overall summary
The proposals are unacceptable. They will send more traffic through the congested A2/A251 junction than at present. They will push traffic down local roads. They do nothing to promote pedestrian or cycling movement. Faversham Town Council and Swale Borough Council should oppose them in the strongest terms.

Junction of the Mall and the A2
The proposals have two significant failings.

First, the proposals ban traffic from turning right out of The Mall into the A2. This turning is made by perhaps 10% of all vehicles moving out of The Mall onto the A2. The consequence of the ban is that vehicles wanting to make the right turn will either need to find an alternative route through nearby back streets, thus putting more traffic down these residential streets or, more likely, they will turn left out of The Mall and then make a U-turn at the roundabout. The effect of this will be to put even more traffic through the junction with the A2 and the Ashford Road than is currently the case.

The proposals therefore risk exacerbating the situation rather than reducing it. 

Second, the proposals take westbound traffic turning right from the A2 into The Mall into the same single lane that is used by eastbound traffic turning left from the A2 into The Mall. At present, eastbound traffic and westbound traffic turning into The Mall do so in two separate lanes either side of the central island. The way it works today is that if westbound right-turning traffic sees eastbound traffic that is indicating to make the left turn then this is a signal that the right-turning traffic can also make the turn since the left-turning traffic will be slowing down and creating a gap for the right-turning traffic. As a result, westbound traffic turning right into The Mall today only has to wait for a gap in the traffic that is heading east along the A2.

This possibility is done away with in the proposals since any westbound traffic wanting to make the right turn into The Mall will have to wait until any eastbound traffic making the left turn has done so. This will reduce the efficiency of the junction for right-turning traffic. This is especially significant because westbound right-turning traffic creates much of the congestion in the current situation.

The proposals therefore risk exacerbating the situation rather than reducing it. 

Pedestrian crossings
The proposals make inadequate provision for pedestrian crossings. The only crossing provided is an informal one that connects a small number of destinations to the south east of the roundabout with the town centre. While helpful for those few destinations, the crossing is of limited use otherwise and certainly not an adequate response for the junction as a whole.

The proposals therefore fail to encourage active travel on foot.

Cycle provision
When the lack of cycle provision was raised in the 2014 public consultation, the Joint Transportation Board was told:

“18. Observations were made that the outline designs did not show any specific cycling facilities, this can be dealt with at the detailed design stage and take cognisance of the emerging Swale Cycling Strategy.”

The proposals therefore fail to encourage active travel by cycle.

So what could be done to improve the junction? 

My proposal for the junction is simply to SLOW IT DOWN. I’ve set out my thinking before in this post from October 2015, 20s plenty at the Ashford Road/A2/Mall junction

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Benches, Faversham Plan

A bench for Faversham

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The Mayor’s call for more benches in Faversham presents designers with a wonderful opportunity to create a bench that is fit for purpose at the heart of an ancient and forward-looking town.

What might the brief for this bench include? I suggest the bench needs to be:

  • beautiful – an object that is a pleasure to look at and that fits harmoniously within the historic fabric of the town centre
  • robust – able to stand up to wear and tear, not only from occasional anti-social abuse but also from frequent pro-social use, and of course from the weather
  • useful – certainly a place to sit on but perhaps also an object to lean on while pausing to catch your breath; a bench that can be moved easily to accommodate the needs of the market and special occasions such as the Hop Festival.

Such demands are not unusual. Fortunately for Faversham the world is full of good examples that we can learn from.

These benches in London include planters and can be moved around to suit needs:

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In Central Square, Cambridge MA this bench incorporates technology that captures the power of the sun and provides a charging point for mobile phones:

Next steps for technology will be to use solar power to create a local wifi network and to power LED lighting.

In Harvard Yard, Cambridge MA, colourful seats (first seen in the Jardin de Luxembourg in Paris) have been placed in a historic public setting. The seats can be moved around by people to suit personal preferences – a quiet read or a public conversation:

These are just a few examples of what is possible. What does it mean for the future of Faversham’s benches?

Benches, Faversham Plan, Governance

Off your backsides, everyone! There’s work to be done. 

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Yesterday evening Faversham Town Council threw down the gauntlet/avoided its responsibilities (take your pick) to the people of Faversham: “Tell us where you want us to put benches.”

Cllr Wilcox claimed the “problem” (there’s always a “problem”) is that whenever a bench is proposed, the shop it’s outside of complains about the anti-social impact it will have.

Cllr Simmons cleverly suggested the solution might be to propose 6 benches, thereby spreading the pain. Not a bad idea – but how about 60? Or 160?

Cllr Martin offered an imaginative proposal to avoid painting Yellow Lines around the Guildhall: encircle it with benches instead! I think this is an idea worthy of further investigation.

Perhaps only one or two judiciously placed benches could solve the “problem” of people parking on the west side of the Guildhall. These might be heavy, moveable benches that can be wheeled away on market days and in an emergency. Other towns do this so why can’t Faversham?

