Representation by Travelodge Hotels Limited
- Date submitted
- 18 December 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Travelodge Hotels Limited (“Travelodge”) are the UK’s largest independent hotel brand with more than 560 hotels and 40,000 guest bedrooms across the UK and Europe. TLLC CMPROPCO11 Limited are the freehold owners of the Amesbury Service Station let to Travelodge Hotels Limited on a company tenancy which is situated on the eastbound carriage of the A303 east of the Countess Roundabout. The site contains a Travelodge Hotel, car parking for up to 48 cars, an overspill car park which is also used for lorry parking and commercial units sub leased to Little Chef, Shell and Burger King. Access is directly from the eastbound carriageway of the A303 with a dedicated exit onto the A345 Countess Road. The site extends to approximately 5.3 acres.
Travelodge have various concerns regarding the proposed scheme. The main points of concern relate to the operation of the existing site during construction of the scheme and the changes to the road network. We summarise the main concerns below: 1) Access during construction – we understand there will be the need to close the existing A303 on occasions during the construction of the new flyover. The Amesbury Service Station is open 365 days a year and access is required at all times for the public, staff members and deliveries to all properties on the site.
Future access provisions – currently the site enjoys access directly from the A303. Under the new scheme access will no longer be available from A303 as it will be on an elevated section. Access will be via a slip road taking traffic down to the Countess Roundabout where access to the site will be available. There is a concern that the loss of a direct access from the A303 will be detrimental to the trading performance of the hotel and other commercial units on the site. In addition adequate signage will need to be provided on both carriageways of the A303 informing road users of the service station as it will no longer be visible from the carriageways.
Impact of construction compound – Travelodge are concerned about the use of its access road by construction traffic using the proposed adjacent compound including the interaction between customers and HGV’s accessing the site compound. Adequate signage will need to be provided to ensure no HGV’s stray onto customer areas and it may be necessary to put other protocols in place to protect the existing users of the site. In addition there is a concern that use of the site by HGV’s and other construction traffic will lead to a deterioration of the site both in terms of damage caused to roads and also potential impact of increased fumes and smoke from construction vehicles. There is also a concern about noise generating from the compound and the impact on the existing site.
Construction of the Countess Roundabout Flyover - the construction of this flyover will, at times, be noisy. Travelodge are concerned about the impact of noisy construction activities will have on the enjoyment of its guests. They will require guarantees and assurances from Highways England about mitigating the impact of noise as well as other construction impacts such as dust, during certain times of the day.
Installation of Electricity Cable beneath the site – We understand there is a requirement to underground an existing overhead electricity line which needs to be diverted partly beneath the site. Until such time further details are known it is difficult to predict the potential impact but there is concern regarding the location of the underground cable bearing in mind the presence of underground fuel tanks on site. In addition there will be concerns on the impact the undergrounding of the cable will have on trade together with concerns regarding access for public, staff members and deliveries which need to be maintained at all times.