20s Plenty, Faversham Plan, Governance

Council votes against the future

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Sadly, but perhaps unsurprisingly, Faversham Town Council has voted this evening against the creation of a Strategic Planning Committee. Such a group would have helped the town plan for its future.

The idea of the Strategic Planning Committee was not to replace any existing function of the Town Council’s Planning Committee – a fact lost on Cllr Mulhern, who gave a bizarre speech claiming just the opposite. He must not have read or perhaps understood Cllr Martin’s briefing note, which could not have been clearer.

This vote marks another sad day in the life of a council that is looking increasingly out of its depth.

Faversham Plan, Yellow Lines

Getting rid of yellow lines – if Horsham did it then why can’t Faversham?

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Look at this beautiful image of Horsham in West Sussex…

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The street is paved in high quality materials. There are no yellow lines. There’s planting. It looks like a place you’d like to be in.

What more could any place want?

Look at the trees in planters – they’re moveable. They can be placed anywhere according to the needs of the day. They can be moved by the emergency services if they’re ever in the way.

This is the benefit of careful design: thinking the problem through and finding a solution that works under many different scenarios. The elegant hand of beauty.

And isn’t this exactly what Faversham needs too?

What is especially remarkable and relevant for Faversham is that East Street in Horsham didn’t always look this pretty:

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Look at the double yellow lines, the tarmac, the dull municipal road signage. The single tree. The heavy hand of plodding transport planning.

If Horsham can get rid of its yellow lines then why can’t Faversham?

The answer is: we can. We just need to choose to do so.

We need to accept that there are other, and better, ways to control parking that respect the historic fabric of the town, that celebrate life and that seek the best solution for the place – not the dull, municipal average.

Faversham Plan, Governance

The future of Faversham Creek

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Address to the Faversham Creek Trust event on board SB Repertor – speaking notes

Tim Stonor
2nd September 2015

Good evening. It is an honour to have been asked to speak this evening and I’m grateful to Lady Sondes, Sir David Melville and Chris Wright for their invitation. As I prepared for this evening I wondered if I had ever given a talk on the water. I thought I hadn’t and then I remembered I once spoke at a conference on board a cruise ship between Genoa and Marseille. I’m pleased to say I’d trade the crystal waters of the Côte D’Azur for the muds of the Côte de North Kent any day. 

We are lucky to be here and lucky to be part of Faversham. Simon Foster mentioned the work I’m involved in that’s looking at the UK 50 years from now. This may seem like a long time but it’s a drop in the ocean/Creek for Faversham. Here we have at least 9,000 years of continuous human habitation. There aren’t many other places in the UK that can claim this. In fact we don’t yet know of any that can.

And why did people first come here and then stick around for so long? It’s the Creek. First for the hunting: its game, its fish and its fowl. Then for its waterborne trade. We are one tide from London, where merchants could poise offshore, like greyhounds in the trap, waiting for fire signals from London to tell them their stock prices were high enough to catch the next tide in.

This place is important. This water is important. Many of us feel this viscerally. Others still need persuading. How can we do that?

I have seven thoughts. Continue reading The future of Faversham Creek →

Faversham Plan

How should Faversham think strategically about its future?

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Draft in progress…

First of all, ask the question:

“What is the problem that needs solving?”

What are Faversham’s needs? Schools? Healthcare? Affordable housing? Establish a list of requirements. Be prepared to negotiate. The spirit of civic engagement.

Follow a set of design principles that history suggests deliver positive outcomes…

Location
If not here then where else?

If here then what else is on or near the site that can benefit from the new development eg the sports hall of a local school or a nearby shop or business that can see better trade to help support the local economy?

What is missing in the local neighbourhood that could be provided by the new development eg educational, healthcare or employment uses?

Principle: explot adjacencies and inter-dependencies…

Linkage
How can new road connections and road junctions benefit the existing situation eg by providing additional cross-town routes to add capacity to the existing infrastructure. 

Analysis: most streets in towns are through streets, not cul de sacs. As a result, most streets have a combination of a) movement heading to or from them as well as b) movement passing through. For most streets in towns, this blend is normal. Problems occur when some residential streets have to carry too large a burden of through movement while others carry too little. The through streets can feel hostile, especially when the design of the street allows vehicles to speed eg South Road. In contrast, through streets increase the overall accessibility of developments, which can benefit house prices and reduce property crime. 

Principle: most new streets should be designed as through streets. Through movement should be controlled at low speeds so that it does not speed through areas.  

Layout
How can new development be designed to reduce the need to drive eg good walking and cycling paths, including pedestrian crossings at the edges of the development so that people can walk and cycle into the town centre and into other residential areas of the town?

Principle: the connected grid…

Landscape
How can the streets and open spaces of the development be designed to support biodiversity eg to create an attractive and convivial environment where people choose to walk and cycle rather than to drive?

Principle: 20mph streets…

Land use
How can uses be mixed so that we don’t just get houses?

Principle: mixed use development…